Dorothy Winsor thinks there were two reasons why communication failed or why the engineers were not able to convince the managers: a. Managers and engineers viewing the same facts from different perspectives b. The general difficulty of either sending or receiving bad news, particularly when it must be passed to superiors or outsiders Knowledge is not simply getting facts but interpreting facts which varies in terms of the vantage points through which the same facts are seen. “Communication is not just a shared information but a shared interpretation.” In the world of technical communication, many of the times, people do not have same culture and same way of interpreting. The second reason is that bad news is not that easily shared with people from upper level or the outsiders. So, the NASA engineers and later managers were reluctant to share their bad image or failure to other organizations like Marshall or MTI. Physical Cause of the Accident a. a rubber seal in the solid rocket booster failed to seal b. there were similar failures before too Early Responses to Bad News: Disbelief and Failure to Send Upward There was a tendency to hide or not to expose the problem to the upper level or to the other organizations. MTI did not communicate that the problem was serious and Marshall knew that the problems were serious but did not communicate that to NASA as long as it was MTI’s fault. Both showed optimism instead of highlighting weakness. Continued Bad New Rejection Despite Contradictory Evidence Even if the engineers had found that significant erosion had taken place on the secondary ring too, they ignored it blaming it on the cold flights. Then tendency to keep the bad news was there in all levels. Internal vs. External Communication of Concern From MTI Engineers MTI engineer Roger Boisjoly found a serious problem. He communicated it to the management that the problem may be disastrous. However, it was kept private and was not brought out. However, when the same message was sent to Marshall, its tone was completely different, it was more objective and so confusing. • The Split Between Managers and Engineers Though the engineers have different views from that of the managers, they have difficult time communicating their views to the managers. And different goals of the managers and engineer may have been the problem. And the Challenger event shows that if the managers don’t listen to their employees, they could be in serious trouble. Conclusion So, this shows that the major problem behind the disaster was that of effectively communicating the “problem” or the bad news. Neither those in MTI nor those in Marshall could wanted to communicate the seriousness of the problem to the other organizations. The engineers at MTI identified the problem and its seriousness. But they failed to effectively communicate it to the upper level. Major problem was that they did not want to give bad news to outsiders.
How to Lie with Statistics—Darrell Huff • The sample with the built-in bias: The nature of sampling determines whether the researchers present facts with honesty or not. It’s very easy to manipulate statistics through sampling bias. • The truncated, or gee-whiz, graph • The souped-up graph • The well-chosen average • The insignificant difference or the elusive error • The one-dimensional picture • The ever-impressive decimal • The semiattached figure • The unwarranted assumption, or post hoc rides again • Comparative advertising: Two KFC chicken breasts are “healthier” than a BK Whopper?
Steven Graver’s article deals with the mundane rituals of cover letters. I did not find anything really new or striking in his piece. However, I later realized that cover letter is all mundane and is intended to be so. Graver’s article, though seems to be very prescriptive with some strict rules, works as a useful reference to find answers to some common questions about cover letter. It clearly mentions what should be the elements of format and content in a cover letter. Parts of a cover letter: Return Address Date Inside Address Salutation 3/4 body paragraphs Complementary close Paper and print quality should be good. Content: a. Paragraph 1: just mention that you are applying for a certain post. b. Paragraph 2: show that you qualify c. Paragraph 3: show how you not only qualify, but also go beyond the qualifications d. Paragraph 4: Closing The most important suggestion is “don’t use clichés” and “avoid general statement” and use concrete and specific examples or your accomplishments. Focus on only one or two rather than saying you know this and that. Burton Jay Nadler “Your E-Resume” Nadler advises us to think about the format and content of the resume and focus basically on projecting yourself as a goal-oriented and qualified candidate for the job. Uploading Your Resume Choose appropriate file format. Mostly, the companies specify what kind of file format to use. Normally “Microsoft Word,” PDF, and Web page input are used. Check everything thoroughly before uploading. • Make sure your resume file can be opened and formatted correctly. • Name your file correctly. • If filling in a Web form, take time to carefully enter your information. Keywords Are Essential When employers seek candidates for their vacant jobs, the first step is to review resumes by certain software that sorts out resumes in through key word search. So, while preparing resume, we need to be careful to use important key words used in the field we are applying. It’s a good idea to keep an inventory of keywords. Emailing your E-Resume a. Email message is your cover letter and attach your resume. Be very direct and short in your email cover letter. Be polite but not stuffy. E-Mail Etiquette Proper file format and simple and short. Make a google search. Vistas for the E-Job Search • See state job bank • Check the websites of companies of your field • Use a web search engine to find big headhunter sites. • Check your local newspaper Reactive and Provocative E-strategies
I was struggling really very hard to export slideshows to my website. I tried with more than half a dozen softwares. Each one had some sort of problem. But at last I have now found a very simple and easy to use software, which also seems to be free. Try this one: Flash Slideshow Maker Professional.
