Written by Michelle Despres, STC Senior Member
A January 2015 Harvard Business Review article, “The Strategic Value of APIs,” illustrates how companies have discovered significant growth opportunities by offering APIs. Previously the purview of the technology industry, APIs are now offered by companies in industries as diverse as fashion, real estate, and retail. Many of us wouldn’t think a Walgreens API exists. Even in technology companies, APIs are being used as a bridge between industries. When we think of IBM’s Watson, we likely don’t think about it as a partner in oncology care.
APIs are moving from a strictly technical concept to a more general business concept. The increasing popularity of APIs may give rise to a ubiquitous need for API writers, creating opportunities for technical communicators. Regardless of whether we see API writing in our future or not, it’s interesting to explore this growing area of our profession.
Reflecting the importance of this topic for both established API writers and the curious among us, this year’s Summit offers a preconference API workshop and a series of API presentations in their own track.
The Experts
We are fortunate to have an expert group of API writers from the US and Canada joining us this year
Pre-Conference Workshop
Crash Course in API Documentation: Tom Johnson is Senior Technical Writer at 41st Parameter, a company working in fraud detection and advertising technology. Follow him on Twitter @tomjohnson, and read his introduction as the guest editor of the API edition of Intercom.
API Track Presentations
API Documentation: Learn by Example: Lois Patterson is Technical Publications Manager at FINCAD, a financial analytics software provider. Follow her on Twitter @LoisRP, and read her API article in Intercom.
APIs and SDKs: Breaking Into and Succeeding in a Specialty Market: Edward Marshall is the sole proprietor of Marshall Documentation Consulting, specializing in documentation for developers. Follow him on Twitter @EdMarshall.
A Tour of Swagger for APIs: Allen Dean is an Information Developer for IBM Watson. He joined IBM through the acquisition of MRO Software in 2006, and has worked as an information architect and documentation manager at IBM. Follow him on Twitter @allenwdean.
Publishing Strategies for API and Developer Documentation: In addition to his work at 41st Parameter, Johnson has blogged about technical communication at I’d Rather Be Writing for almost a decade. He has a series of API podcasts and dozens of API articles there.
Survival Strategies: Building Your First Website for API Documentation: Mary Linderman, Senior Technical/API Writer, and Andrei Essaoulov, Technical Writer, are colleagues at kCura, a provider of web-based e-discovery applications for the legal and law enforcement industries. Linderman developed and maintains kCura’s website for third-party developers, and Essaoulov supports its ongoing development. Read Linderman’s API article in Intercom.
The Presentations
The API track, scheduled for Monday, was designed to benefit all attendees, but some sessions may appeal to your own specific goals or needs.
| If you are… | consider attending… |
| a curious bystander | API Documentation: Learn by Example
A Tour of Swagger for APIs APIs and SDKs: Breaking Into and |
| an aspiring API writer | API Documentation: Learn by Example
APIs and SDKs: Breaking Into and Publishing Strategies for API and Survival Strategies: Building Your First |
| a beginner API writer | API Documentation: Learn by Example
Publishing Strategies for API and Survival Strategies: Building Your First |
| an experienced API writer |
API Documentation: Learn by Example
A Tour of Swagger for APIs Publishing Strategies for API and |
| an advanced API writer | A Tour of Swagger for APIs
Publishing Strategies for API and |
All of our experts discuss the role of the technical communicator in API writing, which helps us situate ourselves in the API process. They also talk about the skills necessary for successful API writing, including answering the question I hear asked often: “how much code do I need to know.” They offer best practices and share strategies from planning to implementation.
I describe myself as a technical writer with an emphasis on writer, so it may surprise people how excited I am for this track. I’m excited to explore new territory and to return to the office with concrete ideas for creating API documentation. For API writers, this track is an opportunity to improve and expand their current work and to learn and share ideas with like-minded people. They, too, will return to the office bearing API gifts that please both colleagues and managers, who will deem the conference budget well spent.
To find out more about our API presentations and other conference offerings, visit Lanyrd. To register or find out more about the 2015 Summit, check out summit.stc.org.