by stc-office on 8 February 2010
Guest post by Ben Minson
If I asked you to name one of the most oft-repeated phrases of 2009 in the technical communication field, what would you say?
“Nobody reads the manual”?
Most of us have heard or read that statement in one form or another over the last year. I’m not going to argue that manuals aren’t appropriate for some situations; however, often we don’t do a good enough job educating others about what we can do that we still get pigeonholed into writing another manual for our latest project. We recognize that most manuals sit on shelves or in boxes and are rarely touched. We search for the magic combination of content and delivery that will bring users to the documentation in enthusiastic crowds.
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by stc-office on 5 February 2010
The offices of Stately STC Manor may be closed due to the impending Snowstorm of Dooom (the extra O stands for “Omigosh, we need milk and bread and TP!”), but Your Friendly Neighborhood Blogger is still on the job. At home, watching the pretty snow fall outside my full-length sunroom window, but still on the job! And so I present to you this week’s Links of Interest. As always, Your Interest May Vary.
STC’s Washington DC chapter has compiled a list of Captivate resources for those using it.
About Freelance Writing gives an example of “Why Corporations Need Real Writers.”
The Gilbane Group’s Globalization blog snagged an interview with the president of LinguaLinx, who talked about effective authoring for translations.
The Content Wrangler tries to reimagine the book-publishing world with XML.
Jeff Jeffrey Zeldman of Zeldman.com praises the lack of Flash in the new iPad as “a win for accessible, standards-based design,” then clarifies and expands upon his comments as well.
Open Source Business Resource discusses the importance of user assistance and “ensuring that everybody wins.”
Mashable presents “4 Essential Traits for Social Media Success in Your Career.”
And finally, Lifehacker provides “the lorem ipsum of images,” a dummy image generator for placeholders.
by stc-office on 4 February 2010
I want to (re)set the expectation that reinventing STC is not an event, it’s a process—and one that will take years, if ever, to complete. I say this because while we’ve made dramatic change already, we continue to seek more substantive change now and continuous improvement always. I often wonder exactly what the average STC member thinks about how quickly and how dramatically things should change. Oh, I know what our vocal minority is thinking because they willingly tell me. What I also want to know is what those who are not vocal are thinking. A few have written to me directly (and thank you for that); many others remain silent. Some think we should be done by now; others are deeply concerned about the changes already made: are they too little too late, too much too soon, not enough here and too much there? I’ve gotten feedback that wide-ranging. That, when I think about it, is to be expected, as there are wide-ranging differences among STC members themselves.
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by stc-office on 4 February 2010
If you missed Leah Guren’s webinar yesterday, “Ten Things You Thought You Knew about Writing,” you’ve got a second chance! Leah has graciously agreed to do a second showing of her popular seminar on Tuesday, 9 February from 1:00-2:00 PM EST (GMT-5).
See the STC website for more information on what Leah will cover and to register. You can also check out Leah’s blog post from Monday for a bit of an intro as well.
by stc-office on 4 February 2010
The below is from the Washington DC Chapter, posted at their request.
On Saturday, 13 March, the WDC Chapter will hold a social media seminar featuring Curtis “Bob” Burns, manager of the Transportation Security Administration’s blog. The TSA blog was one of the first successful social networking efforts by a government agency and has been cited as an example of Government 2.0. Launched in 2008, the blog received over 2,000 comments within the first 3 days, and continues to receive high traffic.
In his presentation titled “Engaging Your Target Audience Using Social Media,” Bob will discuss how the TSA uses social media to engage the public, how you can use social media to support your organization’s mission and decision-making, and best practices for implementing a social media strategy.
The seminar will be followed by the chapter’s annual competition awards and includes a plated lunch.
Register by 15 February to be entered in a raffle for a FREE registration to the WritersUA Conference for Software User Assistance, a $995 value!
Register Now!
by stc-office on 3 February 2010
Last week we put out a call for questions about Sarah O’Keefe’s article, “XML & Lone Writers: Can They Go Together,” in the December Intercom. You can read the article again at the Intercom site (don’t forget that you must be logged in to view the PDFs) before reading further for the questions and Sarah’s answers below. Come back next week and we’ll have another call for questions to an Intercom article for you!
I’ve heard from other lone writers who say that they avoid XML because they think it makes them a little easier to replace. How do you counter that thinking?
That question should have come with a beverage warning.
In early 2009, nearly 30 percent of respondents in Scriptorium’s structured authoring survey said they were working in XML. It seems to me that any writer who avoids XML is greatly restricting future job options.
