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Orange County STC Newsletter
www.stc.org June/July 2008 Vol. 47, No. 6
22 Tips for Writing Software Documentation Users Will Actually ReadBy Craig Haiss
Writing software documentation is much like juggling porcupines while walking a tight rope in 50 mile-per-hour winds. Your attention
is constantly divided, and the situation is always changing. The moment you finalize your work, a new feature appears in the software, and you find yourself scrambling to document it in time for the product release.
So, how do you go about writing technical manuals for software without going insane?
Here are some guidelines you can follow to maintain your sanity when writing software documentation.
Create and maintain a style guide.1. Style in technical writing can vary from one product to the next, and you’ll save yourself a lot of grief by keeping notes regarding conventions.
Keep your friends close and your SMEs closer.2. If you can promote open and frequent communication with developers, writing soft-ware documentation will be much easier. You won’t be blind-sided as often by changes in the software.
Install often.3. Don’t waste time writing software documentation for an out-of-date version of the product.
Make time for testing.4. Be sure to try out every procedure at least once to verify that the instructions are accurate.
Talk to the support staff.5. You’ll be more effective at writing soft-ware documentation if you understand the problems users typi-cally experience.
Use templates.6. Have a template for each topic type (reference, FAQ, procedure, etc.) and use them for quickly fleshing out new topics.
Invest in your tools.7. A feature-rich set of technical writing author-ing tools will make the process of writing software documentation much smoother. A help authoring tool, such as Adobe RoboHelp or MadCap Flare, and a tool for print documentation, such as Adobe FrameMaker, will suffice. Some XML-based authoring tools are capable of producing both printed documentation and help.
Learn from others.8. If you run into problems while writing software documentation, open up the MadCap Flare help or an Adobe Robo-Help manual and see if they’ve tackled the same situation. Find examples of great technical writing and emulate them.
Continued on Page 8 >
This Issue:
22 Tips for Writing Software Documentation Users Will Actually Read 1
President’s Message 2
Next Meeting 3
Editor’s Desk 4
EduNotes 6
Open Source Corner 7
May North OC Meeting Review 9
Society Pages 10
OCSTC Employment Information 10
Congratulations to Recent Graduates 11
Orange Slice— Calendar of Events 12
June Meeting Topic 12
July Meeting Topic 12
2 • June/July 2008
President’s MessageBy Betsy Malone, OCSTC Chapter President
It’s all About You, Really!
It is with gratitude that I take the post of President
for 2008-2009. I’m sure it will be challenging, and I look forward to working with the Council and our many talented members to make contributions and changes to our Chapter.
Basically, our goal is to organize the world’s informa-tion and to make it universally accessible and useful. It sounds like those words were written by a tried and true technical communicator, but in fact those are the words Google cofounder Larry Page used to describe his “little” search engine. It’s funny how his vision, goals, and achievements transformed a proper noun into an everyday verb. Still don’t know what I’m talk-ing about? Hmmm, just google Larry Page.
Can OCSTC change the world like Google has done? Probably not, but we can certainly tap into the tal-ent, skills, and knowledge of our members. OCSTC must create a vision that leads to action—one that brings about positive changes and growth. In order to accomplish such tasks, we, the members, need to set chapter goals. I cordially invite our members to attend the OCSTC council meeting on July 1, 2008, at 6 p.m. (e-mail [email protected] if you are interested in attend-ing) to join us in brainstorming and setting chapter goals. Let the council know what you think is impor-tant about meeting topics, student involvement, men-toring, OCSTC and STC competitions, Orange County corporate sponsors, meeting formats, and other topics.
“Success is the progressive realization of predeter-mined, worthwhile goals.”—Paul J. Meyer
Take the OCSTC ChallengeWe can’t achieve chapter goals without you! We have many volunteer opportunities waiting for someone like you to either lead or be a participant. You can choose your involvement and the amount of time you would like to dedicate to being part of the OCSTC team. If you have been waiting for the right time to voice your opinions and ideas, the time is now! Your talents will help us move forward and improve our chapter.
