2011 - The Year That Was

So here we are again. Yet another year has passed. Honestly, I could have done a lot more justice to my blog this year, but simply put, the drive was missing. My new job is demanding, actually, much more than I had anticipated. Besides writing a blog is no joke; it requires a lot of concealed effort and dedication.

Alright, I'll cut to the chase and fill you in on both my professional and personal fronts.

Professional Highs:

• It's no longer a secret. I joined Lionbridge Korea as a Documentation Project Manager in November 2010. Within a few months, I was promoted to the position of a Solution Architect, primarily because the management acknowledged my contributions in active presales. Under my leadership, Lionbridge Korea has secured many work orders for their Global Content Development (GCD) business unit. My team also reported a double-digit growth in annual revenue this year, which is freaking exciting to say the least.

• In July 2010, MindTouch published a ranking of The Top 25 Most Influential Bloggers in Technical Communications. Yours truly also made the cut at number 18. Surprising enough, there was no other Indian in that elite list. Reason to be proud, eh?

The Top 25 Most Influential Bloggers in Technical Communications

Personal Highs:

• Yay! For the first time ever, I was featured on national TV, interviewed on FM radio, and published in a leading daily, all in the same year.

• Some of you probably know via my Facebook or Twitter updates that I was interviewed by tbs TV channel. It wasn't a planned interview though, since I had sneaked in to attend a weekend event called “Explore Seoul”, organized by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. There I was - with my family plus a bunch of unknown foreigners - visiting famous tourist attractions in the city like Gahoe Museum, Samcheong-dong, and Coex. You can see a short clip here.

Explore Seoul

• Following the success of the "Explore Seoul" event, RJ Henry Kimm invited me to share my travel exploits on his show "Primetime". The show was aired live on tbs eFM (101.3 MHz). You can listen to the recording here.

• I was also featured alongside other expat bloggers in the JoongAng Daily, a high quality English language newspaper published by Korea's leading daily, the JoongAng Ilbo, for another blogging tour called "Real Touch Korea Season 1 - Seoul Tour". This event was sponsored by buzz Korea. Perhaps my only rant would be that the reporter did not touch upon how this event could have been bettered. Anyway, enjoy the read. The article is titled, "Social media campaign kicks off with a tour for expat bloggers". Get a feel of the "Real Touch Korea Season 1 - Seoul Tour" through this video.

• For a change, this year I was keen in exploring some of Korea's best performing arts, which meant making time to see Drumcat Percussion Performance at MyungBo Art Hall and 2011 Korea In Motion's Hot Stage (Dulsori's Well-Wishing BINARI).   

Drumcat

2011 Korea In Motion's Hot Stage (Dulsori's Well-Wishing BINARI)

• Talking of music, I was totally high on K-Pop throughout the year - be it attending the 2011 Incheon Korean Music Wave or taking a day off to greet 2PM and missA in person.

2PM and missA

• A visit to Boseong Green Tea Plantations was long overdue, and this year I could finally plan a road trip along with my wife and son during Korean Thanksgiving holidays.

Boseong Green Tea Plantations

• Finally, I deserve a pat on the back for winning the third place in IIK Cricket Team Slogan Contest.

2011 was an excellent year for me on many different levels. My best wishes to you for a peaceful but productive new year.

How to Network When Living Abroad

[Claudine Williams wrote this guest post on behalf of MNUI, a travel insurance company. You might also want to check out her blog, "Korea-Diva".]

When living abroad for an extended period of time, it's a good idea to have a solid network of friends. You need people with whom you can share your experiences, laugh, or simply relax. However, because you are new to the country, finding new friends can be a challenging task. That's why you should try to network as much as you can, before you leave your home country.

Make friends in the new country, before you even leave home. This is a possibility, thanks to the Internet and social networking. You can find groups of people who are also traveling to your new country, or you can meet people who are already settled there.

I highly recommend using Facebook Groups on http://www.facebook.com/ to meet friends with your interests who may be living abroad. You can find groups for just about everything on Facebook. If a group does not exist that meets your interests, you can create the group and see who joins. Your best bet, of course is joining an established group. Be as active as possible in the group. Answer questions. Post your own questions and form connections with people. People will eventually ask you to friend them or swap contact information for sharing additional information. Of course, be careful about sharing any personal information on the Internet. You may only feel comfortable with sharing an email address, not your home address or phone number. You may decide to keep all contact limited to Facebook. Be as cautious as possible when interacting with people you don't know, but get to know them. It is definitely possible to safely make friends on the Internet.

To meet people in person, try using http://www.meetup.com/. These groups have in-person meetings, so people can connect. While in your new country, for example, you may join a meet-up group for going to movies or taking adventure trips. You may join a meet-up group for people who are learning the language spoken in your new country. Just like in Facebook, there are a variety of meet-up groups. With meet-up, you can meet a large group of people in person, depending on the size of the group.

Of course, you can go the traditional routes of meeting people in bars or at parties. Bring business cards with you or create name cards with your name, email address, and cell number. You can also opt to add the person to your cell phone while you are at the venue. I've had people ask me to call them, or they will call me, to exchange numbers during social events. When attending social functions, be prepared to meet new people, and be approachable. If people are not approaching you, approach them. If you are introverted, make a goal of approaching at least two or three people and introducing yourself and chatting for at least four minutes. Don't be tempted to simply say hello and move on. Ask the people about themselves. Getting them to talk about themselves is a great first step to starting a conversation and increasing your network.

Balancing Hobbies and a Full-time Job in South Korea

[Claudine Williams wrote this guest post on behalf of MNUI, a travel insurance company. You might also want to check out her blog, "Korea-Diva".]

While working in South Korea, you may find that you still want to continue hobbies that you'd begun at home or new hobbies that you'll acquire in your new residence. It can be difficult to balance your home life with your work life, particularly in this country, where workers are expected to participate in extracurricular activities with other employees. You will find yourself in the middle of a balancing act, trying to complete what is expected of you on the job, while trying to do things that you enjoy. Don't end up giving up all things that enrich your life. You can balance family, friends, and your personal time if you set specific boundaries.

