March’s Tech Comm Café meeting took place online due to COVID-19 concerns. Attendees practiced their social distancing skills, joining in from personal computers and smartphones.
The meeting kicked off with a round of self-introductions, revealing both new and seasoned STC members, from students to technical writers with over 10 years of experience. One attendee expressed their long-time interest in joining the chapter and was glad that March’s shift to a virtual format enabled them to finally attend a Tech Comm Café.
The ongoing pandemic has been the hot topic of discussion around the world, and this meeting was no exception. We began by talking about people’s experiences working from home.
For one individual, working from home allowed them to enjoy better coffee, but they were having trouble getting their home office set up in the way they were used to at work. Also, interacting with other people is part of their job, and not being able to flag somebody down in the hallway whenever they had a question just felt strange.
For another, it was more or less business as usual. Online meetups using Slack and Zoom are common within their company, but no matter how comfortable they were with remote interaction, everyone agreed that face-to-face is still the best when it comes to collecting information. A little ironic, considering the Tech Comm Café was conducted with all webcams turned off.
One person shared that they like to compile a list of all of their subject-matter experts and their communication preferences. Some are most responsive chatting online, while others do not communicate online at all, preferring email or phone. This is admittedly extra work, but they affirm that it is worth it.
We discussed the tools we can use to communicate outside of a corporate office. Slack and similar tools are nice when they’re provided and paid for by the employer, and free versions of Slack and Microsoft Team are available. While the free versions might be missing certain features, they can still get the job done.
Apart from the transition to working from home, it seems that COVID-19 has not (yet?) affected employability among technical writers. Everyone still has a lot of work to do, and one person shared that even if things get really bad in the next three months, their CEO assured them that their job will still be safe. While there are rumours that this situation might go on for as long as 18 months, things still seem relatively positive in the technical writing world for the foreseeable future.
The Tech Comm Café provides networking opportunities, job leads, answers to work-related dilemmas, and a burst of professional energy to keep you motivated. We discuss technical writing tools and techniques, career planning, portfolios, and anything else related to working as a technical communicator.
We welcome anyone who’s interested in technical communication – contractor, in-house, student, long-time tech writer, STC member, non-member, career-changer, or recruiter. We hope to see you at the next meeting!
Next Meeting: ONLINE on Wednesday, April 15, 2020
- Subscribe to receive email announcements of future meetings.
- If you plan to attend, please RSVP by 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, to receive login instructions.
Date: Wednesday, April 15
Time: 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. Pacific Time
Location: Online via Zoom
Agenda
- Introductions. Take 60 seconds to introduce yourself, your background, current activities. A good chance to try out that new elevator speech.
- Announcements and job leads. If you know of an interesting event or a job opening, or you’re looking for work, share it with the group.
- Brainstorming Q&A. Ask about a work-related problem and discuss potential solutions.
- Networking. Chat with other technical writers and discuss your professional backgrounds, goals, questions, advice.
Jason Wu is a technical writer who volunteers for the chapter in his spare time.