ello! Whenever we tell someone whatwe do for a living, it is not unusual toreceive a wide-eyed stare and a comment such

as "Oh my gosh, that must be boring!" Usually, we don'tbring it up unless someone asks.

Well, it isn't boring. All of us are detail-oriented people,and we believe that each component of a product,including the documentation, must be outstanding forthe product to be successful. We see the operator'smanual (or the service manual, training program,product lifecycle documentation, and validationdocumentation) as important and very visible parts ofthe final product, and we enjoy seeing them in use.Finally, we very much enjoy working with each of you,and we find it most satisfying to help you launch a vitalnew system.

We also enjoy working with a variety of clients. Eachyear, we are delighted to hear from new clients (see thenext page!) and we are always thrilled when one of ourlong-standing clients calls us with another project. Agreat big “thank you” to our long-time clients for yourcontinued business and also to our new clients forjoining us. We will have a great time!

We wish each and every one of you a very peacefuland relaxing holiday season, and we look forward toworking with you in 2008.

The Technology Workshop, Inc. Newsletter

IINSIDE::NNeeww CClliieenntt SSppoottlliigghhtt.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 22HHeelllloo,, NNeeww RRoocchheellllee .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 22VVooiicceess ffrroomm tthhee WWoorrkksshhoopp:: JJooyyccee BBrreennddllee .. .. .. 33TTeecchh WWrriittiinngg BBllooooppeerrss.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 33SEEEE SUUCCCCEESSSSFFUULL PRROOJJEECCTTSS, PP. 44

WINTER 2008

We NNeed iit YYesterday!!!ANNAATTOOMMYY OOFF AASUUCCCCEESSSSFFUULL PRROOJJEECCTT

How qquickly ccan yyou wwrite aan ooperator's mmanual ffor uus?

We are used to getting phone calls like this! Many times,preparation of an operator's manual, service guide, ortraining manual is one of the last things that takes placein the product development timeline. Since the contentof these documents depends entirely on the form andfunction of the final product, project planners anddevelopers are reluctant to start documentation too earlyfor the following reasons:

Cost. Believe it or not, one of the biggest factors inthe cost of a documentation project is its elapsedtime. Makes sense once you realize that one or morewriters are usually assigned at least part-time for theduration of the documentation project. Waste. The longer a project lasts, the more likely it isthat the product will change, requiring that perfectlygood documents that were prepared earlier will haveto be updated or even redone.Resource nnibbling. The earlier that a documentationproject is started, the more time that developers willhave to devote to writers, explaining the product, itsfeatures, and its use.

Several years ago, we received just such a "We Need itYesterday" phone call from Maher Terminals LLC, theoperator of large shipping terminals in Port Elizabeth, NewJersey and other locations. Maher was introducing a

broad range of new softwareproducts designed to support themaritime and transport industries.

Within one day of the phone call, athree-member team fromTechnology Workshop visited Maher,where we observed a nearly finalversion of their new product line.

Believe it or not, one of thebiggest factorsin the cost of a documentationproject is itselapsed time.

Greetings from TWI...

AAllaann RRuunncckkPPrreessiiddeenntt,, TTeecchhnnoollooggyy WWoorrkksshhoopp,, IInncc..

H

PAGE 2 TECHNISCOPE

Some recent new clients have helped us diversify intosome new product lines and sevices:

Command FFinancial PPress, IInc., in New York City,developed the Command Automated PublishingSystem (CAPS) to automate preparation of financialdocuments. We prepared the user manuals for theprospectus module (PCAPS) and more recently theshareholder reports module (SCAPS).Swimming instructions? No, we are not yet thatdiversified, but we are working with Jan Emler,founder and president of Emler SSwim SSchool tocreate a Site Director Manual for her five aquaticfacilities in northern Texas. Award-winning classes atEmler Swim School range from acclimating babiesto water to training teenage competitive swimmers. LifeNet HHealth IInc., based in Virginia Beach, VA, is aleader in the engineering of bioimplants and is aleading organ and tissue donation agency. We areassisting LifeNet by preparing their software lifecycledocuments and disaster recovery procedures.MediCepts, IInc. is right down the street from ourFlorida office. MediCepts developed a non-invasivepassive motion system for treating neck and lowback pain. We wrote operation and service manualsfor the device, and we prepared interactive onlinetraining procedures for their field service personnel.9 MMonths UUp, 99 MMonths DDown, LLLC (Long Island, NY)developed a speedometer/computer that isdesigned for installation on a stroller. Visit their Website, www.strollometer.com, to read about theirinvention, and browse to the How it Fits page to seesome of our work.

