Practical Conference on Communication

PCOC flies again!

Call for speakers is NOW! If you would like to present at the conference, download a pdf (79.25 Kb) for more information, or email pcoc@stc-etc.org.

Save the date! October 7, 8, and 9, in Nashville at the Millenium Hotel.

Corporate sponsorship: Our conference begins with a Thursday evening welcome reception on the terrace of the Millennium Maxwell Hotel, conference central. Breakfast, optional lunches, and a continuous refreshment bar provide opportunities for networking. If your company would like to sponsor a social or networking event, provide raffle items or door prizes, or receive recognition in our printed program and on our web site, please email pcoc@stc-etc.org.

What is PCOC? The East Tennessee Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication continues a Tennessee tradition with the Practical Conference on Communication (PCOC) at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, October 7 - 9. The event begins Thursday evening, October 7, with a reception on the patio of this popular Music City hotel. A Friday keynote breakfast and Friday and Saturday break-out sessions complete the weekend.

Schedule of Events

Thursday evening, October 7 - Opening reception on the terrace at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel Nashville

Friday morning, October 8 - Breakfast buffet and opening session followed by breakout sessions

Friday noon - Optional lunch

Friday evening - Social event

Saturday morning, October 9 - Breakfast buffet followed by breakout sessions

Saturday noon - Optional lunch

Saturday afternoon - Breakout sessions and closing remarks

Cost and Registration

You will be able to register online soon.

Cost to members of STC chapters for the two-day conference is $287; speakers receive a discounted rate.

Pre-conference workshop on Adobe® Captivate® Thursday afternoon, October 7 - $99.

KeyNote Speaker

An exciting addition to our program is keynote speaker Neil Perlin, internationally recognized expert in online help and documentation design. Neil will also offer a pre-conference workshop on Adobe® Captivate® Thursday afternoon, October 7. Cost for the workshop is only $99.

What’s Up, eDoc?

The once stable, almost staid world of technical writing has turned turbulent. Consider that, in less than a decade, we’ve seen:

• The rise of topic-based authoring.

• The rise of structured authoring in general and DITA in particular.

• Increasingly complex technical ecosystems that ask us to decide about the Mark of the Web and quirks vs. strict browser modes.

• The growth of mobile devices, and the need to create single source output that can work on them as well as a standard PC or laptop.

• The growth of social media and the need to integrate content from social media with that from more traditional documentation.

• The spread of metadata and the promise of dynamially modeled online help… CMSs… and more…

What exactly can we expect, and how do we deal with all this?

In this presentation by a 31-year veteran of technical communication, we’ll first look at the high-level technologies and methodologies coming our way. We’ll then look at what we need to do to function in this environment, such as:

• Viewing ourselves as independent consultants rather than employees.

• Taking charge of our own careers, rather than waiting for the company to do so.

• Accept the need for lifelong technical learning.

• Accept the need to go beyond technology and writing and into the business side of our world.

• And more…

These are turbulent times. But they’re interesting times too, promising new and challenging work if we keep up.

Pre-Conference Workshop

Neil Perlin

A Quick Introduction to Adobe Captivate 5

For years, software training was largely text-based... write some instructions, add some screen shots, and voila! The result worked, but how much more effective might it be if “someone” could “walk you through the steps” on the screen? That's where Captivate comes in.

Captivate’s main use is to help capture what's on the screens as you perform a software-related task, such as using a feature in Word. Those screen shots are effectively a movie that users can play back to see how to perform the task. To make the movie more useful, you can add explanations and instructions in text or audio form, special effects, graphics and video, even interactivity features that let you simulate real software operations. You can use these features to create software demonstrations and simulations, sales training, marketing presentations, tutorials, even fairly sophisticated eLearning. You can even use Captivate as an ad hoc usability test recorder.

Captivate movies are Flash-based, but you don’t have to know Flash or touch any code. Better still, Captivate is quick and easy to learn compared to traditional CBT authoring tools – three days to get up and running, and cheap – US$799.

This workshop provides a very quick overview of Captivate in order to introduce the tool as a whole. In a busy four hours, you’ll:

• Look at uses for Captivate.
• Design and plan a movie.
• Record a movie to be used as a demonstration.
• Enhance a movie with text captions and other frame “annotation” features.
• Publish the finished movie.
• Look at some advanced features.

You’ll have to bring a preconfigured laptop, but the only prerequisites are a basic knowledge of Windows, Internet Explorer, and PC skills in general.

The Theme

Our theme this year, “Building and sustaining a technical communication career,” focuses on new ways to apply communication skills in the marketplace. In our call for presentations, we’re seeking ideas for conference sessions in the following areas:

Going green: Marketing green technologies
Marketing green products, managing non-profit green initiatives, communicating the value of sustainable practices to corporate staff or the public

Going paperless: Writing and designing communications for electronic media
Developing web-based or multimedia products, harnessing the power of social media, experimenting with user-generated and user-extracted content

Going back to basics: Writing, editing, and designing effective communication products
Merging basic writing, editing, and design skills with new tools and techniques: Minimalism, topic-based writing, collaborative writing, information architecture, content management

Preparing customers to go it alone: Training and accessibility tips and tricks
Developing classroom or online training programs, designing user assistance, preparing procedures, providing accessible communications products

Going with the flow: How to choose and use new communications technologies
Making the right choices and using new tools productively

Going to work: Managing the communicator’s workplace
Creating a positive work environment for large and small communications groups, lone writers, and members of virtual teams

If you are interested in speaking, please respond to our call for presentations. If you’re a communicator interested in growing your career, consider joining us at PCOC 2010 in Nashville this fall. For more information, email pcoc@stc-etc.org.

Millenium Maxwell House Hotel (external link)