communication department

May 14 LIVE WEB SEMINAR

In this seminar, entitled "Determine Your Department's Destiny," presented by Beth Tompkins the audience will be empowered to become entrepreneurs within their departmental situation and develop a team from a single-purpose documentation resource to a multi-service, business support division in any market. The seminar tackles typical challenges and roadblocks facing entrepreneurial managers, leads and team members boxed in a corner, and counters these with tested solutions to break down the walls and spread their department's value throughout their company. Emphasis is placed on identifying opportunities and goals and mapping out realistic solutions. The seminar will also help attendees in their efforts to win support within their company, promote themselves and their department, and create possibilities for themselves and their team. To register, visit the STC Events page.

May 15 LIVE WEB SEMINAR

Sharon Burton will present an STC Live Web Seminar, "Doing More with Less: Using Topic-based Content Development," from 1 to 2:30 PM ET (17:00 to 18:30 GMT). This seminar will introduce participants to topic-based content development, including how to plan and leverage the content they develop, regardless of the tool used and staff resources available. For more information or to register for this seminar, please visit the STC Events page.

May 28 LIVE WEB SEMINAR

Fred Wersan presents "Writing Your Own Tools and Utilities": This session will review several macro and scripting programs of various levels of complexity. The pros and cons of macros versus scripting languages and the features to look for when choosing a program will also be discussed. For more information or to register for this seminar, please visit the STC Events page.

June 1-4 CONFERENCE

STC's 2008 Technical Communication Summit will be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA. The conference will feature evaluation workshops and technical sessions in the following tracks: designing and assessing user experiences; developing and delivering content; emerging technologies; producing and publishing information; managing people, projects, and business; developing your skills and promoting your profession; and applying research and theory to practice. In addition, preconference certificate programs-Adobe Boot Camp, Management, Master Writers, Technical Communication 101, Usability and Accessibility, and Design and Development-will be offered (additional charge). "Institutes," conferences-within-the-conference, will explore the areas of instructional design, business development, globalization and localization, and content management in depth.

Howard Rheingold-founding executive editor of HotWired and author of Smart Mobs, The Virtual Community, and Tools for Thought, and Richard Saul Wurman-former architect and prolific author on topics as diverse as information architecture, cartography, travel, information theory, health care, sports, children, and finance-will be the event's keynote speakers.

For more information or to register, please visit the STC Web site.

June 21-22 CONFERENCE

The United Kingdom Chapter STC will hold "Trends in Technical Communication" and its annual general meeting at the Quality Hotel in Birmingham, England. Keynote speaker Sarah O'Keefe, principal of Scriptorium Publishing Services, will discuss organizational paradigm shifts. For more information or to register, visit the Chapter Web site.

June 25 LIVE WEB SEMINAR

Cheryl Morrison and Susan Ledford will present "Decreasing Document Size and Increasing Document Usability" will illustrate how writers and companies can simultaneously reduce document size and increase document usability. Strategies combine best practices in regard to word-minimization and minimalism. Sign up at the STC Events page.

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