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 ...
* STORY: Get Your SnagIt Tune Up! (NEW)
* REMINDER: LavaCon: Only 3 Weeks Left to Register (NEW)
* FRAMEMAKER TRAINING -- SF Bay Area, Newark, Dallas & Phoenix
* ANNOUNCE: WebWorks ePublishing Webinars: The Fast Track to
Advanced Skills
* 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.
Dan the technical writer was trying to have a good conversation with
the new guy, Zack.
"I was just working on my car last night - just doing a little
maintenance, you know," Zack said.
Dan didn't know. He would never mess with his car's innards - he took
it straight to a mechanic.
However, Dan thought he could hold up his end of the conversation if
he focused on SnagIt, the award-winning screen capture software which
was his tool of choice for technical writing. He could capture any
image, edit it and share it in seconds. And since he'd just upgraded
to SnagIt 7.1.1, he knew a little about maintenance. But still
nothing about cars.
"Yes - it's important to do those little upgrades," Dan ventured.
Nick continued, "And even though she's old, she still runs great."
"I know," Dan continued, still speaking about SnagIt, "even when it's
over ten years old, it still gets better and better."
"I mean, she gets good gas mileage, she looks great ..." Zack said.
Dan reflected on SnagIt's speed and user-friendly interface.
"And you know," Zack said, "I really like to drive it."
"Yeah- it just helps me get my work done so much faster, and I get
such quality performance," Dan responded.
"Hey - do you want to come over tonight and help me replace the
carburetor?" Zack asked Dan.
"Sure!" Dan agreed. If working on cars was as easy as working with
SnagIt, he would have no problems.
REDWOOD CITY, CA (SF area): [10% early registration discount ends Sept 10]
Using FrameMaker (hands-on), Oct 11-12;
Structured FrameMaker : Authoring (hands-on), Oct 13;
Structured FrameMaker : Developing EDDs (hands-on), Oct 14-15;
Technical Indexing with FrameMaker, Oct 16
NEWARK, NJ: [10% early registration discount ends Sept 17]
FrameMaker Template Design, Oct 18-19;
Single Sourcing with FM, Oct 20; FM-to-PDF Adv. Tech., Oct 21-22
DALLAS, TX: [10% early registration discount ends Oct 29]
FrameMaker to-PDF Advanced Techniques, Nov 29-30;
Single Sourcing with FM, Dec 1; FrameMaker Template Design, Dec 2-3;
Technical Indexing with FrameMaker, Dec 4
PHOENIX, AZ: [10% early registration discount ends Nov 5]
FrameMaker Template Design, Dec 6-7;
Single Sourcing with FM, Dec 8; FM-to-PDF Adv. Tech., Dec 9-10
ANNOUNCE: WebWorks ePublishing Webinars: The Fast Track to
Advanced Skills
WebWorks Services has made accelerating your learning curve easy
and convenient with live 90-minute online training sessions. Here
are our upcoming Webinar topics for September:
* Getting Started with FrameMaker Structured Documents
September 13, 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT)
* Delivering 508-Compliant Content with WebWorks Publisher
September 1, 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT)
September 14, 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT)
September 21, 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT)
* Delivering Context-Sensitivity with WebWorks Publisher
September 9, 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT)
* WebWorks Publisher Functions: Advancing Beyond the Basics
September 29, 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT)
These interactive classes are conducted via WebEx, so you can get
the most out of your investment in WebWorks Publisher -- without
leaving your desk. To sign up or for more information, visit us
at www.webworks.com/techwr-l/webinars or call WebWorks Services at
512-719-3399 ext.503.
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.
