These are the guidelines for #tcchat. Basically, the chat is for discussion purposes and also a neutral zone for issues that arise. This is the first time I’ve posted guidelines. So keep that in mind if you’re looking at previous tweets. No worries or concerns about anything that has transpired to date!
Goals and Objectives
- To provide a free forum in which tech writers around the world could meet real-time to discuss issues of the day
- To collaborate and share information and tips related to technical communication, particularly new methods and technologies
- To have two sessions to accommodate the different time zones so all could participate
- To get the tech comm industry exposure in the Twitter chat world. It seemed to me that just about every industry had a chat except tech comm
- (New) To provide a neutral ground in which discussions can be held to work out disagreements or similar issues that come up (described in detail at end of post)
Additional Information
#tcchat: Achievements and Review
Guidelines
My goals and plans for the chat have always been and continue to be altruistic. I think that, with all the changes going on, it’s necessary for this industry to have a Twitter chat. While I can’t really completely own the chat, as it follows Twitter rules, of course, I have been running it with specific goals in mind. It’s much different than the techcomm tag in that regard. That is open without any moderator. The #tcchat tag is different. So, for use of the #tcchat tag:
Please Avoid
- Discussions about using particular applications (That’s best left to the app’s company account, IMO)
- Announcements about application launches
- Marketing announcements about webinars, company sites, and similar items
- No spam!
In short: no ongoing marketing. That’s what the #techcomm tag is used for. I just don’t want the #tcchat to turn into a marketing tag along the lines of the #techcomm tag, where marketing tweets are infused in the stream every day. I’m not complaining about that; I think it’s a good place for such tweets, and I’m glad to see them there. It’s good information to have. It’s just that my goal is that the #tcchat tag is used for discussion only – which it basically has been. On the day of the chat, I’d prefer to keep it to discussion of the day’s topic, as transcripts will be captured.
Include
- Discussion about specific topics related to tech comm
- Tweets about the chat topic during the chat sessions
- Links to materials related to a week’s chat topic
- Links to materials related to a previous chat (outside of chat day)
Language
- Be respectful
- Do not include off-topic tweets on chat day
- Realize that the tweets for both chat days are captured in transcripts and posted, so your comments will long be available
- Keep it relevant to the topic at hand. It’s not the place for personal conversations, particularly on chat day
Please keep in mind that the chats are attended by colleagues around the world, and some have made special arrangements to be able to attend. For instance, session 1 (S1) falls during the evening commute and dinner hour for those in Europe. I’m always mindful of that fact. S2 falls during the evening commute and dinner hour for those in the Pacific time zone. Others make time during their morning or lunch hours. So it’s very important to keep it business-only. Everyone has deadlines, meetings, and family time. I don’t want to waste anyone’s time.
Disclosure
In the interests of disclosure regarding #tcchat, here is how I am benefiting from it. Managing and moderating a Twitter chat is quite a bit of work, takes practice and experience in running a live event, and is a skill I’ve now acquired. Twitter chats have also caught on significantly, some are sponsored, and I see that this is now a marketable skill.
Current
I have not earned any income whatsoever from running #tcchat. All the tools and apps used are free, so there’s no expenditure for that. My time is spent essentially on a volunteer basis. Many others have volunteered their time as well in making this chat what it is and keeping it going. So the “cost” of the chat is time spent in managing and running it. It does require much time, although by now I’ve got a system and process quite well established, and have combined some references (such as setting up the Facebook page) and that has lessened the work required.
I manage #tcchat as a brand, and take it very seriously. There’s the chat itself, monitoring tweets and use of the logo I designed, running the @TC_chat feed, updating the blog, and running the Facebook page and YouTube channel.
I also do my best to not flood the #techcomm tag with tweets, especially during a chat. I don’t want to spam the #techcomm tag, or make other tweets that aren’t chat-related get lost in the shuffle during a chat.
Other details follow.
- I include managing and moderating the chat in my Twitter bio, my resume, LinkedIn profile, website About page, and that sort of information.
