I'd Rather Be Writing

In this video, I talk with Joe Welinski from WritersUA about strategies for entering the mobile market, particularly in landing contracts for iPhone and iPad application help and user interface design. Joe runs the WritersUA conference each year. [youtube AKaYcZliW4o] Read more..

In this video, I talk with Whitney Quesenbery and Caroline Jarrett about the feasibility of removing links embedded directly within paragraphs -- which Kathryn Summers and Ginny Redish describe as "exit points" that confuse and disorient low-literacy readers. [youtube EtHNDAoQLSQ] Read more..

In this video, I talk with Richard Hamilton, founder of XML Press, an imprint focused on technical communication, to share details about the upcoming books he is publishing. Richard also comments on how he identifies topics and trends for the technical communication publishing market. [youtube M-opo6wXmkw] Read more..

In this interview, I ask Rich Maggiani, who serves on the STC board, to comment on why questions are so important and what the art of questioning entails. Rich gave a presentation at the Summit titled The Art of Questioning. [youtube AWnsXagN0DA] Read more..

Whitney Quesenbery has just published Storytelling for User Experience: Crafting Stories for Better Design. In this interview I ask her to elaborate on the story behind the story, how stories compare with user personas and user stories, and how to gather stories from users. We recorded this videocast at the STC Summit in Dallas. [youtube 6aM4JcJHNhM] Read more..

If you're going to the STC Summit in Dallas this coming week, look for me and say hello. I'm giving a WordPress workshop on Sunday morning from 8:30 am to noon. The workshop is called Designing and Developing Blogs with WordPress. I'm quite excited about it because we'll be covering WordPress 3.0, which will be released sometime in May. WordPress 3.0 does some really cool things, such as allow you to create child blogs, and ... Read more..

Paul Pehrson and I sat down after Leadership Day at the STC Summit to talk about some of the strategies the board is taking to address the issue of trust. This is the first in a series of videocasts that I'll be posting at the Summit. [youtube UnHgez9FyfU] Read more..

In this videocast, I talk with Neil Perlin at hyperword.com about the trend toward mobile outputs for help and other information deliverables. Neil had just given a demonstration of a mobile output from Flare, and he mentioned to me that mobile was a direction he wants to specialize in. We recorded this video in the Expo hall at the STC Summit in Dallas. [youtube U1N37NO8Q4A] Read more..

In this video, I asked Char James-Tanny and Bill Swallow to comment on the controversy over free versus pay-per-content models online, especially as it applies to STC content with the Body of Knowledge, Special Interest Groups (SIGs), and other information products. [youtube hZMYOO8T04c] Read more..

In this video, I interview Larry Kunz about new variables for technical writing project managers. Larry talks specifically about the ways agile and social media are changing the way technical writers manage projects. We recorded this video at the STC Summit in Dallas. The next day, Larry received the President's Award at the STC Summit for his work with strategic planning. (I didn't know it at the time we recorded the video, or I would ... Read more..

In this videocast, I talk with Whitney Hess at the STC Summit in Dallas about her perspective on old guard versus new guard mentality, or in other words, the traditional offline, change-resistant mentality versus the web-savvy, social-media-saturated mindset more common with the younger generation. Whitney Hess is a user experience design consultant from New York City who was invited to speak at the Summit this year. [youtube naKtaS-7Qq4] Read more..

This post compiles all the videocasts I did at the STC Summit in Dallas. You can also browse the STC Summit in Dallas series. [youtubegallery] Whitney Hess|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naKtaS-7Qq4 Ben Minson|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amA8XruqkBQ Paul Pehrson|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnHgez9FyfU Gentle/Swisher|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR6Ujuw3bSI Larry Kunz|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM5kuLEBfpA Saul Carliner 1|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaioqQMcTP8 Saul Carliner 2|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAkDQt0_1Zo Quesenbery/Jarrett|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtHNDAoQLSQ Whit. Quesenbery|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aM4JcJHNhM Rich Maggiani|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWnsXagN0DA Richard Hamilton|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-opo6wXmkw Joe Welinske|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKaYcZliW4o Brenda Huettner|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxDeiViMJhg Swallow/Char JT|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZMYOO8T04c Neil Perlin|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1N37NO8Q4A [/youtubegallery] Read more..

Last week I attended the STC Summit in Dallas, as did about 700+ other people. Overall I thought the conference was as good as it has been for the last several years. Others said the conference was even better than past years. There's a lot that is definitely working well with these conferences. Below are five things I felt went well at the STC Summit and five ways to make the next STC Summit even ... Read more..

How does the South by Southwest Interactive conference (SXSW) compare with the STC Summit? Are technical communicators behind the times when it comes to web trends and interactive media? I asked Anne Gentle and Janet Swisher, two Austin locals who have attended SXSW, to compare SXSW with the STC Summit. We recorded this video at the STC Summit in Dallas. [youtube UR6Ujuw3bSI] Read more..

In this video interview, I ask Saul Carliner to give practical tips for handling some of the toughest situations that technical communication managers face, including firing, metrics, frank conversations with underperforming employees, and more. Saul gave a two-day workshop at the STC Summit for technical communication managers. [youtube EaioqQMcTP8] Read more..