Senior Technical Writer

Ann McCown has worked in the computer and software industry for over 20 years, starting as a programmer, and subsequently doing software production engineering, technical support, training development and delivery, technical documentation, and product management. She has managed product marketing, technical support, and technical publications groups.

At Expert Support, Ann specializes in software documentation for technical audiences (developers and administrators), though she has been known to stray into hardware documentation (network appliances, robotic systems), training development, and technical marketing writing. Ann has experience in all aspects of the software development process and product life cycle, at both very large and very small companies. Ann has produced administrator guides, user guides, reference guides, installation guides, online help, and release notes, as well as training presentations, labs, and student and instructor guides. She has also written numerous white papers, application notes, solution briefs, data sheets, and marketing presentations at a variety of technical levels.

Ann began her career at Hewlett-Packard after graduating from Stanford with an AB in History. She initially worked as a systems programmer developing software for automated measurement systems. A transfer to manufacturing to handle software production introduced her to the complexities of the product life cycle, and from there she moved into technical marketing (doing technical support, training, and documentation) and then into product marketing.

While at HP Ann took a break to complete a Masters in Education at the University of California, Berkeley, with an emphasis on statistical methodology and program evaluation.

After 13 years, Ann left HP to move to the Monterey Peninsula, where she worked as a product manager at Digital Research (languages for CPM) and Lifetree Software (Volkswriter). Returning after 3 years to Silicon Valley, Ann has worked at or consulted for a variety of companies, large and small, ranging from Sun Microsystems and Cisco to an 8-person start-up.

Ann coauthored Network Resource Planning for SAP R/3, BAAN and PeopleSoft: A Practical Guide to Planning Enterprise Applications with colleagues from Make Systems, published in June 1998 by McGraw-Hill.

In her spare time, Ann serves as Treasurer, bookkeeper, and Member of the Board for San Francisco Choral Artists, a semi-professional chorus. She also sings with a variety of choruses on the San Francisco Peninsula as well as with the Carmel Bach Festival Chorus in Carmel.