The writer does not present any formulaic way to write a resume or cover letter. The main purpose of the resume is to get the interview. It needs to focus on message rather than on the rituals. Some of the things resume can include are the candidate’s computer skills, communication skills, interpersonal skills, professionalism, and specific other skills. 1. Focus on message rather than the rituals 2. Think from the manager’s perspective; not what you want, but what the manager needs. Try to know more about the company you are applying so that you can refer to specific aspects of it to impress the employer. 3. Also think of the appearance, your letter should stand out in the heap of resumes and cover letters. Make it look more professional than fancy. 4. Focus on details in your cover letter. Provide what experience you have received with concrete details. You also need to relate to what you have done with what you are now required to do. You can also show your enthusiasm by saying that you want to and can do beyond what is required. 5. Managers are busy people. They only scan your resumes. So, be careful about formatting. You need to make the most important things stand out. Use necessary ways to make them appear in a glance. You can use more white space around important things. You can also use other methods like highlighting. 6. You also need to mention objective. You may write “career interest” instead of “job.” 7. The idea of length is difficult to say. The point is it needs to be precise and short. But at the same time it needs to be somewhat detailed in terms of important points.
The writer is basically talking about the application of the theories of ethics in practical situation of technical communication. How technical communicators should act? What is their role? Is it only to transmit information “objectively”? There are such questions that he/she needs to be careful about. They need to be careful about the context and the consequences of their writing/communication. Nazi example shows that “over-emphasizing objectivity as a positive value of technical communication can obfuscate ethical issues.” It shows how so called scientific research led to mass murder and holocaust. The point is that technical writers are also partly responsible. They should think beyond the mechanical act of writing. They should think of human values before scientific ideas. Science should not be thought of as an good in itself. F. precedents pertaining to Nazi experiements. (IRB) So, the point is to take nothing for granted and to think of every knowledge as socially constructed. This is why Carolyn Miller worries about objectivization (treating people as objects).
This chapter discusses different theories of ethics from the Greeks to the present and divides them into four major categories:
1. Aristotlean Ethics
2. Kantian Ethics
3. Utilitarian Ethics
4. Ethics of Care: Feminist theory of Ethics
Aristotle:
Aristotle considers virtue and personal character to be the basis for ethics. His approach is both pragmatic and philosophical. He is aware about the human imperfections and at the same time believes that we have some divine spirit that helps us determine what is good and what is bad. Ethics for Aristotle involves the intentions and goals to be good rather than the actions themselves. Here, one should be able to go beyond the circumstances and determine what are the good intentions and intrinsic rightness of the behavior. Aristotle's notion of ethics is based on reason. The difference of Aristotle's theory of ethics from Plato's is that it is not idealistic like Plato's. For Aristotle, science deals with the absolute and therefore is not a matter for ethical consideration. This view of Aristotle has been criticized in the present days as science and technology are also though to be rhetorical.
Kant
Kant's focus is on duty based on universal principle that is an extension of an individual's sense of ethics. This is because he believes that every individual has an inherent moral principle. So, for his ethics is not concerned with divine principle, nor with utilitarian notion of the greatest happiness for the greatest number. Since he believes in the universal principle, his notion differs from Feminist notion of ethics of care. But his focus on universal principle that every individual has seems to be similar to what Plato would believe to be divine. Kant's is not a relativist notion of ethics.
Utilitarianism
Here, the guiding principle is not universal principle of what is right or wrong. It is nor the idea of divine principle. For utilitarians, the basis for ethical decision is the greatest happiness for greatest number. So, they calculate benefits and costs.
Feminism
Feminism shares major postmodern tendency of challenging all notions of absolute truth and universal principles. That is why feminists reject Kantian notion of ethics as masculinist. Feminists also disagree with the idea that science and technology deal with the absolute and the inherently right. Scientific method avoids contextual and interrelationships of different variables. Feminists believe that language and social values thought to be neutral are themselves gendered.
Feminist principle of ethics believes that "women generally emphasize caring concern, relationship, and the flexible application of values depending on the particular person and circumstance in rendering theri ethical judgments, whereas men generally emphasize justice through inflexible application of abstrct principles regardless of the person or the relationship" (63).