- The transcripts are hosted on my blog, so I receive some page views from that. Locating them there enables all to be in one spot so people know where to find them, and provide an opportunity to look at past chat transcripts – such as the Accessibility chat, for instance. It also provides me with another way to obtain metrics to determine how many people are interested. There are a number who participate in the chat itself, and many who read transcripts. Once I get more likes on the TCChat Facebook page, I’ll also have metrics there as well. That will help in determining what topics are of most interest to people, among other things. I’m also on the lookout for other places to obtain metrics since What the Hashtag ceased operation. I’m sure there’s something out there.
- I do not have any business relationship with any company related to technical communication. Nor have I arranged any sort of business deal with anyone whereby they would obtain some sort of access to participants of the chats or send some sort of promotion, or include tweets about a product.
- There are no sponsorships of the chat, so I’ve not received any income from that.
Future
As there’s an increase in both the number of Twitter chats and their popularity, I now see managing and moderating one as a marketable skill. So I’ll be including that as one more service I can provide as a consultant or employee. I may also set up additional chats for other topics that might have sponsorships.
Whether this #tcchat ends up receiving any sponsorships at some point, I can’t say. I have no plans to seek that, and haven’t been approached about it. If that were to occur, I would elicit input. The chat has a specific purpose, which is to encourage collaboration and solve issues as an industry. I see that as different than a more general-purpose chat.
Guest Co-Hosts
For a long time, I’ve offered the opportunity for tech writers to be a guest co-moderator for one chat. The intent is that they could learn how to run one so they could go back to their workplace and perhaps run one of their own for interacting with customers. Co-hosting is a one-time event for any particular person. That’s so more people can have the opportunity to try it out. It does take extra time to teach that to someone, but it’s something that I think would benefit the industry at large.
The guest co-hosts do not receive any income, nor do guests at any particular chat.
References to Companies and Products During Chats
I do my best to be fair to all companies. I don’t favor any company over another. For individual chats, I’ll sometimes research and find examples from different techcomm-related and other companies. If I see something relevant to the week’s discussions, I’ll tweet about it and post videos on the chat YouTube channel.
I’ll be adding companies to the Favorites on the TCchat Facebook page. That’s next on my list. But, as I said, in the interest of fairness, I plan to include all the companies. Also, if individuals have tech comm business pages, I would add those too. I asked for that a week or so ago; just haven’t gotten to it yet.
I also plan to contact SMEs for future chats. These would be relevant to the discussion only, not to be considered as sponsorships.
Use of #tcchat as a Neutral Zone
Recently, there have been a number of instances where some issues have flared up, or in my mind, might benefit from a discussion. A recent one, for instance, was when the Society for Young Tech Communicators was set up. I personally was concerned that an entire demographic age group felt that their voice wasn’t being heard. That really concerned me. The group evolved and is now open to all, and is now the Association for Technical Communication (ATC).
While all that was going on, I set up a chat topic to be about the concern I had about a generation’s voice being unheard. So people from many age groups met in that chat, and I think there was good discussion about it all, and perhaps it helped some. I’m not claiming credit for anything related to that whole process and group setup or anything related to it. I’m just saying that I thought it would help to have a #tcchat about that topic, that it could be a neutral zone to discuss an issue. So hopefully it did help. That’s the type of situation I’m thinking of when I say use of the chat as a neutral zone.
I’d be glad to assume a role as a neutral third-party moderator for whatever might come up. With all the changes coming along, witnessing some of the flare-ups, and recent problems with professional courtesy I’ve seen and experienced firsthand, I think the industry needs this sort of thing. So, #tcchat is now officially a neutral zone. Please keep that in mind as well.
In Closing
That’s it for now. I may update this later. I hope you continue coming to the chats. If you haven’t before, check them out or take a look at the transcripts.
Oh – and of course: please Like the #tcchat Facebook page. That’s where all the main information is now located.
Thanks!
- Julie
