STC presents the preliminary listing of sessions for the 2011 Summit, being held 15–18 May in Sacramento, CA, with session titles, speakers, and descriptions. This list will be updated online as more sessions and speakers are added to the conference. Conference education sessions are included with your registration.
There are eight tracks offered, organized to best suit your needs. The tracks are: Communication and Interpersonal Skills; Design, Architecture, and Publishing; Education and Training; Managing People, Projects, and Business; Professional Development; Usability and Accessibility; Web Technologies; and Writing and Editing. Below are the sessions by track (sessions in alphabetical order by session title); a future issue of Intercom will have the preliminary schedule by date and time.
Project Showcase Session
The Project Showcase session will include presenters at tables to share their projects with groups of attendees as they walk from table to table. These small groups and discussions will allow technical communicators to share their experiences and discuss various ways to approach projects and solve the related issues. This is the first year for this session at the STC Summit and we are excited to invite you to be a part of it. Currently scheduled are:
- JODY ELIZABETH BLEYLE AND SAMARTHA VASHISHTHA, Adobe Community Help, a Case Study
- LANCE ROBERT, Embedding Flash Movies in PDFs
- CHERYL LANDES, Experience an Index Usability Test
- KIRSTY TAYLOR, Localization with AuthorIT
- BEN COLBORN, Multi-Modal Training: A Review of Three Projects
- MARK FIDELMAN, Social Documentation Case Study: Autodesk eLearning
Institutes
In addition to the education sessions during the conference, STC will again offer advanced sessions, or institutes—a “conference within a conference.” Currently the following institutes are planned, with more sessions to be added in the future.
Business Strategy Institute
- SARAH O'KEEFE, Calculating ROI for DITA
- JACK MOLISANI, How to Build a Business Case
Content Strategy Institute
- RAHEL ANNE BAILIE, Refining the Content Lifecycle
- MICHAEL PRIESTLEY AND ALYSON RILEY, Smart Content: IBM's Next-Generation Information Experience
- CHARLES COOPER AND ANN ROCKLEY, Tech Docs Reinvented: The Power of Enhanced Books
Social Media Institute
- PHYLISE BANNER, Socio-Technical Design: The Future of Online Community
- ANNE GENTLE, Sprints and Stacks: Building a Documentation Community
Track: Communication and Interpersonal Skills
PAULA TOTH, Change, Trust, Collaboration: Adapting to Single Source Technologies
Paula Toth, Single-Source Project Lead at TechProse, will share her tips, tricks, and practical experiences to help you comfortably stretch your trust and collaboration skills to successfully adapt to single-source technologies.
JANG GRAAT, How to Give Effective Presentations
Good presentations engage the audience and allow you to get your message across without effort. This workshop gives you insight in communication and shows what you can do to improve your presentation skills. Not a loose collection of tips and tricks, but profound insight and clear focus points.
ELIZABETH FRICK, Oral Questioning Skills for the Technical Communicator
A major factor in a technical communication professional's success is asking questions—the right questions. If you've ever suffered expensive consequences because you didn't ask the right question or you framed your question poorly, you'll benefit from this lively and interactive session on learning to ask the right questions.
LINDA URBAN, Paths to Success: Networking, Contributing, and Relationships
What does it take to be successful as a technical communicator? We tend to focus on skills and abilities, but other factors are equally important. This mini-workshop focuses on the relationships, attitudes, and actions that can make the difference. Discover ideas to help you move in the direction you want.
PATTY MURDOCK, KATRINA PIGUSCH, AND SARAH WAKEFIELD, Strategies of SME Communication
SME communication can be challenging. Successful developers must be able to produce results within the sometimes-frustrating SME/Developer relationship. In this interactive simulation, participants will practice gathering information from three different, but equally challenging, SMEs. Participants will leave this session with specific tips and insights to communicate effectively with various SMEs.
Track: Design, Architecture, and Publishing
NEIL PERLIN, Beyond the Bleeding Edge
As technical communication becomes increasingly technical, it's vital for STC members to keep abreast of what's on the horizon. Bleeding Edge speakers will help by introducing new trends, tools, or technologies that might affect STC members. Topics will be selected in March so as to be as timely as possible.
CIC SIG, CIC SIG Progression
This session presents several topics of interest to technical writers working in contract/consulting roles or who are considering moving into this model. With Louellen Coker, Cheryl Landes, Linda Gallagher, Edward Marshall, and Teresa Stover.