Other Views
Confucianism is based on the idea of collective good and merit. Confucian ethics is based on "immediate realities rather than in immutable, timeless absolutes." It focuses on subduing individual egos for the greater good of the society. So, it is collectivist rather than individual. Similarly, virtue does not depend on abstract principles, rather it is related to the concrete episodes and events.
Levinas
He is postmodern thinker. So, for him ethics is concerned with the particular situation rather than an abstract principle. Ethics results from our awareness of the other. So, it is a recognition that there are other people who think differently than us. So, he rejects any pretension of universal reason or morality. Consider "the other" even more important that you.
Gert
His focus is on avoidance of evil rather than on seeking good.
Oliu, Brusaw, and Alred, “Creating Tables and Illustrations.” 1. Consider your graphic requirements before you begin to write. Make it an integral part of your outline. 2. To illustrate and to clarify ideas, keep these points about integrating visuals in your mind: a. Make it clear in the text why the illustration is included. b. Keep the illustration to the point. c. Keep terminology consistent . d. Specify the units of measurements used. e. Position the labels horizontally. f. Give each illustration a concise title. g. Like table of contents, if there are more than five illustrations, prepare a list of figures and tables after table of contents. Include title, figure number and page numbers. h. Refer to illustrations in the text of documents by figure or table numbers. You should introduce illustration first and place it after that. i. Provide adequate white space on the page around and within the illustration. j. Consider copyright. 3. Tables: for data that can be compared and contrasted. a. Table number b. Table title c. Boxhead d. Stub e. Body f. Rules g. Source line h. Footnotes i. Continuing tables: repeat the column headings and give table number with “continued” label 4. Graphs: present numerical data in visual form. a. Trends, movements, distributions, and cycles are more readily apparent in graphs than they are in tables b. But less accurate c. Different kinds of graph are used for different purposes i. Line graphs: relationship between two sets of figures ii. Pie graphs 5. Drawings 6. Flowcharts 7. Photographs Using Graphics to Communicate Internationally a. Punctuation marks b. Religious symbols c. Colors d. People, parts of the body, and gestures e. Cultural symbols f. Technology symbols g. Reading practices h. Directional signs Ewing, “Strategies of Persuasion” The major message of this essay is that we need to consider rhetorical situation while writing technical document. 1. Consider whether your views will make problems for readers: In such situation, you need to first take the readers into confidence and indirectly persuade them. 2. Don’t offer new ideas, directives, or recommendations for change until your readers are prepared for them: 3. Credibility: given and acquired. 4. If your audience disagrees with your ideas or is uncertain about them, present both sides of the argument 5. Win respect by making your opinion or recommendation clear 6. Put your strongest point last if the audience is very interested in the argument, first it is not so interested 7. Don’t count on changing attitudes by offering information alone 8. Testimonials are most likely to be persuasive if drawn from people with whom readers associate 9. Be wary of Using Extreme or sensational claims and facts 10. Tailor your presentation to the reasons for readers’ attitudes if you know them 11. Never mention Other people without considering their possible effect on the reader 12. Sizing up your readers Kolin’s, “Proposals” Guidelines for writing a successful proposal 1. Approach writing a proposal as a problem-solving activity 2. Regard your audience as skeptical readers 3. Research your proposal carefully 4. Prove that your proposal is workable 5. Be sure that your proposal is financially realistic 6. Package your proposal attractively Internal proposals: 1. Proposals to address internal problems within a company 2. Be aware of your audience and your office politics 3. The organization of an internal proposal: a. The introduction b. Background of the problem c. The solution or plan d. The conclusion 4. Sales proposals: Think of your audience and their needs. Organization: a. Introduction i. Statement of purpose and subject of proposal ii. Background of the problem you propose to solve b. Description of the proposed product or service i. Carefully show your potential customers that your product or service is right for them ii. Describe your work in suitable details iii. Stress any special features, maintenance advantange, warranties, or service benefits c. Timetable d. Costs e. Qualifications of your company f. Conclusion
This chapter primarily talks about all forms of reports and the basic problems we may face as report writers working in corporate world. The writers here concentrate on audience, importance of abstract, use of checklist, effective use of visual aids, different strategies needed to persuade. Report is a generic term that can include writing from informative to persuasive and formal to informal. Formal letter has multi-part format with coverletter, abstract, table of contents, glossary, introduction, detailed discussion, conclusions and recommendations, and appendices. Whereas informal report is shorter and may include introduction, discussion, conclusions, and recommendations. The writer suggests to take a process approach to writing reports and tells us to plan from beginning, stick to our purpose, and attend to audience’s needs. Audience analysis is perhaps the most important aspect of report writing. We should be aware that audience can be different in different situations from layperson, to experts. Mathes and Stevenson: audience analysis Writers often miss the third element of communication situation: audience. They often make false assumptions: a. Person addressed is the audience b. Audience consists of specialists c. Report has a shelf life d. Static work/personnel situation e. Audience has been kept up to speed/knows what you’re talking about f. Audience is expecting your report and waiting breathlessly g. Audience has time to read your report To