The Monthly Newsletter of the STC Toronto Chapter
September 2005
About the STC
The Society for Technical Communication (STC) is an organization dedicated to advancing the art and science of technical communication. It is the largest organization of its type in the world. Its 25,000 members include technical writers and editors, content and information developers, documentation specialists, technical illustrators, instructional designers, academics, information architects, usability and human factors professionals, visual designers, Web designers and developers, and translators - anyone who makes technical information available to those who need it.
About STC Toronto
The STC Toronto Chapter was founded in 1959 (then the Society of Technical Writers) and is the largest chapter in Canada. Monthly meetings are held throughout the year to discuss all aspects of technical communication, and to provide valuable networking opportunities. For meeting information, see the meetings page of the Toronto STC website.
About this Newsletter
This newsletter is produced monthly by the STC Toronto Chapter and is sent to all registered members. If you have any comments or article ideas, please email our newsletter editor, Andrew Brooke.
Our mailing list comes directly from the STC, so if you want to receive the newsletter at another address, you will need to login to their members profile section and update your information. The STC Toronto Chapter will not share nor sell our address list and will only email information we believe is useful and relevant to our members.
To cancel your newsletter subscription, please send an email with 'Stop my subscription' in the subject line to newsletter@stctoronto.org.
Greetings from the Editor
As your new Newsletter Editor, I'd like to welcome you to the redesigned "Communication Times" and hope you enjoy the new look!
In this issue: our new Toronto chapter president Rob Hanna updates us on our chapter's goals for the year, we have our usual gang of writers discussing all things related to technical communication, we list our upcoming events and the latest news from Front Runner, and we've also got a new "Quote of the Month" section.
If you have any comments or suggestions for this newsletter, or have an idea for an article that you'd like to submit, please email me!
Andrew Brooke - newsletter@stctoronto.org
A Message from the President
Chapter President Rob Hanna welcomes you back to the start of a new season, and looks at what we hope to accomplish in the upcoming year.
Articles
Doo Wah Dita and Other "Frames" of Reference
The Wandering Eye: WebWorks ePublisher Pro
Beyond Effective Listening:
Technical Writing and Usability: A Definition
A Writer's World: Wikipedia and the "Informalation" Revolution
Single-Sourcing SIG
Date: Thursday September 29, 2005, 7:00 PM
Location: Front Runner, 21 St. Clair Ave E. Toronto
All are welcome. Prior registration required. Please RSVP as soon as possible to Rhys Griffiths at ssrc@stctoronto.org.
A Message from Rhys Griffiths, SIG Manager:
In the September 29 session, I hope to determine what presentations will be of the greatest benefit to the group. The way I look at, any SIG exists to help the membership do their jobs better, which is why I want to sit down with everyone (or at least the interested parties) and figure out what we need to learn this year, what will be the best use of our time at the monthly sessions.
This meeting will also be an opportunity to share experiences and ask questions about the state of our best practices. Come join in the discussion.
Topic: Help and Documentation Authoring in Doc-To-Help
With Michael Eisenstein - Component One
Date: Tuesday, October 11, 2005, 7:00 PM
Location: North York Memorial Hall (Gold Room)
All are welcome.
Please join us Tuesday, October 11, to learn about online help development using Doc-to-Help. This will be a technical session lead by lead product developer from ComponentOne. Get a glimpse into one of the first large online help development tools and see how it has adapted to meet a changing industry with needs that continue to grow in complexity and performance.
ComponentOne Doc-To-Help (www.componentone.com) is a tool for creating help and documentation single-sourced in Word and HTML documents. From a collection of source documents (Word, HTML, plus XML in a future version), Doc-To-Help creates HTML Help, WinHelp, MS Help 2.0, JavaHelp, NetHelp (a proprietary cross-platform browser-based format) and printed documentation. Help features (topic links, keywords, and so on) are specified directly in the source documents using simple formatting with styles. This allows Doc-To-Help to avoid proprietary formats so that authors can use their editor of choice.
Michael Eisenstein is a Toronto-based software consultant leading Doc-To-Help development for ComponentOne LLC in Pittsburgh, PA. Before moving to help authoring tools two years ago, Michael specialized in creating general purpose UI and data components and other tools for software developers.
Front Runner Training is pleased to welcome Alan Houser, of Group Wellsley, to teach our three day FrameScript Development course.
Alan Houser has over five years of training experience and more than a decade of experience supporting technical publishing applications. Alan is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, where he earned an M.A. in Professional Writing and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. He is an IBM Certified Developer in XML and Related Technologies and an Adobe Certified Expert in FrameMaker and Adobe Acrobat Professional. He is also a Certified Technical Trainer and is an Adobe Certified Instructor.
Houser's published works include "XML Weekend Crash Course", published in 2001 by John Wiley and Sons. He is a frequent presenter at regional and national conferences, including WritersUA (formerly WinWriters) and FrameUsers. Houser is past president of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and is a regular contributor to the STC Intercom publication.
Adobe FrameMaker : FrameScript Development
FrameMaker is an incredibly powerful publishing tool that can be hampered by its interface and a lack of macro tools to facilitate automation. The solution to these problems lies in FrameScript, a tool that allows you to automate many of the manual tasks in FrameMaker publishing that normally consume hours every day. The return on investment is immediate. Simply put, this course will change the way that you use FrameMaker.
As an STC membership benefit, Front Runner extends to STC Members a 15% discount off the course cost.*
For more information about the training and FrameScript please contact Veronica by emailing veronica@front-runner.com or calling (416) 515-0155.
*This discount is non-transferable to non-STC members. This discount is of no cash value. This discount cannot be used with any other promotions and/or for any other courses without prior consent from Front Runner Training. Subject to change without notice. Front Runner reserves the right to change, cancel, postpone training dates at Front Runner's sole discretion.
Front Runner
"Learn what you wish you'd known yesterday!"
Gordon Gekko, from the film "Wall Street", 1987
Upcoming Events
October STC Chapter Meeting
News and Courses from Front Runner
3 day course: Wednesday October 26th to Friday October 28th, 2005
Location: Front Runner Training: Toronto, ON
21 St. Clair Avenue East, Suite 601
Toronto, ON M4T 1L8
Quote of the Month
