Technical Communicators Association of NZ Conference 2005

Thursday 8 September 2005

Welcome to Christchurch. The high tech hub of new technology development and manufacturing in New Zealand. At last count well over half the high tech action in New Zealand was based here.

We are, as a city, actively forging partnerships with other bigger, or potentially bigger, high tech fish overseas such as Hitlab.

New technology, and using it effectively, are hugely important to this city. As a major trading city, our intellectual capital is going to get even more important, not less.

I note you are aware of the huge amounts of news and information local government has to get out to the public. This is a critical building block for active democracy. We no longer have mass media. They are atomised.

Thanks to new technology, we have a communications culture where everybody is moving to the beat of slightly different drum.

It is the great puzzle of our times, how to get out clear messages in a world where declining numbers of people are literally reading from the same page. The technical communications guru who cracks this puzzle stands to become very rich indeed. Not to mention popular. Especially with me.