Although culturally, Korean people often go out for drinks, hiking expeditions, or travel with co-workers, I have seen Korean people bow out gracefully from these requirements. I'm not saying that you should refuse to attend any outings with your co-workers, but it may be okay to miss a few or, at least, leave early. Attend most of the activities, but don't feel stressed about attending them all. You can also try to skip a particular type of event. For example, if you are a non-drinker, you can try to skip a few of the events that center around drinking. If you are allergic to seafood, perhaps you can try to skip visiting a seafood restaurant with your co-workers.

Try to incorporate your new Korean friends and co-workers with your hobby. If it is feasible, you can try to teach your Korean friends your hobby or invite them to participate. This will go a long way in solidifying relationships in your new country. You are also combining time spent with your Korean friends and co-workers with time spent doing what you enjoy.

Set aside time after work to do what you enjoy. Set aside some time so that your time is not swallowed up by work. You can spend an hour a day or an hour a week. Setting aside just a little time can go a long way towards making you feel more balanced and enriched. Try not to talk yourself out of the time that you've set aside. In short, don't deviate from your schedule.

If your schedule fluctuates, create a "to-do" list with time set aside to work on your hobby. Therefore, you are not obligated to work on your hobby at a specific time, but anytime during the day or week if you make a weekly "to-do" list. You can also create a list that divides your tasks between things that you want to do and things that you must do. For every few tasks that you must do, you can reward yourself by doing something that you enjoy.

Use a timer to help you manage your time if you are seriously under a time-crunch. You can set your timer so that you complete a task within 30 minutes, giving yourself another set period for working on your hobby.

Dealing With Culture Shock when Working Abroad

[Claudine Williams wrote this guest post on behalf of MNUI, a travel insurance company. You might also want to check out her blog, "Korea-Diva".]

Culture shock is a common experience when moving abroad to work. Some people experience feelings of unease, homesickness, or have trouble adapting to their new environment. The feelings stem from being placed into new surroundings with different expectations, which may vary considerably from your own culture. Therefore, the social and business norms may differ in your new country, making you feel uneasy.

You may also miss your family or friends, your favorite foods, or your car back home. In countries where your native language is not spoken, you may miss the ability to speak fluently in your own language anytime you wish. Some people simply experience a general feeling of unease. They can't communicate what they don't like about their new surroundings. They simply have misgivings.

The first step to overcoming culture shock is identifying it. When you understand that culture shock is a normal state when moving to an unfamiliar land, you are a step closer to dealing with it. Sometimes, due to the thrill of living in a new area, culture shock is not immediate, when settling into a new country. You may feel elated, and everything around you may appear to be bright, shiny, and new. Even commonplace activities take on a new brilliant appearance to some people when they first settle into a new country. Along with the demands of your new job, organizing a new home, and meeting new friends, you may be under the assumption that you have escaped culture shock.

However, in this case, when the feelings of newness disappear, and you attempt to settle into the new environment, you may then experience culture shock. Culture shock may or may not be immediate. You may have a delayed reaction. Once you realize that you may be experiencing culture shock, it is helpful to talk about your experience with people of your own culture who are also living abroad. Therefore, it's a good idea to have a network of friends or people from your own culture around you. If there is no such community, reach out to other foreigners in general, or make phone calls home. Communication with people who are familiar will go a long way to cope with culture shock. Talking with other new residents will help you to understand that you are not alone, and that others have had many of the same experiences as you.

Be careful not to totally immerse yourself into life back home or with your friends. If you spend more time with other foreigners or talking with friends back home, you miss out on the pleasure of living in a foreign land and spending your time learning about a new culture. Try to balance time spent exploring and settling into your new environment with time spent with people and things that are familiar to you. For example, eat foreign foods sometimes, but also visit restaurants that cook food from back home, if those places are available. Explore your new surroundings. Spend some time making new foreign friends from your new environment, but also spend time with people you know from back home through Skype calls.

Tech Checklist When Traveling Overseas

[Yi Chen wrote this guest post on behalf of MNUI, a travel insurance company. I invited Yi to share her experiences on my blog, mainly because she has traveled a lot around Asia. Since she comes from a pure technology background, I asked her to provide a comprehensive tech checklist of what to do before traveling overseas. For example, backing up documents in Dropbox, sussing out Wi-Fi hotspots, and insuring your devices. You might also want to check out her blog, "My Several Worlds".]

Organizing travel plans can be a stressful experience, especially when it comes to what to pack. No matter how many times we do a mock pack run-through, we always tend to accidentally leave something behind. When it comes to the technology side of things, it's probably something we least care about. Hopefully this list provides helpful hints for your future travels. 

Online Travel Registration

This one is always overlooked but probably an important aspect if you're traveling to a country that's on high security alert. Register your travel itinerary and details with the government to receive information updates from the embassy in an emergency situation. There's Smartraveller (Australian citizens), LOCATE (British citizens), and Travel Registration (U.S. citizens).

Highlight Expensive Gadgets in Your Travel Insurance

Thoroughly check your travel insurance policy and see what's covered under your plan. Chances are, you probably need to pay extra to insure items like your laptop, camera equipment, smartphone, and other pricey gadgets.

Back Up Important Documents

With important documents like your travel itinerary, insurance policies, and scanned copies of your passport, you might like to have a virtual copy of everything. I ensure that these documents are password protected and have them on Dropbox. That way, I can access them whenever and wherever there's a computer and Internet. If you're going to a more remote destination, you might want to keep these documents on a USB storage drive.

Fully Charge Your Devices

Make sure all your devices are fully charged before you leave for the airport. A lot of public locations don't offer power points. There's nothing worse than needing to access your phone, camera, or laptop after a long flight to have it depleted of battery life.

Check Voltage and Plugs

It's highly unlikely that your current plug would be compatible with the power outlet overseas. If you are traveling to various locations (or if you are a frequent flyer), it's probably worth paying the extra and getting yourself a travel power adapter and converter.

