Award-winning documentation

forums@developer.bmc.com — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:00:36 GMT

- By Michele Marques, Lead Information Developer, ITSM

It's that time of year, when local chapters of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) hold competitions. Every year, local chapters hold competitions for print and online documentation. Then, the best of the local entries move on to the society-level international competition.

In 2007 I entered the BMC Remedy IT Service Management Data Management Administrator's Guide in the Toronto chapter competition. This guide describes how to install and use the data management tool for BMC Remedy IT Service Management.

I entered the competition because:

This was a new manual - everything good (or bad) about this manual was my responsibility. Many times, I work on manuals that have other contributors - or that originated with previous authors.
I wanted to find out how my documentation held up to international standards.
I wanted to get feedback from technical writers outside my organization.

I ended up winning a merit award. It felt great to get award and feel validated for my work. But the feedback was especially helpful. People from outside my organization had a different take on what works and what could be improved. Today the guide is better than ever.

I'm fortunate to work with a team of writers and editors, but for a lone writer, the competition might be your best opportunity to get feedback from experienced technical communicators.

The postings in this blog are my own and don't necessarily represent BMC's opinion or position.

Write On: Exploring New Directions in Technical Communications

Award-winning documentation