Welcome to our first round of FTC community spotlight articles! This time, we are spotlighting our two Publications Committee members: Zachary Miller and Danielle Porres.

Zachary Miller — Historian

Major: Anthropology

Class of 2022

At the start of Fall 2021, I was elected as historian for FTC. You might not expect to see an anthropology major interested in technical communication. Anthropology put simply is the study of humans. Within this discipline I focus on the field of cultural anthropology which is traditionally understood as a researcher embedded within a group of people to participate and understand their own unique practices (culture). You might see how this could relate to technical writing as it is essential to thoroughly understand who your audience is when writing in any capacity. I seek to expand my understanding of technical communication to learn how to write in an effective manner.

I gained experience working in marketing and communications as an intern for Habitat for Humanity Lake-Sumter. In this position, I performed tasks such as blog writing, videography, photography, and collaborated with multiple departments to recruit volunteers and philanthropists. Additionally, I have worked with the Socio-Technical Interaction Research Lab as a qualitative research assistant since Fall 2020. Prior to this, my knowledge around technical communication was rudimentary (still kind of is). In my research on adolescent online safety, I have been exposed to many methods’ central to user experience research. These include qualitative research methods in addition to usability studies and expert reviews. As you could imagine, these qualitative methods are crucial for the design of user interface and user experience. Technical writing is an essential aspect of mobile application and web page design.

“UX writing is the practice of designing the words people see and hear when they interact with software. It’s about designing the conversation between a product and its user.” – Lisa Sanchez, “What is UX Writing?”

Topics that you can expect to see from me include the types of careers within the field of technical communication, how to get experience outside of the classroom, how to network professionally, and member and leadership spotlights. 

Danielle Porres — Secretary

Major: English – Technical Communication

Class of 2024

As a new member and secretary of FTC, I’d like to take the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Danielle Porres, and I’m a sophomore majoring in English – Technical Communication and minoring in Writing & Rhetoric. In the future, I aspire to become a copywriter or editor of a publishing company. However, I’d also like to dabble in teaching English abroad for a couple of years. Throughout my entire life, I’ve always had an interest in the English language and writing. I’ve spent countless hours bringing stories to life, whether it be in the form of poetry, fictional writing, or copywriting. I’m also an avid reader of young adult fiction novels and a listener of K-rnb music. 

The journey we are about to embark through the FTC blog is both exciting and anticipatory. Through our blog, we hope to elevate the voices of our members, cover and talk about important topics, and unite the FTC community. Some themes and ideas that we want to shine light on are, mental health, tech comm experience, member backgrounds, and much more. As technical communicators, we are constantly facing various obstacles and going through experiences, so this blog will serve as a space to recount our stories. 

Taking care of our mental health can often be quite difficult. We are consumed by our constant worries and have no outlet to relieve our stressful thoughts. Due to this, we hope to create blog posts related to mental wellness. In an effort to help one another become the best versions of ourselves, we want to inspire and hopefully relate to each reader of our blog. Through our articles, we also hope to cover tips on how to gain experience and network professionally. These things can be stressful as a student, graduate, or anyone trying to find their way in the workforce; so, through our commentary, our goal is for our readers to take away some related knowledge and advice.

Want to connect with Zachary and Danielle? You can find them both on LinkedIn, and you’re welcome to check out their bios on our site’s Meet the Team page as well.