Behind the Docs
Welcome to Behind the Docs — the podcast that spotlights the people who make technical content come to life. Whether you're a seasoned tech writer, content strategist, or just curious about the brains behind the docs you rely on every day, this show is for you. Each episode features real conversations with the folks who build help sites, craft user guides, and keep the content engine running behind the scenes. No jargon, just smart, engaging stories about the work, the wins, and the humans making it happen.
Episodes
This episode of Behind the Docs is coming straight from the conference floor at ConVEx 2025 in Pittsburgh — a collection of candid conversations with the people who make this community what it is.
From first-timers to veterans with decades in the field, the throughline is clear: this industry is in the middle of something real, and the people here are figuring it out together.
They also dig into:
- why metadata keeps coming up in ev...
In this special replay from Scriptorium's Content Operations podcast, Sarah O'Keefe sits down with our very own Patrick Bosek to tackle one of the thorniest problems in AI-powered content work: governance.
Patrick and Sarah unpack why governing AI outputs gets harder as the technology improves, and why the structure you put into your content before it ever reaches a model may be your most important quality lever.
They also dig into:
<...Jeff Cross didn't plan to become a technical writer. He started a computer science degree, dropped out, spent a year trying to make it as a fiction writer, went back for a philosophy degree, considered academia, and then — almost by accident — realized that technical writing was the thing that made all of it make sense.
Now Senior Manager of Technical Writing at Arctic Wolf, Jeff has spent years doing some of the most complex conten...
In this episode of Behind the Docs, Ren sits down with Dachary Carey of MongoDB to explore a rapidly emerging challenge: AI agents can’t reliably read your documentation and most teams don’t realize it.
Dachary shares how a deep dive into agent workflows (sparked by tools like Claude Code) uncovered critical gaps in how documentation is structured, delivered, and consumed by machines.
From truncated pages and hidden content to the un...
In this episode of Behind the Docs, Patrick sits down with Manny Silva, Head of Documentation at Skyflow, to explore what happens when technical writing evolves into full-scale content systems.
From growing up building computers to working at Apple and Google, Manny shares how his path into technical communication led to a deeply systems-driven approach to documentation.
Today, as a team of one, Manny is rethinking what it means to s...
In this episode of Behind the Docs, Ren welcomes back Sara Feldman, Director of Member Engagement at the Consortium for Service Innovation and longtime advocate for knowledge-driven customer experience.
Sara began her career as a technical writer, spending a decade embedded with support teams before diving deeper into knowledge management through Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS). That journey eventually led her to the Consortium, wh...
In this episode of Behind the Docs, Ren sits down with Melanie Denise Davis — journalist-turned-technical-communication leader, AI Wrangler, and founder of Dragonfly Diva Docs.
Melanie’s career spans the evolution of modern technology itself: from punch cards and mainframes to structured content and AI. She shares what it was like entering tech before technical writing was even a defined profession, helping shape the field alongside...
In this episode of Behind the Docs, Patrick Bosek interviews Dave Koelmeyer, the Content Operations Manager at IDEXX. Dave shares his unexpected journey from IT support to becoming a professional technical communicator.
He discusses the importance of consistency in documentation, scaling of technical content using structured content and a CCMS, and the significant role of advocacy and education to help colleagues understand the bene...
In this special episode of Behind the Docs, Ren sits down with Heretto’s own Jarod Sickler — philosopher-turned-structured-content expert, and one of the most genuinely thoughtful voices in the documentation world.
Jarod shares how a grad-school paper and a chance encounter in a Rochester coffee shop set him on an unexpected path into technical documentation (and eventually into Heretto). He opens up about the early days of learning...
In this episode of Behind the Docs, we sit down with Sandie Markle, content engineer and CEO of Blueberri, whose journey through food tech, structured content, and accidental content engineering is one of the most fascinating we’ve ever featured.
Sandie shares how a career pivot from finance to Shanghai led her into the world of recipe platforms, shopability, metadata, localization, and the early foundations of structured content—lo...
In this episode, we welcome Laura Minaie to Behind the Docs!
Laura recently joined our team and brings a fascinating journey from editing training documents at Chili's to becoming a content strategist in the tech documentation world. She shares her 12-year career at Citrix/LogMeIn, discussing how she discovered technical writing, led a major DITA migration, and learned crucial lessons about proving the value of tech docs in organiza...
Episode Overview
Join host Patrick Bosek in conversation with Karissa Van Baulen, a customer education professional with over a decade of experience in technical communication and knowledge management. Karissa shares her journey from customer support at startup Hotjar through building education programs that saved millions annually.
Guest Bio
Karissa Van Baulen has spent 11+ years in technical communication and custo...
The conversations keep rolling at LavaCon! In this episode, we’re talking to four guests who each bring a totally different perspective on content, tech, and the future of our field.
Sandie Markle, founder of Blueberri, shares how she’s bringing content strategy to the food tech world — and why she believes structured content is the key to helping creators treat their work like a true business asset.
Fabrice Lacroix, CEO of Fluid Top...
We took Behind the Docs on the road to LavaCon 2025 in Atlanta!
Host Ren Taylor chats with some of the brightest minds in tech comm and content strategy — including Hannah Kirk, Noz Urbina, Kat Rierson, Manny Silva, and Sofiya Minnath — about how AI, metrics, and automation are reshaping the way we create, manage, and measure documentation.
From docs-as-code to knowledge graphs to real-world help site transformations, this episode ca...
In this episode of Behind the Docs, Ren reconnects with Randee Knapp, Tech Pubs Manager at ECHO Inc.—one of the very first people she met in the TechComm community.
Randee shares her journey from an unexpected start in technical writing to leading a team through large-scale change, including ECHO’s transition to DITA. Along the way, she offers candid insights into:
- Read more
In this episode of Behind the Docs, Ren reconnects with Kimberly Voltaire, Technical Editor at Simpli.fi, after first meeting through a Help Site Assessment. Kimberly shares her journey from aspiring English professor to technical communications, how she built Simpli.fi’s first-ever style guide from the ground up, and why editing is far more than “just fixing words.”
You’ll hear:
✨ How Kimberly balances editing, UX, content strategy,...
Kat Reierson, Senior Technical Writer at DocuSign, joins Behind the Docs to share how a single Google search set her on a path to a fulfilling career in technical documentation. Kat opens up about:
- Her unconventional start in the field and how structured content gave her a major leg up
In this episode, Ren Taylor sits down with Kaitlyn Snook, Technical Communicator at ACS Technologies, to talk about her journey into technical writing—from studying computer science to discovering her passion for communication and user experience.
Kaitlyn shares what it’s like to spend 13+ years at the same company, growing from technical writer to UX content designer, and how her team transformed from unstructured wikis to a modern...
In this episode of Behind the Docs, Patrick sits down with Matt Knight, Publishing Systems Manager at the Chartered Insurance Institute, to explore how more than three decades in publishing, typesetting, and learning materials production shaped his journey into structured content and content operations.
Matt shares how his team transitioned from traditional print workflows to DITA and Heretto, balancing the needs of structured conte...
Patrick Bosek, CEO of Heretto, chats with content leader Barbara Green of ACSTechnologies about her unconventional path into documentation, from programming a typewriter to shaping enterprise content strategy. She shares lessons on scaling content, proving ROI, and the surprising ways documentation transforms customer experience.
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