The Society for Technical Communication is an individual membership organization dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of technical communication. It is the largest organization of its type in the world. Its 25,000 members include technical writers and editors, content developers, documentation specialists, technical illustrators, instructional designers, academics, information architects, usability and human factors professionals, visual designers, Web designers and developers, and translators - anyone whose work makes technical information available to those who need it.

The STC Toronto Chapter was founded in 1959 (then the Society of Technical Writers) and is the largest chapter in Canada.

About this Newsletter:

Front Runner Presents:
We Have Designs on You!
by Joyce Aldrich

Have you ever been asked to design a fillable form that could be sent out and returned like a faithful homing pigeon?

When you sat down to put this form together, which could have been a simple order, registration or evaluation form, did you wonder which path you would take to reach your destination?

If you did make it, did your journey look more like Frodo’s journey to Mordor, fraught with perils and the unknown?

 When we go to work, each day, the last thing we need is to be slowed down by ineffectual systems that set up more roadblocks than clear signs that point the way.  So, let us help steer you in the right direction.

At Front Runner Publishing Solutions Inc., we’ve had a chance to play a bit with the Forms Designer in LiveCycle™ Designer, which lives in the new Adobe Acrobat® 7.0 Professional version.  To be honest, we like it!  We like it so much that we’d like to encourage you to try this tool out, and to give you some incentive to do this, we’ve come up with a contest!

The rules are simple, and we think you’re really going to enjoy the process.

To start, let’s tell you what you can win! 

• First prize is one retail copy of Adobe Acrobat® 7.0 Professional Edition (Windows or Mac – because we know how creative you Mac types are!)
• Second prize is one free scheduled public Adobe Acrobat 7.0 course at Front Runner Publishing Solutions Inc.’s discretion to be taken within six months of winning the prize.

Here’s how it works.

Contest Criteria:

1. Contest Entrants are invited to create a “new, fillable” form from a “Blank Form,” using LiveCycle™ Designer in the Adobe Acrobat® 7.0 Professional Edition. A “free” 30 day trial version can be downloaded from the Adobe site at www.adobe.com.
2. Contest Entrants may refer to template samples in Adobe LiveCycle™ Designer for ideas, but may not use these to create a form, nor may  Contest Entrants import existing PDF or Word documents to create the form.
3. The finished form created from Adobe LiveCycle™ Designer must have, as its components:  a) A submit button with info@front-runner.com as the return email address. b) Radio buttons c) check boxes d) Text, numeric or password fields e) drop down list or list box f) One or two imported images g) another interactive button, other than “Submit.” h) Signature field i) Paper Forms Barcode (this’ll get you extra points) j) at least three selections from the “Custom” tab.
4. Contest Entrants are encouraged to use their imaginations to create a form that engages the end-user and is aesthetically pleasing. 
5. The form must flow and be easy to navigate.
6. Winning forms and runners-up may be featured on our website.

 

 Fine Print that’s binding:

1. To submit your form, please use the invitation within the Forms Designer located under File > Form Data > Initiate Data File Collection Workflow. Forms submitted for this contest will not be returned to you, so please make a copy.  
2. When submitting your entry, please include in the invitation email: your name, mailing address, phone number and email address.
3. The panel of judges is made up of Front Runner Publishing Solutions Inc. employees and contractors.
4. It is understood that Contest Entrants must be 18 years of age or older.
5. The LiveCycle™ Designer Forms Contest, run by Front Runner Publishing Solutions Inc. is open to the public excluding employees, contractors or family members of employees or contractors of Front Runner Publishing Solutions Inc.
6. Contest entries will be accepted up until 5:00 pm E.S.T. Friday, May 20^th, 2005.  Any submissions received after May 20th will not be considered for the contest.
7. The winner will be announced on  Monday June 13^th, 2005 and the winner’s entry will be posted on Front Runner’s website.

So, ladies and gentlemen, start your computers, and enjoy the ride!

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This contest is sponsored by:

Front Runner Publishing Solutions Inc.
21 St. Clair Avenue East,
Suite 600,
Toronto, Ontario
M4T 1L8

Tel.(416) 515-0155

Email info@front-runner.com
Website www.front-runner.com

“Learn what you wish you’d known yesterday!”