I look forward to meeting, sharing, and discussing ideas and goals with you at the July council meeting and throughout the year at chapter meetings. I en-courage and challenge you to take a step out of your
Chapter Contacts
OCSTC P.O. Box 28751 Santa Ana, CA 92799-8751
Chapter Fax: 949.830.7585
Web site: http://www.ocstc.org
Administrative CouncilPresident, Betsy Malone, [email protected]
Past President, Bruce Giddens, [email protected]
1st Vice Presidents, Programs, Suzanne Madison and Sima Staav, [email protected]
2nd Vice Presidents, Membership, Jane Baker, Pat Olsen [email protected]
Treasurer, Linda Phillips, [email protected]
Secretary, Jim Marchant, [email protected]
AppointeesTechniScribe Managing Editor, Michael Opsteegh, [email protected]
Public Relations, Open
Education, Bill Darnall, [email protected]
Education, Brian McCaleb, [email protected]
Webmaster, Jeff Randolph, [email protected]
Employment Manager, Betsy Malone, [email protected]
Committees Nominating Committee :
Bill Darnall, [email protected]
Adrienne Escoe, [email protected]
Larry Lockie, [email protected]
Valerie Mitchell, [email protected]
Continued on Page 11 >
June/July 2008 • 3
Next MeetingTopic: Alternative Career Paths for Technical
Communicators
Speaker: Jack Molisani
When: Tuesday, June 17, 6-9 p.m.
Where: DoubleTree Club Hotel 7 Hutton Centre Drive Santa Ana, CA 92702 714.751.2400
Cost: Members with reservations . . . . . . . . . . . $24
Students with reservations . . . . . . . . . . . . $18
Nonmembers with reservations . . . . . . . $29
Walk-ins, or those registering after the deadline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $33
No-shows billed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $24
Reservations:
Due by midnight, Friday, July 13
Registration:
Online at http://www.ocstc.org/dinres.aspDirections to the DoubleTree Club HotelMap of the I-405 and SR-55 area. The star below indi-cates the hotel location. Parking is FREE.
If you would like to receive e-mail notifications about upcoming OCSTC meetings, visit http://www.ocstc.org/list_redirect.asp.
Click Join. This list broadcasts only meeting notices and STC announcements
DoubleTree Club Hotel7 Hutton Centre DriveSanta Ana, California92707-5794714.751.2400
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4 • June/July 2008
Publication PoliciesTechniScribe is published 12 times a year as a benefit to the members of the Orange County Chapter of the Society for Technical Communi-cation. The goal of the publication is to reflect the interests, needs, and objectives of OCSTC members. TechniScribe strives to be an advocate for, and an inspiration to, technical communicators by keeping them connected to each other and to opportunities for professional growth.
Articles published in this newsletter may be re-printed in other STC publications if permission is obtained from the author, credit is properly given, and one copy of the reprint is sent to the TechniScribe managing editor.
Submission InformationThe editorial team retains and exercises the right to edit submitted and requested material for clar-ity, length, and appropriateness.
When submitting material, please remember to:
Include a 25-word biography about yourself.•
Send articles in Word (doc, docx), Rich-Text • Format (RTF), ASCII (txt), or in the body of an e-mail message.
Send material to the managing editor • (techni [email protected]) five weeks before the date it will be published.
Editorial StaffManaging Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Opsteegh Copyeditor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Teresita del Sol Copyeditor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anne Stratford Copyeditor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barbara Young Proofreader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jennifer Gardelle Proofreader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Suzanne Madison Proofreader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sima Staav Web Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeff Randolph
Monthly Advertising Rates1/4 page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $40 1/3 page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $45 1/2 page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $60 Full page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $80
Subscriptions$10 a year to members of other STC chapters.
PrinterPrintWorks, Irvine, CA
Editor’s DeskBy Michael Opsteegh, TechniScribe Managing Editor
You may be wonder-ing why there is a blue
ribbon on the cover of this issue. I received some very good news last month. Of the 25 chapters that submitted entries to the STC newslet-ter competition, OCSTC was one of only two chapters that received a Distinguished Award. In addition to being honored with the Distin-
guished Award, TechniScribe also won Best of Show!
This is an honor, not only for the TechniScribe staff, but also for the entire chapter. If you are looking for work, or think you’ll be looking for work soon, you should consider increasing your visibility to potential employers by contributing an article to your chapter newsletter. Since TechniScribe was honored with the Best of Show award, you can bet more people within STC will be taking a closer look at the newsletter this year.
