The STC Huntsville/NA is proud to announce the 3rd annual Rocket City Technical Communication Conference. The event will be held April 19, 2014 from 8:00-1:00 in the Shelby Center on the UAH campus. Panels will cover topics like starting a tech writing freelance business, using social media, working with SMEs, writing in multimedia, and more! Registration is $20 for non-members and $10 for members and students. Lunch is included! Join us for this great learning and networking event!
STC Huntsville/NA is sponsoring a remote presentation on single-sourcing this Tuesday, October 15. Join STC as we hear from Liz Fraley of Single-Sourcing Solutions, who will present “What’s In It for Me?”, a discussion of the benefits of single-sourcing and content management for technical communicators. The event includes free dinner at 5:30 and the presentation at 6:00! Come to Shelby Center 301 on the UAH campus to participate in the event!
Technical writers may be interested in XML Copy Editor, a free open-source XML editor available at the following link:
http://xml-copy-editor.sourceforge.net/.
Writers using DITA may also find Writing Technically’s three-part series on DITA very helpful. For a more comprehensive look at DITA, check out this complete list of acceptable DITA tags.
The Society for Technical Communication and the UAHuntsville Business and Technical Writing Program are happy to host the upcoming webinar “Conveying Messages with Graphs.” The webinar will be held on Wednesday, September 12 from 12:30-2:00 in Salmon Library 335 on the UAHuntsville campus. The event is relevant for anyone who works with graphs and visuals, and the event is free to the public.
The Society for Technical Communication will offer a Photoshop workshop Saturday, March 3 in Salmon Library Room 211. Sue Barbara, who has been teaching Photoshop to all age groups for over eleven years, will present an introductory and advanced session:
9:30-12:30: Introduction to Photoshop – This session focuses on editing images using the Crop, Magic Wand, Brush, Eyedropper, Type and Move tools.
1:30-4:30: Advanced Photoshop – This session focuses on using the Clone, Lasso, Quick Mask, Layers, Healing Brush and Layer Styles.
Participants can enroll in the workshop at the following rates:
Students: $15 one session/$25 both sessions
STC Members: $30 one session/$55 both sessions
Non-Members: $40 one session/$75 both sessions
The workshop requires pre-registration by Wednesday, February 29. Please contact Cynthia Brasher at brasherc@uah.edu to register. Contact Sue Barbara at sbarbara33@gmail.com or 256.653.6489 with questions about the workshops.
The Society for Technical Communication Huntsville/North Alabama Chapter and the UAHuntsville Business and Technical Writing Program are offering a free webinar on Wednesday, February 15 at 6:00. The webinar features Joe Welinske, President of WritersUA, presenting “Write More, Write Less: Embracing the value of crafted words and images.” Mr. Welinske’s presentation teaches technical writers how to spend less time writing little used information and more time focusing on the information users need (check out the full webinar description below). Join STC at 6:00 pm in Room 335 of the UAHuntsville Salmon Library for this instructive, engaging event. The webinar can also be experienced from any computer using the link below. Reserve a space in Salmon Library 335 by emailing Ryan Weber at Ryan.Weber@uah.edu. Participate from your home or work computer by registering HERE.
Write More, Write Less: Embracing the Value of Crafted Words and Images.
“While the word “content” is a good shorthand for words, audio, and images, it unfortunately can move us farther away from the core competency of developing good information. The theme of this presentation is that documentation teams are often spending too little time writing well; and at the same time spending too much time writing little-used information. Research and professional observation suggest that not enough time is being put into crafting text to be exactly the right text for a particular context. And writing resources for doing “agile” user assistance would be more readily available if writers would prioritize topic writing based on user need. “Writing More” while “Writing Less” can result in better utility for users and can reduce the need and load on the overall documentation development process and content management. Technical Communicators of all backgrounds will benefit from this thought-provoking presentation.”
Technical Communication at UAHuntsville 