Sarah O'Keefe recently offered her thoughts on single sourcing
for the Tech Writer Voices podcast series. In her podcast,
she talks about single-sourcing solutions for both small and large
companies and how to analyze the cost savings of implementing single
sourcing. She also addresses pitfalls to avoid and some writers'
resistance to changes in their workflow.
You can listen to an audio stream or download an MP3 version of
the podcast.
Time Zone Madness: Conference Roundup
Sarah O'Keefe traveled to Hawaii on October 1–4 for LavaCon
2006.
Sarah reported, "My highlight of LavaCon (other than the location)
was a comment made by Karl Matthews of Adobe. During a lunch keynote,
he told attendees that if they are new to FrameMaker and looking
at structured FrameMaker, they should talk to a consultant. It's
true, of course, but it's the first time I've heard that message
from Adobe."
Sarah delivered an afternoon XSL workshop and the closing keynote.
During the closing session, she provided a brief history of publishing—starting
with cave paintings. "The purpose of the session was to put today's
technology challenges and frustrations into perspective. The Book
of Kells, for instance, represents a lifetime of work and a
stunning artistic achievement," Sarah said. "Complaining about tools
is our favorite pastime, but at least we're not working in candlelight
and grinding our own pigments!"
After LavaCon, Sarah crossed more time zones than she cares to
admit to attend the the STC
Region 2 Conference in London on October 13–14. (Don't
feel too sorry for her; she also squeezed in a family vacation in
Kauai.) Matt Arnold also attended the Region 2 conference and met
attendees at our booth in the exhibition area.
One week after focusing on ancient manuscripts in the LavaCon session,
Sarah was delighted
to discover her hotel was across the street from the British
Library, which has a wonderful collection of old
manuscripts. She was so engrossed in the Lindisfarne Gospels
and Luttrell Psalter
that she forgot to step into the adjoining room to see the
Magna Carta.
Another highlight of the London conference was the chocolate raffle
(!). Vici Koster-Lenhardt and the TransAlpine chapter asked conference
attendees to donate chocolate representative of their home countries.
The result was an overflowing table of goodies. (Sarah was spotted
skulking around the table more than once.) Raffle tickets were then
sold for a chance at winning chocolate, with proceeds (over £300/almost
$600) benefiting CARE.
To no one's surprise, Sarah bought a dozen tickets and returned
victorious with a collection of exotic chocolates. She swears she
brought all her winnings back home, but we are skeptical. (Perhaps
it was the tooth marks?)
At the Region 2 conference, Sarah and Matt saw many familiar faces
and met folks from six continents. Despite the dispersed geographic
areas represented by this STC region, the conference was well-organized
and offered an excellent learning and sharing opportunities for
the attendees, who had a business-focused approach. For more about
the conferences, read Sarah's October
entries in our blog, Palimpsest.
Sarah will be presenting at the XML
2006 in Boston on December 5–7. If you would like to set
up a formal meeting during the conference, please contact Sarah
at sales@scriptorium.com.
Attend
a Conference from Your Desk
If you didn't get to the conferences in Hawaii or London and won't
make it to Boston in December, consider our TrackAccess
webcasts. The TrackAccess program offers you conference-quality
presentations at the comfort of your own desk. The webcast schedule
for the fall and winter is as follows:
Each webcast is only $19.95 per participant. Register
soon; we limit the number of participants to ensure attendees can
ask questions. To participate, you need a web browser with Flash
support. We can deliver audio through a phone conference bridge
(higher quality) or via Internet audio (less expensive, especially
for attendees outside the United States). Attendees can ask questions
either through a chat interface or via the phone bridge.
One copy will be a door prize for the meeting on November 2, and
there will be drawings for the second and third copies on November
3 and 4. To sign up for the drawings, drop by the booth sponsored
by Johnson Printing. While at the booth, be sure to get the exclusive
discount code for ordering Publishing Fundamentals from our
online store.
Training
in 2006 and 2007
We have several classes scheduled for the last quarter of 2006,
and we've just posted the training dates for the first quarter of
2007.
Our web-based training lets you eliminate travel costs while still
getting many of the benefits of our instructor-led training: small
class size, the opportunity to ask questions, and a challenging
curriculum that engages you.
For more information about online or classroom training, contact
training@scriptorium.com.
For those who prefer to learn FrameMaker at their own pace, we
also offer our FrameMaker
7 Workbook Series. You can download the workbooks from our online
store for $49.95 each. You get the workbook in PDF format, exercise
files, and access to video clips that explain the FrameMaker interface.
