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Yesterday I met someone at a tech conference. They introduced themself and when I asked what they did, she replied: "I'm not technical".
Nothing wrong with that, but I didn't buy it.
I invited her to pull up a chair and join the larger group. Her immediate response was: "Oh no, I'm not worthy to sit at the same table".
It took me a about millisecond to understand what was going on. I've seen this before.
"I'm a technical writer. I'm not a developer.", she explained. I was like: "if you won't sit down then I'll stand up".
This was not a women in need of rescue; just respect. There's a difference.
She took the invitation and pulled up a chair.
"Tell us more about the world of tech writing" -- little did she know I think technical writers are one of the most valuable roles in tech.
The table entered listening mode.
She started with the origins of her 17 year career at IBM. At this point she owned the table and the conversation.
Then she flipped it on us and gave one of the most insightful perspectives on tech, business, and documentation.
Sure. She was not a developer. She was a whole lot more.
The moral of the story is that we gave this person room and respect and she did the rest.