SIMON BATE, DITA Open Toolkit Essentials
The DITA Open Toolkit (OT) is the standard way to generate deliverables from DITA documents. To the casual user, the OT may seem intimidating. This presentation shows how anyone can install the OT and generate output. A tour of the OT contents and how the plugin architecture works is included.
ROBERT ANDERSON, DITA Specialization—Why Would I Do That?
The words DITA and Specialization are often linked—but is specialization really required in order to use DITA? What is it, and when is it really a good idea? We will go over the basics and then discuss the process IBM uses when deciding when to specialize.
SCOTT PRENTICE, ePub: Why, What, and How?
You hear about eBooks every day, and perhaps you're one of those early adopters who uses a new eBook reader. Have you considered the possibility of publishing your content as an eBook? This presentation explains the Why, What, and How of the popular ePub format.
LONE WRITER SIG, Lone Writer Progression
This progression focuses on topics of particular interest to people working as lone writers in their organizations. With Kathee Kuvinka, Darice Lang, Fei Min Lorente, Karen Mulholland, Mike Nelson, Paula Robertson, and John Sgammato.
ROB HANNA, Metadata Primer for Technical Communicators
Metadata is the intelligence behind “Intelligent Content.” Without metadata, content cannot be effectively used or managed—it is just words. You may be familiar with the term as “information about information” but it is much more. In this session you learn how to manage metadata and make it effective.
NEIL PERLIN, Mobile Content: Single Sourcing to the Max
Thinking about trying mobile for your online help or doc but hesitant because of the need for new tools? App programming? Try using your help authoring tool. We'll review mobile outputs from RoboHelp and Flare, then look at the features that help create the most flexible and controlled content possible.
TOM JOHNSON, Organizing Help Content: Breaking Out of Topic-Based Hierarchies
Organizing help content so that users can both find and learn information often requires technical writers to break out of the traditional topic-based folders and move toward faceted navigation, search engine optimization, interface text, level-based help, and other methods for organizing content.
JEAN-LUC MAZET, Preparing for a Successful XML and CMS Migration
When you decide to move into a structured, semantic content environment, you have so many things to cover. This presentation will share a migration approach from legacy to next generation systems; topics will include: addressing paradigm shifts, production and localization considerations, content architecture, training, content conversion, and migration planning.
MICHAEL OPSTEEGH, Putting Your Best Font Forward
Learn to create documents, help, Web pages, and presentations that people actually want to read! This fast-paced presentation touches the fundamentals of graphic design, the key elements of typography, and the ethical implications that all technical communicators must know to create attractive and innovative materials.
MARY CRAIG AND PAMELA KOSTUR, Structured Authoring: A First Step to Content Management
Structured authoring is an ideal first step to implementing content management. Structuring content prepares it for reuse and its eventual migration to a content management system, and prepares authors for writing in a structured authoring environment.
MARTHA SIPPEL AND BECKY WILLIAMS, Successfully Developing and Implementing a Website Redesign
Are you navigating shark-infested waters when proposing a website redesign? Do people see only what exists and not what could be? How can you overcome these challenges? Completing exercises and viewing demonstrations, learn how a volunteer team accomplished a successful redesign employing usability principles, a sound strategy, and a process.
TRISTAN BISHOP, TechComm 2020: Get Vision, Be Ready
Communication is morphing at a dizzying rate. In some fields, technological advancements disintegrate job functions without warning. This presentation will use statistics to present a vision of the technical communications profession in 2020, and explain steps we can take today to be a part of that vision.
VARIOUS SPEAKERS, Topics of Special Interest from STC SIGs
A lineup of speakers will present on a variety of topics directly related to policy, procedures, process improvement, and tools and technology. Session attendees will learn about case studies and their results, doc management, the writing and editing process, policy function, workflow and process improvement, and specialized P&P Methodologies. With Audrey Bezner, Emily Celaric, Dawnell Claessen, Adrienne Escoe, Sharon Lynn, Marta Rauch, Catherine Reynolds, Raymond Urgo, and Rivka Vaughs.
SAM ANTOS, Using 3D to Explain Visually
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, and video is worth 1,000 pictures, then how many words are interactive 3D product instructions worth? This presentation will discuss how multiple areas of your company can benefit from reusing your 3D engineering data to explain your products more visually and engage your audiences in new ways.
