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Just Write Click
As a technical leader at Rackspace during a docs modernization effort, I want to respond to Tom Johnson's recent pointer to the developer docs site as an example of treating docs like code. Not just specifically for the "will it scale" questions, but for the questions I have fielded and continue to answer. Believe me, "Will it scale?" is the least of your concerns in a complex overhaul of attitudes, processes, tooling, and expectation setting.
I'm sure modern docs are not going to work for all projects and all people and all processes, but since I have first hand experience I thought it would be helpful to talk about it.
In case it helps, let's describe the disruptions at the heart of the movement. You can see that outcomes matter.
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I'd Rather Be Writing
Ferry Vermeulen asked more than 70 tech comm pros — from both the U.S and Europe — what their 3 essential tools are. The combination of American and European responses makes for an interesting mix. While the majority of respondents listed either Madcap or XML tools, people also listed a variety of tools for working with images, prototypes, projects, and more. There were more than a dozen tools I'd never heard of. In this post, I highlighted some of the lesser known tools and also the responses that caught my attention as being unique, insightful, or otherwise interesting.
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TechWhirl
Technical communicators have historically faced several challenges when working on development teams. From not receiving the information needed to do their jobs, to ensuring their work estimates are included in the overall team’s estimates, to showing their value to stakeholders, writers on project teams can feel like they are facing an uphill battle to create good documentation.
A number of factors can influence how these challenges manifest during product development, including organizational culture and various business needs, and the agile development approach can help.
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STC
The 2017 Summit will be held May 7-10 at the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, Maryland, just minutes from downtown Washington, D.C. The theme is "Gain the Edge to Get Results.” The STC conference committee is looking for sessions that produce surprising results, recommendations, or case studies from your experience that give the attendee specific ideas, lessons, processes, takeaways, or suggestions. Attendees can take this knowledge to further their career or become more effective at work, allowing them to "gain the edge to get results." Education sessions should demonstrate an unexpected, advanced, or less traditional way of looking at or fixing a problem with tangible solutions. Attendees should feel inspired to stretch boundaries and achieve more. This theme can be applied to all sorts of topical areas, including content, project management, career paths, teamwork, business management, and more — the sky is the limit.
Learn more and submit your proposal now!
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STC
Don't wait! There's only one week left to purchase Summit Playback at the discounted member rate of $199; the price goes up after Aug. 31! Catch up on all of the hot topic education sessions you missed at the Summit, including these popular sessions:
- How to Become a Strategic Communicator and Advance Your Career
- Use Usability Testing and Enhance your Documentation with Feedback
- Customer Experience (CX) — Come Join the Party
- 44 Tips for Making Better Videos!
Don't wait to get access to premier tech comm education. Purchase Summit Playback now!
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STC
This is a reminder to register now for TechComm 201 with Leah Guren! This advanced Tech Comm course will help attendees develop a method for estimating and planning TC projects, learn and implement proper tool usage concepts, create consensus and improve editing through style guides and advanced editing techniques, and learn how to write and prepare for localization among many other opportunities. This six-week course begins Aug. 31-Oct. 5 (Wednesdays) at 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. EDT (GMT-4).
Check out other STC new and popular online courses! Summit attendees will receive 10 percent off all online courses before Sept. 5. STC online courses also provide six (6) CEUs towards certification maintenance for CPTCs.
- Instructional Design for Technical Communicators, Saul Carliner, Sept. 8-29
- Advanced Project Management and the TC, Liz Herman, Sept. 27-Nov. 1
- Technical Communication Manager, Saul Carliner, Oct. 6-Nov. 10
- Writing for Localization, Lisa Pietrangeli, Oct. 12-Nov. 16
- DITA from Legacy to the Future, Bernard Aschwanden, Nov. 1-Dec. 13
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STC
Our mid-year dues savings are happening now! Save 30 percent on Classic, New TC Professional, or Student membership rates. No promo code is needed to take advantage of the 30 percent savings. This is our last price drop for the year, so join or renew now!
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STC
Did you know that companies who employ five or more technical communicators can save on membership dues? Join today and receive STC Classic member benefits such as ePublications access, discounted professional development programs, and discounted conference registrations for staff members. It's a win-win for your company and your team!
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STC
Getting a great job is often referred to as climbing the ladder to success. However, it's important to pick a sturdy ladder. Here's a great opportunity to get a leg up on the competition and stand out: become a Certified Professional Technical Communicator. The CPTC designation validates your knowledge of the field of technical communication AND proves your continued currency with new developments in the field and continued engagement with other practitioners. By achieving the CPTC designation, your résumé will be chosen when the job posting says "CPTC preferred."
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The Next Web
There's no magic equation to superb interface design, but when you see it, you know.
Most can recall a moment when they encountered brilliant UI (user interface). Maybe it was the first time your tiny iPhone screen powered on and greeted you with a grid of pleasantly organized square application buttons, or when Google opened-sourced its attentive Material design patterns, or simply a unique website you stumbled across and bookmarked for future inspiration.
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Skyword
Content writing, like poetry, is a place where lines and paragraphs have very notable power — now more than ever, with attention spans at an all-time, laughable low. As the Content Standard's Managing Editor Jon Simmons has addressed, this has made first lines, hooks, leads, and titles that much more important. Beyond that, people are reading books less — despite the fact that, as studies have shown, the physical page commits more to memory than all that smartphone reading we've been doing. And let's not forget how many of our readers are digesting our content on smartphones and other mobile devices.
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Forbes
One of the most common mistakes that is made when it comes to writing product descriptions is that copywriters simply describe the products instead of selling the items with the description to their target audience.
But, how exactly can you sell your product in a product description? Follow these 9 tips and you’ll easily create seductive, unique, and informative descriptions that will move and motivate your customers into clicking the "buy" button.
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