When we look at structured content, the first priorities are usually efficiency and cost savings. These savings are gained through intelligent content reuse and automated content delivery. The implicit promise of structured authoring is consistency; use structure, get consistent content. But this isn’t always the case, nor should it be.
It’s always dangerous to make predictions, but for 2019, we are defining “smarter content in unexpected places” as our trend in content strategy.
The catalyst is recognition of content value. Once you decide that delivering certain information is valuable, you then start to think about the best ways to create, manage, and deliver that information. How can you maximize its value?
After an arduous job search process that took place during my senior year in the Professional and Technical Writing program at Virginia Tech, I was recently hired here at Scriptorium. One thing I have learned is that matching candidates, especially new college graduates, and jobs in the world of technical communication can be difficult.
Content strategy—or should I say, #contentstrategy—has been picking up steam over the years on social media. Twitter is especially saturated with the #contentstrategy tag. But what exactly is being positioned as content strategy?
00:01 Sarah O’Keefe: Welcome to The Content Strategy Experts podcast brought to you by Scriptorium. Since 1997, Scriptorium has helped companies manage, structure, organize, and distribute content in an efficient way. In Episode 20, we discuss our New Year’s resolutions for content.
Last week’s LavaCon conference in Portland, OR was the highest attended ever. And with good reason; the program was very compelling. Regardless of session focuses (web copy, chatbots, virtual reality, and more), nearly every session echoed the same themes: change is constant, collaboration is critical, find your tribe.
I’ve lost count of the number of conferences I’ve attended. I average five or so per year, so over 20 years, that’s at least 100 events. Here are some things I’ve learned about successful conference attendance.
Back in 2013, I used the phrase content velocity in several posts. These posts also had a certain doomsday theme, as I compared the rise of digital workflows in publishing to the comet that wiped out the dinosaurs.
Two weeks ago, The LavaCon Conference made its return to Dublin, Ireland. Before I dive in, thanks to Jack Molisani for yet another fun and insightful LavaCon conference!
You. You over there with the finicky formatting and the inability to use templates and the hours of adjusting graphics when you add a paragraph.
Yes. You.
Positive, optimistic, energetic. Once again, the tcworld India conference in Bangalore did not disappoint.
This post is part of Scriptorium’s 20th anniversary celebration.
I’m finding it surprisingly difficult to write a recap of Scriptorium from 1997 to today. It feels as though the company has been around forever, but also as though 20 years went by in a flash.
My 2017 trend is the impact of machine translation on content strategy.
Mergers and acquisitions often result in a new content strategy. In a typical scenario, the merged company needs to align disparate content organizations. Before the merger, the companies had different tools, technologies, workflows, deliverables, and content culture. A goal of the merger is to unify company products, and therefore, the merged organization must also unify content development.
Yes, I’m playing.
Even if you aren’t twitchily checking your phone and resisting the urge to run outside to catch a Pikachu or Gyrados, you’ve probably heard all about the phenomenon of Pokémon GO. One of the most common criticisms of the game is that the in-app documentation is sparse at best. In response, the community banded together and began to document their theories and findings. You can readily find articles covering “eeveelutions,” theories on how to more easily capture Pokémon, and how to capture opposing gyms. It hearkens back to a time of meeting up in schoolyards to swap tips and rumors.
The tcworld China event took place in Shanghai April 18 and 19. I was there to present on content strategy and advanced DITA (yes, I hear your gasp of surprise), but for me, the most interesting part of the trip was getting a chance to connect with the technical communication community in China.
Do you need a content strategy consultant? If the following signs are uncomfortably familiar to you, the answer is yes:
In this webcast recording, Scriptorium’s Alan Pringle, Bill Swallow, and Gretyl Kinsey look at 2016 trends in content and content strategy. Sarah O’Keefe moderates.
Let’s wrap up 2015 with a look back at popular posts from the year.
Scriptorium wishes you the best for 2016!
This year’s tekom/tcworld conference reinforced the ongoing doctrinal chasm between North American technical communication and German technical communication.
I am speaking, of course, of the proper role of DITA in technical communication. If any.
Content strategy implementations require substantial planning, coordination, and hard work. The effort involved in keeping planned work moving along can be difficult. Scope creep–discovering new requirements along the way–can potentially derail your entire effort if you’re not careful.
We’re about to begin the last quarter of 2015, and that means CONFERENCES. Scriptorium is attending many tech comm and content strategy events.
Will we see you at these conferences?
