Have a Blog? a Podcast? Want one? Come learn everything you need to know

by Tom Johnson on Feb 20, 2008
categories: blogging • technical-writing

Update: Listen to the presentation here.

I'm no longer president of my STC chapter in Florida. But I'm excited to give a presentation to the local STC-Intermountain chapter on blogging and podcasting next week. Here are the details of my upcoming presentation.

Have a Blog? a Podcast? Want one? Come learn everything you need to know

Date: Feb 28, 2008
Time: 7:00 P.M.
Location: SLCC South City Campus, Room W111 E, 1575 S. State St., Salt Lake City, Utah.

With over 120,000 new blogs started every day, and an average of 1.5 million new posts per day, blogging has become mainstream. Almost every writer I meet either has a blog or has contemplated starting one.

Although blogging seems, on the surface, to simply be another form of writing, the online and social contexts of blogging have given rise to a fascinating culture of complex “rules” about what to write, strategies for gaining an audience, and theories on which formats, gimmicks, and content appeal most to readers.

The blog format can be a writer's paradise, full of opportunities to exercise your writing talents and interact with other professionals in your field. Drop the notion that blogs posts involve cat adventures and baby updates. Your blog can be a powerful vehicle for professional growth and job marketability. And the interactivity and immediacy of blog writing will help you find creative fulfillment in a profession where dry procedural writing leaves your literary talent unused 90% of the day.

If you've ever thought about starting a blog or podcast, or if you already have one and want to make it better, join us this Thursday, February 28. I'll be talking about the following:

• Compelling arguments for the act of blogging
• Blogs versus traditional print media
• Who reads blogs, and how they read them
• Liabilities and assets of blogging
• Contrasting blogging styles
• Blogging platform comparisons
• Recommended blog setup
• Gaining visibility in a sea of information
• Making money from your blog
• 10 usability tips for making your blog more appealing
• Creating and publishing podcasts
• Podcast setups and audio-editing techniques
• Applications of social media to technical communication
• Top 5 reasons why people don't blog
• Where blogging will be 10 years in the future

You can contact me at [email protected] or 801-822-2241. For more info about me, see my About page.

Driving Directions

From the North: Exit I-15 at 13th South. Go East to State Street; Turn right and travel south on State to 1700 South. Turn left onto 1700 South. The parking lot on your left is the closest location to our meeting room (inside the cafeteria, on the south wall).

From the South: Exit I-15 at 21st South. Go East to State Street; Turn left and travel north on State to 1700 South. Turn right onto 1700 South. The parking ot on your left is the closest location to our meeting room (inside the cafeteria, along the south wall).