Set up a Skype account

Calling home from overseas isn't cheap if you're using a prepaid card or on roaming. If you're expecting to make a lot of calls, set up a Skype account and add value to it. This is great if you have a smartphone where you can download the Skype application. That way, anywhere that has a Wi-Fi connection, you can make cheap calls straight from your phone.

Research on Wi-Fi Hotspots

If you're heading to a big city, chances are that there will be a few Wi-Fi hotspots you can utilize. Do a quick search on sites like wififreespot.com, openwifispots.com, and wi-fihotspotlist.com. Also take a look at local telecom services that might offer inexpensive once-off or short-term Wi-Fi access. If you're traveling to the U.S., you might like to check out Boingo. For a small amount, you can have unlimited Wi-Fi access at major restaurants, hotels, cafes, and airports.

Teaching in South Korea

[Claudine Williams wrote this guest post on behalf of MNUI, a travel insurance company. I invited Claudine to share her experiences on my blog, since she spent a year teaching in Busan, South Korea. You might also want to check out her blog, "Korea-Diva".]

In 2009, I decided that I wanted to make a drastic change to my life. I had been living in a small town in the United States, teaching literature at a local high school. I had an interest in travel and had visited Europe and the Caribbean, but I knew that I wanted to see and experience a great deal more. Therefore, I decided to use my skills as a teacher to land a job overseas.

For years, I'd read job postings for teachers to teach overseas. I'd heard about the Fulbright scholarship, which is offered in the U.S. for teachers who wish to teach abroad, but I was a fairly new teacher with only three years under my belt. I thought the scholarship catered to more experienced teachers. So, I decided to simply find some job opportunities and apply.

By March 2009, I'd applied to teach overseas through a recruiter. I chose South Korea, because the country had a tremendous need for native English speaking teachers, and the country had a good infrastructure for supporting its teachers financially. I also had a desire to visit and learn about Asia. By the beginning of summer, I had landed a position in a public school in South Korea through the English Program in South Korea.

I didn't quite know what to expect, but I'd heard that the students were a joy to teach. I assumed that since South Korea recruited native speaking English teachers, that the teachers were welcomed by most Koreans. What I learned from the experience is that people have different views related to accepting visitors from foreign countries. In South Korea, I was not viewed simply as a visitor or a tourist, but as a foreigner. The word has a totally different connotation than the more friendly tourist or visitor.

Although the students welcomed me, sometimes they were a bit frightened by my appearance (dark skin and long wooly hair). My co-workers either ignored me altogether or simply gave me brief nods, tentative hellos, and carried on with their lives. My co-teacher who was charged with working with me on a day-to-day basis and helping to make sure that my stay in South Korea went smoothly, merely tolerated the position.

We had a problem with interpretation. I interpreted her role as that of a friendly ambassador. She thought that she should was my controller, and I should be her hapless assistant. Sometimes she couldn't be bothered with translating my desires to the school administration. In the classroom, she made it clear that the class was hers, and I was there to assist her, which sometimes boiled down to me teaching only about 10 minutes in a class period. Sometimes I didn't teach at all. Not being able to speak the language was problematic, because when I did manage to discuss my grievances with administrators or the central office, I never knew what my co-worker said in her defense. I was also not sure if administrators agreed with me, and told my co-teacher to improve the situation, and my co-teacher simply didn't tell me what was being said or changed what was said in her translation.

In brief, I soon realized that I had no or very little power in my particular situation, and the best thing that I could do was do my very best, develop a thick skin, and stick with it until the bitter end. Fortunately, my co-teacher did end up increasing my teaching time.

My interview on KBS World Radio Program, "Seoul Report"

I'm just so in love with blogging! Apart of my own blog (When the Muse Strikes!), I have also blogged exclusively for the PC Magazine (Gearlog), Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC), and TechBuzz. Of late, due to extensive traveling (yeah, my MBA is taking me places!) and other work-related commitments, I haven't been able to update my blog much as I'd have wanted to.

Last October I was in for a pleasant surprise when a representative from the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK) informed me that I was chosen as one of Korea's Top 100 Cultural Bloggers.

My initial reaction was "How can this possibly be? I have only written two blog posts on Korea, and none of them really talked about culture per se. Could this be a hoax?" Turns out it was not! I was invited to join an all-expense-paid Bloggers' Travel Camp for three days, and all I had to do was to pack the panniers and oblige them.

Apart from traveling to Jeongseon and Yeongwol in Gangwon-do province with a group of around 30 blogging enthusiasts from all over the world, I also visited Yeongju and Andong in Gyeongsangbuk-do province, where I learned about Confucian traditions and values. The trip provided me an even greater understanding of Korea's history and culture.

You can read more about the trip here.

PS: Don't forget to check out the beautiful snapshots posted on this link.

Also, after the culmination of what I'd term as a successful trip, Matt Kelley, host of the KBS World Radio Program, "Seoul Report", invited me and another travel blogger from Indonesia on the weekly, English-language interview program that airs globally on the World Radio Network (WRN).

I recorded this interview on November 3, 2009 at the KBS studios in Yeouido. You can view the streaming video uploaded to the KBS World website.

Instructions to view the streaming video:

• Click the following URL: http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/culturenlife/culturenlife_seoulreport_detail.htm?No=2784
• Click the orange-colored TV icon. A new window pops-up that plays the streaming video in KBS World Radio VOD Player.
• Alternatively, you can paste the following URL in your browser window: http://world.kbs.co.kr/vod/rki_vod.htm?m_name=people&file_name=e091106.wmv&title=20091106&date=20091106〈=e&starttime=&endtime=&info=

I urge all of you to maintain a blog, and write as often as you'd like to. Who knows you might also be lucky like me!

South Korea Beckons: Global Awareness and Cultural Sensitivity Strategies for Western Technical Communicators

For the past four years, I've lived outside India. Being an expatriate has given me a unique perspective; it has made me more responsive toward the issues of global awareness and cultural sensitivity. More importantly, working as a technical communicator in East Asia has rewarded me with firsthand experience of the cultural differences and their implications on both my professional and personal life. Through this article, I'd like to share my experiences—good and bad—with Western technical communicators, about what it's like to work for a Korean company.