It was fitting to receive news of this award just as I am finishing my first year as managing editor and prepar-ing to thank those of you who have contributed over the last year. Writing articles after you have been writ-ing most of the day at work can be tough, and I know it. Likewise, copyediting and proofreading on your own time can be a pain. Despite whatever amount of time our contributors have devoted to making this the best newsletter possible, they have received something in return, be it a sense of accomplishment, increased visibility in our community, or a chance to voice an opinion.
My sincerest thanks to those who have contributed regularly over the past year: Jane Baker, Bill Darnall, Bruce Giddens, and Will Kraft. Thank you also to Heather Barth, Sharon Clark, Carrie Damschroder, David Dick, Sarah Dzida, Kathy Graden, Craig Haiss, Mary Ann Howell, Virginia Janzig, Rachel Khim, Su-zanne Madison, Betsy Malone, Jim Marchant, Kevin McLaughlin, Jack Molisani, Linda Oestreich, Jeff Randolph, Lance-Robert, Kelley Frances Smith, Keith Soltys, and Joe Welinske.
A big thanks to the copyeditors, Teresita del Sol, Anne Stratford, and Barbara Young; the proofreaders, Jen-nifer Gardelle, Suzanne Madison, and Sima Staav; and to the man who posts the newsletter on the web site and delivers the printed copies to the post office, Jeff Randolph.
Without these regular and occasional contributors, TechniScribe could not happen. The honor bestowed
Continued on Page 11 >
June/July 2008 • 5
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6 • June/July 2008
EduNotesBy Bill Darnall, Cochair Education
The Editor’s Agenda for Trade and Commercial Publications
Introduction
This note reveals how you can locate and commu-nicate successfully with editors. The focus is on
trade and consumer magazine editors. Parts 1 and 2 of this series provided an overview of the author-ing process. Note this information is for experienced technical communicators who aspire to be published authors. You must be tenacious. Identify publications of interest. Follow publishers’ guidelines. Give editors what they want. Deliver error-free copy in a timely manner.
Be aware that breaking into magazine article writing can be very time-consuming. Your personal, short-term return on investment (ROI) will be small. How-ever, your long-term ROI can be large. You must learn to work cooperatively with editors. An understanding of the editor’s agenda will help you be successful.
Trade magazinesMost trade magazines are free for qualified read-ers. Paid advertising is the principal means of sup-port (and profit). There is a synergistic relationship between paid advertising and article content. Trade magazine articles discuss new products and industry-specific applications. Articles directly related to new-product advertising are common. Trade magazine readers are subject matter experts (SMEs). Most trade magazines do not pay well, if at all, for published articles. However, the publication may allow promo-tion of your web site or e-mail address. In addition, ghostwriting is common in trade magazines. Expect to receive income for ghostwriting. However, expect your article to often appear under the byline of an advertiser’s corporate executive.
Trade magazines have long-term publishing sched-ules to facilitate the advertising sales process. Trade magazine editors combine paid advertising with advertising-related content. Editors talk directly with advertisers. Editors talk directly with writers. Editors expect authors to have expert knowledge in the field they are writing about. Articles usually require an edi-tor’s approval before submission. Advertising-related articles require advance planning. Expect to provide timely delivery of the article copy and any supporting illustrations in the required format.
Consumer magazinesConsumer magazine subscribers pay a subscription fee. Paid advertising supplements the subscriber-paid fee. Readers expect to see articles of interest in the general subject for which they subscribed. Advertis-
ers hope readers will respond to their advertisements. Articles and advertising are usually complementary, but not necessarily directly related. You do not have to be a SME to write for a consumer magazine. These articles may have an observer’s or a reporter’s per-spective. Consumer magazines always pay writers for published articles, but it is harder to break into the consumer market.
Consumer magazines have long-term publishing schedules to facilitate the advertising sales process. Consumer magazine editors combine paid advertising with their publication’s topic-based content. Editors talk directly with advertisers. Editors talk directly with writers. Feel free to submit your topics to them for consideration.
