TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
You received this message because you're a subscriber to
TECHWR-L. This ad posting is sent daily directly to all
list members to help underwrite the costs of the list (just
as ads in a newspaper, magazine, or journal underwrite the
costs of those publications).
In this posting, look for the following ...
* ANNOUNCE: Latest and Greatest Screen Capture Tool Available - SnagIt
(NEW)
* ANNOUNCE: WebWorks Publisher Professional for FrameMaker (NEW)
* ANNOUNCE: New LavaCon Sessions, Airfare Sale to New Orleans
* TRAINING: HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS: XML for Single Sourcing, Frame Boot Camp
* IMPORTANT: An open letter to the TECHWR-L community
and at the end you'll find the concluding administrivia with
information about these ads and how to place your own.
ANNOUNCE: Latest and Greatest Screen Capture Tool Available - SnagIt
Dan the technical writer had heard about the new worker, Courtney. She had
the latest everything - the latest gadgets, the latest
technology, the latest news. He was hoping to impress her.
He practiced his opening line on his way over to her desk. He popped his
head around the corner and said, "Hey Courtney, have you downloaded the
latest version of SnagIt, the award-winning screen
capture software?"
He went on without waiting for her response. "Because SnagIt offers
everything you could want in a screen capture program. It's easy to use,
plus it lets you customize your capture profiles, so you have
access to your favorite ways to grab images. And, you have all the
best editing tools."
He didn't take a breath. "So, SnagIt 7.1.1 is available on the site
immediately ... of course," he interjected, "you probably have it
already."
"No!" Courtney said. "And I'm intrigued. I don't know how I've missed
out on this tool, but I don't know it at all ... perhaps you'd
like to give me a tutorial?" She patted a chair invitingly.
Dan felt as if he were seating himself upon a throne.
~~~~~~~~~
Find out how SnagIt can help you do you work
faster, easier, and more efficiently! You'll be impressed with its
capabilities ... and yours.
Just $39.95!
ANNOUNCE: WebWorks Publisher Professional for FrameMaker
streamlines the production of all online content
WebWorks Publisher has been saving Adobe FrameMaker authors
ePublishing time and effort for over 10 years, giving them the
power to spend more time writing and delivering their online
content exactly the way they need it.
With WebWorks Publisher Professional, controlling every aspect of
the output is easy and intelligent, whether it's HTML, professional
online help system, XML, eBook, or PDA.
With support for over 45 languages, including out-of-the-box
support for double-byte languages, the ability to generate and
validate Section 508 accessible output, merged help systems, and
full FrameMaker conditional text support, WebWorks Publisher does
more so authors can do what they do best: write.
Try it today by visiting www.webworks.com/techwr-l/frame. Or read
how WebWorks Publisher users are saving time and improving their
online content by visiting www.webworks.com/success.
Call us at 512-719-3399 ext.501 for more information and to learn
about a special offer for RHFM users.
ANNOUNCE: New LavaCon Sessions, Airfare Sale to New Orleans
NEW SESSIONS:
New sessions added to the LavaCon program:
Stressed? Brooke Chapman, a Project Manager from Microsoft, will
present a half-day workshop on: Zen and the Art of Project Management
-- sticking to a few key principles can help you keep your head when
others are losing theirs.
Is your company thinking about moving to embedded documentation?
Diane Faigel, User Assistance Manager from Microsoft, will present:
Migrating to Embedded Software Documentation: Why, When and How --
how to get buy-in and overcome engineering inertia,
AIRFARE SALE!
The major airlines have just reduced their airfares to New Orleans!
Check out these prices:
>From Newark $132
>From Denver $134
>From Dallas $183
>From Washington, DC $183
>From Atlanta $195
>From Los Angeles $208
>From Chicago $223
>From Seattle $231
>From San Francisco $243
Fares are round trip with a Saturday stay. Slightly higher to fly in
on Sunday. Fares quoted from www.travelocity.com
EARLY REGISTRATION DISCOUNTS EXPIRING
Register by the 28th of August to get $300 off the full conference
tuition.
