Atlanta STC's conference, 2/16/96 and 2/17/96

[Barclay Blanchard <blanchab -at- SOLOMON -dot- BUCKHEAD -dot- COM>]

Currents '96: Program Details

(see our Web site: http://www.osoft.com/stc_atlanta/currents/)



February 16 pre-conference workshop by William Horton
            (details below)

February 17 Currents '96 conference



Mercer University
Atlanta, GA

Schedule


      Time                          Event

    7:45 a.m. -             registration/
    8:30 a.m.               continental breakfast

    8:30 a.m. -             Welcome! Let the games begin!
    8:45 a.m.

    8:45 a.m. -             opening ceremonies--
    9:25 a.m.               keynote address

    9:25 a.m. -             last minute announcements/
    9:30 a.m.               directions to events

    9:45 a.m. -             morning sessions
   12:00 p.m.

   12:00 p.m. -             lunch
    1:30 p.m.

   12:10 p.m. -             software demonstrations and
    1:20 p.m.               progressions

    1:30 p.m. -             afternoon sessions
    4:00 p.m.

    4:00 p.m. -             awards/recognition of sponsors/
    4:10 p.m.               door prizes

    4:10 p.m. -             closing ceremonies--
    5:10 p.m.               William Horton

Session Titles:

Writing, Editing, and Quality Topics
    Editing an Index for Quality and Usability
    International Communication
    Quality in the Process
    Changing the Way the Profession Communicates

Graphics and Multimedia Topics:
    Is That Multimedia Script Understandable?
    Applying Multimedia to Training
    The Ethics of Electronic Image Manipulation
    Using the World Wide Web to Publish Research

Online Topics:
    Developing Online Training Programs inHypertext
    Best Mix of Paper and Online inDocumentation
    Online Help Systems: Authoring Tools
    Electronic Learning and Performance Support Tools

Managing Your Career Topics:
    Making Your Workplace More Comfortable
    Keeping Your Competencies Current
    Demonstrating the Value of InformationProducts
    Telecommuting: Fact, Fiction, or Fad?

Freelancing and Contracting Topics:
    Freelancing 101 (2 hour session)
    Contracting vs. Permanent Employment
    A Perspective on Computer Documentation
    Freelancing 101 (continued from previous session)


____________________
Registration information:

Your Conference registration fee includes:

- Continental breakfast, lunch, and refreshments at breaks.
- Admission to all conference sessions.
- Conference Proceedings.


Your Pre-Conference Workshop registration fee includes:

- Continental breakfast, lunch, and refreshments at breaks.
- Admission to Pre-Conference Workshop.
- All workshop handouts.
- Copy of Illustrating Computer Documentation by
  William Horton (list for $39.95).


Registration Fees

                STC Member      Non-Member      Student **

Conference
    Early*      $90             $120            $50
    Late        $100            $140            $50

Workshop
    Early*      $175            $225            $150
    Late        $199            $245            $150

Both
    Early*      $240            $300            ----
    Late        $270            $350            ----

*  You must register by February 2, 1996, to qualify for
   the early registration rate.

** Students must be taking 12 hours undergraduate or 10 hours
   graduate work as certified by a copy of your Winter term
   class schedule.

*Join STC before February 1, 1996 and receive the benefits of
 membership all year.  Members save up to $60 on this one
 event.*

-------------------
Registration Form

You can print this form and mail it to the indicated address.

Note: Your registration is confirmed only when we receive payment.

--------------Currents '96 Registration Form----------------------


Name:___________________________ Day phone: (___)________________

Company:__________________________ Title: _______________________

Address: ________________________________________________________

City:_______________ State:____ ZIP________ e-mail ______________

Country (if outside the US): ____________________________________


Please specify any special needs (dietary, accessibility, etc)

_________________________________________________________________

Payment info: __Check enclosed  __Purchase Order Attached

Credit card: [ ]Visa  [ ]MasterCard

Number___________________________________

Exp. date _______ Signature _____________________________________

Help us insure adequate seating by letting us know which session you
anticipate attending. Please check your interests.

