Lightbulb moments from ConVEx
If you didn’t see our team in action at ConVEx this year, here are the highlights from our sessions.
Balancing CMS and CCMS implementation (podcast, part 1)
In episode 142 of The Content Strategy Experts Podcast, Gretyl Kinsey and Christine Cuellar discuss balancing the implementation of a content management system (CMS), and component content management system (CCMS). This is part one of a two-part podcast.
“When you have two types of content produced by your organization and different groups in charge of that, and maybe they’re in two different systems, that it’s really important to get those groups working together so that they can understand that those priorities don’t need to be competing, they just need to be balanced.”
— Gretyl Kinsey
Best CCMS guidance from our team of experts
Whether you’re looking into a component content management system (CCMS) for the first time or maximizing the value of what you already have, this collection of insights will help you choose what’s right for your organization.
What is LearningDITA? (podcast)
March 2025 update: We have moved LearningDITA to a new platform. The Introduction to DITA course is still free, and you can sign up for courses at store.scriptorium.com.
In episode 141 of The Content Strategy Experts Podcast, Alan Pringle and Christine Cuellar discuss the story behind LearningDITA, the free DITA training created by the Scriptorium team.
What we are trying to do with this site is give people a resource where they can go and, at their own pace, learn about what DITA is and how it can apply to their content and their content processes. It’s a way to take some of the technical mystique out of it, to bring it down and help you learn what it is and how it works.
– Alan Pringle
What is a CCMS, and is it worth the investment?
If you’re reading this post, you’ve been hearing about — or have at least heard of — a component content management system, or CCMS.
You’re probably dealing with increasing amounts of customer-facing content and localization requirements, and you’re wondering if a CCMS could help. Almost all of our projects involve CCMSs and scaling content operations to address these challenges.
Éric Bergeron explains the MadCap acquisition of IXIASOFT (podcast)
In episode 140 of The Content Strategy Experts Podcast, Sarah O’Keefe and Éric Bergeron, president and CEO of IXIASOFT, share the story behind the MadCap acquisition of IXIASOFT.
“The question that everybody is asking, and we really want the answer to, is this seems like a very sensible combination, but MadCap as an organization has done a really excellent job with their marketing, and much of their marketing has been based on the concept that DITA is not something that you need. Flare is happy and easy and safe and wonderful, and DITA is none of those things. So, when you say this is a bit of an odd combination, I think everybody’s looking at, ‘Well, wait a minute, there’s been a lot of DITA bashing over the past 10 years or so.’ What do you do with that?”
—Sarah O’Keefe
Unpacking structured content, DITA, and UX content with Keith Anderson
In episode 139 of The Content Strategy Experts Podcast, Sarah O’Keefe and special guest Keith Anderson dive into their experiences with structured content, DITA, and user content.
“My definition of context is anything that affects the cognitive processing of information. […] So, whether you’re consuming information by reading or listening, there are so many factors that affect how you process the context of the content.”
Why information architecture matters (podcast)
In episode 138 of The Content Strategy Experts Podcast, Gretyl Kinsey and Christine Cuellar talk about a common content strategy trap: what happens when information architecture (IA) is missing, and why you need IA.
“Without IA, you can’t get the most value out of your content. When we think about things like the time it takes to create your content, or getting benefits out of it like reuse, saving money on your translation costs, saving time to market on your translation, all of these things really make your content work for your organization. If you don’t have solid IA in place, it’s going to be really hard to do those things and truly get that value out of your content.”
Content systems and… baking?!
When you start looking at your content lifecycle and the content systems needed to support it, you’re going to end up with a decision between buying a suite of products from a single supplier or piecing together your environment with individual components.
That made me think about baking a cake. Perhaps this merits further explanation.
Content fragmentation with special guest Larry Swanson (podcast)
In episode 137 of The Content Strategy Experts Podcast, Sarah O’Keefe and guest Larry Swanson talk about the fragmentation of content over the past 30 years, from the delivery of books to UX writing.
“What are the changes that this fragmentation has introduced from a business or an economic point of view? One is the notion that we’re all publishers now. This is where the whole field of content marketing comes from — this notion that it’s a better way to promote yourself if you demonstrate expertise around what you’re doing.”
