There is something special about Write The Docs. I’ve been to a number of conferences in the last few years, many of which were tech-specific, and this is the only one where I feel confident that I could have walked away friends with everyone. People who attend this conference are kind, smart, thoughtful, and every other adjective you’d hope for your communicators.
I was honored to be among the 15 speakers chosen to speak. On Monday, September 10, I presented, “How to tear down your existing documentation,” focusing on the ways writers could write a proposal to convince their managers that the documentation needs to be blown up.
I really, really enjoy traveling. In September, I was on eight planes, two trains, and an uncountable number of subway cars. I can’t help myself, and I take every opportunity I can get to go some place new. This time, I decided to go on a ten day trip to Europe with friends from high school.
London
When I was a child, I used to prance around the house speaking in what I imagined to be a perfect British accent. I dreamt of going to boarding school in London, spending time wandering the various castles, making friends with princes and princesses. Everyone dreamt that, right?
This was my second trip to London, and it did not disappoint. I went to many of the places I had been on my last trip, unable to stay away. The city is gigantic and there are many things to see and do, but I wasn’t ready to take a step back from the major historical landmarks. Well, that and my travel companions hadn’t been before.
We took Sandman’s New London tour, which I highly recommend if it’s your first time going to a new city. We took a Sandman tour in Amsterdam and Paris, too, each better than the last. The tours are free, and you can choose to tip your tour guide whatever you feel your tour was worth. And trust me, it’s worth it. Read More
About two months ago I started to get that itchy feeling. No, not the “Oh my god, it’s the dead of summer and there are a million mosquitos” itch. The “it’s been so long since I’ve gone on an adventure” itch. My last adventure was to Seattle in March, and though I had traveled a few times since, it wasn’t quite fulfilling my wanderlust. Going to Bubbi’s isn’t exactly going to a world full of opportunity (though it is generally full of delicious foodstuffs).
One of my best friends from college, Kathleen, got a job as a web designer down in Memphis starting last June. Every time we spoke, she told me about how cool it is (and how cheap it is compared to NYC). I saw her apartment over Google Hangout, a beautiful apartment in a house built in 1910, with chandeliers in every room. I haven’t spent any real time in the South, other than a stopover at the Atlanta airport last October. I was born in Florida, but not “Southern” Florida, which pretty much only constitutes the panhandle.
By late June, I decided it was time for a change. I knew I’d have a ridiculous amount of days off for the Jewish holidays in September, and figured now is the time to go on adventure. Memphis ticket prices went down, and I took it as my sign to “Buy buy buy!”Read More
I’ve been very fortunate to spend a lot of time visiting different places. To say I have wanderlust would be a mild understatement. Almost every day I’m checking flight prices, trying to figure out what new and exotic location I will go next. All of my spare change goes to adventures (on the upcoming shortlist is Turkey and Russia). I’ll stay in hostels, eat cheap food, travel with my handy-dandy Osprey Porter backpack full of only the clothes I need to get by.
Last December, I decided it was time for another adventure. Yes, I had just been to Poland over Thanksgiving. But one can never start planning too soon for the next trip. Read More
Yes, that’s two #msupw folks – Mike McLeod, faculty, and Alexandra White, alum – with a space shuttle. This happened because we were both selected to attend the NASA Social Atlantis – Celebrate the Journey event to see the Space Shuttle Atlantis be permanently retired from service and share that experience on social media. We attended this event first as unabashed space nerds, but we managed our nerdery well enough to strategize our writing to document the experience for ourselves and for our audiences. Here we’ll reflect on the rhetoric of the event, our social writing strategies, and shamelessly geek out over space.Read More
First off, my apologies for the lack of photographs. WordPress on the iPad is not so conducive to multimedia posts. I will populate the blog with images as soon as I have a chance back in the States. In the meantime, you can catch some live-action tweets and photos on my Twitter feed. I’ll try to keep updating as much as possible.
It’s been quite a real first day in Krakow. We started off bright and early with breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn. There was a large spread of cheeses, meats, eggs, yogurt, and pastries. It felt very Polish but with a hint of the American attitude towards food. Neither my brother or I could complain. It was good we had a big breakfast, with several hours of walking ahead of us.Read More