Overcoming Cultural Pangs

As an expatriate in Korea, it took me just one week to realize how different Korean culture is compared to Indian culture. The Japanese occupation and the war with North Korea have left footprints on modern Korean culture.

The traditional values in South Korea stem from deep-rooted Confucian ideology. Confucianism or "The School of the Scholars" revolves around social, political, philosophical, ethical, and religious thoughts that have influenced the culture and history of South Korea up to the 21st century. Nowhere is this more evident than in Korea's corporate system.

Learning to Appreciate a Different Culture

As more and more workplaces become multicultural, there's a great sense of appreciation and respect toward employees from different countries, cultural backgrounds, or ethnicities. Take South Korean conglomerates like Samsung, for instance, where the concept of "global" employees has become quite popular. At Samsung, you're more likely to meet contract employees from India, China, Russia, Ukraine, Japan, Germany, America, France, Turkey, Philippines, and Belarus.

Technical communication also requires sensitivity to diverse cultures. As professional technical communicators, we need to be more aware of cultural differences. By considering the cultural makeup of our audience, we can cater to their needs, without inadvertently causing any embarrassment or resentment.

Differentiating Between High-context and Low-context Cultures

If you're writing for high-context cultures, such as Korea, Japan, China, or France, which assume that readers of technical documents should have enough knowledge about the subject before they begin reading, focus on the amount of detail you need to provide. Generally, technical documentation from high-context cultures offers little detail or explanation.

On the other hand, writers in low-context cultures, such as the United States, India, United Kingdom, or Germany, are expected to provide more detail in technical documents, since it is assumed that their readers know very little or nothing about the subject. Unsurprisingly, technical documentation from low-context cultures is far more comprehensive and elaborate than technical documentation from high-context cultures.

Knowing how much information to provide in a particular culture helps writers communicate more effectively. By considering the cultural background of your audience, you won't overwhelm them with too much information (in high-context cultures) or too little information (in low-context cultures).

Respecting the Hierarchy

In every culture, unwritten rules govern many interactions. Understanding these rules can help you succeed in that culture.

Confucianism has introduced a structure of hierarchy, rather than a matrix, in most Korean organizations. Professionals are hired on merit, in tandem with social considerations. School affiliation and age play a major role in most hiring decisions in Korea.

Koreans place a lot of emphasis on title; it could be said that nowhere in East Asia does title hold more prominence than in Korea. Try addressing a Korean colleague of the same age group but higher designation with his name, and chances are you'll be asked to prefix a title. If you don't use a title to address someone higher in the value chain, Koreans are likely to consider you disrespectful or discourteous.

If the distance between top- and bottom-level organizational hierarchies is wide, technical communicators should resort to formal communication. If the culture encourages a flat organization, the communication automatically becomes less formal.

In order to succeed in a Korean company, you must consider the hierarchy between you and the final decision maker. Allow everybody in the middle to give their opinion and be included as much as possible.

Some Differences Between Korean and Western Workplaces

• According to an in-depth analysis of the "2004 Time Use Survey," South Koreans spend more time at work than Westerners. Most Korean managers throw a fit each time a subordinate enters the premises late, even by a minute. Koreans are sticklers for punctuality, and most jobs vary from 30 to 40 hours a week, but you'll always be encouraged to spend more time at work. If you're interested in working in Korea, and you're accustomed to flex time and telecommuting, be prepared to make some major adjustments to your lifestyle.

• In most East Asian nations, cultures tend to be collectivist. In other words, people pursue group objectives and respond to the groups' needs. But again, several Western countries propagate individualistic culture, where personal achievement holds more prominence than other things. If you know your audience and their cultural orientation, choosing between "me-oriented" or "we-oriented" writing shouldn't take long.

• People in East Asian countries—mostly Korea and Japan—prefer indirect modes of communication to direct modes of communication. Countries like the United States, India, and Canada typically prefer direct communication. Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages. Koreans tend to shy away from Westerners who are loud, direct, or candid in any form of expression. In the Western world, it might be okay to ask questions, such as age and rank. However, in this part of the world, it's considered inappropriate to ask many questions during meetings or conference calls. If you sit quietly and absorb everything that's thrown at you, you'll probably fare better than someone who doesn't. People in East Asian cultures also generally do not contradict their supervisors or seniors as a point of respect.

New Field, Greater Challenges

Technical communication is a new and emerging field in South Korea—not many Koreans consider it a separate profession or a true academic discipline. In fact, very few know what we do and confuse technical communication with advertising, journalism, translation, or technical marketing.

In an exclusive interview with JoongAng Daily, a leading South Korean newspaper, Sohn Eun-rag, deputy director of the policy department at the National Statistical Office, stated that out of 1,414 job categories listed with the Korean government, "technical writer" was still classified under "translator," implying that technical communication in Korea continues to remain unrecognized as a government-designated job. There could be many factors attributing to this, says Sohn, who feels that the field is relatively new—with only a limited number of technical communication practitioners, academicians, or service providers.

Changing the current scheme of things requires a gigantic effort and a fair bit of evangelism. Lack of proper technical communication education or training in Korea only makes it harder to cover enough ground. But on the bright side, less awareness about our profession also means that the market is ripe for exploration.

According to Chang Seok-jin, director of the Korea Technical Communications Association (KTCA), the product liability law passed in 2002 brought about a paradigm shift in the way Korean companies look at user manuals. Under the law, if a Korean company was found responsible for financial or physical damage as a result of its badly written instruction manuals, it could be booked for legal punishment.

More Opportunities for Practitioners, Service Providers, and Academicians

As technical communication tries to establish a foot-in-the-door here, big Korean companies like Samsung, Hyundai, and LG are creating opportunities for practitioners and service providers from foreign countries, inviting them to experience, and be a part of their multifaceted culture.

A typical "work profile" for technical communicators in such companies will include writing such things as reports, business letters/memos, instruction manuals, sales and marketing materials, data sheets, proposals, e-communication, and translation materials.

