From the President

May 2022

I’m thrilled to spotlight some cool news this month.

Technical writing is going to “boom” in 2022

Always start with the good news, right? According to ClickHelp’s Tech trends in 2022, we’re going to see a rise in SaaS products, AI to support cybersecurity, and automation of business processes…all of which means the technical writing field will boom as more and more user guides need to be written.

Of course, that’s just one source, and while the forums over at Cherryleaf seem largely to agree, it might be a bit early to tell.

Still, if you are looking to upskill, these might be the areas to consider!

Congratulations to Luke Pivac for publishing his first book

Are you new to Agile or just curious? If you are, Luke Pivac has written a book: The Agile Playbook for Technical Communicators, with contributions from Michael Moore and Steve Moss. Luke is a former board member of TechCommNZ. You might remember his Let’s Tech Communicate articles in this very newsletter!

Luke’s book is available as an eBook and covers Agile best practices, basic concepts for beginners, and tips and insights from Luke’s own experience as an Agile technical writer.

Read An Agile Playbook for Technical Communicators

Weber University Study looking at technical communicators in New Zealand and Australia

Some of you will know that Weber University recently completed a study into the experiences of technical writers here in New Zealand and Australia. I was thrilled to see TechCommNZ mentioned as a valuable resource for technical communicators in New Zealand – not just for information and professional development, but as a community and support-base.

Thanks to all of you who participated! And thanks in particular to Jody Winter for sharing the study to Slack for our members. For those of you not on Slack, the results of the study have been published online and are free to view.

Read Understanding the Experiences of Technical Writers in New Zealand and Australia

The study also highlighted some areas where our industry could improve. It is interesting to see where these recommendations align with our own strategic goals as an organisation, and where we can look to add or modify our long-term strategy plan to meet these needs.

Personally, I am also curious to see how our industry will change with the new Plain Language Bill, currently in its second reading, which could require government organisations to have a dedicated Plain Language Officer on staff. It will be interesting to see how and if this changes the perceived value of formally trained tech writers within other industries.

What do the rest of you think?