Illuminations
In this issue:
- Flare and DITA, together at last
- Conferences at your desktop
- Coming soon: free DITA webinars
- Technical Writing 101: in print in more places
- The XML Strategist on multilingual workflows
- LavaCon in the Big Easy
Flare and DITA, together at last
Flare and DITA fans around the world now have something in common—MadCap's new Flare 5 has DITA support. As a Certified Flare Instructor, Scriptorium has taken the new version through its paces. Read the review and discover the advantages and idiosyncrasies of using Flare 5 to generate output from DITA content.
Conferences at your desktop
Scriptorium is bringing you conference-quality speakers and content, minus the cost of a hotel room and airfare. For $20, you get an hour-long webinar presented by industry experts, followed by 15 minutes of Q&A, and a free recording of the session.
Clear your calendars for these exceptional webinars:
- Beyond Documentation (July 9, 11 a.m. Eastern time)
presented by Ellis Pratt - Writing to STOP (July 15, 5 p.m. Eastern time)
presented by Tony Self - How to Build a Business Case (August 4, 11 a.m. Eastern time)
presented by Jack Molisani
If you can't attend a webinar but would still like to view the presentation, you can purchase a recording for $20. Check out our online store for these previously recorded webinars:
- Hacking the DITA Open Toolkit webcast (recording)
presented by Simon Bate - Documentation as Conversation webcast (recording)
presented by Anne Gentle - The State of Structure in Technical Communication webcast (recording)
presented by Sarah O'Keefe
Coming soon: free DITA webinars
Scriptorium is teaming up with JustSystems to bring you a free webinar series, Things to Consider when Moving to DITA: From Legacy Conversions to Guidelines and Reuse. This series, presented by Simon Bate, discusses the long and winding road from legacy content to DITA.
Converting Unstructured FrameMaker to DITA (July 28, 2 p.m. Eastern time)
Are you using unstructured FrameMaker and need to move to DITA? Join this webinar to learn best practices on converting unstructured FrameMaker to structured, topic-based DITA content.
Converting Microsoft Word to DITA (August 23, 2 p.m. Eastern time)
Are you using Microsoft Word to create technical documentation and need to move to DITA? Are you moving to DITA, yet you have many non-writer contributors who deliver content in Microsoft Word? If you answered "yes" to either question, join this webinar to learn best practices of converting Microsoft Word files to structured, topic-based DITA content.
Getting Started with Reuse (September 17, 2 p.m. Eastern time)
Once your documentation is in DITA, you'll want to start taking advantage of the reuse capabilities of topic-based content. There are many things to consider as you start to create and maintain content that is genuinely reusable. Attend this webinar to learn guidelines and best practices to help your team move to an environment that supports reuse.
Check our blog and later editions of this newsletter for information about registration.
Technical Writing 101: in print in more places
Printed versions of the third edition of Technical Writing 101 (ISBN 9780970473363) are now available at online bookstores worldwide, and you can special order a copy from your local bookstore. To celebrate the book's international distribution, we're giving away two printed copies.
Enter the contest by June 30. Two winners will be selected at random on July 1.
If you want to get the book for less and don't want to wait for it to ship, you can download Technical Writing 101 in PDF format from our online store for $20.
The XML Strategist on multilingual workflows
With XML, localization can be reduced to a fraction of its original cost, but how does it happen? Is there a magic localization button, or do XML elves come in and translate your content in the middle of the night?
In the latest from the XML Strategist, Sarah O'Keefe explores automization in localization and discusses the technologies (not XML elves) that actually reduce costs.
Download the PDF 
(125 K)
LavaCon in the Big Easy
Scriptorium will be in New Orleans, Louisiana, from October 25–27 for LavaCon 2009. There won't be any volcanoes or luaus, but there will be printed versions of our white papers, free chocolate, and two sessions presented by Sarah O'Keefe: Is XML Right for You? and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: Strategies for Integrating User-Generated Content.
Be sure to check out the program for details.
Comments? Questions?
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