Webcast: Trends in technical communication 2014
In this webcast recording, Sarah O’Keefe and Bill Swallow of Scriptorium Publishing discuss what’s new in technical communication. Alan Pringle moderates.
Industry insights
The temperature check
This anonymous guest post is part of the Blog Secret Santa project. There’s a list of all Secret Santa posts, including one written by Sarah O’Keefe, on Santa’s list of 2013 gift posts.
Minimum viable content
…in which we explore the idea of minimal viable product as applied to technical content.
Impressions of the tcworld conference from a jet-lagged mind
BIG.
That’s my first impression of the tcworld conference, from which I just returned. I’m still jet-lagged from my trip, but I wanted to briefly share my experiences with those—especially from the US—who are considering attending in the future.
Extending our content strategy empire—at least to the Empire State
Longest. Interview. Ever.
Bill Swallow and I first met in person at the Help ’99 Conference in Dallas, Texas. (1999, not 1899!) Today, we are pleased to announce that Bill is joining Scriptorium as a full-time technical consultant.
Help this first-time tcworld attendee, please!
Whew! I’m just back from the excellent LavaCon event in Portland. I have (mostly) recovered from that trip, so now I’m focusing on the upcoming tcworld conference in Wiesbaden, Germany. And I need your help!
Webcast: The state of the tech comm industry
In this webcast recording, Sarah O’Keefe, Scott Abel (The Content Wrangler), Race Bannon (Oracle), and Paul Perrotta (Juniper Networks) discuss the state of the technical communication industry.
The truth is out there
One of the most important issues in technical content is to establish a single source of truth for technical data. More often than not, our workflow assessments uncover multiple sources of dubious accuracy.
Pay no GREAT attention to that man behind the curtain
Every department has its resident tech wizard: the maintainer of the templates, the DITA Open Toolkit, the wiki, and so on. What happens when that wizard flies off to a new kingdom?
Webcast: Trends in technical communication, 2013
Our trends webcast has become an annual event, and it’s our most popular webcast! Each year, we take our best shot at trends for the upcoming year with a mixture of serious and not-quite-serious predictions. In this webcast recording, Sarah O’Keefe and special guest Bill Swallow, aka techcommdood, share their perspectives on trends for 2013.
2013 predictions in technical communication
Here we go again! My traditional blog topic to kick off a new year: predictions.
2012 tekom thoughts
Some thoughts on technical communication, content strategy, and the state of the industry at tekom/tcworld 2012.
Cloudy with a chance of WOMBAT
For remote work, file management in the cloud is way easy. Other methods, not so much…
When perceptions bite tech comm’s backside
It can be a mightily sucktacular experience when you discover what other people think technical communicators do.
From Boulder to Bangalore
When I was a high school student in Boulder, Colorado, my first job was as a stock boy in an India-imports store. The store, Hamara Dukan, stocked all sorts of handicrafts and objets d’art from India including clothing, wood carvings, brass bowls and knickknacks, hand-printed bedspreads, incense, Kashmiri boxes, and thousands of other items. After working there for a couple of years, I acquired an appreciation of the things the country produced, but was always curious about the people and what it was like to be in India.
Intelligent Content conference thoughts
Palm Springs provides a spectacular setting for the Intelligent Content conference. But despite the beautiful scenery (and outside temperature!), conference-goers were more likely to be found in the chilly, windowless meeting rooms.
Webcast: HTML5 and its impact on technical communication
In this webcast recording, guest presenter Peter Lubbers gives a fast-paced overview of HTML5 with a focus on how it affects the tech comm field. He covers what exactly HTML5 is, why you should care, and how you can develop with HTML5. The session covers which browsers support which features, and how you can make the new features work in older browsers so you can start using HTML5 today.
Webcast: Trends in technical communication, 2012
In this webcast recording, Sarah O’Keefe and guest presenter Char James-Tanny discuss tech comm trends for the upcoming year and beyond. Topics include use of the cloud, help authoring tool innovation, business value, adoption of standards, shift to mobile, and more.
Webcast: Content strategy in technical communication
In this webcast recording, Sarah O’Keefe explores how to develop a content strategy specifically for technical content. That means stepping back from the temptation to focus on tools and instead taking a hard look at what the users need and how best to deliver it.
2012 predictions in technical communication
It’s time for that annual exercise in humiliation known as the “review of last year’s predictions” followed by the “some people never learn” event in which I soldier on with new predictions.
The passion quotient
You’ve never heard of the passion quotient? That’s because I just made it up. For example, if 5 authors report that they use Tool X and it is very important (5 on a scale from 1 to 5), then Tool X scores a perfect 5 PQ.
Do as a politician does (but just this once!)
My cynical streak makes me very leery (and often weary) of what politicians say and do, particularly around election time. But an article about President Obama’s re-election strategy really resonated with me—mostly because it offers some insight into what we should be doing in technical communication right now.
(Non)predictions for 2012
With 2011 waning, people are contemplating what 2012 will bring for technical communication. Our profession is changing rapidly, so intelligent conversations about the future of tech comm are essential.
All that smart talk has absolutely nothing to do with this post.
