We work hard on delivering what we think you, our customers, need in product information (which includes but is not limited to the product documentation that you see in our information centers and PDFs). We know that there's no shortage of things we can be working on, whether it's new documentation about the latest features, improvements to existing documentation, or new info resources like our onstat or onconfig Quick Reference Cards. So anytime we can get some direction and feedback from you, it makes a big difference in how we decide on what we do, and how we do it.
Here's the Informix Documentation Team:
Inge Halilovic
I've been writing Informix documentation since 1996 (aka "the good old days"). I work on DataBlade module, Enterprise Replication, and embeddability documentation. I used to be the team lead of the Informix doc team and work on release notes, but (thank goodness) I'm only the technical lead now. Being the technical lead means, among other things, that I'm supposed to know the IDS doc set inside and out. I can honestly say I know the outside really well. I'm also the moderator for the 11.50 information center, so if you leave a comment, you might hear from me! My hobbies include driving my kids around and making up words I'm not allowed to use in Informix doc.
Hai-Nhu Tran (pronounced like the movie High Noon, but without the N at the end)
I'm the newly minted manager of the Informix Information Development team. I started at IBM in 2000, joined the Informix ID team as the Team Lead in 2007, and earlier this year I had the good fortune of becoming the manager of this dedicated group. I studied English literature in college and never would have guessed that I'd end up in software documentation! I'm currently working on instilling a life-long love of books in my 3 year old daughter, and so far I've been 100% successful. When I'm not reading Dr. Suess, I'm working through my own book list (which happens to occasionally include children's books, oddly enough), sampling the seemingly endless supply of restaurants and farmers' markets in San Francisco, and dreaming of being able to sleep in again at some point in my life.
Bill Belisle (pronounced: bell-eye-L)
People have been mis-pronouncing my name at IBM since June of 2006. I concentrate on writing about Informix high-availability (sometimes known as MACH-11) features. I’m also responsible for the Informix Administrator’s Guide, the Backup and Restore Guide, virtual appliance, and cloud documentation. I have a degree in journalism from Boston University and have written several college-level textbooks on Lotus 1-2-3 and Microsoft Office and Excel. My hobbies include (in no particular order): astronomy, machining and metalworking, woodworking, CNC, photography, reading, seismology, and high-vacuum thin-film deposition.
Pat Smith
I’ve also been writing Informix documentation since 1996, initially specializing in online help. Currently, I’m concentrating on updates to the Migration and Performance Guides and on new feature documentation (such as compression). In the past, I’ve worked on the Common Criteria certification guide, the Administrator guides, and MTK documentation.
Karin Moore (pronounced car-in)
I've been on the Informix documentation team since 1996, and am currently the infrastructure lead. What that means is that I create, update, and deliver the information centers, documentation CDs, and techdocs. I also manage source file control, automated builds of the documentation sets, and translation. It's a nice variety of work that lets me dabble in all the Informix products. My hobbies include birdwatching, hiking, gardening, and caring for injured animals at a local wildlife rehabilitation center.
Johanna Turaj (pronounced tour-eye)
I joined the documentation team in February of this year. Though I’ve been doing Information Development since 19<mumble>, I’m the new kid on the Informix block. In my role as Team Lead for IDS, 4GL, and some other acronyms, I get to learn about all the products and develop plans to help the team deliver helpful information you need when you need it. I enjoy travel, knitting, and keeping my cats off the keyboard.
Jasna Krmpotic
I'm the technical editor for the Informix writing team. I work with the writers to produce the best possible documentation for our customers. I'm not an expert in the technology we write about (that's my team's job), but I'm familiar with the technology and terminology, and I review the documentation to ensure that it tells customers what they need to know as accurately, concisely, and clearly as possible in a consistent manner. Rest assured, I won't be editing this blog (phew!) so the writers will get to express themselves in their own "voice". Oh, and my name is pronounced as it's spelled (http://www.medjugorje.org/croatianlanguage.htm).
Frank Welsch
Information development is my "second" career. I launched my career in book publishing production and project management--a good foundation for handling a lot of the behind-the-scenes work in creating technical documentation. During the Sturm-und-Drang of the dot-com era, I gained experience documenting database migration and a few end-user applications. Along the way, I earned a B.A. degree at Oberlin College and a Technical Writing Certificate at San Francisco State University. I speak German as a second language, and have a beginner/intermediate knowledge of Spanish.
Laura Stewart
Hi! My path to technical writing was the "road less travelled". I graduated with a degree in Economics and went to work for the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington DC. Through various twists and turns there I moved into courseware development and teaching computer applications, which eventually lead me to IBM about 10 years ago where I have worked on Informix and DB2. With the Informix team I work on a wide range of documentation from the Administrator's Reference and SQL Reference to the Common Client information. Most recently I have been working on improving our warehousing documentation.
Tom Houston (pronounced the opposite of the similarly-spelled street in Manhattan)
I was employee #237 when Informix was still called "RDS Software" in Menlo Park, California, and I have been monitoring the Informix Technical Publications external email alias since it was called "doc@informix.com" (but it is now spelled "docinf@us.ibm.com"). I mostly work on the IBM Informix Guide to SQL: Syntax, which keeps me busy documenting new SQL features and correcting the errata that I create while documenting new SQL features (or while correcting older errata). Among my hobbies are photography, dreaming, and trying to outwit spelling-checker software.
Susan Becker
I've been with IBM Informix since 2008. I write the UI text and help for OAT. I once wrote longer sentences.
Howard Glaser
I'm not officially a member of the Informix Documentation Team. I've been responsible for usability and user interface design on Informix products since 2006 and am heavily involved in the UI design of OAT. I am a professionally trained Human Factors Engineer/Psychologist and have been working in the human computer interaction and design field for more than 25 years.
George Kanesta
I'm currently a remote co-op or supplemental employee on the Informix ID team working in Socorro, NM. I have been with the Informix team since 2008 and have worked both full- and part-time. A majority of my tasks deal with DITA markup such as migrating books from SGML to DITA. Recently, I have begun to work with development teams in India to produce documentation for the 4GL and CSDK components of IDS. I am responsible for all documentation with in 4GL and CSDK. I'm currently pursuing a degree in Technical Communication from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
