WTD Episode 12: Founding ideas behind Write the Docs
In this episode, we chat with Eric Holscher (WTD cofounder) and Mikey Ariel (WTD Europe organizer) about the Write the Docs community itself, including origins, founding ideas, goals, challenges, trends, and roadmaps for the community. We dive specifically into idea of diversity of roles (and the term 'documentarian'), the way open source principles inform the community's core values, balancing individual freedom to contribute on one's own terms with the expectations of the WTD experience, and more.
You can view more podcast details, including MP3 download links, here.
Here are some of the questions discussed during the podcast:
- How did WTD start?
- What was the original purpose of WTD and how did it evolve?
- Why the emphasis on diversity of roles and the word “documentarian”?
- How does open source inform the community’s dynamics?
- How do you give community members freedom to contribute in their own way while still installing the WTD values into their events?
- Does the idea of open source (namely, contributing back, sharing) provide long-term sustaining momentum for an almost entirely volunteer-run community?
- In what ways is WTD experimenting with new ideas and approaches?
- What trends do you see for WTD and the industry in the future?
For more information, see the following:
- Write the Docs.
- Write the Docs Prague
- Write the Docs Portland
- Write the Docs origin story
- Write the Docs organizer guide
- Write the docs meetups
- Write the Docs newsletter and mailing lists
About Tom Johnson
I'm a technical writer based in the San Francisco Bay area. In this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, visual communication, information architecture, writing techniques, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out simplifying complexity and API documentation for some deep dives into these topics. If you're a technical writer and want to keep on top of the latest trends in the field, be sure to subscribe to email updates. You can also learn more about me or contact me.