meet audience’s needs, we need to analyze them. There are three types of report audiences: horizontal, vertical, and external. Horizontal audience are on the same level. However, their background, political position, personality traits and goals make their needs different from each others. We normally address person’s organizational role. So, he is not individual. The vertical audience refers to audience from different organizational levels, up/down. Here the writer must design in accordance to its possible use. External audience refers to the ones from other organization. Here the report may represent the organization. In such case, we need to make a systematic audience analysis. For systematic analysis: a. Prepare an egocentric organization chart b. Characterize the individual report readers c. Classify audiences in terms of how they will use your report Richard W. Dodge: “What to Report” Technical reports must fulfill the needs of the management. So, the writer needs to make an audience analysis. But it seems to have received much less attention than needed. Management seeks to find pertinent facts and competent opinions that help it in making decision. Manager want the information to be brief and meaningful and he want to find it in the beginning of the report. And the report’s summary should contain three things: what the report is about, the significance and implications of the work, and the action called for. Generally, a report summary should include definition of the problem, objectives, reasons for doing it, conclusion, and recommendations. Managers mostly do not read body and appendices.
Management’s responsibilities: 1. Define the project 2. Provide proper perspective 3. See that effective reports are submitted on time 4. Se that reports are properly distributed Four conferences at selected time can help him control the writing of the report: 1. At the beginning of the project 2. At the completion of the investigation 3. After the report is outlined 4. After the report is written Christian K. Arnold “The Writing of Abstracts” The writer shows the importance of abstract. There are two types of abstracts: descriptive and informative. Descriptive abstract gives an accurate indication of the subject matter and scope of the study where as informative abstract summarizes the results and conclusions and gives enough background information to make the results understandable. Then the writer provides general rules to eliminate most of the problems of the abstracts: 1. enough specific info to satisfy “administrative needs” of executive 2. Complete in miniature form 3. Short: between 3% and 10% of report’s length and one page is psychologically advantageous 4. Fluent and easy to read prose: readers may not be the experts in subject matter. So, don’t use jargon; keep transitional devices 5. Maintain consistence in tone, emphases, and content with report (but not necessarily structure) 6. You can use abbreviations and numbers but not tables and illustrations Vincent Vinci: “10 Report Writing Pitfalls: How to Avoid Them” 1. Ignoring the audience 2. Writing to impress 3. Having more than one aim 4. inconsistency 5. Overqualifying/ having more than one objective 6. Not defining 7. Misintroducing 8. Dazzling with data 9. Not highlighting 10. Not rewriting
This chapter primarily talks about all forms of reports and the basic problems we may face as report writers working in corporate world. The writers here concentrate on audience, importance of abstract, use of checklist, effective use of visual aids, different strategies needed to persuade. Report is a generic term that can include writing from informative to persuasive and formal to informal. Formal letter has multi-part format with coverletter, abstract, table of contents, glossary, introduction, detailed discussion, conclusions and recommendations, and appendices. Whereas informal report is shorter and may include introduction, discussion, conclusions, and recommendations. The writer suggests to take a process approach to writing reports and tells us to plan from beginning, stick to our purpose, and attend to audience’s needs. Audience analysis is perhaps the most important aspect of report writing. We should be aware that audience can be different in different situations from layperson, to experts. Mathes and Stevenson: audience analysis Writers often miss the third element of communication situation: audience. They often make false assumptions: a. Person addressed is the audience b. Audience consists of specialists c. Report has a shelf life d. Static work/personnel situation e. Audience has been kept up to speed/knows what you’re talking about f. Audience is expecting your report and waiting breathlessly g. Audience has time to read your report To meet audience’s needs, we need to analyze them. There are three types of report audiences: horizontal, vertical, and external. Horizontal audience are on the same level. However, their background, political position, personality traits and goals make their needs different from each others. We normally address person’s organizational role. So, he is not individual. The vertical audience refers to audience from different organizational levels, up/down. Here the writer must design in accordance to its possible use. External audience refers to the ones from other organization. Here the report may represent the organization. In such case, we need to make a systematic audience analysis. For systematic analysis: a. Prepare an egocentric organization chart b. Characterize the individual report readers c. Classify audiences in terms of how they will use your report Richard W. Dodge: “What to Report” Technical reports must fulfill the needs of the management. So, the writer needs to make an audience analysis. But it seems to have received much less attention than needed. Management seeks to find pertinent facts and competent opinions that help it in making decision. Manager want the information to be brief and meaningful and he want to find it in the beginning of the report. And the report’s summary should contain three things: what the report is about, the significance and implications of the work, and the action called for. Generally, a report summary should include definition of the problem, objectives, reasons for doing it, conclusion, and recommendations. Managers mostly do not read body and appendices.
