President’s Column (May, 2023)

As I sit down to write my last President’s column, I can hardly believe how quickly time has flown by. It seems like only yesterday that I was first elected to lead our chapter, and yet here we are at the end of another successful year. One of the highlights of this past year was … Continue reading…

Congratulate Paulette Tiggs (Talk of the Town)

Paulette was recently promoted to Lead Information Developer, which translates to information developer, level 5 at Rockwell Automation. Paulette is the only Lead ID in the department and the first for Rockwell’s business (Software and Controls) in the company’s history.

Adventures in CPTC Testing

Practical Tips to Successfully Prepare for the Online CPTC Exam. As you probably surmised from the title, I’ve taken the CPTC Practitioner exam more than once before finally passing. I tend to live by the proverb,  if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. However, I learned a few tips along the way that … Continue reading…

Will AI Eliminate Tech Writers?

Introduction Will AI eliminate your job as a tech writer?  From the research I’m doing and courses I’m taking, the answer seems an obvious ‘No’.  Currently, AI is a hot topic with discussions ranging from ‘it is just another search engine to ‘it’s alive and plans to kill all humans and take over the world’!  … Continue reading…

ChatGPT (Meeting Review)

The February 28, 2023 brown bag (Zoom) meeting hosted by the STC Rochester chapter included about 60 participants. How familiar were participants with ChatGPT? Only about two percent use ChatGPT all day every day. Most people just had some familiarity with the concept of ChatGPT and AI. Someone noted concern about ChatGPT replacing technical writers. … Continue reading…

Fragile Futures (Book Review)

Fragile Futures: The Uncertain Economics of Disasters, Pandemics, and Climate Change. Vito Tanzi. 2022. Cambridge University Press. ISBN-10 1009100122. ISBN-13 978-1009100120. 246 pages. US$24.99 (hardcover). How can governments prepare for unpredictable events such as a pandemic or climate change? That is one of the questions raised by economics professor Vito Tanzi as he also addresses … Continue reading…

Folding Accessibility (Meeting Review)

On April 20, 2023, Char James-Tanny, a well-known accessibility advocate for more than 20 years, taught us about “Folding Accessibility into the Documentation Process”. The talk centered on the importance of accessibility, and how it is essential to respect people’s dignity, equality, autonomy, and usability in product documentation. Accessibility is a fundamental issue that affects … Continue reading…