How to locate trade magazinesThere are lists of trade magazines on the Web. Once you locate a candidate magazine, find the masthead. Here is where you will find the names of editors. Senior editors head the list. In addition, ask for the au-thor’s guidelines. Larger organizations publish many magazines in different trades. Here are two online sources you can use to locate trade magazines:
http://www.industryclick.com/icmagazines.• asp
http://www.1800miti.com/page76e.html•
How to locate consumer magazinesConsumer magazines are often harder to locate. However, with your tenacity and information-locating skills, you can find them. Your goal is to look for the masthead with its list of editors. Request the author’s guidelines. Here are two online sources for locating consumer magazines:
http://forums.writersweekly.com/viewforum.• php?f=12
http://www.absolutewrite.com/freelance_• writing/markets_online.htm
ConclusionThere are similarities and differences between trade and consumer publications. You can be a successful author if you help editors achieve their goals.
Next month—Query Letters
June/July 2008 • 7
Open Source CornerBy Will Kraft, OCSTC Student Member
Inkscape
If you are a technical writer, there inevitably
comes a time when you must add a graphic or illustration to a proj-ect. For diagrams and illustrations, vectorized imagery is the industry standard because vec-torized art uses “true” lines that can scale to theoretically infinite size and still remain perfectly smooth. In contrast, ras-ter images (like photos) can only be enlarged to a certain amount before becoming “blocky,” especially on curves. Industry-standard tools like Illustrator are ideal for the task of creat-ing vector artwork, but these tools are expensive and hard to legitimately come by when working on a budget (if you do not already have them). Fortunately, the open source software community has produced several tools that are able to create vector-based artwork, and the most notable of them is Inkscape (http://www.inkscape.org).
Inkscape is very easy to use due to a well-designed interface that provides a wide variety of tools that let you create lines, polygons, Bezier curves, spirals, and assorted paths. My favorite drawing tool by far is the calligraphic brush, which is very responsive and allows for easy freehand drawing, especially with a USB tablet device. In addition to regular fills and strokes, Inkscape supports gradients and trans-parency, and has a large pallet of predefined colors. Inkscape has many effects that can be applied to vec-tor objects to change and distort them, such as twirl, stretch, envelope, and fractalize. Many other tools can apply special effects to rasterized portions of a project.
Inkscape has many other tools that one would take for granted in a drawing program. Image layers and grouping make complicated graphics easier to work with, while support for text paths makes simple and complicated text effects possible. There are also many “convenience tools” such as path blending (based on
difference, intersection, etc.), path inset/outset, path/object duplication, and path simplification.
Inkscape saves projects in the XML-based Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG) format, which is also supported to some extent in most modern web browsers. (Firefox 3 offers a very faithful rendering, for example.) This makes it easy to produce vector artwork for the Web that retains its scalability (far superior to rasterized GIF images that were historically used for line art on the Web). Inkscape can also export Illustrator native format (AI) and encapsulated postscript (EPS) images for Adobe Illustrator, although from my experience the EPS exporter offers better fidelity to the original image in Illustrator. Images may also be exported in Autocad DXF and Microsoft XAML, although I’ve never personally had an opportunity to test these.
Inkscape is a valuable tool for both the novice user and the serious artist. Its flexibility and versatility make it an ideal tool for both print and web graphics. The fact that it is free makes it possible for everyone to ditch Microsoft Paint for something better. Inkscape is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, in addition to source codes for any other platforms.
This screenshot shows the outline view of an illustration. Many technical illustraions will not involve this much detail, the screenshot demonstrates how complex your illustrations can be with this free software. Screenshot credit: http://www.imageafter.com/forum/index.php?thread_id=460
8 • June/July 2008
Stay organized.9. Learn to use project manage-ment software to track pending tasks and notes. Keep a manila folder for each project and fill it with printed copies of notes and important email messages. This is especially important when writing software documenta-tion for multiple products at once.
Keep a list of questions for SMEs.10. Your time with them will be more productive, and they will appreciate your respect for their busy schedules.
Focus on your help navigation, table of 11. contents, or index. There’s no point in writing software documentation that users can’t find. Enable full-text search, if possible.
Prepare use cases, and compare your pro-12. cedures to those use cases. Does your docu-mentation cover all of the tasks your users need to complete? If not, fill in the missing content.
Be specific.13. When writing software documen-tation you must be particularly clear about tasks the user must complete versus tasks that the software completes automatically. Am-biguous language will leave users scratching their heads or reaching for their telephones to call Support.
