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Meet the new Dowco Communications Manager
Odile Morrison

Hello!  My name is Odile Morrison and I recently joined Dowco as Communications Manager.  This is a new position in the company, so you may be wondering what exactly I’ll be doing.  With 200 employees in 6 offices and clients all over the world, effective communication is obviously very important at Dowco.  Over the next few months, I’ll take a look at how we communicate within the company, with clients, and with the broader world outside, to discover what we are doing right, and where the roadblocks are.  

One of my first tasks will be to review the corporate intranet to ensure the information it contains is up to date and relevant.  The aim is to make the intranet a one-stop shop where employees can easily find, and in some cases contribute, information about training, company standards, the Quality System and company policies.

Dowco already has an impressive library of training material.   I’ll be working closely with Training Manager, John Wong, to find additional ways that staff can share with their colleagues the wealth of knowledge and experience that they have accumulated during their careers.

Joining Dowco feels a bit like coming home. I first encountered the steel detailing community when I started work at the BDS Group in Brisbane, Australia in 1989. I must have liked what I saw, because I spent 8 out of the following 11 years at BDS in various administrative, technical and management roles, including overseeing the changeover to a Windows NT network capable of running Xsteel, the pre-cursor of Tekla Structures.

Our son was born in February 2000, and shortly after that we moved to Finland, where our daughter was born. Later that year, Tekla offered me some contract editing work. I quickly discovered that my technical experience in IT management coupled with my Arts education made me a perfect fit for a career in technical communication. What’s more, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process, from interviewing experts to designing and writing manuals, online help and technical marketing material.

When we moved to Canada in 2003, I continued to work for Tekla, and also produced a wide variety of communication products for companies in Canada, England, and the US. I also became an active member of the Society for Technical Communication and am currently President of the Canada West Coast chapter.

It’s great to be here and I look forward to working with you all.