In my writing role at work , I occasionally post updates on behalf of our IT organization to various social media channels, such as Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, our blog, and a user forum. Most of my activity on these social media channels is sparse and sporadic — a few minutes on an occasional hour. Continue Reading »
Tag Archives: Anne Gentle
The “Home Depot Model” of Findability, or, Social Search
I walked into Home Depot the other day and, seeing a clerk near the entry way, asked where the storage boxes were. Immediately the clerk told me. After I found my boxes, I asked another clerk where the gloves and Sharpee markers were. Again, she gave the answer immediately. In my experience, apart from wandering Continue Reading »
Trends in Search Engine Optimization — Shifting from Search to Social?
In The Big Shift from Search to Social, Anne Gentle notes the growing problem with Google’s search and trends towards alternative search sources, such as social networks like Facebook. She links to an stirring NY Times article called The Dirty Little Secrets of Search, which I recommend reading. The NYTimes article exposes how search engines Continue Reading »
SXSW Conference Versus STC Summit: Anne Gentle and Janet Swisher at the STC Summit, #stc10
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 Continue Reading »
Collaborative Authoring Trends and Costs
How do you go from 5 authors to 47, all collaborating on the same documentation? This is the issue Anne Gentle wrestles with in her post Collaborative Authoring — Tools and Costs. She explores everything from Author-it Live to Drupal, Mediawiki, Alfresco, and SharePoint, including cost breakdowns for each tool. Anne also cites research from Continue Reading »
Reinventing Yourself Through Your Blog
The other week, while I was at the WebWorks Roundup conference in Texas, where I was one of the featured industry speakers, I was sitting next to Anne Gentle during one of the panel sessions, and I asked her about branding. It seems like once you become branded through your blog, it’s hard to reinvent Continue Reading »
Google Releases Sidewiki and Adds to the Growing Trend of Conversation
Podcast with Anne Gentle about her Conversation and Community book
[amazon-product align="right"]0982219113[/amazon-product] Download MP3 Length: 40 min. As a follow-up to my review of Anne Gentle’s book, [amazon-product type="text" text="Conversation and Community: The Social Web for Documentation"]0982219113[/amazon-product], I also interviewed her for a podcast. Now you can listen to Anne talk about some of the concepts in her book in a more personal way through Continue Reading »
Review of Conversation and Community: The Social Web for Documentation
One of the perks about being a blogger is that authors occasionally send me their books to review. Recently Anne Gentle sent me her new book, Conversation and Community: The Social Web for Documentation. Anne’s book is particularly important because it addresses the situation of the technical writer today, with the web in the state Continue Reading »
Anne Gentle on her Forthcoming Book, Conversation and Community: The Social Web for Documentation
Download MP3 Length: 9 min. In this podcast, I talk with Anne Gentle about her forthcoming book, Conversation and Community: The Social Web for Documentation. Anne explains how we’ve transitioned from the Age of Information to the Age of Interaction, using social web tools to find the information we need. She builds on her experiences Continue Reading »