Technical and Marketing Communication: Content for a Convergent World

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Confucius

This blog covers a variety of topics related to my interests as a Content Developer, who has worked in high technology settings for the last ten years.  Previous to that, I was an instructor in secondary, university, and government settings, with a focus on teaching writing, literature, and history. The continuity in my different roles has been my love of learning and sharing content with others, whether it’s through written instructions, explaining in person, or interacting through a variety of online and offline media.

The tag line for this blog, “Content for a Convergent World,” refers to the intersection of technology with communications.  It also refers to different types of content, as so well-described in Vince Giorgi ‘s post, “Is It Content? Software? Let’s Call It a Branded Experience.”  For Giorgi, a good working definition of content is as follows:

“Value-adding information, interactions, and experiences by which brands engage and build affinity with the audiences vital to their business success.”

In this view, content encompasses, but is ultimately “so much more than words.” Giorgi describes content as “not only white papers and webinars” but also “widgets, generators, configurators, and calculators that let customers, prospects, or stakeholders accomplish real work, or real lifestyle fulfillment.”

Giorgi draws inspiration for his post, from Hillel Cooperman, who formerly directed the Windows user interface team at Microsoft, and is the more recent founder of Jackson Fish Market.  At a recent conference, Hillel proposed that “software and content are becoming so intertwined, there’s no longer much point in drawing any distinction.”      

Exploring this “content-software convergence,” or in broader terms, this communications-technology convergence, is the purpose of this blog.  

In addition to technical communication (my primary area of expertise) and technology, I examine related disciplines, topics, and trends, including content marketing, user experience, instructional design, and most recently (and very enthusiastically)—social media. 

About once a month, I write about using social media for good in my ongoing Live with Abundance series, which celebrates the human spirit, provides stories of inspiration, and highlights various causes and nonprofessional interests. (I welcome guest bloggers in general, but most especially for this ongoing series.)

Through my posts, I hope to engage other technical communicators, content & social media marketers, user experience specialists, instructional designers, product managers, customer experience specialists, and the many other technical colleagues who make my line of work such a rich, cross-disciplinary experience.

I welcome your comments and participation in helping to shape this blog, especially as the convergence of communications with technology touches every professional discipline. As Content Wrangler Scott Abel notes (as @scottabel, on Twitter):

“Digital acumen is no longer a niche capability; it’s part of the central and requisite skill set for all knowledge workers.”

Thanks for joining me here, as through my posts, I explore the digital acumen, so necessary for all knowledge workers to remain competitive in today’s global workforce.

Copyright © 2009 by Peg Mulligan. 

All rights reserved.