Recently I listened to Moira Gunn interview Steve Rosenbaum about content curation in her podcast, Tech Nation. I heard Steve present on a similar topic at Confab. Interestingly, I found the podcast, which was a conversation between Moira and Steve, more interesting, fluid, and natural than Steve’s Confab presentation. Steve’s presentation at Confab was great. But all presentations, by nature, have a different rhythm and … more »

Two powerful trends in tech comm seem to be moving in different directions: social media and structured authoring. I have used a wiki as my primary format for documentation for the past year and a half. I tried to corral a group of volunteer technical writers to edit and update the wiki, because I embraced the idea that collective intelligence beats the individual thinker in … more »

The recording is available in a variety of formats: Audio with Slides MP3 Audio Only PowerPoint Show File PowerPoint Original File iPod format I recently gave a presentation at the STC Summit in Sacramento titled “Organizing Help Content: Breaking Out of Topic-based Hierarchies.” I would have recorded my presentation, but recording is not allowed. I did, however, record a practice run-through in my hotel room … more »

Tomorrow I’m giving a four hour workshop on blogging and WordPress at the STC Summit in Sacramento. I thought I’d post my outline in case anyone is interested in how I approach these workshops. In preparing this outline, I realized that my focus on WordPress and blogging has shifted more towards producing content rather than manipulating the technology. Several years ago, you had to be … more »

At the upcoming STC Summit in Sacramento, I’m presenting a session titled Organizing Help Content: Breaking Out of Topic-Based Hierarchies. The title is a bit wordy. It’s basically information architecture applied to help content. Or even simpler, making help content findable. In this post, I’ll give you a sneak peak at what this presentation is all about. One of the biggest challenges technical writers face … more »

The call for STC Summit proposals is now open. Below are 100 Summit ridiculous proposals that were rejected in the past. They may be helpful as you prepare your own submission. 100 Mistakes I Made During My First Hour as a Technical Writer Technical Writer Versus Technical Communicator Versus Technical Author: Who Are We? Who ARE We? Robohelp Versus Flare: The Final Showdown, This Time … more »

In this interview, I ask Brenda Huettner, who is writing a book on accessibility called Communicating with Everyone, to provide some practical tips for making my website, which includes audio, video, images, and text, more accessible.

In this video, I interview Saul Carliner about a post he wrote on his blog describing the “do-it-yourself” philosophy and whether this philosophy is something technical communicators should embrace or fear.

Ben Minson and I attended Don Moyer‘s session on drawing for technical communicators. Don explained simple drawing techniques to illustrate concepts. I asked Ben Minson, an artist, to comment on Don’s session and evaluate whether he thinks the techniques would be useful or practical in the workplace.

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 … 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.