Provide context.14. Writing software documen-tation isn’t just about telling users what to do. You must also tell them why they would want to complete a task, and explain the desired outcome. This point is particularly important for anyone using a single-sourcing methodol-ogy where chunks of content are combined to create the final output. Be sure to provide context to show how those chunks of content are related and create a feeling of continuity.
Verify that your documentation set is com-15. plete. Did you include accurate installation instructions? How about contact information for customer support? Does your product warrant a tutorial or interactive training? Writing software documentation often re-quires producing more than just a printed manual or online help.
Leverage existing content.16. If your company provides a knowledge base or support web site, refer to it in your manuals. Use cross-references to guide users through all of the various forms of product documentation in an intelligent manner.
Use a consistent design for your documen-17. tation. Users will adapt to your design and learn more effectively if you present content in a consistent and user-friendly manner.
Delete unnecessary content.18. Writing software documentation isn’t like writing a novel, and brevity will often result in improved clarity. However, don’t leave out important informa-tion for the sake of being brief. Use as many words as necessary to accurately explain a concept, and no more.
Find peer reviewers.19. Preferably, get another writer and a product developer to review your documentation. They will help sort out any technical inaccuracies, and improve the clarity of your writing.
Revise often.20. The great thing about writing software documentation is that you usu-ally have frequent opportunities to deliver updated content. Developers constantly ship newer versions to include the latest features. Take advantage of those updates and ship your latest improvements to the software manuals and help.
Set some informal deadlines for yourself.21. Factor in time for documentation reviews, testing, and dealing with troublesome author-ing tool issues. One of the difficulties of writ-ing software documentation is the instability of product release schedules. By maintaining your own aggressive deadlines, you’ll be more prepared if the company decides to ship the product two weeks earlier than planned.
Have some fun.22. Play network games with the developers, or go out for a long lunch with your fellow technical authors. Writing soft-ware documentation is hard work. Don’t burn yourself out.
I hope these tips make the process of writing software documentation a little less painless. If you’re as crazy as the rest of us technical writers you might even enjoy it!
This article originally appeared on the HelpScribe blog at http://www.helpscribe.com.
Craig Haiss maintains HelpScribe.com, a web site devoted to tips and information for technical writers and help au-thors. He lives in Michigan and is a senior technical writer in the accounting software industry.
22 Tips for Writing Software Documentation< Continued from Page 1
June/July 2008 • 9
May North OC Meeting ReviewBy Bruce Tepley, OCSTC Senior Member
At the May North Orange County meeting, Sharon Burton presented us with an overview of the lat-
est version of a new product from MadCap Software, Blaze. Blaze is a product that is similar to MadCap’s multiple output editing product, Flare, but it is lim-ited to importing, editing, and publishing for printed documents, only.
Sharon first noted that MadCap Software for technical writers has always approached technical communi-cation as a complete process that can enable writers to create the highest-quality documents, as easily as possible. Because of this, using Blaze or Flare seems very different in use, compared to Word or FrameMaker. But once we appreciate how Blaze is designed with real-world writing in mind, we will find it much easier to focus our energies on clarity of meaning in our technical communication, Sharon asserted. She then demonstrated this by showing how Blaze would simplify the mechanical complexities of structuring content, main-taining a consistent style, and even quickly switching styles and controlling conditional text for different versions.
MapCap’s originated their approach largely by listening to the gripes and wishes of experienced technical writers. Sharon illus-trated this with a new toolbar for starting work quickly in specific parts of a work process. This is a toolbar that she, herself had suggested. The toolbar is very practi-cal, reflecting her background as a recog-nized, international expert and entrepre-neur in the technical writing field.
Sharon did not just claim the approach used in Blaze was easy and intuitive, she demonstrated it by work-ing with new documents, created during the presen-tation, on-the-fly. After her introduction, the main demonstration part of the talk was divided into three parts: importing, editing, and publishing.
ImportingSharon demonstrated that the importing abilities of Blaze are remarkably broad and flexible, while relat-ing the features to real-life situations that we encoun-ter as technical communicators.
EditingSharon demonstrated several features that made modifying content very easy, including a particularly simple, effective way of rearranging outlines that represent the actual final text.
