Case Studies: Profiles of Two Technical Communicators  

Dr. Philbin and Dr. Ryan will first speak about creating and administering the survey and explain the reasons for conducting the survey. As husband and wife and as technical communicators, we will discuss our feelings about participating in the survey, working in the field, and our plans for the future. We encourage other technical communicators to examine their career goals as well. From the beginning, our relationship was linked to the technical communication field. We helped each other during our job interviewing processes and fortunately we both found jobs as Technical Communicators. While we have shared many of the same experiences, we have each experienced unique aspects of the profession. The discussion mainly focuses on the feelings, questions, plans, and expectations raised in the survey.

Theodore, Todd E. and Paulette R. Elsass. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>TC>Case Studies

Evolution of a Disclaimer  

What if a disclaimer seems to be more than just a disclaimer? Readers are invited to consider the fictitious case presented and to share their thoughts for publication in an upcoming issue of Intercom.

Bryan, John G. Intercom (2006). Articles>TC>Ethics>Case Studies

Information Development at Rockwell Software – Part 2: Standards and Tools and Technology   

Rockwell Software is a $60-million company specializing in plant automation software. Our offices in West Allis, Wisconsin, and Mayfield Village, Ohio, provide technical communicators with the opportunity to work closely with development teams to design, test, and release usable, consistent software and information products. While Rockwell Software's information development process is a multi-faceted endeavor, this paper focuses on the following four steps we implement to create our information products: interviewing customers to establish information guidelines, writing Getting Results guides, selecting tools, and programming for technical communicators.

Giordano, Jennifer L., Michael R. Huber, Kimberly B. Ness and Beth A. Williams. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>TC>Case Studies>Ohio

International Technical Training and Communication: Case Studies from the Industry  

A key element for the success of any business that operates in today's fast changing business environment is the optimization of communication and training resources. This is especially critical for a medical device company. The challenges of local language, culture, and regulations must be addressed by an iterative examination and adaptation of sales training and product literature to local needs. We developed strategies for planning, training, translating, producing, and implementing that provide our sales staff, physicians, and patients with useful product and therapy information.

Guthertz, Harriet and Richard J. Mann. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>TC>Education>Case Studies

Non-Traditional Roles: Case Studies

This is a collaborative article with a list of case studies of technical communicators who assume new roles beyond the traditional ones like writing and editing. When they do so, they add value to their clients and organizations — as well as making themselves more valuable. This is in connection with the presentation slides from the STC Annual Conference (May 8-11, 2005 in Seattle, WA). The editor hopes these case studies will provide inspiration and encouragement for technical communicators who are looking for ways to add value.

Kunz, Lawrence D. KeyContent.org (2005). Articles>TC>Case Studies

Ethos as Market Maker: The Creative Role of Technical Marketing Communication in an Aviation Start-Up    

This study examines how a very light jet start-up, Eclipse Aviation, changed its ethos appeals in order to survive the loss of its principally declared innovation, a jet aircraft engine. Eclipse Aviation’s corporate transformation from a spin-off company to a convergence-of-innovation company hinged on modifying an early marketing strategy. To overcome the loss of the jet engine, employees had to radically modify earlier expert representations and adopt rhetorical appeals that more closely parallel what Miller described as "cyborg discourse." To understand how Eclipse Aviation survived the typically fatal loss of a stated primary innovation and to explore the implications that this particular start-up’s rupture has for technology transfer and technical marketing, this study centers its analysis on a Web site that marketers used to "ventilate" the company and prevent financial collapse. The transformation in the company’s marketing strategy illustrates how cyborg ethos appeals aggregate and discipline distributed stakeholder roles.

Mara, Andrew. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2008). Articles>TC>Marketing>Case Studies