Details at www.lavacon.org
See you in September,
Jack
Jack Molisani, Executive Director
LavaCon: The International Conference on Technical Communication
Management
September 27-30, 2004
New Orleans, Louisiana
www.lavacon.org
TRAINING: FALL HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS by Bright Path Solutions (XML for
Single Sourcing, FrameMaker Boot Camp, more!)
In addition to our publishing solution services, Bright Path Solutions
provides public training throughout the US. Our classes coming up this
Fall include:
XML for Single Sourcing
- Research Triangle Park, NC
- Limited seats, special dates in early October
- Class is already filling!
Creating Usable Indexes: A Systematic Approach
- Research Triangle Park, NC
- Limited seats in October training
- Taught by nationally-recognized expert Richard Evans!
FrameMaker Structured Document Publishing Boot Camp
- multiple cities, multiple dates
- Classes instructed by Kay Ethier (author of "XML and FrameMaker")
WebWorks Publisher 2003 (for FrameMaker or Word)
- Research Triangle Park, NC & a West Coast City TBA
More information on Bright Path Solutions, our clients, and our services
may be found at http://www.travelthepath.com. Please email specific
training question or consulting-related requests to mailto:info -at- travelthepath -dot- com -dot- Please do ask us about our core
competencies and about our expert consultants and trainers (we use only
recognized experts-in-their-fields).
IMPORTANT: An open letter to the TECHWR-L community
After a great deal of time and thought, we have decided that
we need to disengage from daily involvement with TECHWR-L. Over the
past year or so, we've made some substantial changes in our lives,
and we no longer have the time or energy to do TECHWR-L justice.
Eric, after 13 years in the tech writing industry, made the leap
from senior tech writer to software engineering manager at a large
technology company. Deborah, after nearly 12 years as a tech writer,
is now employed in and studying early childhood education--a path
she's passionate about.
For both of us, staying on top of the daily requirements of TECHWR-L
is barely managable, and the content and site development that we'd
like to pursue just doesn't ever get to the top of the priority list.
What's next? Good question. We're open to constructive
suggestions and ideas. We've considered transferring the site
to a volunteer to run it, but have concluded that this isn't a
viable option for several reasons. First, managing one or more
volunteers effectively requires at least as much time and energy
as running the site directly does. Second, we have a substantial
stake in TECHWR-L, and we need to ensure that our investment and
that of the community is preserved and maintained appropriately.
Our experience with volunteer labor--both as volunteers and as
coordinators of volunteers--demonstrates that the long term
committment of time and energy needed to move TECHWR-L forward
isn't a reasonable expectation of a volunteer.
We've spoken with many of the key TECHWR-L sponsors and
advertisers, but for a variety of reasons, they're not in
a position to take on a project like TECHWR-L.
What's left? The person (or people) who take on TECHWR-L should
have a stake in its success--"skin in the game," as it were.
That could come in the form of an outright purchase, or some
kind of a partnership with us or with other investors. What
might that look like? We don't know; we want to work with anyone
who is seriously interested to come up with a solution that allows
TECHWR-L to move to the next level, under someone else's guidance.
We welcome constructive comments, suggestions, or serious
inquiries.
About posting ads:
Announcements on the TECHWR-L Premium Announcement posting
cost $50 to contact over 5100 TECHWR-L subscribers
directly each day for a week.
In an effort to provide a free service that allows you to post
announcements, jobs, and events, however, we have established other
services:
The TECHWR-L Daily Summary Mailing, a separate mailing list
that summarizes new content posted to Employment Central and
the Calendar, can further help get your
message out to interested people: http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/daily-announce-info.html
These resources are available at no cost to anyone, posters
or seekers, TECHWR-L subscribers or not. We encourage you to
regularly use these free services.
For jobs, announcements, and events that you specifically
want to be mailed directly to all 5100+ TECHWR-L subscribers
in the TECHWR-L Premium Daily Announcement, please contact Eric
(ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com) or submit your paid ad at http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/postad.html.