Publishing Sharon showed us how Blaze provides features that made controlling conditional text and style require-ments simple to overhaul. The versioning changes she set up took only seconds to demonstrate. What we of-ten think of as an “overhaul” task to produce different documents was more of an instant version-switching process.
To provide us with the most current view of the many features Blaze provides, Sharon performed her demonstration with a soon-to-be released, but unvali-dated, version of the software. She warned that there
might be bugs we might uncover, but added that there probably would not be. This underscored her person-al confidence in the quality of her product, especially when we saw the software performing flawlessly.
Throughout the demonstration, Sharon deftly used a left-hand panel in the Blaze GUI, provided in a collapsible tree format, to organize production work intuitively. Not surprisingly, the most extensive collec-tion of subfeatures in the tree was under the editing section. Time did not allow for a complete demonstra-tion of the many features in this panel, particularly for editing. What stood out in Sharon’s selection of features was the intuitive nature of the feature organi-zation—an organization that paralleled the processes technical writers use.
To me, Sharon succeeded in demonstrating how Blaze frees a writer to concentrate on clarity of content. This
Sharon Burton demonstrated MadCap Blaze with her usual energetic and humorous style.
Continued on Page 11 >
OCSTC Employment InformationOur job listing is entirely online at the OCSTC web site. Pages are updated as jobs are submitted.
Staff Jobshttp://www.ocstc.org/employme.asp
Contract Jobshttp://www.ocstc.org/contractme.asp
Free Job Postinghttp://www.ocstc.org/jobsubmit.asp
InquiriesIf you have an inquiry, e-mail our employment manager, Betsy Malone, at [email protected]. A limited number of printed copies of the OCSTC Web site listings are available at monthly chapter meetings.
Society-Level Job ListingsSTC maintains job listings on the Internet. You can download the listings from the STC web site at http://www.stc.org/jobsdatabase.asp.
10 • June/July 2008
Society Pages
STC Mission StatementSTC advances the theory and practice of technical communication across all user abilities and all media.
Positioning StatementSTC helps you design effective communication for a technical world through information sharing and industry leadership.
The Society for Technical Communication (STC) is the world’s largest organization for technical com-municators.
Its more than 14,000 members include writers, edi-tors, illustrators, printers, publishers, photographers, educators, and students.
Dues are $60–175 per year. Membership is open to anyone engaged in some phase of technical communi-cation, interested in the arts and sciences of technical communication, and in allied arts and sciences.
Society for Technical Communication 901 N. Stuart Street, Suite 904 Arlington, VA 22203-1822
703.522.4114 (voice); http://www.stc.org
TechniScribe Copyright and Trademark StatementOCSTC invites writers to submit articles that they wish to be considered for publication. Authors retain copyright to their work and implicitly grant a license to this newsletter to publish the work once in print and to publish it once online for an indefinite period of time. In your cover letter, please let the editor know if this article has appeared elsewhere, and if it has been submitted for consideration to other publications.
The design and layout of this newsletter are copy-righted as © STC, 2008.
Some articles might refer to companies or products whose names are covered by a trademark or regis-tered trademark. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Reference to a specific product does not constitute an endorsement of the product by OCSTC or by STC.
ColophonTechniScribe is written using Microsoft Word, and laid out using Adobe InDesign CS3 for Macintosh. Gill Sans and Palatino Linotype are used for heading and text fonts. PDFs are produced using Adobe Acrobat Professional 8.
TechniScribe relies on the following editorial refer-ences for style: American Heritage Dictionary, Chicago Manual of Style, and Words into Type.
June/July 2008 • 11
Society Pages
upon our newsletter belongs to each of the folks I have named. Since everyone involved has worked hard this year to bring you a quality newsletter, we are taking the month of July off. This is the first time in a couple of years that our editorial staff have taken a short break in the summer. TechniScribe will return to your mailbox in August.
Since the newsletter staff are taking a well deserved break, take this opportunity to polish up that article you’ve been writing for TechniScribe!
Submit your newsletter inquiries, articles, and ideas to Michael at [email protected].
comfort zone. Volunteer to join a committee, write a newsletter article, get involved with membership drives, contact potential speakers, provide chapter publicity, redesign our web site, assist with education initiatives, and other activities. After all, you are the ones who shape the success of our chapter!
