The clear theme of the Currents Conference in Atlanta this year was the transformation we are making from being technical communicators to being … what? That’s the question. While a very popular title is Information Architect, other writers are becoming Content Managers, Usability Specialists, User Analysts, and a variety of other “development-sounding” titles.
Posted in behalf of the STC
Voting in the STC elections ends at 12 noon ET, tomorrow (3/31). If you have not done so already, I would urge you to vote today.
Near the start of the new year, my boss called me into his office. With a look of mock sympathy, he told me that due to the recent buy-out of our company some people were being let go. My mind was in a fog, and I wasn’t grasping what he was saying. I started wondering [...]
By far the best place to go for podcasts is IT Conversations. (Their web address is http://www.itconversations.com). Although many of the topics are about technology, they often apply to technical writing, or are just plain interesting. There is enough variety that you won’t be “teched out,” and a steady enough stream of topics, with 8-9 [...]
Posted in behalf of Deb Sallee
Using the TECHWR-L mailing list (which consists of technical writers), we requested that technical writers e-mail us the ratio of writers to developers in their firm, as well as their industry. We received 10 responses, which are summarized in the following table.
Blogging is catching fire in the corporate world. According to a recent article in Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge, there are at least 60 companies with blogs:
There are sixty-plus blogs produced by large corporations — and many more if, for example, you count the approximately 2,000 individual blogs written by Sun Microsystems employees that are [...]
Posted in behalf of Mike Murray
A largely undiscovered STC member resource is ready and waiting for you at http://stcforum.org/! Those members who havediscovered the new STC Member Forum are already having spirited online discussions in categories such as STC Governance, Web Services Development, Content Management, Design, Online Help, Standards, Writing and Editing, Graphic Tools, and [...]
Posted in behalf of Suzanne Norman
I recently attended an event at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. Here’s a few tips that may help those attending the STC conference:
The Paris Hotel is large but not as giant as some of the “otherworld” hotels in Vegas. Bally’s adjoins the Paris.
Cab rides to the airport are only [...]
Posted in behalf of Pam Treme
The Student STC is again an official organization on the USF Tampa campus.
I recently had the opportunity to play around with Madcap Flare for a couple of hours. Here are my thoughts:
Cool
Numbering is awesome. Works like a charm and is very simple to make complicated lists.
Offers DotNetHelp output, but I’m not sure why that’s important.
Drop down hotspots offer twisty.
Help menu floats on top of other windows, allowing you [...]
If you use Google to search for content, you can easily add this site’s feed to Google’s page. Just click the Google button in the lower right of the page, and you’ll be taken through a few screens to add it to Google. Then when you do searches from Google, you’ll be able to see [...]
I am pleased to announce our April 6 Suncoast STC talk, “Show Me the Demo!” This talk will be presented by three members of Nielsen Media Research’s CEX team.
Show Me the Demo!
Two years ago, the Local Products Client Experience Team Technical Writers (CEX Writers) embarked on a mission to incorporate short demonstrations (Show Me Demos) [...]