Track: Education and Training
ACADEMIC SIG, Academic Progression—Global and Local Issues in TC Instruction
In this progression, the Academic SIG addresses the globally expanding role of technical communication education as it crosses many borders. Presentations include the ethics of teaching across national boundaries, graduate resources, distance education, menu-driven teaching, editing multi-lingual writers, and practitioners as resources. With Michael Albers, Sara Baca, Craig Baehr, Valerie Ball, Thomas Barker, Tatiana Batova, Pam Brewer, Ann Jennings, Daniel Voss, and Dave Yeats.
NAD ROSENBERG, How Effective Graphics Can Improve Your E-learning Tutorials
The session covers the basic principles of creating or selecting graphics (images, animations and layout) that will make your e-learning tutorials more engaging and easier to understand. Further, it provides numerous examples and gives attendees real-world suggestions for choosing effective visuals.
IDL SIG, IDL SIG Progression
The Instructional Design and Learning SIG brings the experiences of its members to you by providing this progression on the latest topics around creating and using innovative instructional design. With Jackie Damrau, Robert Hershenow, Cheryl Landes, Gloria Reece, Jeanette Rogers, Jamye Sagan, and Maralee Sautter.
PAUL PEHRSON, It's All Fun and Games Until Somebody Gets Sued
IP doesn't need to be a dirty word. In this presentation, you will learn about what content developers need to know about protecting and respecting intellectual property rights. You will see some examples of what not to do, and more importantly, learn tips to protect you and your work.
DONTE ORMSBY, Make It Snappy—Web-Based Reference Guides
So many companies create training and then wonder why it doesn't stick. One reason is that the Web has changed how we acquire information. We expect it faster and training is no exception. “Make It Snappy” demonstrates simple principles professionals can follow to create fast, on-demand Web-based Quick Reference Guides.
JINGWEN ZHANG, Reconsidering Core Competencies for Technical Communicators
In today's workplace, technical communicators work and the different communities to which they belong are increasingly influenced by various constraints, including diverse global, regional, and local policies. This research intends to bridge perspectives from academic and workplace discourse communities to reconstruct core competencies for technical communicators in the context of globalization.
KAREN BARANICH, JACKIE DAMRAU, AND JEANETTE ROGERS, Training Evaluation Workshop
In this workshop, participants can pre-submit course materials for evaluation by one of our expert instructional designers. Each participant will receive both written and verbal comments on their materials—comments cover all aspects of instructional design and are aimed to highlight strengths and provide opportunities for improvement.
Track: Managing People, Projects, and Business
VARIOUS SPEAKERS, Best Practices in Management
This session is intended for anyone who is working in a management role, or aspires to do so. This will be a typical progression session. An outstanding group of technical communication managers will present and discuss topics related to project management, team management, supervision, and career development. With Francisco Abedrabbo, Bernard Aschwanden, Sara Baca, Rahel Bailie, Dick Hamilton, Mike Markley, Marta Rauch, Christine Sigman, Susan Tacker, and Daniel Voss.
REBEKKA ANDERSEN AND CHARLOTTE ROBIDOUX, Cultivating a Culture of Collaboration
In today's global economy, where real-time product development occurs continuously, collaboration is essential. Cultivating a truly collaborative culture, however, is not easy. The presenters draw on extensive research and experience to offer strategies for effecting cultural change.
LARRY KUNZ, Documentation in a Collaborative World: What We've Learned
The rapid rise of collaboration has changed the way we develop documentation. At the 2010 Summit I invited my audience to join a conversation about how to meet the challenges associated with these changes. Based on that conversation, I describe new best practices for editing, reviewing, legacy documentation, and localization.
SEBASTIEN QUINTAS, Generating Consistent Documentation Estimates
This session will demonstrate a standard estimating process by which technical writers can provide consistent estimates for any project according to documentation tasks, complexity levels, artifact details, and scope changes.
VARIOUS SPEAKERS, International Communication: What's Going On Out There?
A group of experts discuss various topics including teamwork in a global workspace, preparing terminology, global content management, field review implementation, L10N, XML, and CMS & Harmonizing Technical Global Documentation. Come learn and share your experiences. Take home new ideas. With Theodora Landgren, Karen Levine, Lionel Lim, Jean-Luc Mazet, Madhumita Sharma, Ronald Stone, Debra Tate, and Len Whitehead.
JUDITH GLICK-SMITH, Managing Conflict on Diverse Teams
We all encounter conflict in our lives on a daily basis. Conflict occurs within us and in our relationships. How we respond to conflict makes all the difference in the world as to its resolution. This workshop will help you with strategies to minimize and resolve conflict more effectively.
