Deirdré Straughan, Open Source Content Lead at Amazon Web Services and a global telecommunications pioneer, joins us to talk about how she built an accidental career in tech with absolutely no STEM degree. Along the way, she gives a crash course in the history of the desktop publishing space, which evolved alongside her career as a technical writer and marketer.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Representing a company in public internet forums
• Recommended Book: "Getting In Touch With Your Inner Bitch"
• Early Experiences in Online Customer Communications
• Basic Principles for Communicating Online
• How to do newsletters right (and a little history of newsletters)
• eMail Encounters: Anecdotes of a Professional Life Online
• Deirdre's history in customer service
• Early usenet: supporting a company on the front lines
• 25 years of online communication - since 1982

 

MUSICAL INSPIRATION FOR THIS EPISODE ON SPOTIFY:

"I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor

 

ABOUT THIS PODCAST

Stayin' Alive in Tech is an oral history of Silicon Valley and technology. Melinda Byerley, the host, is a 20-year veteran of Silicon Valley and the founder of Timeshare CMO, a digital marketing intelligence firm, based in San Francisco.

We really appreciate your reviews, shares on social media, and your recommendations for future guests. And check out our Spotify playlist for all the songs we refer to on our show.