by Jen Collier

Here’s what you had to say about our August 19^th Project Management Progression chapter meeting. Feel free to comment more and we’ll post your additional comments in our electronic newsletter, Commlink (http://www.stcatlanta.org/wordpress/).

Comments - Project Management Progression
Here are some of your comments about last week’s Project Management Progression. Thanks for the feedback. We look forward to hearing more from you.

“Really enjoyed progressive meeting format!”

“I like the format but I can see that you could run out of topics. I’d do 15 min or 20. I’m getting older and it is over my bedtime.”

“Wonderful productive effective meeting. Great! We need more like this! Excellent.”

“Everyone is great.”

“The PMI Certification was more of a sales pitch presentation.”

“Like the progression format. Good practical tips.”

“All were very well presented with good content. Excellent program.”

“All great sessions; knowledge varied enough to cover a lot of areas/topics at once.”

Project Management Topic Ratings (1 to 5)
We asked you to rate each topic you attended on a scale of 1 to 5 and here are the results.

I hope you know that the Atlanta Chapter STC is the host chapter for the 2009 STC Summit. It was brought home to me in a very big way yesterday when I attended a site survey with representatives of the Society office along with Mike Hughes.

 The Hyatt Regency Hotel at 235 Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta will be the conference hotel and the conference site. This will be much better, in my opinion, than the conference center sites we have had in the past few years. Better access, easier access, centralized location and rooms. No more walking for what seems like miles to a conference center to attend sessions. All sessions will be centrally located on three floors of the conference hotel, easily accessed via elevators or escalators.

Mike is leading a hospitality committee for the summit. I am also on that committee. We need your ideas and comments. How can we show our southern hospitality? How can we best represent Atlanta to the Technical Communication community? What is your favorite thing to do in Atlanta? Your favorite restaurant? What would you like the world to know or hear or experience while they are here in Atlanta?

 Let us know. My email is alhood06@comcast.net.

  By Jack Massa

Wikis:  a class of web-based software that is emerging as a favorite tool for corporate collaboration and knowledge-sharing.

On Thursday, August 14, the Atlanta STC chapter hosted a lunchtime session on wikis. Heather Lister and Rachel Peters of Aon eSolutions presented a case study, describing how they implemented and are using a wiki at their company.

Here’s a summary of the presentation and discussion.

Why a Wiki?

• Company knowledge lived in people’s brains and long email streams; not optimized for sharing.

• The company wanted a place to post and store discussions, best practices, debates.
• Key drivers were easy access, ease of use and long-term storage of the information.

Finding the Right Software

Various wiki platforms are available, including open-source tools and hosted solutions. The Aon technical group already had a wiki built from TWiki so the team adopted that solution. TWiki is an open-source tool, which they host in-house.

Another open-source tool that was discussed is MediaWiki, which seems to have advantages and disadvantages compared to TWiki.

Factors to consider in choosing wiki software:

• Availability of IT resources for installing and maintaining the software.
• Backup and restore facilities.
• Ease of use. (See below.)

• Ability to link authentication to other systems (consolidating user sign-on).
• Does the software permit branding?
• For open-source, is there a robust support community?

Ease of Use, Formatting, Linking

Posting formatted or structured information can be very challenging. Different wikis have different markup languages. TWiki also supports native HTML, but this is not recommended.

Aeon uses a formatting tool bar, available as a plug-in.

TWiki also supports posting structured data in forms. Once the form is created, users just fill in the fields and save. Form data can then be displayed in tables.

TWiki supports external links:

• From outside the wiki you can link to individual topics. Users must log in before the topic is displayed.
• From inside the wiki, you can link to the outside. For example, Rachel posts links to her documentation in PDF or help formats.

Motivating People to Use the Wiki

Encouraging use is a challenge often encountered in adopting a wiki or any knowledge sharing tool. Heather and Rachel first made themselves the company wiki experts, then trained others. They set up individual areas (”webs”) within the wiki and establish an initial topic index (i.e., folder structure) within each web. This makes it easier for people to start posting information.

Other tips for driving use:

• Begin with a pilot area to show the possibilities.
• Assure people that postings do not have to be perfect. Make sure people know that topics can be changed, renamed, moved or deleted.
• When people share information via email, managers insist they “post it to the wiki.”

Controlling Inaccurate and Outdated Information

Another often-cited issue with wikis is how to prevent or fix inaccuracies. The short answer is, you don’t. Not from the top down. The nature of wiki is open discussion and peer review. The theory is that the community corrects errors and that content improves over time. The theory seems to be working at Aon.

