Alan Houser recently challenged me to list the 10 books that have impacted me the most (Alyssa Fox had challenged him). Well, I don’t know about “the most”, but here is a list of books that have made an impact for me:
Technical Communicators Who Influenced Me
I was reading a blog post called Top 50 Technical Writers on the Web and prepared to submit the names I thought were missing from the list. Then, I realized that many of us have our own “Top 50” list…those industry leaders who made a huge impact on our career. Several in our industry have published their lists, such as the annual list by MindTouch. So, I thought I would list several industry leaders who have influenced me a great deal over the years.
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December Workshop in Houston
On December 13, 2013, I had the opportunity to present a 3-hour workshop about Delivering Content through Mobile Applications and WordPress. This was the second time I presented this material as a workshop and we were able to explore the information in many different ways. I enjoyed discussing various approaches companies are using to deliver content and learning from those who attended the workshop. The STC Houston chapter does a great job organizing these educational offerings and working with the Red Cross to make them available for minimal cost to its members (this workshop was free to all attendees).
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Returning to Florida STC Chapters
I returned to visit the STC Suncoast and STC Orlando chapters in October 2013. We had wonderful meetings in 2012 and it was great to see everyone again this year:
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Visiting STC Atlanta
On March 12, 2013, I visited STC Atlanta and presented Integrating Help, Technical Support, and Training Content at their monthly chapter program meeting. We had a great discussion of various ideas and approaches for integrating online Help, technical support knowledge base, and online training video content. During this meeting, we reviewed the support.smartvault.com web site and talked about the process of creating this information center. We also explored several technologies, such as Google Analytics, Google Custom Search, and WordPress. I shared various lessons learned during this project and described ways to bring these related content areas together. Several attendees raised important questions about this approach and I enjoyed sharing our ideas with each other.
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Mid-Atlantic TechComm Conference
I will be attending the 2013 Mid-Atlantic Technical Communication Conference and Workshops on March 8-9, 2013. Lori Corbett and the conference team have invited speakers from across the US to provide a great program. I’m looking forward to talking with many technical communicators and sharing our ideas. I will be involved in several activites during the conference and Saturday workshops:
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Paul Shares Tech Comm Resources
I often use Twitter to post links to information about technical communication and related industries. I hope these information sources provide valuable content and help you look at technical communication in new ways. By sharing information, we can create better solutions and design new ways to serve the needs of our audience.
Please follow me on Twitter (@Paul_UserAid).
STC Austin and the Microsoft Store
I had the pleasure of visiting STC Austin on November 7, 2012 and presenting Five Dysfunctions of a Team at their monthly chapter program meeting. We met at the Microsoft Store and used their presentation space at the back of the store. I thought this was an incredible idea as a way to raise the awareness of the STC chapter. We used the large touchscreen and I quickly learned how to use Windows 8!
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Washington DC Trip Cancelled by Sandy
I was scheduled to present Integrating Help, Technical Support, and Training Content in Washington DC on October 29, 2012. Unfortunately, Hurricane Sandy had other plans for me. We are in the process of scheduling a webinar for the Washington DC-Metro chapter, potentially for April 2013. I am looking forward to exploring the topic of integrating content across departments with my colleagues in the Washington DC and Baltimore area.
Practical Conference on Communication
I had the pleasure of attending the Practical Conference on Communication (PCOC) 2012 on October 26-27, 2012. Mary Knepper and the conference team put together an incredible conference focused on workshop-style sessions. The interaction level at the event was great and allowed many of us to discuss ideas and explore topics in an engaging way.
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