Send questions or comments to Betsy at [email protected].
is accomplished in part by providing numerous writ-ing convenience features, but more importantly, by allowing writers to separate wording from document structure. For example, the outlining feature was the simplest and most flexible I have seen. Another orga-nizational advantage in Blaze is the efficient separa-tion of the document styling from the wording.
In contrast to the products Sharon mentioned for comparison (Word and FrameMaker), Blaze makes it easy to concentrate on relating document structure to stylistic appearance in one step, rearrange content structure in another step, and finalize the wording in another step. This organization of the editing features not only makes editing in Blaze potentially much quicker, it enforces style relatively effortlessly. She demonstrated a similar approach in the publishing step that enables writers to easily save different styles and versions in the same document.
Like any high-quality product presentation from a company product manager and evangelist, Sharon’s talk and PowerPoint slides demonstrated the funda-mental functions of Blaze in a way that illustrated the look, feel, and power of this product. But unlike many such presentations, Sharon also spoke to us in a way that only a seasoned expert in every aspect of techni-cal documentation could. She succeeded in conveying to us much of what the experience of using Blaze is like, for everyday, practical document production.
May North OC Meeting Review< Continued from Page 9
Editor’s Desk< Continued from Page 4
President’s Message< Continued from Page 2
Congratulations to Recent GraduatesRegular TechniScribe contributors, Jennifer Gardelle, Will Kraft, and Michael Opsteegh, completed degree pro-grams at Cal State Long Beach. Congratulations and good luck!
If you have any noteworthy news, accomplishments, or promotions, tell us about them. Send your story to our VPs of Membership, Jane Baker and Pat Olsen, at [email protected].
Recent graduates, Jennifer Gardelle (BA in English and Certificate in Technical and Professional Communication), Will Kraft (BA in English and Certificate in Technical and Professional Communication), and Michael Opsteegh (MA in Eng-lish, Rhetoric and Composition) celebrate at the Cal State Long Beach commencement ceremony.
June Meeting TopicAlternative Career Paths for Technical CommunicatorsHave you ever thought, “I’ve been a Senior Technical Writer for years. Now what??” In our June 2008 meeting, returning speaker Jack Molisani will explore the concept of “alternative career paths” that he introduced in his popular session, “How to Make a Six Figure Income as a Technical Communicator.”
Associate Fellow, Jack, is the founder and president of ProSpring Technical Staffing, an employment agency specializing in technical writers and project managers. Jack also produces LavaCon: The Conference on Advanced Technical Communica-tion and Project Management.
Orange Slice: Calendar of EventsDate Event Location TimeJune 11 OCSTC Council Meeting Airport Executive Suites, Irvine 6 p.m.-7 p.m.June 17 OCSTC Chapter Meeting
Jack Molisani, “Alternative Career Paths for Technical Communicators.”
DoubleTree Club Hotel, 7 Hutton Centre Dr., Santa Ana, CA, 92707, 714.751.2400
6:30 p.m.-9 p.m.
July 1 OCSTC Council Meeting Airport Executive Suites, Irvine 6 p.m.-7 p.m.July 15 OCSTC Chapter Meeting
Jack O’Connell, “Workplace Influencing Acedemia.”DoubleTree Club Hotel, 7 Hutton Centre Dr., Santa Ana, CA, 92707, 714.751.2400
6:30 p.m.-9 p.m.
August 5 OCSTC Council Meeting Airport Executive Suites, Irvine 6 p.m.-7 p.m.August 19 OCSTC Chapter Meeting DoubleTree Club Hotel, 7 Hutton Centre Dr.,
Santa Ana, CA, 92707, 714.751.24006:30 p.m.-9 p.m.
July Meeting TopicClosing the Achievement GapCalifornia’s rigorous academic standards and accountability system have led to steady, significant achievement gains over the past five years. However, achievement data clearly reveals the need to focus in new ways on the groups of students whose achievement lags persistently behind. The achievement gap between white students and other ethnic groups as well as between English learners and native English speakers, socioeconomically disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged students, and students with disabilities compared to students without disabilities is a pervasive issue in many, if not all, of California’s schools.
Superintendent O’Connell’s Closing the Achievement Gap initiative is a public-private partnership aimed at supporting the work of policymakers, educators, and interested community members, with major backing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, it is the electronic hub for helpful information, research, and success stories about efforts to close the gap in California.