Also, premier Korean universities are now inviting outstanding international scholars and academicians, mostly from native English-speaking nations, to teach technical communication. For instance, the College of Engineering at Seoul National University (SNU) is planning to start a full-time degree course in engineering general and convergence technology, which includes technical writing as one of its main subjects. SNU sees two distinct advantages with such an arrangement—first, it will promote diversity of its faculty, student body, and curriculum; and second, it will beef up its position on the global map.

The University of Science and Technology (UST), a group of public universities and research institutions located in Seoul, Suwon, Seongnam, and Daejeon, provides special courses in technical communication and technical writing. Ewha Woman's University also offers a master's degree in professional writing and technical communication.

For miscellaneous short-term programs, visit the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), which has a five-week intensive summer program to provide communicative practice in English.

How Technical Documents Are Written in Korea

Korean companies don't understand why technical communication is important. For them, it's always an afterthought or an additional burden. The result is, more often than not, poor quality documentation that smacks of inaccuracies and inconsistencies.

What surprised me when I started to work for Samsung was that some business units (BUs) recruited floor secretaries to write and format their user manuals in English. Other BUs relied on their internal resources (such as subject matter experts, programmers, design engineers, field application engineers, supervisors and managers, public relations officers, sales and marketing staff, and IT specialists) to write or structure technical documents. None of these people had real-life exposure to technical communication in their previous roles; also, they weren't obliged by management to take up formal education or training in technical communication.

Among the most valuable and frequently used resources of Korean writers are digital and online dictionaries and thesauri, translation tools like Hunmin JungUm Global, and guidelines and standards documents for specific industries. Legacy documents are quite popular, too, as are technical documents from peer companies and subject-matter consultants.

Problem Areas

There are no technical publication departments or content business groups per se in most Korean organizations. Additionally, Korean companies lack the experience in setting up technical publication departments. The biggest surprise, however, is the absence of any accurate terminology for technical communication in Korean.

Companies here rarely focus on maintaining standard workflow processes, and they hardly use technology or tools for sharing critical information. Even Korean employees don't share information frequently—if someone leaves the organization, they take the information along with them.

In the past, Korean companies have been on the receiving end of customer wrath due to poorly produced user documentation. Current technical documents do not meet users' satisfaction either, and there are immediate problem areas that need to be addressed.

Most Korean technical writers have never lived in an English-speaking country, and they are used to writing long and unwieldy sentences, laced with grammatical mistakes, colloquialisms, and formatting issues. Making improvements and reducing the cost of creating, editing, and managing content has now become a critical strategy—something that did not exist in Korean organizations in the past.

Some of the bigger problems that continue to haunt the technical communication industry in Korea include: a lack of professional technical communication training on tools and the English language; the inability to hire local/foreign technical communication practitioners who are "right" for the job; few company-/enterprise-level style guides and prescribed patterns, templates, and standard formats to follow; inadequate ethical considerations; and a lack of usability testing.

Also, considerable inconsistencies exist between the writers' criteria and the users' standards of what comprises an effective document. The biggest discrepancy lies in honesty—there's no such thing as copyright in Korea, or if there is, most Korean writers and managers are blind to it. Over the years, the need to hire foreign technical communication practitioners has increased tremendously in Korea. Several factors that have fueled this demand, including globalization, customers who discovered inconsistencies in technical documents, difficulties with translation, and issues with comprehension.

The Role of STC and the Technical Communicator Network

Before we start analyzing the role of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and Korea's Technical Communicator Network (TCN) in elevating the technical communication profession, it's important to understand how Koreans view the English language in general.

Previous studies on the English language may not have centered on writing, let alone technical writing. Almost all Koreans start learning English—both in its written and spoken variants—from as early as the third grade. They are adept at reading English; what they truly lack is the chance to practice speaking it with a native. And while written English is required for university graduation and for attaining employment with big companies in Korea, no one learns to write well.

Some Korean companies like Samsung require a good score in Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC). However, even with so much focus on it, English has failed to become the preferred language for communication in Korea. Until it becomes sufficiently widespread, Koreans are unlikely to communicate in native English text or use its rhetorical styles.

In order to disseminate information, awareness, and understanding of the technical communication profession in multicultural, professional, and business organizations in Korea, STC started a Korea Chapter in 2006, which currently has 21 members. In addition to the STC Korea Chapter, technical communicators in Korea can collaborate via Technical Communicator Network (TCN), a relatively unknown entity in Korea with more than 550 registered members. According to Mr. Yoon G. Won, president of TCN Korea, these numbers are going to increase in the coming years.

What Lies Ahead

The profession of technical communication will eventually grow in Korea, but it will take a long time for the profession to fully realize its social responsibilities. In the meantime, technical communicators eager to work in Korea must understand the social, cultural, economic, and political environments in which Korean companies operate.

Academicians should focus on developing students' knowledge and competencies in the use of English language for intercultural communication in business and professional contexts. By opening new university-level programs, they would help technical communication become the most sought after profession in Korea.

Practitioners should also learn the customs and the language of another culture. For instance, without sufficient knowledge of written and spoken Korean, foreign writers will always remain ill-equipped to explore the manner in which Koreans write about technology in their own language.

Finally, my recommendation for dealing with intercultural issues is to have an open mind and heart. While we are all unique in some ways, at the core we're all the same. Our values, goals, and daily issues are pretty much the same. We might exercise different practices and customs, but they all fulfill the same basic needs or desires.

One thing I can say for sure: obtaining the necessary knowledge and skills to survive in a culture and practicing those skills until they become second nature requires effort, but the rewards are both heartwarming and dramatic.

STC 55th Annual Conference – My Travelogue (Part 1)

Most of you must've at least skimmed through the countless articles and blog stories on STC's 55th Annual Conference held in the heart of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from June 1-4, 2008. For me, this event was a part of the bigger world, which had eluded me for the last seven years of my professional life. It was a chance to meet the veterans, majority of whom I have admired for a long time. It was also a great networking opportunity, besides the usual hullabaloo of sessions, panel discussions, and exhibitions. Being in the States also meant experiencing a new country, a new place, and a new culture. Overall, it was an experience to remember.