Additional recommendations:

• Make sure people know whom to contact to clarify or correct information. Who is the office’s expert in each area?
• Encourage uses to correct inaccuracies they see in the wiki.
• Show users that every change is tracked by TWiki in a revision history. You can easily revert to a previous version of any post.

Controlling Access to Sensitive Information

TWiki (and other tools) support user groups and permissions. Webs or individual topics can be secured for viewing or changing.

Search Facility

This was found to be the weakest feature of TWiki. No advanced or filtered search, no meta tags, no relevance-ranking of results. Aon security policy does not allow use of a third-party search tool.

• The team has adopted some workarounds:
• List of personal links always displayed
• Departmental portal pages with link lists
• Embedded links within topics
• User education for smarter searching

Conclusion

This was a fun and useful meeting, with lots of good information. Thanks to Heather and Rachel for sharing their expertise.

A special event near the Marietta area. Look for other events coming your way in your area! If you have an idea for an event, please contact Jen Collier.How the Wiki was Won
A case study about implementing a wiki at a software company
Join us as we share how implementing a wiki changed our processes at work. We’ll talk about the success we had but also the challenges we faced and how we overcame them. Topics include:

Figuring out which wiki software is best for your group
Tips and tricks for motivating people to use the wiki
Preventing (and accepting) chaos on the wiki
Maintaining the information on your wiki
Details:
Date: August 14, 2008
Time: 11:30 for lunch; presentation is from 12:00-1:00
Price: $5 for STC members, $10 for non-members

Go to http://www.stcatlanta.org/meetings.htm for more information and to prepay for the event.

Lunch: Sandwiches and salads will be provided.
Place: Aon eSolutions, 531 Roselane Street, Suite 800, Marietta, GA 30060, (678) 784-4600
Directions: (Note that the directions from MapQuest and other sites are wrong.)

Go North on Interstate 75 to exit 265 (North Marietta Parkway).
Take a left under the bridge, heading west.
Cross 1st light at Cobb Parkway/Hwy 41.
Cross 2nd light at Fairground Street.
Cross 3rd light at Cole Street.
Turn right at 4th light onto Cherokee Street.
Get into far left lane and take an immediate first left onto Sessions Street.
Cross Church Street at the light, and follow Sessions Street to the 4-way stop.
Continue on Sessions (will veer slightly to the right) to the dead end at Roselane Street.
Go straight into the McLaren Mill parking lot in front of you. Aon eSolutions is straight ahead in Suite 800.
Entering the building: When you get to the building, you can park on either side of the complex. There may be more parking in the back (by the sign for the office park - MacLaren Mill). Come to the front door and use the call box. Someone will buzz you in. The conference rooms are in the front. There will be signs pointing the way.

Presenters:
Heather Lister, Technology Planning and Support Manager, Aon eSolutions
Heather Lister currently manages the communication, documentation, and support for Aon RiskConsole, a leasing risk management information system. She has nine years of technical writing experience and three years experience managing a TCOM group. She completed both her Bachelors in Technical and Professional Communication and her Masters in Information Design and Communication at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta.
Rachel Peters, Technical Writer, Aon eSolutions
Rachel Peters is a technical writer with experience in creating multiple types of documentation, from software release notes to feature demos. She has five years experience as a writer and prefers working for software companies where she can work closely with developers and product managers. She is currently working on a Masters in Information Design and Communication at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta.
About Aon eSolutions
Aon eSolutions services over 1,000 diverse clients across the globe, providing an integrated suite of risk management tools and resources. These include a risk management information system (Aon RiskConsole), risk technology consulting and data management. The group has teams located throughout the world, with representation in Europe, America, Asia-Pacific and Africa. More information is at http://aonriskconsole.com.

Project Management Progression
August 19th 6:30 - 8:15

Progressions are the equivalent to speed dating only instead of landing an attractive date, you’re looking to soak up the knowledge and interact with the experts as well as the people looking to learn about the topic. A short presentation will be given at each table and then discussion will ensue. Then… times up, move to the next table and start again. We look toward to seeing you, and remember bring your business cards; you’ll be interacting with a lot of people. Current scheduled presenters are listed below.

