Call for Proposals: FORUM 95

[Tom Warren <TWARREN -at- OSUVM1 -dot- BITNET>]

          FORUM 95--"The Interacting Communication Conference"
          An international technical communication conference sponsored by
          the International Council for Technical Communicators
          (INTECOM)

          CONFERENCE TIME AND LOCATION: November 13-15,
          1995, Dortmund, Germany

          CALL FOR PROPOSALS--Proposal Deadline: January 1, 1995
          Proposals should contain
          -full name and address of the author(s), including phone and fax
          numbers and, if possible, email address.
          -title or an indication of topic, and an indication of the activity
          -abstract (for papers), a description (for exhibition participants), o

          an explanation (for Idea Market or brainstorming sessions
          proposals) of approximately 500-800 words

          MAIL TO: tekom (Forum 95), Markelstr. 34, D-7000, Stuttgart 1,
          Germany
          FAX TO: Germany +49 711 650767

          AREAS:

          Manuals
          -User friendliness of manuals
          -Minimal manuals: designing, evaluating
          -Access to manuals: indexes and other access structure
          -Can a manual be complete? What to include, what to exclude?
          -The eternal chain: equipment--manual--user: which is the weakest
          link?
          -Safety instructions: legal documents or reader instructions?

          Production 1
          -How to develop multi-aimed, multi-purpose, multi-audience and
          multi-authored documentation?
          -Computer programs that facilitate writing and publishing
          -Tuning product development and documentation
          -Downsizing and outsourcing in technical documentation
          -Cost effectiveness of high quality in documentation
          -Technical documentation as after sales
          -Technical communication as a part of a corporate identity
          -Who will do the job: technicians or communicators?

          New Media
          -Interactive tutorials: do they really work?
          -Hypertext: where is the big picture?
          -Using computer networks for cooperative work
          -Are new media worth the price?
          -What do moving pictures add to static representations?

          International Aspects
          -Translation problems
          -International standards, their aims and their impact
          -Automatic translation: real future of Utopia?
          -Universal pictures?
          -Can jokes work in different cultures?

          Professional Aspects
          -What should technical communicators know?
          -Programs of Technical Communication in higher education
          -Students and the workplace
          -Can communication be learned?
          -Professional codes and ethics
          -The labour market for technical communicators
          -Freelancing in Technical Communication

          Visual Aspects
          -Text and pictures
          -The overall design: layout and design principles
          -Using verbal diagrams for presenting data and instruction
          -The visual aspect of multi-media presentations

          Production 2
          -Documentdatabases
          -Data bases documents
          -SGML, HGML, and others
          -Direct input from develops to users
          -Direct input from users to developers
          -Distribution of information in the electronic age

          Other Fields
          -Rhetoric and technical communication
          -Testing technical documentation
          -"Let the user learn from his/her errors"
          -Gender in technical communication

          For more information, contact the following people:

          Michael Steehouder, Program Chair
          m -dot- f -dot- steehouder -at- wmw -dot- utwente -dot- nl

          Thomas L. Warren--twarren -at- vm1 -dot- ucc -dot- okstate -dot- edu
          Young Kim--young -at- vm1 -dot- ucc -dot- okstate -dot- edu
          Nancy Hoft--itech -at- mv -dot- mv -dot- com