Here's how it all started for me:

May 29, 2008

1. Woke up quite early in the morning, even though my flight from Incheon to San Francisco (SFO) was scheduled to depart at 2:10pm.
2. Had to run an errand to my office for procuring the username and password of the company laptop. Yes, I did not carry my Dell XPS M1530 this time. Turns out the username was administrator and the password, blank.
3. Called Eun-kyong, a family friend, and asked her what she'd like for a gift. "Anything!" back came her reply. On my persistence, she revealed her favorite colors were red and black, not pink, which by the way, is a very popular color in Korea. Eun-kyong, like all other Korean women in their late 30s, thinks she looks plump in pink, lol!
4. Called a taxi to reach Hotel Plaza (just for the record, if you are staying in the Suwon area, it can take you more than an hour to reach the Incheon airport – either by car or by bike. So, taking a limo from Hotel Plaza to Incheon Airport is quite reasonable if you ask me. Besides, it only costs a paltry USD12.) The taxi arrived in merely five minutes [as a matter of fact, Korea is renowned for its pali-pali (or quickly-quickly) culture]. Not surprisingly, the driver wanted to strike up a conversation with me in Korean. We tried to get it going for sometime, but on realizing that neither of us were good at understanding the other, we preferred to remain silent for the rest of our journey. Works like a charm!
5. Thankfully, the limo departed on time. Unfortunately, the driver discovered quite late that the rear glass of the limo was broken. And just when I thought of asking the driver why the bus won't start, all hell broke loose. He grabbed the nearest microphone, and started making an annoying broadcast, lo and behold, in Korean. Failing to figure out what exactly was going on, I turned to the guy behind my seat. Turns out, he was Japanese. Actually, the driver was arranging for another limo.
6. Reached the Incheon airport way ahead of time. The weather was fantastic – bright and sunny – precisely how it should've been. Who would've imagined that it was raining like cats and dogs up until the night before?
7. A big, pleasant surprise awaited me at Incheon. My economy class ticket from Incheon to SFO was automatically upgraded to Business class. Also, I was greeted by a Greek goddess at the Asiana Airlines counter, who delivered the good news to me: "Special offer extended for Samsung employees only!" Tada!
8. However, my happiness was short-lived. My flight was delayed by five hours due to some technical glitches in the Airbus. I rushed to grab my free food coupons from the airlines helpdesk. Most Korean passengers in my flight were frantic with anger and frustration, while others were perplexed about what was going on (rotfl!)
9. I hit the book shack, and grabbed a Mitch Albom novel, "For One More Day." For more details on this book, refer to http://www.albom.com/films_fomd.html.
10. The rescheduled flight started exactly at 7:10pm instead of 2:10pm. Finally, I breathe a sigh of relief!
11. On the plane, I met an interesting older person from Boston. This person, perhaps in his late 60s, was born in the States, and had lived all his life there with his wife and his only son (who by the way, has moved to some other city in the States; sorry, can't remember the name!) Interestingly, his accent hinted to me that his ancestors must have descended from Korea or some similar ethnicity. This man, too, looked like a Korean, but didn't know a dime about the country, let alone its language or its people.
12. Reached SFO at almost 2pm. The flight took more than ten hours to reach SFO from Incheon. Needless to say, all my batteries were exhausted by that time. Didn't have enough time to see the airport. Rushed straight to the domestic terminal for catching the connecting flight to Philly.
13. Only an hour was left for the connecting flight to Philly, and the line for security check seemed like the stretch from Jammu to Kanyakumari. To make matters worse, the security personnel literally glanced over my shoes, my bracelets, my watch, my belt, my wallet, and believe it or not, even my glasses. Whoever said common sense prevails?
14. Somehow made it to the connecting flight, only to realize that the seats were smaller in this jet, and the leg space, even smaller.
15. As luck would have it, I couldn't sleep at all on the flight from SFO to Philly. Besides, I was not impressed by the unfriendly staff in that particular United Airlines domestic flight – the stewardesses wore a dry, weary smile. And just when I thought it couldn't have gotten worse, one of them announced, "We only offer paid beverages for USD5 on this flight." I could clearly see the writing on the wall. In all likelihood, this was my last flight with United Airlines.
16. Reached Philly at about 10:30pm in the night, but the airport wore a deserted look. Quite unflattering to say the least.
17. Just as I made a quick trip to the comfort station, I was dumbstruck at the use of technology everywhere, even in the most unlikeliest of the places. Everything is huge in the States.
18. Met a cool Afro-American driver, and instantly struck up a conversation with him to know more about the city, which many say, is the city of brotherly love. During my half an hour journey from the Philly airport to the Club Quarters Hotel, I gained a lot of insights about the city from the driver, who interestingly, has been working as a driver for the last 18 years. The normal charge for a taxi from the Philly airport to the Club Quarters Hotel is USD28.50; however, this driver drove me in a chic limo, so I was more than willing to pay him USD30.
19. The Club Quarters turned out to be a much better hotel than I anticipated. Unlike other hotels in Philly, the prices in this one are low, while the quality is high. Neat and clean hotel, with an extremely friendly staff. The best part was a free wi-fi connection (if you were staying in any other hotel in Philly, you have to pay for availing the wi-fi services.)
20. After checking in the hotel, the receptionist asked for my credit card in order to cover accidentals. She handed over my room's swipe card. Turns out, if you are a customer in this hotel, you had to swipe this card for just about everything, even in the elevator (phew!)
21. Couldn't sleep properly due to the jet lag. I literally forced myself to sleep at 4am.

