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Training Webinars/Webcast events for technical communicators

We would like to invite you to a programme of training Webcast events with us and our colleagues from the TechComm Alliance, where we will share our knowledge and advice that will make you a better technical communicator. We're putting together a programme of the best speakers we can find - to improve your skills and knowledge.

Places are strictly limited, so pre-register now

The number of delegates on each intake is restricted, this is to make sure everyone receives the best possible level of service, but please don't forget places are sold on a first come, first served basis. Sorry, but rules are rules.

This means that if you want to attend you need to pre-register now by completing the form at the bottom of this page. We'll then send you payment and booking details for your consideration.

The State of Structure in Technical Communication - webcast/webinar

• In early 2009, Scriptorium Publishing conducted a survey to measure how and why technical communicators are adopting structured authoring. This webcast summarises the findings of the survey.
• Presented by Sarah O'Keefe

Major topics include:

• Who is adopting structure and why?
• Is DITA really taking over the world?
• What authoring tools are people using?
• What lessons did implementers learn?

• 16 June 2009, 11 a.m. Eastern time
• $20 per delegate
• limited places

The Future of Technical Communication: Where's it all Heading? - webcast/webinar

• Presented by Ellis Pratt

Thursday, July 9 at 11 a.m. Eastern Time

We will look at the future of technical writing and likely changes to the ways in which user assistance is delivered.

Writing to STOP - Sequential Thematic Organisation of Publications - webcast/webinar

• Presented by Tony Self
• 14 July 5 pm US Eastern Time

A writing methodology known as STOP - Sequential Thematic Organisation of Publications - was developed at Hughes Corporation in the 1960s. The purpose of STOP was to improve the speed of document production, and to allow multiple authors to work simultaneously on the same document. Hughes found the technique very effective, and it was later adopted by many other organisations. It led to other writing methodological innovations such as Robert Horn's Information Mapping. The STOP approach still resonates in the age of online documentation, as we still have the same needs to reduce document creation times and to work collaboratively. In this session, we will look at how the STOP approach worked, and how it might be re-applied even more effectively in the 21st Century.

Improving and Measuring Online User Documentation Through Web Analytics

• Presented by Dr Chris Bose and Ellis Pratt
• Date tba

Register your interest using the form at the bottom of this page.

Demystifying DITA to PDF Publishing - webcast/webinar

• Learn about your options for extracting PDF from DITA content. Includes comparison of DITA Open Toolkit, FrameMaker, and InDesign approaches
• Presented by Sarah O'Keefe

When you implement a DITA-based workflow, you face myriad new challenges, such as getting accustomed to topic-based writing, exploring reuse strategies, and specialization. The most difficult technical obstacle is usually setting up a PDF/print publishing workflow. The DITA Open Toolkit provides very basic PDF output, but for organizations who require attractive, professional-looking PDF content, extensive and expensive customization is required. FrameMaker is easier to configure than the Open Toolkit and produces lovely PDF files, but can you work around the limitations of the DITA support? InDesign offers the highest quality typography but has significant limitations in working with structured content.

This session discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each approach to extracting PDF from DITA content.

This session is intended for individuals who are considering a DITA implementation and expect to need PDF output. Basic familiarity with DITA, XML, and related technologies is helpful but not required.

• 2 June 2009, 11 a.m. Eastern time

Hacking the DITA Open Toolkit - webcast/webinar

• Learn how to customize the DITA Open Toolkit to produce HTML that meets your specifications.
• Presented by Simon Bate

The DITA specification is silent on how to transform DITA into user-readable documentation. The DITA Open Toolkit (DITA OT) fills that gap, providing a mechanism for transforming DITA content into multiple output formats, including HTML and PDF. The DITA OT formatting of its outputs is, at best, basic. Usually people want more: they want their output to be more attractive or conform to their corporate look and feel (or both).

This session introduces the changes you can make to the DITA OT to customize output for your needs. These changes include modifying OT CSS files, adding static and dynamic headers and footers, enhancing XSL transforms, and creating simple element-level specializations. Along the way, the session covers the organization of the DITA OT and describes how to create a DITA plug-in to make your modifications portable. The discussion focuses on getting things running quickly, but also describes strategies for making an implementation more robust and easy to distribute.

This session focuses on the general DITA OT concepts with an emphasis on XHTML output.

Attendees should be familiar with XHTML (including CSS) and XML. A basic understanding of XSL is useful.

• 4 June 2009, 11 a.m. Eastern time

Documentation as Conversation - webcast/webinar

• Even if your documentation system does not converse with your users, your documentation can help customers talk to each other and make the connections that help them do their jobs well or learn something new as if they were in a classroom with a community for classmates.
• Presented by Anne Gentle

This talk describes how you can think about documentation and user assistance in a conversational way with the help of social media technology. I'll discuss the topics in my new book, Conversation and Community: The Social Web for Documentation. I'll describe the use of in-person Book Sprints that combine wikis and community events to gather together writers to accomplish documentation goals.

Anne is an expert, perhaps the expert, on using wikis and other social media to extend traditional documentation efforts. She's also an excellent speaker, so I hope you'll join us for this session.

• 9 June 2009, 11 a.m. Eastern time
• $20 per delegate
• limited places

Places are strictly limited, so pre-register now

Places on these live interactive sessions are strictly limited, and allocations will be on a first come, first served basis. Sorry, but rules are rules.

What other topics should we cover?

What other topics should we cover? Contact us and let us know: