I am an STC Director-At-Large with 17 years of experience in technical communication; writing and developing  information for software products in the documentation, media, industrial automation, simulation, and pharmaceutical industries. I have presented talks at the STC Summit, WritersUA, tcworld, CIDM (Content Management Strategies/DITA North America), and LavaCon on many topics, including embedded help, tools and technologies, user assistance design, single sourcing, wikis, social media, agile, and convergence technical communication. I have been published in STC's Intercom, Tieline, STC conference proceedings, tcworld magazine, TechCom Manager Newsletter, and the WritersUA and the Content Wrangler websites. Additionally, I teach Technical Writing at the Community College of Allegheny College (also known as CCAC).  

As the Lead Information Developer for Doc-To-Help at ComponentOne, I focus on providing information that improves the user experience but is still efficient to produce. I also develop and deliver training, create videos, blogs, participate in forums, deliver webinars, and am the host of a podcast series.

In addition to my strategic STC Board duties, I am the Board Chair for Recognitions, where I oversee the guidelines and processes for the Society’s extensive recognitions program, which includes Associate Fellow, Fellow, the Distinguished Community Service Awards, Community Achievement Awards, Community Pacesetter, the Jay R. Gould Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Ken Rainey Award for Excellence in Research, and the Frank R. Smith Award for outstanding journal article. I also serve on the Audit committee.

I am a past president of the Pittsburgh Chapter of STC and have won multiple STC competition awards. I have served as an STC International Student Technical Communication Competition judge, an STC Pittsburgh Technical Publications judge, and as a reviewer for the STC Summit and the Technical Communication journal. I am a member of the Pittsburgh Chapter, as well as the Instructional Design and Learning, Single Sourcing, and Usability and User Experience SIGs. My website is www.nickybleiel.com, and I am @nickybleiel on Twitter.

I earned a BA in journalism from the Pennsylvania State University, where I was a member of the Kappa Tau Alpha honor society and the University Scholars Program.