VIC PASSION, Metrics that Demonstrate the Value of Technical Communication
This mini-workshop introduces the benefits of measuring the return on investment (ROI) for technical communication projects. Through scenarios, participants will plan for ways to measure the ROI of fictional projects.
KEVIN LIM, Project Management for Technical Writers
Large, complex documentation projects, like software projects, should have strategies that could be executed with limited resources. Project management principles on influencing people you do not manage, getting support from management, and understanding the larger organization goals can help you deliver projects on time.
Track: Professional Development
CHRIS HESTER, Bringing Experience to the Table
As communicators, we have a wealth of skills relevant to the design arena. In this presentation, a technical writer tells the story behind her transition to experience design and shares her projects, tools, and resources.
VARIOUS SPEAKERS, Expanded Roles and Added Value for Technical Communicators
Listen and interact with panelists to discover ways to apply your tech comm skillset to jobs that might surprise you. Learn how to bring added value to what you already know. With Dawnell Claessen, Cindy Currie-Clifford, Barbara Giammona, Virginia Glass, Connie Kiernan, and Linda Oestreich.
NICKY BLEIEL, JOHN HEDTKE, AND JOE WELINSKE, Have a Tech Comm Question? Ask the Experts!
Join us for a rapid-fire Q&A session. We have 100 combined years of experience in Technical Communication and will answer your questions about writing, consulting, Help, usability, management, blogging, leadership, DITA, and much more. We will take questions live, plus answer a few gathered in advance via social media.
JAMES CONKLIN, Knowledge Transfer: A New Opportunity for Technical Communicators
This presentation focuses on the fast-growing field of knowledge transfer. Dr. James Conklin, an STC Fellow, describes the field of knowledge transfer and pinpoints emerging opportunities for technical communicators.
SAUL CARLINER AND NANCY COPPOLA, Profession Building: What the Peer-Reviewed Literature Tells Us
This session reports findings from a study that maps peer-reviewed journal content to the taxonomy used as the basis of the Technical Communication Body of Knowledge (TC BOK).
ANDREA AMES, Strategic, Competitive Professional Development: An Overview
Are you developing professionally, every day, and in every way? If not, you risk more than you think. We often relegate professional development to the land of “nice to have.” In today's challenging economy and business environment, you can't afford to not continually add to your own professional value.
Track: Usability and Accessibility
VARIOUS SPEAKERS, Designing Surveys, Careers, and Challenges of Usability Testing
Learn how to design a one-question survey, how to find the right fit as a UX professional, the challenges of usability testing a complex application, and how to set up source documents in Word and FrameMaker to support accessibility. With Michael Albers, Jamie Conklin, George Hayhoe, Caroline Jarrett, Carolyn Klinger, and Alice Preston.
BRAD NUNNALLY, From Cancer to Bankruptcy
Performing in-home ethnographic interviews is especially personal for User Experience Designers. But, when the research is based on a person's personal health or finances it gets taken to a whole new level.
KRISTI LEACH, Grassroots Documentation Testing
In this mini-workshop, we will practice writing scenarios to test user assistance content on co-workers, followed by a brainstorming session to share success stories and discuss solutions for the most critical challenges to do-it-yourself documentation testing.
ANGELA COLTER, Incorporating Accessibility into Your Usability Reviews
If you're already conducting expert reviews of websites, find out how to identify accessibility issues on the Web that affect people with vision, hearing, cognitive, and motor impairments.
KEL SMITH, Innovations in Accessibility: Designing for Digital Outcasts
Introduced by researchers from the University of Sussex, the term “digital outcasts” describes users with disabilities who are left behind as technology advances. This presentation will explore emerging technologies (mobile apps, games, virtual worlds, etc.) as they apply to barrier-free digital products in the healthcare sector, cultivating greater social awareness.
CAROLINE JARRETT, 10 Tips for a Better Survey
Surveys: so easy to do, so hard to do well. If you want to get the most out of your next survey, come to this presentation for tips on questions, the process of the survey, incentives and most of all: testing.
CAROL BARNUM AND LAURA PALMER, Users Play Cards. We Keep Score. Magic Results!
Our use of Microsoft's product reaction cards over numerous studies gives us a window into users' experience that is eye-opening and amazingly consistent within each study. We show and tell how we use the cards and the results we obtain.
Track: Web Technologies
JANET SWISHER, Before You Pick a Wiki
Is your company moving documentation to a wiki? What process and policy issues should you consider (preferably) before selecting a wiki for documentation? If the choice of a wiki has already been made for you, learn to manage expectations and produce the best outcome for your situation.