Secrets to Masterful Meetings - Patricia Budd

When you are leading a project team you often have lots of responsibility with little authority. You must lead through influence, and your influence depends to a large extent on your credibility. A subtle but vital measure of your credibility is determined by how effectively you run your project team meetings. Do they accomplish the purpose intended…Are the right people in the room…Does the discussion stay focused…Are decisions made and adhered to…Does follow up occur… Learn practical and easily understood practices that will lead to more productive meetings. This presentation is based on the best-selling book by the CEO of Leadership Strategies, Michael Wilkinson, “The Secrets to Masterful Meetings”. Patricia is a certified Executive Coach and Facilitator with over 25 years of experience in both the corporate and Non-Profit sectors. Patricia is a certified facilitator of the Dale Carnegie Course as well as a much sought after keynote speaker. She has facilitated numerous Board Strategic Planning retreats including Georgia Association of Fund Raising Professionals, National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, and United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta.

PMP Certification - Michael L. Stallfus, VP of Certification and Education with PMI Atlanta
This session will explain the Project Management Certification awarded by the Project Management Institute.  You’ll learn what it takes to become certified and how a PMP certification on your resume can help your career.

 Creating a Documentation Plan - Kathleen Baine
It’s difficult knowing who’s doing what on large projects with multiple deliverables, multiple authors, and many deadlines, knowing who is creating, reviewing, and producing what and how is critical to the success of the project. A detailed Documentation Plan can make you the star leader on the project because you have written all the details in your plan. Learn how to create a plan, get buy-in on your plan, and use your plan. You will receive a handout of a Documentation Plan outline that you can use right away in your job. Kathleen Baine has been using Documentation Plans for years on every project, from small projects to large ones such as the SAP Software Documentation and Training Project at Siemens which rolled out training and documentation to over 5,000 employees over several years. Kathleen is currently a Senior Technical Writer and Trainer at TeraHop Networks, Inc., in Alpharetta.

Using Microsoft Project - Holly Harkness
Microsoft Project is a commonly used tool in Project Management. It has a cool wizard that helps novice PMs set up their own project tracking. You can use it to manage very large complex projects with many resources and constraints. Holly will give you a short tour of Microsoft Project basics. Holly Harkness is the Technical Communications Manager at Mirant. In addition, she has managed projects, such as redesigning the company Web site and intranet and is the change manager for a major software implementation.  Holly is also the Membership Manager for the Atlanta STC Chapter.

Excel Hacks for Technical Communicators - Mike Hughes
How to use simple features of Excel, such as AutoFilter, and dropdown lists, to create an information plan that lets you inventory topics, assign writers, estimate duration, track due dates and other project milestones. Demonstrates how a pivot table can help analyze work distribution across a writing team. Mike Hughes has managed documentation projects for several companies and has taught Project Management in the Masters program at SPSU. This presentation is based on his recent column in UXmatters.com.

Where: Mirant Corporate Headquarters, 1155 Perimeter Center West, Atlanta, GA 30338
Telephone: (678) 579-5000          Cost: Members - free, Nonmembers - $10

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

25th Practical Conference on Communication

October 10 - 11, 2008

The Chattanoogan Hotel and Conference Center

Chattanooga, Tennessee

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Call for Papers

“Technical Communication in a Global Economy” is the theme for the
Practical Conference on Communication this year.

You are invited to submit a proposal for a workshop, discussion, or
presentation on practical strategies for effective international technical
communication.

For sample topics, submission details, and more, please visit
http://stc-etc.org/pcoc_call.asp.

The deadline for submissions is July 7, 2008.

We look forward to seeing your intelligent and innovative topics
for PCOC 25.

– The PCOC 25 Conference Management Team

STC’s PCOC is a colorful, iconic entity of STC lore! This year’s
edition marks the reinstatement of one of STC’s oldest small-
venue conferences, which still holds the record for the longest
conference run that offers proceedings outside of the STC
Annual Conference itself. I have personally trekked to five of
these events from Florida - each one was so worth it. Besides
seeing and hearing quality speakers, I count among my closest
STC friends individuals that I first met at a PCOC!

I know that this year’s edition will be no different, a value that
will have you humming that “you can afford to board the
Chattanooga Choo Choo!”

– Mark Hanigan, Former STC President

A presentation by Frank Harper, Life Coach and Mentor

How secure are you in your job? Is your company being acquired? Is the work slowing down? How are sales going in your company? Will slowing sales impact your job?

Being prepared for a possible job loss is very important in today’s business environment. Ever since the Dot Com bust, companies have been changing, reorganizing, and being acquired. What happens if you are one of the chosen few that are going to be “right-sized”? Are you prepared for a job loss?

Frank will discuss some possible things you can do to prepare yourself for that possibility. While it may never happen, his philosophy is “Be Prepared.” Being prepared helps you relieve anxiety about the unknown.

He will share tips on how much you cost a company, how you can evaluate your skills and qualities, look for ways to improve your position, and possible actions for when the shoe does eventually fall.