Management’s responsibilities: 1. Define the project 2. Provide proper perspective 3. See that effective reports are submitted on time 4. Se that reports are properly distributed Four conferences at selected time can help him control the writing of the report: 1. At the beginning of the project 2. At the completion of the investigation 3. After the report is outlined 4. After the report is written Christian K. Arnold “The Writing of Abstracts” The writer shows the importance of abstract. There are two types of abstracts: descriptive and informative. Descriptive abstract gives an accurate indication of the subject matter and scope of the study where as informative abstract summarizes the results and conclusions and gives enough background information to make the results understandable. Then the writer provides general rules to eliminate most of the problems of the abstracts: 1. enough specific info to satisfy “administrative needs” of executive 2. Complete in miniature form 3. Short: between 3% and 10% of report’s length and one page is psychologically advantageous 4. Fluent and easy to read prose: readers may not be the experts in subject matter. So, don’t use jargon; keep transitional devices 5. Maintain consistence in tone, emphases, and content with report (but not necessarily structure) 6. You can use abbreviations and numbers but not tables and illustrations Vincent Vinci: “10 Report Writing Pitfalls: How to Avoid Them” 1. Ignoring the audience 2. Writing to impress 3. Having more than one aim 4. inconsistency 5. Overqualifying/ having more than one objective 6. Not defining 7. Misintroducing 8. Dazzling with data 9. Not highlighting 10. Not rewriting
An Official Website for Global Educational and Literary Support Association (GELSA)
A Proposal
Submitted to
Jan Holmevik
Supervisor
By
Hem Paudel
Advanced Business and Technical Writing
MA in Professional Communication
Clemson University
September 24, 2009
An Official Website for Global Educational and Literary Support Association (GELSA)
Executive Summary
This project will help GELSA to disseminate information about its programs and activities to its intended audience. I propose to make a simple and attractive website that will allow this organization to provide information and convince donors and local NGOs to join hands with it to promote its goal of helping impoverished kids.
The website I am proposing will have these features, among others:
§Easy to navigate
§Use of simple design
§Proper use of graphic elements
§Adequate use of chunking
§An attractive logo and a memorable slogan
§Use of simple, clear, and precise language
The benefits of my plan are:
§I have a unique experience/familiarity with both Eastern and Western cultures. So, the website I create will try to avoid any cultural bias
§As a graduate in MA in English and currently a student of MA in Professional Communication, I am in a position to effectively handle both content and design of the website
§The client will have to bear no cost
Introduction
Global Educational and Literary Support Association (GELSA) is a non-profit organization still in the process of being formally registered. Some Nepalese social workers living in Nepal and the US and some US citizens are collaborating to establish and run it. It is primarily intended towards improvement of educational situation of impoverished kids from all around the world. However, GELSA still does not have its own website to inform the public about its projects and to attract more people towards the holy goal of helping the kids in dire need of education. In this holy mission, as a student of technical communication, I think I can contribute to their mission by building an official website for them to effectively communicate their information.
Current Situation:
§Organization still in the initial phase
§Programs and policies not yet finalized
§No promotional documents like brochure and manuals to provide some initial idea about the structure of the website
§No logo and slogan
The organization is still not registered. They still have not decided about the specific and detailed programs and projects, ways of raising funds, and reaching out to the public. They have recently finalized their constitution, vision and mission statements, goals, and some future programs. However, from technical point of view, these documents need to be squeezed and brushed up to make them clear and precise. They don’t yet have any brochure, manual, or leaflets to advertise their mission. So, the content they will provide needs to be rigorously edited for precision and clarity. And, since they don’t have any formal promotional documents to guide or provide a rough structure for the website, I will have to begin from the scratch.
