Presented by Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler Community, Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at the Society for Technical Communication Summit, Philadelphia, PA. A look at how Scott Abel moved his career from a dead-end nightclub job to a career as one of the foremost experts in content management and technical communication. Step-by-step progress will be explored. Lessons learned and best practices will be shared.

1. From Nightclub DJ To
Content Management Consultant
Developing A Business Career
The Content Wrangler Way

2. In Case You Were Wondering,
Now You Know, This Is Not Me
He’s Not Only Strong, He’s Apparently
Quicker To See The Value Of His URL Than I

3. It All Started In Academia
I Earned 146 Credits, In Four Different
Programs ... And Didn’t Earn A Degree

4. My First Area of Study Was Art
I Learned That I Was Not An Artist,
But I Knew Good Art When I Saw It

5. Next Stop, Business School
I Quickly Realized This Was Not Where I Fit

6. Then I Dabbled In Photography
I Liked The Medium And Being Able To
Communicate Messages Visually

7. Journalism Fed My Mind
Affording Groceries, An Automobile,
And A Place To Live Was Another Story

8. Everyday Was A Learning Event
The People I Interviewed Were Subject
Matter Experts; I Explained What They Knew

9. What Do You Mean We Get A “B”?
Starting A Local Alternative Magazine Proved
Fun, Exciting, And Profitable

10. I’ll Be Your Server This Evening
Like Many Before Me, I Waited Tables To Get
Myself Through School

11. Then I Became A Bartender
The Money Was Much Better, But It
Wasn’t As Glamorous As One Might Think

12. Age 14: My First Gig As A DJ
I Learned From A Club DJ Who Worked At Our
Local Under 21 Disco

13. DJing Taught Me About Content
Reuse And Personalization
Playing The Wrong Version For The Wrong
Crowd At The Wrong Time Is...Well, Wrong!

14. Turning Around On A Music Box
I Had An Ear For The Unusual And No Fear Of
Trying Something Until It Worked

15. <--- LARRY LEVIN AT
PARADISE GARAGE
NYC CIRCA 1978
Remixes Were User-Generated
Users Were DJs Who Played In Discos And
Needed Songs Longer Than 3 Minutes

16. Two Turntables And A Mixer
Until The Late 1990s, All Remixes Were Made
Manually By Musically-Inclined DJs

17. <--- CONTROLS BPM
Tempo Control Was The Key
The Technics 1200 Turntables Are Still The
Instrument Of Choice For Many DJs

18. Reuse Is In The Remix
Vocals Are Reused Identically And Combined
With Different Styles Of Music

19. Madonna Helped Explain How
In An Interview On MTV, She Explained How
The Technology Worked

20. Madonna Helped Explain How
In An Interview On MTV, She Explained How
The Technology Worked

21. Digital Players Mimic Analog
They Allow DJ To Use Finger To Control
Tempo And Computers To Lock In Speed

22. USE YOUR IMAGINATION.
The Old Guy At The Bar
I Was Heading Nowhere Fast And Needed To
Find A Sustainable Future -- A Career

23. <--- not my counselor
In 1999, I Sought Help From An
Employment Counselor
He Suggested My Skill Set Would Make Me
An Excellent Technical Communicator

24. I Put Together A Portfolio
My Magazine, Ads I Designed, Photos I Shot,
Articles I Wrote, Music I Remixed

25. One Interview Later...
My First Assignment: Documenting Mortgage
Loan Automation Software

26. At First, I Didn’t See The Signs
I Was Bedazzled By The Corporate Culture,
My Paycheck, And Benefits

27. You’ve Got To Be Kidding Me!
Totally Disorganized, Inefficient, Wasteful ...
They Were Later Sued Out Of Business

28. I Started Searching For Answers
The Internet Became My Hunting Ground

29. WRITTEN BY FORMER TECHNICAL
WRITER ANN ROCKLEY, WITH
STEVE MANNING AND PAMELA
KOSTUR, THIS BOOK IS REQUIRED
READING FOR ANY ONE WHO
WANTS TO WORK IN THE CONTENT
MANAGEMENT ARENA.
Unified Content Strategy
My Involvement As Technical Editor Was My
‘Ah ha!’ Moment: I’ve Not Turned Back Since

30. I Needed A Way To Get Organized
Lots Of Information I Wanted To Remember,
But Carrying It Around Was Not Practical

31. The Content Wrangler Was Born
It Was Nothing More Than An Online Storage
Cabinet For Things I Wanted To Remember

32. The Accidental Audience
My Focus On Managing Content As A
Business Asset Resonated With Others

33. Blogging Raised My Profile
I Was Recruited Based On My Views And My
Perceived Expertise; People Noticed Me

34. I ACCEPTED
NON-TRADITIONAL
ROLES AND
DIDN’T WORRY
ABOUT “TITLE”
AND, I MADE MUCH
MORE MONEY
WITH THIS
APPROACH
Thanks, But No Thanks!
I Turned Down Jobs That Required Me To
Write Unstructured Content In MS Word

35. Started Speaking At Events
Speaking At Business And Content
Management Events Helped Me Find Work

36. “CONTENT IS A
BUSINESS ASSET
WORTHY OF
BEING EFFECTIVELY
MANAGED”
THIS MESSAGE SELLS!
Defining My Value Proposition
Good Idea: Communicating and Rebranding
Myself As A Content Management Strategist

37. WINNERS ARE MUCH
MORE LIKELY TO
HIRE YOU.
WHINERS ARE
MORE LIKELY TO
DISTRACT YOU.
Whiners Vs. Winners (Duh!)
I Ran Toward Winners, Which Also Meant I
Was Running Away From Whiners

38. <-- DICK EDLEMAN,
PRESIDENT AND CEO,
EDLEMAN PR
EDLEMAN IN WORLD’S
LARGEST PR FIRM
Scott, Commoditize Your Blog
At The Syndicate Conference in 2006, Dick
Edleman Encouraged Me To ‘Think Bigger’

39. <-- ADS ALLOWED ME ACCESS
TO SOFTWARE AND SERVICES
COMPANIES AND THEIR
PRODUCTS, EXPERTS
Banner Ads Brought In Revenue
Companies That Want To Sell Products Also
Need Help Creating And Documenting Them

40. Conferences: Natural Extension
My Readers Said They Needed To Learn How
To Do What I Was Writing About

41. Presenters Seek Attention
The Same Folks Who Speak At Conferences
Write Articles And Participate In Groups

42. The Need For Community
What Was Missing Was A Way For People To
Connect To One Another Without My Help

43. Birds Of A Feather ...
Social Networking Technology Allows People
To Congregate In Ways Meaningful To Them

44. So Many Jobs, So Little Time
Being An Individual Consultant Is Not
Scaleable...This Is Good News For You

45. ARE YOU A DOCUMENT ENGINEER?
HOW ABOUT A CONTENT
CHOREOGRAPHER?
WRITTEN BY FORMER TECHNICAL
WRITER BOB GLUSHKO, NOW A
MULTI-MILLIONAIRE, THIS BOOK
IS REQUIRED READING FOR ANY
SERIOUS CONTENT PROFESSIONAL.
Grow Your Knowledge
There Is No Future In Commodity Writing:
The Future Is In Solving Content Challenges

46. YOU MUST BE WILLING
TO CHANGE AND OPEN TO
DIFFERENT APPROACHES.
ALLOW YOURSELF TO
THINK BIGGER.
DON’T ALLOW OTHERS
TO DEFINE YOU.
The Road To Success
There Is No One Right Way To Become A
Content Management Expert