Hello Fellow Atlanta Chapter STC Members,

Topics: 2007 - 2008 Atlanta Chapter Business Summary (15 minutes)
                Introduction to the 2007 - 2008 council members (5 minutes)�
                STC Philadelphia Summit Panel Discussion

Summary:
Interested in what the industry experts had to say about your area of expertise? Then come join your Atlanta STC chapter on June 24^th. Your fellow STC members will share their experiences and knowledge gained from the Summit. In this panel discussion, you will learn about new trends and techniques in the Training, Publications, Emerging Technologies, Usability Testing and other fields. Handouts and notes from the conference will be available. Plus, there will be a drawing for prizes at the end of the meeting.

Prize Drawings: Two $25 gift cards to Barnes & Noble

When: June 24^th 6:15 - 8:15

Where: Mirant Corporate Headquarters (Sandy Springs MARTA Station N10)
1155 Perimeter Center West
Atlanta, GA 30338
Telephone: (678) 579-5000

Cost:      Members - free
Nonmembers - $10

  By Tom Burns

Many technical communicators who have used RoboHelp professionally are familiar with this tale of woe. The popular help-authoring program used by many technical communicators, had passed through multiple owners. When Adobe bought Macromedia, Robohelp appeared at first to languish and continue its downward spiral. Over the past couple of years, many long-term users had considered the package dead were looking at alternative solutions.

At the STC Summit in May, I was pleasantly surprised to see an enormous Adobe presence. They were heavily promoting revitalized versions of Robohelp and Framemaker from a large conference floor booth. They were also handing out freebies. In fact, as a participant in a poster contest, I received a copy of both pieces of this expensive software from Adobe Product Manager, Michael Hu. When early in October Adobe announced the release of their new Technical Communication Suite, a product that includes Robohelp and Framemaker, I took advantage of this encounter and emailed Mr. Hu several questions about this new offering. He graciously replied with the following detailed answers.

TB:
Adobe has made several announcements over the past few days concerning
the Technical Communication Suite. Can you provide some details about
Adobe’s plan for marketing to technical communicators?

MH:

I think the question is not what we are doing to market technical communicators but what are we doing to deliver solutions for technical communicators.   We spent most of our company resources in the past years driving the now very successful Acrobat and Creative Suite businesses.  A few years ago years Adobe started an initiative to adjust its investments across our entire portfolio of products. It was now time to go back and work on our portfolio for Technical Communicators and Instructional Designers.  After the Macromedia acquisition, Adobe was now in a unique position to create a complete portfolio of products and technologies for Technical Communicators and Instructional Designers.  We launched several initiatives like the Adobe FrameMaker DITA Application Pack and launched a series of new products in rapid succession to show the industry we were serious.  Adobe Captivate (a leading tool in software simulation and creation of interactive instructional content) 2 in Q4 2006, Adobe RoboHelp 6 RoboHelp (the leading tool in Help authoring and publishing) in Q1 2007, Acrobat 3D Version 8 (the defacto format for delivering technical documents electronically) in Q2 2007,  just recently in Q3 2007 we launched  FrameMaker 8 (the leading tool to author and publish technical documentation) and another release of Captivate 3 in July.  You can see the rapid evolution of our portfolio over the past year.  Now Adobe now is reaching another major milestone with launch of the much anticipated RoboHelp 7 and the new Adobe Technical Communication Suite.

TB:

Do you have a vision for the technical communicator of the future? What
type of software do you see us using ten years from now?

MH:

So many things that are happening in the industry will benefit the users of our products and the final customer… the end user.  It is hard to figure out where to start.  I’ll pick one trend like “Convergence”

The first one is Convergence. New technologies and new demands on content are driving changes in how content is authored and delivered.  Traditionally, roles in the technical communications process were distinct and separate.

Subject matter experts (typically engineers) would draft out content and suggest edits using the tools they had to hand - pen & paper, email and word processors.

Technical writers producing user manuals, etc., would work with the subject matter experts, and import content from them or create it from scratch. Their tools would normally be dedicated to their workflow - tools like FrameMaker.

Often a separate set of technical writers would work on the embedded Help content, using tools designed for their purposes, such as RoboHelp. Even if those writers were the same as those producing the other technical documents, they would often be using different tools and they would not be sharing much content between their various authoring environments.

And finally the training or eLearning department would take input from both the subject matter experts and the tech writers, and they would use tools designed for their purposes, such as PowerPoint or Captivate.