This clearly shows that everything is in a completely initial phase and the organization is to think through various issues. So, I will have some constraints to overcome or deal with. First, time is a great constraint. I have only two and a half months to finish this project. Besides this, as a graduate student, I will also have to look after various other stuffs. So, the question is how I can utilize the limited time to give them my best. But I believe I can refine and polish it even after my project formally ends. Next, as I am not a seasoned web designer, I will have to learn and apply my knowledge very carefully to get it well done on time. However, I will have fresh eyes to look into it and see what others may fail to see due to their repeated habit. Similarly, my knowledge and familiarity of both the Nepali culture and the Western culture will make it easier to make several decisions about both content and design.
Project Plan and Schedule
Plan
The audience for this website will be very diverse: those who are in desperate need for education and those who want to help them or can be persuaded to help them. Therefore, I will have to make it very user-friendly and simple to navigate. I will try to avoid any culture-specific symbols and references not to confuse the audience of different cultures. At the end, I will produce a website that has following characteristics:
§Easy to navigate: A website is good if it is easy to navigate so that the audience can find necessary information without any difficulty. For this purpose, I will use proper buttons and hyperlinks to lead them to specific information.
§Use of simple design: The purpose of a website is to provide information. Fancy websites may look good but they are very difficult to use. The readers may be enticed but won’t find it easy to use. Second, the nature of the institution also dictates the design of a website. As the purpose of this website is not to enchant audience, simple design will be more effective for providing information.
§Proper use of graphic elements: The use of graphic elements not only makes a website attractive, it also reduces text heaviness and helps avoiding monotony of reading long prose. So, I will use photos, and slide shows. They will also be used as evidence to show the activities of the organization.
§Adequate use of chunking: I will use white space, bullet-based format rather than lengthy paragraphs, also reduce repetitive text, and reduce scrolling pages to a maximum of one to two scrolls per page.
§Design a logo and slogan: The logo will be attractive and indicative of the scope and mission of the institution and the slogan will be concise, relevant and memorable. But most importantly the slogan should also be informative.
§Links: I will have several links to other external sites like a blog for the organization itself and some other educational websites.
§Use of simple, clear, and precise language: We have a tendency to write long and complex sentences. This is more so in case of writings of non-native speakers l. Being an international student of technical communication, I have some knowledge of both the kinds of writings common among Nepalese writers and the language of technical writing in the US. I think simple, clear, and precise language will be useful for both the audience: from Nepal and outside Nepal.
Schedule:
I am planning to finish this project and offer the deliverable in two and a half months. I will begin my work from the last week of September and finish it by December 1. The timetable for different stages of it is as follows:
§Proposal-- Sep 25, 2009
I will provide my proposal to my client on Sep 25, 2009. This is subject to change as per the needs of the client. However, the basic principles that I want to stick to will remain the same.
§Basic format of website – October 13
I will develop a basic format for the website by October 13. It will include Header, positioning of the logo, menu, columns, and general outlook. This will make a skeleton for the website. I will share this with my client and accommodate his suggestions.
§First draft of the website for review –November 10
I will finish a rough draft of my website by November 10. I will share it with my client and some other people to get feedback to improve its design and content. This will give a sense of how will its audience perceive it.
§Final deliverable –December 1
After receiving feedbacks from the client and some other people, I will make necessary changes and prepare the final deliverable.
Qualifications
§MA in English
§MA in Professional Communication
§Experience of editing
§Experience of making website
§Knowledge of technical writing theories
I have already completed MA in English and now studying MA in Professional Communication. This is a very good combination for performing works of a technical communicator. I have an extensive experience of editing college journals, brochures, and project reports. I have also already made a website with slideshows and other graphic elements as a part of semester-long project for Visual Communication. Similarly, I also edited web content and brochure of Student Disability Services, Clemson University last year. As a student of technical and business writing, I have a sound knowledge of the theories of technical writing and ethics which I will need to consider while building this website. Similarly, my unique position as an Easterner in the West will make it easier for me to avoid any element of cultural bias that may unknowingly appear in case of the Western or Eastern web designer.
Conclusion:
So, I will make an easily navigable and attractive website for GELSA within two and a half months. My knowledge of technical writing, experience of editing, and some, even if short, experience of making a website will help me accomplish this job well. If I had some longer and less busier time, I would be able to make it even better by adding different other features like “sending emails from the website,” and “chat.”
