As the Owner of DataText Communications Inc., I have been providing technical writing services to Western Canadian industry since 1998. Initially my focus was on software documentation. Over the past 15 years, I have been writing procedures for industrial environments.
Recent clients include:
- Shell Albian Sands, an oilsands ore-processing operation near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. This site is now owned and operated by Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL).
- Teck Resources, a mining company operating in Canada, Chile, and elsewhere.
- Chevron Canada, a unit of Chevron USA operating well-sites in the Kaybob-Duvernay field in Alberta until December 2024, when Chevron sold this asset to CNRL.
You're welcome to view more details of my experience on my LinkedIn page at:
www.linkedin.com/in/pcowan-datatext
During my career, I realized that the writing of procedures, while officially lauded in the business world, is actually perceived as expensive, arduous, and unlikely to produce usable results. I concluded that many people need guidance to overcome these perceptions in order to advance procedures successfully through the various stages of the writing process.
In broad terms, these stages include identifying the need for a procedure, understanding the audience, gathering information from experts, establishing a structure, designing and drafting steps, getting the procedure reviewed, making revisions, and publishing.
In 2019, I began developing my training course in Industrial Procedure Writing, and first delivered it in 2021. The course covers in detail all of the stages mentioned above, along with supplying extensive support material. I'm confident that this course will provide businesses with the writing and analytical tools required to develop top-shelf procedures!
Last updated: 2025-Dec-06 @ 1745 hrs