May 30, 2008

22. The next morning, I decided to have breakfast in the hotel itself. The Club Quarters has a cool Italian restaurant inside its premises called Davios. A simple bread omelet with fresh orange juice and coffee turns out to be quite expensive. Wrong decision!
23. Decided to check out the venue of the STC conference, so reached the Mariott at around 10am.
24. A Victorian-style "open-air" trolley parked near the hotel caught my attention immediately, and before I knew, I was on it, taking the city tour. Right decision this time, but at a heavy price tag once again. The ticket was priced at USD27.
25. Took the complete bus tour, and saw most of the tourist spots in Philly from outside like Independence Visitor's Centre, Betsy Ross House, National Constitution Center, Chinatown, Hard Rock Cafe, City Hall, Basilica of St Peter And St Paul, Rodin Museum, "Rocky's Steps" Museum of Art, Eastern State, Penitentiary, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia Zoo, Franklin Institute Science Museum, Logan Circle, Academy of Music, Antiques Row, South Street/ Head House Square, Society Hill Sheraton, Penn's Landing/ Waterfront, and Old City/ Christ Church. What fun!
26. Returned to the hotel, which was five blocks away from the Mariott. Ordered lunch from an Indian restaurant called "Passage to India". Bad food, plus expensive. Another blunder!
27. Decided not to step out of the hotel for rest of the day. First, I was terribly exhausted. Second, I had to download and install the trial version of Adobe Technical Communication Suite on my company's Sens x06 notebook, since the pre-conference certificate program was going to start from the next day. To my surprise, I found out that Adobe had taken off the trial versions for some of its selected products from its website until July 1, and Technical Communication Suite figured in those selected few. I reached out to Peter Grainge, and he offered to help. Peter tried to contact the support guys at Adobe, and even downloaded the trial CD on his website. However, on that particular day, none of his approaches would work. Eventually, I decided to go at the venue without the software installed on my system. I was appalled, and I say this without having any intention to offend Adobe, that the customer support at Adobe could not provide a timely resolution to my problem (actually they couldn't provide a resolution at all!) I tried calling their customer support two times that day — no response the first time, and the second time, my call was redirected to an Indian call center executive, who took the call, but failed miserably at providing a resolution! I was sure that emailing Adobe would work, but the results were far from encouraging! Maybe it was just one of those bad days, where nothing worked regardless of the effort.
28. Slept for a few hours, but not enough to let go of my jet lag. Don't exactly remember what I did after that, except I ate the same food I had for lunch.

May 31, 2008

29. Reached the Mariott at 7:15am, only to realize later that I was the first person to reach the venue. While I was checking the several pre-conference certificate programs, I met Keith Dover from Southwest Power Pool. I ran into Keith quite often at the STC conference, and even met his wife during the Stars of Philadelphia tour (more details on this tour later!)
30. While I was hanging out at the venue, trying to figure out how many pre-conference sessions were in progress simultaneously, I met Sandra Shambaugh, mother of a 13-year-old daughter from Florida, who had also enrolled for the Adobe Technical Communication Suite boot camp. Among all the attendees for the Adobe boot camp, Sandra and I clicked right from the word go.
31. One of the main reasons to arrive early at the venue was to meet my instructors, Kevin Siegel and Matt Sullivan, so I could request a trial CD of the Technical Communication Suite software from them. Unfortunately, none of them were carrying one. Kevin, who was teaching RoboHelp and Captivate on the first day of the camp, requested Matt to help students with the installation of the software. In the meantime, Kevin asked me to use his laptop for working on the software. He trained us on RoboHelp, which in my opinion does not have a big learning curve. I would say that I enjoyed listening to him.
32. During lunchtime, I sat with attendees from the Usability workshop. Incidentally, I ran into Leah Guren there. Leah is the Director of Training for In Other Words, Israel.
33. After the first day of boot camp ended, I bought a long-distance calling card, and called my folks in India. The rest of the evening was spent with STC members who traveled along with me on the Stars of Philadelphia optional tour.

(To be continued...)

IT Slowdown in India Might Just Be a Faux Pas

It happened in 2001 and it's happening all over again. Among all the talk of a booming Indian economy and rising employee wages, the slowdown in the Indian IT industry has reared its ugly head for the second time in less than a decade.

Premier institutes in the country like the Indian Institute of Technology are already facing the music, with companies like International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), Hughes Software Systems (HSS), and Hindustan Computers Limited (HCL) deciding to cop out of placements this year. Even leading Indian IT service providers like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, and Infosys have decided to go slow on their hiring spree. One can only imagine the plight of thousands of IIT graduates passing out this year!

To make matters worse, TCS has shown the door to more than 500 employees with less than five years of experience, citing performance issues. IBM, too, laid off around 700 employees, mostly novices.

That's certainly one part of the equation. Contrary to popular belief, NASSCOM, a leading trade body that represents the chamber of commerce of IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS) industries in India, predicts that the number of jobs in this sector will continue to rise in 2008. According to NASSCOM, both IT and ITeS will be home to an additional 4 million people this year, contributing towards 7% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 33% of the foreign exchange inflows in India.

Lomesh, a technical writer working at TCS, Noida, stated,

"I think there are many factors contributing towards the slowdown in the Indian IT industry. Recession in the U.S., drop in the U.S. dollar value against the Indian rupee, and emergence of cost-effective markets elsewhere are some of the factors that may have led to the recent layoffs and less hiring in India. However, companies like TCS and IBM have their operations all over the world, not to forget, they also have a huge workforce."

"As far as the numbers are concerned, both 500 and 700 may seem large. However, this still constitutes a minuscule percentage of such a company's workforce. Software professionals in India just cannot sit on their laurels and enjoy big packages anymore. We, in India, should get ready for the tough competition from our counterparts in Latin America, China, Southeast Asia and other parts of the world," he concluded.

Cost Arbitrage and Quality Pressures
Ironically, the 12th Annual Salary Increase Survey from Hewitt Associates showed that India Inc. enjoyed the highest salary hikes in the world last year, averaging at 15.1%. Analysts at Hewitt predict an increase of 15.2% this year. In the last five years, no other country in the world has come close to India if you compare the salaries inflation in excess of 10%.

In my humble opinion, downturn in the U.S. has little to do with the IT slowdown in India. I think that cost arbitrage, skills shortage, and declining quality of work might be the actual culprits. As employee wages continue to rise in India, the cost advantage for offshoring is slowly diminishing. Barring costs, other recurring issues like shortage of skills and quality pressures, keep haunting the Indian IT and ITeS industry.

