New Member Profile: Cherie Fairburn

Direction: Can you briefly describe your business background?

Cherie: Law (5 years); Government Contract Management (5 years); Technical Communications (20 years); Education & Training (5 years)

Direction: Tell us about your work - responsibilities, challenges.

Cherie: I am the lone technical communicator for Blue Cross Blue Shield in my area, a large company with a staff of some 3,500. I myself need a staff of at least three to accomplish all the work that needs to get done. Sometimes I picture myself as the "widdle kid" with her fingers in the dyke. It's a fabulous job for anyone looking for job security! I also teach communications (composition, speech) and literature for University of Phoenix, Baton Rouge Main Campus.

Direction: Tell us about your audience.

Cherie: I support all IT functions, e.g., developers & managers, QA (policies, processes, procedures, operating instructions; training materials); IT recruits (recruiting materials), and special projects requiring communications expertise.

Direction: What do you like most about your job?

Cherie: That's easy: the autonomy! Wherever the need exists, from document design, control & management to policy development, to taxonomic frameworks & information architecture, to cultivating the corporate collective voice, I am able to propose solutions that are not only solicited, but implemented. I truly appreciate knowing I am a valued contributor to this enterprise. This would not be a suitable position, however, for anyone who is not a selfstarter.

Direction: What advice can you give to someone who wants to get into P&P documentation?

Cherie: 1) Trim the fat, 2) streamline the visual presentation, 3) use section headings liberally, and 4) when using government/military style number outlines, never go deeper than level 3--only a few users/readers can retain strings of numbers in their heads. The limitations of shortterm memory constrain the rest of us ordinary mortals. My solution in this case is to begin alphanumeric numbering below level 3. For example, we might begin with 3.2.2:

3.2.2 Heading
3.2.3 Heading

(Begin with text, more text, etc.
text, text, text ... to include the following deliverables:

1. Document A
2. Document B
3. Checklist A, to include the following attachments:

a. Attachment A
b. Attachment B

You get the idea.

Direction: What’s the biggest P&P challenge that you face in your current environment?

Cherie: The perception of many that this is "just some dumb thing I gotta do." They often don't realize that wellcrafted P&Ps can simplify their overall process immeasurably.

Direction: Tell us a bit of personal information about you - e.g., hobbies, where you live, your family, or other information to help us get to know you.

Cherie: As a divorced mother of four (all grown) living in Baton Rouge, LA, I am free at this point in my life to "feed my head" as I pursue my personal avocation of developing a Grand Unified Theory of the Way Things Are, which stemmed from my particular interest in the Esoteric Tradition in the Western Canon. Alas, it's a lonely pursuit. Nobody else ever wants to hear about my discoveries!

You can contact Cherie at Cherie.Fairburn@bcbsla.com. Don’t miss her articles on P&P in this issue and the next.