View from the other side…of finding her way

by Nancy Halverson, Feature Writer

Missing Words

'Minging'… I think that's one of the major omissions from my North American English. "Eewww, minging!" It's an expression of disgust, like finding moldy bread. Another one that I missed out was 'kip', which means nap or sleep. "I'll grab a kip on the sofa."

Another one that I particularly like (although I can't seem to get away with using it—I just sound too weird) is skiving. "He's skiving off today—watching snooker instead". It means that someone's shirking their duty, or playing hooky.

Signs...a Whole Other Language

Anyone who plans on travelling in England should also know about the navigation etiquette. Signs aren't very big or prominent. Most appear on walls of houses or other buildings, and are fairly small. It's not predictable where the signs will appear—they may be placed high up, or they may be low on a stone fence. There also may be ivy or tree branches obscuring the sign.

You'll also find that most of the emphasis is on where you're going, with no confirmation of where you are. I miss the signs on the roads every once in a while that tell you which road you're on.

You always need to plan your route knowing what the highway numbers are that you might be using, and the towns that you might be going through. This gives you more chances of seeing something that you might be able to follow. The road signs tell you where you might get to if you stay on the road long enough, not necessarily the next place that you might pass through. It's just a little bizarre for a North American. I find it confusing still that street names are basically irrelevant in directions—the route may be named, but few people actually know it or refer to the name or number.

Landmark Referral Communication

I think it's a referral communication method, or metaphorical, if you will. The landmarks mean more than the actual names, so you'd hear about the Blahblah roundabout, and be told that you had to take the second exit. The Blahblah roundabout of course would be famous because of Whatever landmark, but it wouldn't be obviously signed—so you never actually can confirm that you're at the Blahblah roundabout. Maybe it is signed, but there's so much information that you need to read, absorb, and analyze as you approach, you never see the name of the actual roundabout.

Street names change every few metres anyway, so I guess it's just too much information to take in.

It's also bizarre to read some of the signs where 'everyone' knows the meaning: "Caution, site entrance", or "Access only". A 'site' entrance is actually a construction site with a temporary entrance, while 'access' means only emergency vehicles have access.

Other Signs of the Time

Of course, this sign should be obvious to everyone. It means that the speed limit is whatever it should be for the type of road you're driving on. Of course, you have to know what the relevant speed limit is, and figure out what type of road it is that you're on. 

Another example is this one, which means no stopping. It appears on the sides of the highways mostly, although sometimes you may one on a country lane.

This may seem to be a weird point, but it has relevance for us as communicators. Basic, daily and crucial information cannot rely on knowledge of secondary information. Make it plain, make it obvious, and confirm it as frequently as possible, especially if the use is given a choice to leave that path.

Pubs...a Navigation Method

Road trips don't figure too prominently in our lives at the moment, but whenever one arises, we still spend most of our trip planning trying to find all the possible pubs that we might have to pass by. Most people seem to navigate by pubs as they're frequent landmarks. And yes, we spend a lot of time lost—our kids still ask us if we know where we're going when we set off on a car journey. We of course reply "no, we don't know, but we'll get there when we get there."

Basically, it's our motto for life.

A Zoo at ZOO

My life at ZOO has been manic the past few weeks—last minute changes before release of our latest version, and unanticipated requests for platform changes for the docs have meant that I've been burning a few candles at a few ends. I must admit that I'm tired, and haven't had to work at this kind of pace for a while. 

You know those days when you walk into the office and log in and put your head down for the next eight or more hours. It's the little breaks that I miss the most—a brief conversation about something other than what I'm working on. I also miss getting e-mails or visits from people who weren't asking for another document to be created, edited, output, or revamped. Okay, I'm kvetching a bit—maybe even exaggerating (not much, really!)—but believe me, I really needed a weekend off.

Unfortunately, I've had to bring work home even this weekend (which is a long weekend here in Britain—another celebration of the banks… no longer called the May Day weekend, it's only called a Bank Holiday). It's a sign that our software is sparking some major interest, and that we need to put more resources out there for prospective and existing customers. Both things are great—I'm just wondering when I should be asking for more resources for developing this information. I don't want to jump the gun, but I also don't want to have to live my life at this pace forever. I guess it'll take more than a few weeks at a frenetic pace before I can reasonably ask for more staff.

On the STC Front

We're now preparing for our STC UK annual general meeting. It's in June, in London—at the British National Library of all places! We're doing another day-long group of seminars. I guess it's as if we replace the monthly meetings with a few big sessions all at once. I'm not even sure what all the topics will be, except that we'll squeeze our AGM into a short session.

As I'm moving into the position of first vice-president this year, I imagine I'll be much busier with STC activities. The way they work the nominations here makes some sense—the president is in place two years before their term starts—they serve as second v-p, then as first v-p. After their term they serve another year as a mentor in the role of past-president. We're hoping to begin a few years of invigorating growth in our membership and activities, and have already begun discussing the ways we can achieve this. 

I know that there's a lot that an active STC can contribute to anyone's career. I'm interested in bringing together different organizations that may cross-pollinate our chapter. It's a shame that we aren't able to be in the same organization. I'm not interested in stealing members, but it would be great to know that we're contributing to the communications needs of different professions.

Spring Has Sprung

Oh, and yes, spring is in full swing here in Britain—flowers are bursting out; trees are full of blossoms; and the grass desperately needs cutting. The trees are almost in full leaf, and it's even getting warmer. There are so many shades of green around that you cannot count them. It's amazing what all this rain can bring—hopefully it's a good sign!

About Nancy Halverson

Nancy grew up in Toronto, but has lived in Ottawa, Melbourne, Waterloo, and now Sheffield. She has travelled through the South Pacific, Australia and Indonesia, which is where she met her husband, Ryan Wilson (another Canadian), along the way.

A career switch introduced her to the STC in 1997. Her writing experience has included several contract positions and a position at Inscriber for several years. She has two daughters and has been living in England for two years.