Attention Economics

The various discussions concerning the future of the Society of Technical Communication reminded me of the concept of Attention Economics and Attention as a product. Herbert Simon wrote in the 1970s: “In an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes. What… Read more »

Ten key issues for CEOs of software companies

At Intellect (the trade association for UK technology companies) yesterday, there was a meeting looking at how UK software companies are faring in this current economic climate. At this event, a panel of software companies CEOs and directors discussed the key issues they are currently facing and the future economic climate for this industry sector. What struck me… Read more »

Lessons for technical communicators from the telecommunications sector

It’s often useful to look at the economic and technological pressures in other industries, to see if the trends emerging there are relevant to the technical communications/publications sector. In recent Blogs, we’ve covered the issues emerging in education, but the telecommunications industry might also provide some useful insights. Lee Dryburgh, organiser of the Emerging Communications Conference, has been interviewed… Read more »

Feedback on our 1st Documentation Managers/Leaders mentoring meeting

We hosted the first of our peer-group mentoring meetings on Tuesday, and I pleased to say the event went as well as we could have expected. We’ve attended and hosted sessions for other entrepreneurs, but this was our first experience of running such an event for documentation managers.  The interactions and the nature of the outcomes… Read more »

First Documentation Managers/Leaders mentoring meeting set for 26th May

The first Documentation Managers/Leaders mentoring meeting date has now been set:  for the afternoon of Tuesday 26th May 2009.   The afternoon is dedicated to providing a safe forum where documentation managers can share the issues they face and get their challenging questions answered – not just by an expert but by people who’ve faced… Read more »