But let’s address the larger issue. A writer’s job security should be built on three items: writing ability, domain expertise, and tools. If these “other lone writers” are seriously concerned that XML will make them easier to replace, that suggests to me that they need to improve their knowledge about the products they write about. And I’m having trouble envisioning a scenario where learning FrameMaker or Flare is more of an obstacle than learning XML publishing.
If your reason for existence as a lone technical writer is primarily your tools expertise, you are doing something seriously wrong.
What are the first things I should try to explain to someone who doesn’t even know the first thing about XML when attempting to justify it?
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by stc-office on 1 February 2010
Guest post by Leah Guren.
Two New Ideas
I do training. Lots of training. I work with engineers and SMEs, product managers, doctors and researchers, newbies who want to break into the field of technical communication, and more. Each group presents a different challenge, and I enjoy them all. (Yes, Virginia, I really do like engineers!) But my favorite gigs are those with technical communication professionals like you—TCs who are already in the field, already have a handle on what the profession requires, and are serious about keeping their skills and knowledge up to date.
The TCs I meet represent a wide range of backgrounds and talents, but most share the same joys and frustrations as they wrestle to provide better documentation and user assistance for their company’s products and services. I don’t need to spend a lot of time trying to convince them of the importance of good documentation; they get it.
I’ve worked with thousands of TCs over the years, and I’ve noticed that even the very experienced often have certain blind spots when it comes to writing. Perhaps they maintain writing habits established in their school years, or perhaps they never properly learned some of the finer points of grammar and punctuation. Whatever the reason, I see the same mistakes over and over again. I also run into the same myths and misinformation about TC writing.
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by stc-office on 29 January 2010
We’re back again with more Links of Interest! (Note: Interest not guaranteed. Hopefully you are, though.) If you have any links you’d like me to include in future LOIs, send me an email at kevin.cuddihy@stc.org.
A List Apart offers a two-part article on “Using SVG For Flexible, Scalable, and Fun Backgrounds.” For their in-depth discussion of scalable vector graphics, see part one and part two.
Yahoo.com’s HotJobs section has an article about the top five job categories for stay-at-home careers. Included are both “web designer” and “writer,” with a special nod to technical writers.
LimeExchange offers a helpful collection—“80 Useful Tools and Resources Freelancers Can Make Use Of,” including those for writers, bloggers, designers, and more.
eMedia Vitals asks: Are you ready for HTML5. Well, are you?
And finally, because it’s late in the day and I’m hungry: Wordnik.com, home of Summit Keynote Speaker Erin McKean, put up a list of words describing the taste of food. Check it out and see what applies to your last meal!
by stc-office on 29 January 2010
In December, MadCap offered to pay for Basic Membership in 2010 for any customer who purchased MadCap’s Flare or MadPak by 31 December. An impressive 31 members took them up on this generous offer, so they’ve extending it through 31 January. That’s this Sunday, so the time to act is now!
To take advantage of this and other MadCap offers for STC members, please email MadCap at sales@madcapsoftware.com or call +1 (858) 320-0387 and mention the “STC Partnership Promo.” [Please note: The phone number in STC's January News & Notes was incorrect. This is the right phone number.]
The initial announcement:
For a limited time only, purchase Flare and/or MadPak with any Maintenance plan, and MadCap will pay for a new or renewing STC Basic Membership. That’s a total savings of US$215.
“STC provides a wealth of resources and forums that play a vital role in the professional development of technical communicators,” said Anthony Olivier, MadCap cofounder and CEO. “By covering the annual STC dues of our customers, we have an opportunity to give back to the community during these challenging economic times and ensure that writers have access to valuable STC services.”
This amazing deal is being offered for a limited time on personal as well as corporate purchases of software. It’s time to act now and save!
by stc-office on 28 January 2010
As many of you have already read, blogged about, and tweeted, the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its newest Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) in December and, as STC announced was coming in April, “Technical Writer” has its own chapter for the very first time.
“This is a breakthrough achievement for STC and for the profession of technical communication,” said STC President Cynthia C. Currie. “It is the result of a long-standing relationship with economist Richard O’Sullivan and our vision that technical writers (and all technical communicators) be recognized as the special breed of communicator they are.”
Click here to read or download the full STC press release, with quotes, a bit of history, and some comparison figures. Feel free to share the press release with any organization or publication you think might have an interest. Click here to review the Handbook’s new chapter for Technical Writers.
