MadCap Software will travel across the US, Canada and Europe in 2010, providing one-day technical writing seminar. Designed by Mike Hamilton, VP of Product Management, the seminars will discuss how to get the most out of your technical writing & publishing tools. The US and Europe dates are as follows.
Entries Tagged as 'Add new tag'
2010 MadCap Software Roadshow – European Dates
February 22nd, 2010 · Comments Off · Technical Writing
Tags: Add new tag·Canada·content authoring·europe·madcap events·madcap roadshow·MadCap Software·mike hamilton·seminar·Software Development·techincal writing·technical communication·Technical Writing·Training·US
Using Google’s Wonder Wheel for Mind Mapping & Generating New Ideas
February 15th, 2010 · Comments Off · Books I Like, Business Process, Communications, Google, Tools, strategy
Google’s Wonder Wheel is Search and Mind Mapping combined together. The Wonder Wheel was introduced in May 2009 and is one of Google’s best kept secrets. This search/mindmapper tool shows search results in a Wheel with different Spokes for each associated search result. Fantastic tool for brainstorming, studying trends, and idea generation.
Tags: Add new tag·Google·Innovation·Mind Mapping·Problogger·Research·strategy·Wonder Wheel·Writer’s Block
Top 10 Benefits of Visio 2010 Beta
January 27th, 2010 · View Comments · Business Process, Content Management, How To, Process Design, Reviews, Templates, Visio
Visio, the diagramming tool for technical writes, business analysts, and web designers, is now in Beta. Some of the features look promising, especially for those who create complex data-driven visuals and need to share diagrams on the Web in real-time. The advanced diagramming tools of Visio 2010 help you simplify complexity with dynamic, data-driven visuals and new ways to share on the Web in real-time.
Tags: Add new tag·Business Process·Dashboards·diagrams·Document Management·Microsoft Excel·Microsoft SharePoint·Real-time·Ribbon·shapes·SharePoint·template·Workflow
Al Gore’s Gentle Guide to Killer Presentations
January 25th, 2010 · Comments Off · Books I Like, Communications, How To
Speaking in public is the last thing most of us want do. So I was surprised to read how AL Gore, an experienced speaker, reached out to Nancy Duarte to improve his public-speaking skills. The next time you have to give a presentation, remember the following.
Tags: Add new tag·Al Gore·Guy Kawasaki·Leadership·PowerPoint·Presentations·Public-speaking·strategy
Getting Things Done: How I Set Priorities
January 20th, 2010 · View Comments · Business Process, How To, Productivity
Ross Kimbarovsky asks: “How do you decide what to do next? Should you write a blog post? Answer emails in your inbox? Make several sales calls? Spend time on Twitter? Or should you call a team meeting to discuss a customer problem?
Tags: Add new tag·Decision making·Getting Things Done·Productivity·Project management·Time Management·Vimeo
How To Differentiate Yourself As A Technical Writer
January 18th, 2010 · View Comments · Books I Like, Career, How To, Productivity, Snagit, Social Media
Tom Peters says, “the value of services will continue to fall” and that the only way to survive is to differentiate yourself from the competition. Is this true? How do you as a technical writer make yourself stand out from the crowd? If you don’t, what impact could this have on your career?
Tags: Add new tag·Camtasia·Career·Debbie Weil·India·Linkedin·screencast·technical writer·Tom Peters·Video
Web 2.0 meets Technical Communication on Facebook
January 16th, 2010 · Comments Off · Facebook, People
This group’s purpose is to explore the interplay between Web 2.0 and technical communication. Join us to discuss collaborative technologies and new approaches to delivering information to customers. Unlike other technical writing groups on Facebook, there is a nice amount of activity going on here. It has that nice, bubbly energy you get with a new group. So, jump in if you want to connect with other technical writers and see where/how technical communication works with Web 2.0.