PATRICIA BOSWELL, Google Analytics: Measuring Content Use and Engagement
You can use Analytics to measure user engagement with your online docs. I'll demonstrate how our user education team uses Google Analytics on our developer documentation (http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/) to get insight into how well our documents are serving our users.
RICHARD HAMILTON, Managing Book Development Using a Wiki
This presentation describes how to combine the ease-of-use of wikis with the ease-of-production of XML technology using readily available wiki and XML technology. The presentation is based on experience developing Alan Porter's latest book using PBWiki and DocBook.
ERIC SHEPHERD, Radically Open Documentation
What's it like to not just allow community contributions to your documentation, but depend on them? What if literally anybody could edit the docs and see your work as you write? Mozilla doc team members share their experiences working with radically open documentation for end-users and developers.
SEAN MOREY, Writing for Spiders: Toward a New Media Rhetoric
This presentation discusses the role that Search Engine Optimization might play in technical writing pedagogy. While writing for Web environments has rightfully gained much attention when teaching technical writing, such writing instruction has undervalued writing for the nonhuman audiences that drive search engines and how authors may reach their audiences.
Track: Writing and Editing
JOHN HEDTKE AND BRENDA HUETTNER, Co-authoring Without Homicide
Co-authoring is a good idea when your co-author can help you write something better or faster. But co-authoring isn't always easy, particularly if you don't know how to divide the work effectively. Learn how to work successfully with other writers who can complement your skills and lighten the workload.
LEAH GUREN, Cut the Fluff (A Diet for Text-Bloated Docs)
Are your documents too wordy? Do you go on and on and on before you get to the point? Maybe you need to learn how to cut the fluff! Learn the tricks to trimming without terror and cutting without qualms.
MICHELLE CORBIN AND LINDA OESTREICH, Editing: Reviewing Levels and Choosing Types
Review the “Classic Nine” types and five levels of edit from the past and compare them to newer editing types in the current literature. Show how to apply levels of edits to today's work world, tools, and conditions.
RYAN BOETTGER, Examining Error in the Technical Communication Editing Test
This presentation examines the popular topic of usage error by quantifying the types and frequencies of errors found in 41 editing tests used to screen prospective technical writers and editors. Results can improve the effectiveness of the editing test as well as improve error instruction at universities.
CONNIE KIERNAN, LINDA MIKKELSEN, AND SALLY SPAHN, Information Product Evaluation Workshop
Individuals or teams of collaborative writers sign up in advance to bring samples of their information products to receive personal, one-on-one feedback from an expert. Technical communication experts provide a 30-minute analysis of the sample by evaluating information products for organization, style, layout, and use of graphics.
SAMARTHA VASHISHTHA, Localizing Images: Cultural Aspects and Visual Metaphors
When we think localization, we usually think of text and screenshots. However, translating images, keeping in mind the cultural ethos of the target audience is crucial too, especially for marketing-oriented content and websites. In this session, we will look at the cultural aspects that must be considered while localizing images.
VARIOUS SPEAKERS, Narratives over Numbers: Why Qualitative Research is Essential
This panel, which brings together some of the leading qualitative researchers working today in technical communication, offers a discussion of the importance of qualitative research methods for technical communication practice. With Saul Carliner, James Conklin, Menno de Jong, Hillary Hart, and George Hayhoe.
RACHEL HOUGHTON AND KATHRYN POE, The Scrum Master and the Agile Newbie
So your company is going Agile? What would that mean to you? How does a writer fit into the Agile world order? What you write and for who and when would it be due? Find the answer to these and other pressing questions in this Q&A session.
TECHNICAL EDITING SIG, Technical Editing Progression: The Evolving Role of Editing
This progression highlights how editing continues to evolve and yet retain its core values. Specifically you'll hear the presenters share their editing experiences in areas such as microblogging, style, format consistency, modular documentation, collaborative authoring, project tracking, peer reviews, video scripts, and simplicity. With Charles Crawley, David Hicks, Meredith Kinder, Lori Meyer, Kelli Pharo, Ann Marie Queeney, Daniel Riechers, Diane Ross, and Andrea Wenger.
LISA PIETRANGELI, Writing with Localization in Mind: Workshop
Decisions you make from word choice to how much white space is available on your document page affect the localization process, translation accuracy, reader accessibility, overall cost, and time-to-market. This workshop is a hands-on approach to authoring and design for an international audience.
