Technology Industry Suffers as Writing Responsibilities Increase by One-Third; BackDRAFT Survey Reveals Writing Activity Now Accounts for 37% of a Typical Workday While Technology Professionals Lack Adequate Writing Skills

Business Wire, Oct 31, 2005

OTTAWA -- BackDRAFT, a leading provider of Business Writing Training Solutions, today reported that writing activities account for an average of 37% of the typical professional's workday in the technology industry, according to a survey of more than 2700 workers across various industries in the U.S. and Canada. The BackDRAFT survey conducted by Greenfield Online also revealed a 33% spike in writing activities in the technology industry over the past five years.

Technology is new and complex by nature; therefore, technology companies depend on strong writing to clearly reveal the value of their products. Unlike other industries such as retail, technology sales tend to be broad, often involving hundreds of thousands of users at a time. Unclear writing can dramatically affect the success of technology sales, customer service, and overall customer satisfaction. Effective writing and technical documentation is necessary to clearly explain complexities to large audiences and minimize the number of call center interactions.

"Electronic communication has matured, and technology professionals are more dependant than ever on writing to effectively communicate with customers, partners, employees and each other," said Brian Hanington, CEO of BackDRAFT. "As the workforce increasingly interacts using technologies such as email, instant messaging and blogs, weak writing is negatively impacting productivity. Technology professionals who can significantly maximize the effectiveness of their communications through strong writing have an immediate edge over competitors."

While overall writing activity is increasing sharply, two recent reports by the National Commission on Writing (December 2004 and July 2005) reveal that more than one-third of U.S. professionals do not possess adequate writing skills. The organization's surveys of 120 American corporations and 50 state government institutions uncovered that email has become the predominant writing activity for most business professionals, accounting for more than two work hours per day per person, or 400 hours per year.

"Writing ability is now a core competence requirement for advancement," state the reports by the National Writing Commission. The reports also state that, "Workers who cannot write and communicate clearly will not be hired and are unlikely to last long enough to be considered for promotion. Survey results indicate writing is a ticket to professional opportunity, while poorly written job applications are a figurative kiss of death."

About BackDRAFT QMS

BackDRAFT QMS is the first and only technology application and writing-quality management system that organizations can use to produce precise, engaging and coherent writing across groups. The three-part system incorporates an organization's existing writing style and brand guidelines, and augments that style with a set of principles by which writers can spot, name and fix the 40 most common fumbles in writing. The heart of the system is an 18-hour, personalized online curriculum that teaches users how to produce documents with flawless grammar, diction, syntax, logic and rhetoric. The system also features 1-on-1 Guided Curriculum, which monitors the writer's performance and adjusts the focus and difficulty of the program, as well as BackDRAFT DEX, a peer review process that cuts editing time by as much as half, and enables the achievement of a consistent group or organizational writing standard.

About BackDRAFT

BackDRAFT is a leading provider of Business Writing Training Solutions that help organizations build stronger brands and better serve customers and partners through the written word. The BackDRAFT Quality Management System (QMS) is the industry's only business writing system that results in a sustainable, uniform writing style across a group or organization. Benefiting a variety of companies in diverse industries worldwide, BackDRAFT QMS enables organizations to harness writing intelligence potential to improve corporate productivity, enhance branding efforts and boost revenue through better overall business practices. Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, BackDRAFT was founded in 2003 by the leadership team of Stiff Sentences, Inc., the world's first company of writers to achieve ISO 9000 registration. For more information about BackDRAFT, visit www.backdraft.org.