These boundaries and work processes are rapidly breaking down.  With tools like FrameMaker, it becomes more efficient for subject matter experts to use the same tools as the technical writers and eliminate trans-coding costs. This is especially the case if XML is being introduced end-to-end.  Alternatively PDF-based review and markup is a lot more efficient than the paper-based alternative. The bottom line is that the tools and types of output produced by the subject matter experts and the technical writers are become more and more alike.

The costs of producing Help content, training content, and user documentation can be reduced if they are both produced from a single source. Especially if the content can be carefully structured (using XML) to enable variations in Help and documentation to be handled automatically. In cases where software development is moving from desktop to the web (and where the “application” is as much about the content as the features), it can make sense for subject matter experts to use RoboHelp to directly contribute content. So we’re seeing both the user communities and the tools sets used begin to converge between the Help producers and the document producers.

To produce engaging, interactive and dynamic content, the training team (now often referred to as “eLearning”) started off using specialist tools that you didn’t see outside of their department. But as content from the other increasing user communities is delivered electronically, and as a ubiquitous platform for delivering that content has been established (i.e. Flash), we’ve seen those specialist tools that become available being adopted by the other technical communicators. For example, “how to” demonstrations developed with Captivate are being added to Help content. Meanwhile the drive to reduce costs is forcing the eLearning department to look hard at reusing content, rather than rewriting it for their own presentation.

The takeaway is that the tools used by distinct user communities are becoming more and more alike hence the creation of the Technical Communication Suite.

TB:

How much longer do you see RoboHelp as part of the Technical
Communication Suite? Will that program be around in 5 years?

MH:
For many years to come.  It is a major pillar in our Technical Communication portfolio and we have significant investment in this product.  In the near future you will see RoboHelp and the Tech Comm Suite play an integral role supporting other Adobe initiatives.  

TB:

Will the new version of RoboHelp support the 3D PDF format?

MH:

A RoboHelp created help system will be able to support PDFs with live 3D models.  In the near term, companies that use a lot of 3D will benefit from this but we also see our support for 3D proliferating into the use of 3D in other customer segments.  

TB

RoboHelp is easy to use but includes an odd mixture of technology. Will
you be revamping the basic code?

MH:

We already started revamping the code with the previous version of RoboHelp 6 and started incorporating Adobe’s DNA into the product.

TB:

Why should someone choose Framemaker over Indesign?
How is Framemaker positioned? What type of future do you see for
FrameMaker? How would distinguish Framemaker from Indesign?

MH:

Both products are geared for entirely different markets.  Simply put if you create technical information or instructional type of content that may or may not be complex in nature, have a need to single source, reuse content, publish information in different formats for different devices and have a need to create XML you should use FrameMaker.  If you are creating something that is more design intensive like a print advertisement that does not have a requirement to constantly repurpose content you should use InDesign.  FrameMaker is here to stay, Adobe uses it to create all of their product help.

TB:

Do you see online manuals with live 3D models becoming popular?

MH:

Yes especially for those in manufacturing and already using 3D.  That is why we created Acrobat 3D and added support for the format in FrameMaker and in the Tech Comm Suite for 3D. - MH>>

TB:

The Adobe 3D PDF file seems like an awesome opportunity for Technical
Communicators. I noticed that Adobe was featuring the ability of
FrameMaker to accommodate the file format. What do you think the future holds
for Technical Communication and 3D PDF?

MH:

I think the real story is the support for Rich Media.  Not just 3D but interactive Flash simulations and “show-me” movies in our technical information that really breathe life into your information.  Taking traditional static content and making it more interactive.  Adobe is uniquely positioned to bring technical communication to a new level.   It isn’t just about the users of our products but the customers we serve and the people that digest the information we create.  As I mentioned, it used to be that only the training deliverables would include video, animation or simulations.  Now these types of asset are appearing directly in Help and support knowledge-bases, especially when it is easier to watch a procedure than to read about it.  And as there is a trend to single-source Help and user documentation, the incorporation of rich media is making its way into traditional documentation content.  Looking to the future, 3D is an asset type which has always required special viewers, separate from the mainstream tools and players. But with Acrobat 3D, live 3D models can now be delivered in PDF, which coincidentally is the most popular format for technical documentation.

It is gratifying and a result of wonderful volunteers in our chapter that we have been recognized as a Community of Excellence once again this year.

The citation reads:

“For providing exceptional value to members through the use of technology, innovative programs and conferences, and community service opportunities.“

This award will be presented at Leadership Day at the STC Summit in Philadelphia, PA. Thanks to all of our volunteers and our wonderful members. Keep up the great work!