By: R.D. Sharninghouse
Secretary
rdsharninghouse@gmail.com
In September, the Orlando Central Florida chapter of STC held its monthly meeting at the IHOP on University Boulevard. Rhyne Armstrong returned as guest speaker and gave his presentation on “Broken [Communication] Silos: Destruction for the Sake of Your Users.”
In the spirit of the season, Mr. Armstrong used a Halloween themed approach by including horror film references to exemplify his material. Among the wonderful references, the general message was how horrific these information silos are to a company by creating uninformed clients. They breed ignorance, creating an environment where everyone blames everyone else, wasting time and money. A technical solution along with the proper support can help break down these barriers and open information up to the client, which improves efficiency.
What I took away from the meeting was how important technical communicators are to a company. Even though it seems many employers out there do not comprehend our purpose or applicability, examples like Rhyne’s certainly brighten one’s day.