How Technical Writers Can Move Further Up The Food Chain
January 15th, 2010 · Comments Off · Career, Content Management, How To, Linkedin
Do you feel loved? Many technical writers feel unloved. They feel they don’t get the respect they deserve. I hear this on LinkedIn and Facebook: “people don’t respect the work I do.” Well, if that’s the case, here are a few ways to get more respect and move into a more rewarding career.
Tags: Add new tag·Career·China·Facebook·Linkedin·Respect·strategy·technical writer
Technical Writing News – Crystal Balls, Salaries, Metrics & Twitter
January 15th, 2010 · Comments Off · Career, Linkedin, News, Technical Writing, Twitter
The first Technical Writing Newsletter of the year includes some interesting predictions on the future of technical communications, how to justify your role as a technical writer (i.e. metrics), news of Camtasia Relay’s UK Bootcamp and the results of the salary survey for technical writers in Israel.
Tags: Add new tag·Camtasia Studio·israel·metrics·Newsletter·Salary·Technical·Technical Communications·technical writer·Technical Writing·Techsmith·writing
How Many Hours Per Week Do Technical Writers Actually Spend Writing?
January 11th, 2010 · Comments Off · Career, How To, Productivity, Tips
How much time do you spend writing every week? Remember, you have 37.5 hours (I know!) for technical writing every week, but how much is actually spent writing? When I say writing I actually mean developing content, so this includes illustrations, diagrams, publishing etc – whatever goes into the final deliverable.
Tags: Add new tag·deliverable·developing content·diagrams·illustrations·Linkedin·Publishing·Technical Writing
7 Ways for Technical Writers to Re-invent Themselves & Demonstrate their Value
January 9th, 2010 · View Comments · Career, Facebook, Linkedin
You’ve just being fired. The Technical Writing dept is closed. What do you do? This is a fact of life for many people today. Indeed, there is now a real fear that US technical writers will continue to lose their jobs to offshore companies, e.g. India & Poland. And it’s true; it’s the shape of things to come, I’m afraid. But rather than moan about it, let’s look at what you can do to re-invent yourself and find new, lucrative opportunities.
Tags: Add new tag·Career·China·Facebook·Flickr·Future·Jobs·Linkedin·Outsourcing·Project management·Social network·Technical Writers·trends·Twitter
User Guide vs User Manual – which one is Right?
January 4th, 2010 · View Comments · Google, How To, Technical Writing
Let’s say you’re setting up a new Tech Docs Dept. You need to create new guidelines, style guides and naming conventions. Should you call the user ‘documents’ User Guides or User Manuals? Which one is Right?
Tags: Add new tag·Apple·Google·ibm·iPhone·microsoft·Style Guide·user guide
How to Integrate Mind Maps & Process Flows into Twitter
November 26th, 2009 · Comments Off · Business Process, How To, Technical Writing
Tony Buzan created the mind map concept, a technique for capturing and structuring associations. We used Seavus Dropmind for gathering requirements, developing process flows and exploring use cases at a previous client. If you like visual information, then this is for you!
Tags: Add new tag·Adobe Framemaker·Adobe FrameMaker·Career·communication skills·contract·FreeMind·MadCap Flare·Mind Maps·Online Help·Process Flows·Robohelp·Single Sourcing·STC·stc. Career·Structured Authoring·Technical Communications·technical communicator·Technical documentation·technical writer·Technical Writing·Tony Buzan·Twitter
DocBook: The Definitive Guide free online
November 15th, 2007 · Comments Off · Dita, How To, News, Technical Writing, Tips, Word 2007
You can now download DocBook: The Definitive Guide by Norman Walsh. You can copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, as spelled out in the book’s legal notice. According to its authors: “This book is designed to be the clear, concise, normative reference to the DocBook DTD. [...]
Tags: Add new tag·Data Formats·DocBook·Document Type Definition·Documentation·education·GNU Free Documentation License·Grants·Markup language·Microsoft Word·PDF·Proposal·Tips·Tools·Troubleshooting·White Paper·XML