Stiefel LLaboratories, IInc. has specialized inprescription and over-the-counter dermatologyproducts for over 150 years. We have been writingrequirements documents, installation qualifications,and operational qualification protocols for Stiefel.Telemetrics IInc. is the worldwide leader inbroadcast, educational, industrial, and militarycamera control systems. They recently installed anoperational television camera control system forNASA at the Kennedy Space Center, and we wrotethe operations and maintenance manuals and theacceptance testing procedures for the system.

Hello, New Rochelle

New Client Spotlight

Two years ago, we moved our office to New Rochelle, NY,located on the north shore of the Long Island Sound. Weare now 20 miles northeast of New York City, and this hasproven to be an ideal location, with great access to I-95,trains, and LaGuardia.

We are up on the second floor of a nice quiet building(see below) with great neighbors. Stop in and say hello!

IINNFFOO

rmat

ion

TECHNISCOPE PAGE 3

What ddid yyou ddo bbefore jjoining TTWI iin2001?I was a writer and account executiveat a small ad agency. Because ofthe agency’s size, each of us hadmany roles. I did everything fromwriting copy, participating in clientmeetings and placing ads, tostuffing envelopes.

You wwork ffull ttime, aare rraising ttwoteenagers, aand wwere rrecently tthepresident oof yyour nneighborhoodassociation. WWhat ddo yyou ddo iin yyourspare ttime?I enjoy cooking, jewelry making, andcrocheting. My daughter is a seniorin high school and hopes to attendan art college. My son is asophomore in college. I have tomake appointments just to seethem.

Now that the kids have their ownactivities, my husband Dan and I areplanning to get back into sailing andhope to buy a J-22 soon.

Would yyou rrather ccamp aat LLakeGeorge oor ggo ssnowboarding?While my family likes both campingand snowboarding, I’ll choosesnowboarding, well, skiing actually,as long as the temperature is above25 degrees.

What wwas yyour ffavorite aassignmentat TTWI?I have really enjoyed two recentassignments, with Maher Terminalsand with Command Financial Press.Both allowed me to learn about newenvironments.

In order to writeoperator ’s manualsfor Maher Terminals, Ihad to learn about the logistics andrules for loading container ships.And, thanks to my work atCommand Financial, I nowunderstand how a financialprospectus is put together.

What wwas yyour lleast ffavoriteassignment ((no nnames pplease)?

oyce began technical writing for the State of New York, preparing standardoperating procedures. She has since written documentation and marketing

materials for a host of industries, including investment banking, advertising, databasemanagement software for the PC, and health insurance. She joined Technology Workshopas a technical specialist in 2001, writing documentation, help systems, presentations, andvalidation protocols. She and her husband Dan have a son and a daughter.

The 30-mile trek to the old Nanuetoffice, definitely! In winter, it oftentook 1½ hours to get there whenroads were icy or the Tappan ZeeBridge was backed up.

I uunderstand yyou oonce wwon aa rratherexciting rrace wwith aa ccart ffull oofgroceries. TTell uus aabout iit: I consider myself a good sailor andkayaker, but have yet to live down anevent that almost curtailed avacation, not to mention my life.Right after Dan and I were married,we chartered a sailboat in the SanJuan Islands (between WashingtonState and Vancouver Island, BC), fora week of sailing the pristine waters.

I was in charge of provisions, andpurchased food and an ampleamount of wine and beer, which Iloaded into a cart for transport downa gangplank to the boat. It was lowtide so the ramp was steep.

