About Me
My name is Mike Walsh, I am a Technical Writer.
I don't think of myself as a typical Technical Writer. I do not have a degree in physics or microbiology, I am a user too. I try to decipher what incredibly intelligent and technical people say and make it usable.
I have been a writing technically since 1993. While in the military, I held various positions that as a primary, or a closely related function, required translating highly technical information for use by broader audience.
For instance, I was stationed at the Navy's Bomb Squad in Little Creek, Virginia. Although originally detailed to this location to drive and maintain small boats, I was transferred within the organization to assist it training the technicians. This position was extremely exciting. I think mainly because I was learning an entire new skill set and embarking on a new found interest, research.
This division I was assigned to was charged with maintaining thousands of inert training aids, from Egyptian hand grenades to Cold War era ordnance. Over the period of several years directly following the first Gulf War, the inert ordnance had fallen into disrepair due to high operational tempo and over use. Our teams job was to research the ordnance and formulate training scenarios in response the burgeoning conflict in the Balkans.
After several months of hard work, we researched, categorized and cataloged over 5,000 pieces of American and foreign ordnance. I also assisted in researching the geographic locations of the ordnance and improvised explosive devises to tailor training scenarios for technicians before they left the United States for overseas deployments.
After this assignment, I attended the Joint Law Enforcement Training Academy at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. While there I discovered report writing. I had always enjoyed writing, but I did not realize the intricacies involved with writing an investigative report. Over the next seven years, I went from a novice report writer to managing large manual overhauls, managing report workflow and editing to developing training lectures and programs.
After leaving the military at the end 2003, I pursued my degree to validate my experience with education. During this time I began freelancing as a part time Technical Writer/Graphic Designer. Some of the projects I worked on were business plans, marketing collateral, web site specifications and proposals. This was important point in my career, for the first time I had to worry about the business of creating.
In early 2008, I started in my present position as a Team Lead of Technical Writers at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This position by has been the most challenging; creatively and intellectually. Although a contract employee, my team is tasked with providing internal and external USPTO clients with technical communications products.
We assist our government employees manage user guides, prepare broadcast messages for information technology changes throughout the agency. Also, we maintain our departments intranet web site, a web site we've transformed from a organizationally based “Geocities” collection of pages to a tool based on solid information architecture based on the organizations mission and goals.
We also provide graphic design support to internal organization's within the USPTO which mainly serve the public. We have provided tradeshow displays, marketing collateral, and support for the public research facility with their patent and trademark search help materials. In these trying economic times, these initiatives have saved our fee-based agency thousands of dollars.
The future is bright. The Technical Writer job description is constantly evolving to meet technological and cultural needs. In the past the Tech Writer was the person that knew the ins and outs of flow charts. Now the Tech Writer has to be part Graphic Designer, part Web Designer and part Writer. All the while maintaining the end users perspective.
Exciting new technologies make the possibilities interesting to say the least. Adobe AIR, DITA, XML are just a few of the acronyms which make the world of technical communications exciting.