Echoing the same sentiments, Vijay Tase, Owner, Peer Technical Services Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, said,

"I'd agree that almost every decision related to offshoring or outsourcing has a financial motive behind it. However, another equally important issue is that of quality, which in the end bear financial consequences. To maintain the quality of products or services under any kind of outsourcing model is difficult. It's hard for any company headquartered in the U.S. to maintain quality when outsourcing work to smaller (or any size for that matter) U.S.-based outfits, let alone outsourcing outside the U.S. This is a result of the cultural differences (professional and social) between the two parties."

Tase makes an interesting observation about the quality of work in an outsourcing model and the amount of resources needed in order to maintain that quality.

"In harsh economic conditions, such things usually come to the fore and form a decisive element when looking at options for change. Not only does one need to carefully analyze the quality of work coming out of the outsourcing model, but also the amount of resources that need to be expended to keep that quality. The amount of management time that goes in maintaining high quality can be excruciatingly large. A company might spend the same resources managing quality in outsourced work in good as well as bad times, but in bad times it simply becomes a particularly thorny aspect."

Reaching an Equilibrium between High-tech Jobs in India and Elsewhere
WRAL Local Tech Wire Publisher and Editor, Rick Smith, argues that layoffs in India point towards an equilibrium reached between high-tech jobs in the country and high-tech jobs in North America (or the higher-cost countries.)

I'd certainly beg to differ!

Just imagine, a highly-skilled professional like a Software Architect can command up to U.S. $200/hour or more in the U.S. Not sure if someone with comparable skills in India can earn that much.

While companies like IBM, Accenture, and Hewlett-Packard (HP) have outsourced more than 10% of their workforce to India, most of these jobs do not go beyond simple execution or maintenance tasks.

Chaitra Venkatesh, a techie with Advice America, said,

"To meet the manpower demand, companies cast a wide net for new employees. Now the pressure on margins moves on to break the linear-growth relationship between employee numbers and revenue, and a drive to do high-end work is resulting in companies doing away with the non-performers."

It will not be fair to say that layoffs in India are a direct corollary of this equilibrium. Additionally, those affected by this slowdown must remember that a layoff is not the end of the road. In fact, if you continue to reinvent and innovate, it might just be the beginning.

Differences in Work Culture
In one of her blog posts on this subject, Sarah O'Keefe, Founder and President, Scriptorium Publishing Services,
wrote,

"I think it's fair to say that many Indians are shocked by this development. At least one person says that the interviewers should be let go because they did a bad job of evaluating people. Others are wringing their hands over ruined careers because the layoff means a black mark on your resume. And with much sympathy, I say to them, "Welcome to our world." Layoffs are a fact of life in the U.S."

Sarah, by the way, started her company following a layoff. According to her, most people in high-tech have had a layoff (or two or three) in their job history.

"The "I've been laid off and my life is ruined" perspective is no longer valid in North America. Layoffs happen, and everyone knows it. For those Westerners who are concerned about losing their jobs to low-cost competition, layoffs in India might be a sign that the outsourcing trend is slowing down. Which, if you're in the U.S. job market, means less competition for you. Maybe."

While I completely understand where Sarah is coming from, I do not think the work conditions in India can be compared in the same vein with the U.S. or elsewhere. It's like comparing apples to oranges.

To put the work culture differences into perspective, Samartha Vashishtha, Senior Technical Writer at HCL Technologies, offers some useful insights,

"Yes, layoffs are a part of the U.S. work culture, but there are several things one can find solace in. Social security and unemployment benefits come to my mind immediately. Compare that to India, where unemployment benefits exist only in name. Even if you are able to bypass the government machinery to collect the pittance, that would not pay for anything! In a country of a billion people, where a sizeable number spend their lives working for their next meal, the danger of being reduced to nothing is real. There is no subsidized healthcare for the elderly; the cost of living is mounting by the day. Just some of the reasons why people feel about their jobs here the way they do. I am not saying that the clash of the working cultures does not exist; I only want to emphasize that the problems of these two democracies are fundamentally different."

Blame it on the culture, but many companies in India still cannot differentiate between a person who was "laid off" and a person who was "fired." Being laid off does not show a person's incompetence by any means; it just implies a cutback. If you are unemployed as a result of a layoff, use this time to study more, to enhance your existing skill set, and to network using professional societies or local groups. Maintaining a positive frame of mind is the key to survive here.

Embracing Change in a Transient, Volatile Global Business Environment
According to John Rosberg, Director, Tech Pubs and Localization at Interwoven,

"All business (and, indeed, much of everything) is cyclic—where you can really make trouble for yourself is when you make rock-solid plans on things continuing as they have indefinitely."

I could not agree more! In the coming times, India Inc. would face a stiff competition from Eastern Europe, Israel, Ireland, and other nations—all of whom have programs to counter India's cost structures. The only way to avert competition is by constantly adding value, rather than focusing on cost. Obviously, the software industry is here to stay—just as certainly, it'll continue to undergo a rapid and a continuous change.

Financial Motivations
Many experts believe that the IT slowdown in India might just be a faux pas. Outsourced work will continue to create jobs in developing nations, until the industry misers run out of all their financial motivations.

In words of Rick Stone, an Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Instructor and an Adobe Community Expert for the RoboHelp and Captivate products,

"Developers worldwide are financially motivated because they often have families depending on their income. The companies providing new avenue for outsourced work are financially motivated for the same reasons."

The government of India has ensured in a statement that the Indian IT-ITes and BPO (including hardware) sector will continue to garner high revenues in 2007-2008, growing at over 33 per cent. The Minister of State for Communications and IT, Shakeel Ahmad, told in a written reply in Rajya Sabha that there would not be any recession in the IT industry in 2008.

"There was no immediate challenge to the Indian IT industry from China or other competing countries as per Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council," Ahmad said.

Finally, brush aside all your fears of an IT slowdown and remember that your "value" to the company must increase with the cost.