Technical Communication
Instructors
Gregory Eller is an information developer currently working for Lockheed Martin, on contract to the US Environmental Protection Agency in Research Triangle Park. Previously, Greg worked at IBM/Lenovo as a software engineer and team lead helping develop the ThinkVantage suite of software. He has degrees in journalism and theater, and has been writing professionally for nearly twenty years as a journalist, financial writer, and technical writer. After driving a NYC taxi cab for awhile and working as a campus minister, Greg spent a year teaching English in Brooklyn, NY to inner-city students at a vocational high school, and then two years trading Lira on Wall Street. Greg brings his broad range of work and social experience to his role as host of the Introduction to Technical Communication discussion.
Susan Dakin is an independent consultant in scientific and technical writing and editing, document design, and desktop publishing, with over thirty years of experience. She has taught writing classes for Duke Continuing Studies since 1982 and has presented well over 100 courses and workshops in scientific, technical, or business writing for companies, government agencies (including EPA and NIEHS), and other organizations. Dr. Dakin holds a Ph.D. in zoology from Duke and has written and edited documents in a wide range of disciplines in the life, environmental, and physical sciences and engineering, as well as on nontechnical subjects. She has special expertise in proposal writing and has served as proposal editor and coordinator for numerous large federal contract and grant proposals.
Jim Sheedy has been working in the software industry for over 25 years. He currently works as a Documentation Specialist for SAS Institute in Cary, North Carolina, where he documents the programming interfaces to SAS graphics components. For over 15 years he has also worked for the North Carolina Writers' Network, promoting, coordinating, and teaching writing workshops onsite for North Carolina businesses.
Ann-Marie Grissino participates as an information engineer at NetApp. She has won awards for technical communication and e-learning authorship, is an invited guest speaker at conferences, and has written articles for the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and e-learning developers' journals. For 10 years, she was the manager of the regional STC Technical Communications Competition. She is an STC Fellow and has served as a judge for both international STC competitions and Brandon Hall e-learning and innovative technology competitions. Ann-Marie participated in the Technical Communication Delegation for the People to People Ambassador Program to China. Previously, Ann-Marie was president of Keypoint Consultants, Inc., an award-winning technical writing firm specializing in user documentation, e-learning, and online communication.
Larry Kunz is a project manager and information architect with Systems Documentation, Inc. (SDI) Global Solutions. Having more than 30 years' experience as a writer, manager, and planner, he has managed both technical writing projects and marketing projects. He holds a Masters Certificate in Project Management from the George Washington University. He is a Fellow in the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and in 2010 received the STC President's Award for leading the Society's strategic planning effort.
Chris Benz is a communication jack-of-all-trades. In his more than 25-year career, Chris has been a desktop publisher, trainer, instructional designer and developer, writer, editor, information designer, DITA consultant, project and program manager, department manager, operations director, and sales engineer. He has authored several retail-market books on computer topics, and has received several awards for his writing, including Best of Show at the Society for Technical Communication (STC) International Technical Publication Competition. Chris is an STC Associate Fellow, past member of the international STC Board of Directors, and past president of the Carolina Chapter of the STC. He currently serves as Director of Online Events for The eLearning Guild.
Linda Enders Roberts is a technical writer for SAS Institute. She holds an M.S. in Technical Communication and an Ed.D. in Adult Education from North Carolina State University. In her fifteen-year career, Linda has served as a writer, manager, and project manager.