February 26, 2010
Finding the right solution for a problem isn’t always easy but sometimes, if you are very lucky, the solution will fall straight into your lap. Such was the case with our switch to Author-it even though we didn’t fully realise it at the time.
I’ve covered our reasons for switching from FrameMaker to Author-it elsewhere, and once we had converted our content we started to look at how we could get the most from the other output formats available. We already had ideas...
Time flies, particularly when a deadline looms and so it was last night when, due to this silly, short, month (which has flown by) I had to rattle out my monthly column to go in the ISTC Newsletter, InfoPlus+, toute de suite.
I mentioned this on Twitter and was promptly asked where it was published. I’ve mentioned the newsletter in passing here but realise that I’ve covered it in any more detail.
First...
February 17, 2010
When was the last time you looked at the things you don’t do?
The reason I ask is that this very question is occupying my mind at the moment as I try to pull...
February 13, 2010
Towards the end of last year I started to see how several related, but disparate, strands of work would start to come together....
February 9, 2010
I think I’m starting to get it. I’ve used it a couple of times but not for any other reason than to play with it, but now I have an actual need for a place to collaborate with a group of geographically displaced people, the ISTC Community website, it’s starting to make sense.
And I’m not the only person that thinks Google Wave is best suited to this kind of collaboration.
...
February 3, 2010
As has been mentioned elsewhere, I’m currently planning to build a community website for the ISTC and thought it time to get you all a heads up and ask for some help.
The idea for the website was borne from the members panel that Rachel Potts ran last year, which cited “reducing the feeling of isolation” as an important benefit of being a member of the ISTC. It will also help to promote and publicise the ISTC and hopefully become a valued resource for technical...
January 23, 2010
Pulling together my monthly column for the ISTC (I write about blogs, unsurprisingly), I noticed something rather odd. I really, sincerely, hope this isn’t something I’ve been unconsciously doing but it does seem that many of the technical communications blogs I follow, and which I feature in my monthly column, are written by men.
Given that, for the bulk of my career, I was usually outnumbered in many a Documentation department, with on one occasion when I was one guy in...
January 21, 2010
We all have a need to make sure we are working on the most important thing, the thing that...
January 20, 2010
Over the coming month or so, I’ll be casting around for opinion and insight from you, my lovely readers, particularly if you are based in the UK and especially if you are a member of the ISTC member.
Why? I hear you ask.
It’s because I’m planning, designing, and building, a community focussed extension to the website (or sub-website, or side-website or.. well that bit has still to be agreed). I’m still figuring out how best to collate the information and...
January 15, 2010
Theme: The remit of communication professionals in the organisation. How can different comms professionals (technical authors, editors, web content/marketing/training writers, internal/corporate comms, information architects, graphic designers…) work effectively with each other and the rest of the organisation?
Time: Monday 25 January 2010, from 7.30 pm onwards.
Venue: Waxy O’Connors pub, 44 West George Street,...