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Multimedia |        | & Quality  | Mgt.   | Contract  |
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How did you learn about Currents '96? (Check one)

Mailing___      STC Newsletter (which chapter)___________________

STC Meeting___  World Wide Web page____

Other (please specify)________________


---------------------------------------------------------------------

Mail this registration form along with payment to:

Currents '96
c/o Susan Frey
4142 Huntcliff Dr.
Woodstock,  GA 30188-1508

Registration Fees

                        STC Member      Non-Member      Student **
Conference Early*       $90             $120            $50 Conference Late
$100            $140            $50 Workshop Early*         $175
$225            $150 Workshop Late           $199            $245
$150 Both Early*             $240            $300            ---- Both Late
$270            $350            ----

 Proceedings ONLY       $30             $30             $30

* Registration must be receive before Feb 2, 1996 to qualify for
  the early registration rate.
** Students must be taking 12 hours undergraduate or 10 hours
   graduate work as certified by a copy of your Winter term class
   schedule which must be attached to this form.

------------------------
Pre-conference workshop by William Horton

Say It in Pictures: Visual Literacy for Technical and Business
Communications by William Horton, the guru of online help
systems


Train with the best at our pre-conference workshop on Friday,
February 16, 1996.

Today, communication requires more than just pages of printed
words.  Producing effective documents and training requires
the ability to understand, think, and communicate graphically--
to say it in pictures.

This seminar shows how to communicate almost anything
graphically.  Through creative brainstorming, you will learn
to think visually and to translate text into graphics.  By
looking at many examples of what works and what doesn't, you
can learn valuable principles that you can use on the job to
refine your own graphics.

"We are all taking part in the biggest change in the way our
species communicates information since the invention of the
alphabet.  Conferences like Currents give you a chance to be
a leader in this change."

--------------------
keynote address by Michael Dziak


"Few professions are better poised to take advantage of the
dramatic changes in process in technology today [than are
Technical Communicators]. Technology trends already in motion
are causing major changes in personal dynamics, business
relationships, information management, communications, and
our chances of sustaining and advancing our careers in this
very competitive world.  Are you ready?"

"...Our greatest challenge is to gain the wisdom to know which
technology keys to select, and when to select them. Technology
can be a burden...or it can become a primary tool we use to
enhance the way we work, learn, play, communicate, and live."

Michael gives us a guided tour of this dynamically expanding
universe of technology: the changes to expect by the turn of
the Century, a view of how major industries are converging,
and ideas on how we as technical communicators can capitalize
on these changes--how we can fearlessly and in simple ways
prepare ourselves to use technology to differentiate our
products and services from others, and to display enhanced
value in what we deliver.

Michael Dziak has been an explorer and illuminator of
technology since 1984, when he began a personal quest to
promote the concept of increased availability and use of
advanced technologies beyond the realm of so-called techies
and engineers, and into the hands of everyday individuals,
small businesses, and consultants striving to advance their
careers and create value in a better way. A few of his many
recent talks include a practical/tactical course on methods
of exploiting technological convergence "Future Probe:
Imagining Possibilities, Creating Opportunities," presented
before the 1995 Annual Meeting of the World Future Society;
workshops entitled "Communications: Reengineered Thinking,"
and "Assessing Virtual Office Needs" at a conference for the
International Development Research Council held in
Albuquerque, NM; and the "History and Future of Telecommuting
in Atlanta" as the featured speaker at the Telecommute
America! seminar in Atlanta, GA. Michael lives and telecommutes
in Georgia.

--------------------
closing address by William Horton

The way we communicate is about to change.  What do these
changes mean for us as technical communicators?

William Horton, technical communication expert and president
of William Horton Consulting, will present "O Brave New Media,"
an irreverent look at digital this, electronic that, the
Internet, multimedia, and the Information superHypeway.
Horton offers advice on how we can keep our sanity, our jobs,
and our sense of humor amid these tumultuous changes.
Horton will cover topics such as:

- The Information Superhighway
- The Internet (and sex)
- How do I add value?
- Am I literate?
- Horseless-carriage thinking
- Space has been abolished.  Time, too.
- Why multimedia is inevitable
- Is everything I know wrong?
- Stop dumping documents online
- Education is a must (not training)




------>Barclay Elizabeth Blanchard<------
Senior Developer of Online Documentation and Training
OSoft Development Corporation, Six Piedmont Center, Suite 303, Atlanta, GA
30305
(404) 814-6030 X216       blanchab -at- osoft -dot- buckhead -dot- com
"True feminism--the belief that women should be given equal respect and
opportunities--can't coexist with putting anyone else down."--me