I was honored to be invited to speak at KnowledgeConf 2019 in Moscow in April (English marketing site and actual Russian conference site). I was the only English presenter among fantastic Russian talks, and I look forward to being able to watch them with translated captions!
My talk, “Creating compelling multimedia documentation,” covered the importance of considering the different methods of creating documentation, particularly video. While I did not specifically walk through how to make a video, I did cover when and when not to make video, considerations for script and storyboard creation, branding, and usability.
I’m excited to announce I’ll be speaking at the Evolution of Technical Communication conference in Sofia, Bulgaria in June. Not only that, but I’ll also be leading a workshop!
How to assemble a quality writing portfolio
We’ve all spent a long time trying to decide how to craft the perfect cover letter and resume to apply to new positions. Often times we are also expected to present writing samples – if not in the application, at some point in the interview process. These writing samples are the key to showing potential employers that you can concisely explain a process in various mediums.
In October 2017, I decided to apply to Google. It wasn’t the first time I had applied—I applied in 2011 when trying to get a job post-graduation in communications. Back then, I never received a response to my application and expected similar results in 2017.
Although I applied for a product Developer Programs Engineer position in New York, I ended up getting an email from their technical writer recruiter the following week. A year and one day from the day I submitted my application, I signed an offer letter. And 6 weeks after that, I finally went to Noogler (that’s what they call new Googlers) orientation. It was a long road to get here.
There is something special about Write The Docs. I’ve been to a number of conferences in the last few years, many of which were tech-specific, and this is the only one where I feel confident that I could have walked away friends with everyone. People who attend this conference are kind, smart, thoughtful, and every other adjective you’d hope for your communicators.
I was honored to be among the 15 speakers chosen to speak. On Monday, September 10, I presented, “How to tear down your existing documentation,” focusing on the ways writers could write a proposal to convince their managers that the documentation needs to be blown up.
In a few months, I’ll be joining the technical writers community at Write The Docs Prague. I’m thrilled to have been chosen and I look forward to meeting my fellow writers. Check out my intended abstract:
How to tear down existing documentation and rewrite docs that actually work
We all know what it’s like to look at a series of existing documentation and think, “how did this happen?” Be it a large swath of unorganized content or a lack of a clear strategy, the complications of bad docs aren’t just a curse for documentation editors. Our readers see it, too. It leads to confused support requests and possibly a loss of customers.
Over the last three months, I’ve written a series of four blog posts about creating and managing instances with Packer and Terraform. It’s been a tremendous learning experience, and I couldn’t have done it without the help of some HashiCorp experts (and ex-pats). Thanks to Sean Chittenden, Paul Stack, and Justin Reagor for your advice, critique, and editing.
Below I’ve included excerpts from all of the posts. The source code for all of the exercises is available on GitHub.
