April 2016

If you'd like an update on the GDID's replacement qualifications, read on. Our VP reports in on recent TechCommNZ activities. Tim Grey provides indispensable, tongue-in-cheek advice on how to say "yes" and "no" at the same time. We feature Dave Gardiner's Southern Communicatorarticle on contracting through an agency – with a New Zealand perspective from employment law writer Louisa Eades.

Finally, we've mustered a mob of educational and interesting articles from the hills and valleys of the world-wide web for your reading pleasure. Grab a cuppa and enjoy this month's TechCommWire!

From the Vice-President

This month the TechCommNZ team has been working behind the scenes on a number of connection-themed initiatives on your behalf – connecting industry with education, building a new member directory to help you connect with each other, and organising events where you can meet other lovers of Tech Comms.

New information design qualifications coming

Ara Institute of Canterbury (formerly CPIT) is developing two new programmes to replace the online Graduate Diploma of Information Design, which was discontinued last year. A full-day workshop was held in March with industry representatives, graduates of the programme, and teaching staff to explore the industry requirements for information design graduates.

The Power of Yeah Nah: Account Management Techniques for Technical Writers

If Sun-Tzu was from Tauranga the cornerstone of business strategy writing would be a book called The Art of Yeah Nah. That’s factual. After all, there’s no better way of subduing one’s enemy without fighting than by first agreeing that something isn’t what it’s meant to be in a casual but not entirely straightforward manner.

Before You Sign on the Dotted Line...

In the November edition of Southern Communicator, Dave Gardiner presents an excellent summary of advice he has received about contracting through a recruitment agency. In this article, Louisa Eades of Streamliners adds some notes of relevance to New Zealand readers.

Let's Tech Communicate

In this issue, we look at the latest in technical communication from around the world, and explore enterprise content strategy, API document writers, visual communication, and test beds. This and a whole lot more from around the Net!