For some stupid reason, I started offpulling the cart behind me, butquickly realized it was too heavy tomanage. I took off running with the

cart burning rubberbehind me! I barelybeat the cart downthe ramp.

My new husband watched withhorror and bewilderment, but whenthe cart came to an abrupt stopupon hitting the dock, he wasrelieved to see that not one of thebottles of wine were broken! The restof the trip—and the start to ourmarriage—was smooth sailing.

“I enjoy the challenge offiguring out how each

client’s industry works.”

Joyce Brendle

J

Tech Writing Bloopers! Here are some errors that we made (and that we corrected!) which made us chuckle!

Fill iin tthe bbland. Our work might not always be exciting,

but these clients probably wouldn’t have appreciated us calling their procedure bland.

Stimulating project? Hmm...

The pproduct’sinitials wwere

GDDM.

Spell-CCheck told uus tto

change iit tto G-- ddamninstead!

Oops!CClliick tthee SStaart

buttoon. TThee ffuunn beeggiinss.

It should have said,

TThhee rruunn beeggiinnss..

GGeett aa lifee!!

lick Enter..Instead of click Enter, weaccidentally dropped the cc! Howoften do you clean your keyboard?

Pooing ProceduresIn describing a blood screening process, we should have written Pooling Procedures. Yuk!

Unsanitary DocumentationFreudian SSlip

Anal RRunck

Alan slipped up whilesigning a letter.

PAGE 4 TECHNISCOPE

2525 PPalmer AAvenueNNeeww RRoocchheellllee,, NNYY 1100880011

Having taken fast and furious notes,we spent the next 24 hours back atour office, learning everything wecould about Maher, their productline, and transport software ingeneral.

Forty-eight hours later, we delivereda fixed-price proposal that outlinedour plan and timeline to preparethe user documentation for their fivenew applications and summarizedthe content for each manual.

Maher called the next day informingus that even though we werebidding against another technicalwriting organization with years ofexperience in the maritime industry,our proposal blew them out of thewater. We didn't let Maher down,and they are still among our favoriteclients today.

Here's how we do it:

The IInvestigation

We start by learning about theclients, their product line, and theirindustry. We learn as much as wecan by reviewing client documents,doing online research, and

examining the product (if it ’savailable).

The PProposal

Next, we prepare a written proposalthat spells out what we will deliver,the delivery date, and the projectcost. The more detailed theproposal, the less likely there will beany misunderstandings.

Our proposals usually include apreliminary table of contents, whichmay be as brief as chapterheadings, or may get down intoheadings and sub-headings,depending upon the informationthat is available.

The WWork

Writing begins when the proposal isapproved. We work in MicrosoftWord, Adobe FrameMaker, Quark,RoboHelp, or whatever applicationsuits the client’s requirements.

We're happy to work with a style andlayout clients have standardized on,and include existing logos andgraphics, or we’ll develop a newformat as the project demands.

The DDelivery

Proof, proof, proof. Online reviewand spell check do not ensure thata document is ready for delivery.We learned long ago that eachdocument must be printed, andthen headers, footers, page breaks,fonts, and cross-references must beverified. We use a long checklist to

ensure that eachdocument is correct.

Projects generally requiremore than one draft. We

can work with reviewer comments inthe form of scribbled notes, trackedchanges in MS Word, AdobeFramemaker revisions marked withchange bars, comments on PDFdocuments, on-site reviews, orwhatever makes sense to our client.

The FFollow-UUp

Our proposal always includes a timefor unlimited revisions after the finalproduct delivery. We also follow upto make sure that expectations ofour client were met, and wemaintain copies of all documents incase future updates are required.

Give us a milestone and we willmeet it!

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TTeecchh WWrriittiinngg

BBllooooppeerrssIn this issue: Holiday Greetings from TWI!!

AAnnaattoommyy ooff aa SSuucccceessssffuull PPrroojjeeccttJJooyyccee BBrreennddllee’’ss BBiioo

We start by learning about the clients,their product line, and their industry.