Conference program for 2014

1. Presentation Details
Willow Grove Room, 9:15 to 10:30
Opening Announcements
Keynote: Information Everywhere: Flexible Content with Responsive Design
Nicky Bleiel
Responsive Design “frees our content” to work anywhere, anytime, and gets us back to developing
and delivering quality content – where and when our customers need it. By providing a single
responsive output, we can create once and deliver to thousands of devices: new ones, older ones –
even ones that don’t exist yet. In this talk you’ll learn:
 What responsive design is
 How responsive design works
 Five reasons to consider responsive design (besides the flexibility)
 Nine “mobile first” content development best practices for technical communicators
 Where to find responsive design examples and resources
Nicky Bleiel is is the Lead Information Developer for ComponentOne Doc-To-Help
(www.doctohelp.com). Nicky is President of the Society for Technical
Communication and has 19 years of experience in the software industry. She is a
popular speaker at many conferences and been published in STC’s Intercom,
tcworld magazine, ISTC Communicator and more. Follow her on Twitter at
@nickybleiel and at www.nickybleiel.com.
Session I 10:45 to 11:45
Willow Grove Room
Empowering the Introvert Within: Becoming an Outstanding Leader
Ben Woelk
You don’t need to be the most talkative, outgoing person in the room to be a leader.
Instead, all you need to do is tap into the innate strengths of your introverted self. If
you have been avoiding leadership opportunities or feel you don’t have what it takes,
this presentation may change your mind. Presentation highlights include:
 Review the three key strengths of introverts and how to leverage them for
leadership and growth opportunities.
 Explore ways social media can be used as a communication tool for leadership
development.
 Bonus: Extraverted attendees will learn what motivates introverts to perform at their highest
levels.

2. Thunderbolt Room
Scenario-Based Design: Connecting Content to Support Customer Performance
Donn DeBoard
As technical communicators, we develop feature-based content that provides details
about our products. But, often, this content doesn’t address our customer’s job
context to help them perform tasks successfully. Our customers search to find the
right content to match their job context. Scenario-based design helps you define a
customer’s work or job context using your product. This session provides an overview
of scenarios and how to create them. In this session, you’ll:
 Learn how to connect with your customers
 Understand how stories relate to scenarios
 Build scenarios
 Identify key content in your scenarios
Scenic Room
Blogging Out Loud: The Basics of Blog Writing Explained
Danielle Villegas
What is blogging? Does the idea of blogging seem daunting? Danielle M. Villegas
writes the technical communications blog, TechCommGeekMom, and is a regular
guest blogger for the STC Notebook with her “Villegas Views” by-line.
Danielle will be sharing her personal experiences in creating her blog, will talk about
how a blog can work for both personal and corporate gain, and will provide pointers
on best practices.
Alps Room
Overcoming Design Challenges in Multichannel Content Publishing Using HATs
Neil Perlin
Considering converting your help authoring tool (HAT) output to mobile but not sure
what you’re getting into? Recent releases of HATs like Flare and RoboHelp can output
to multiple channels such as ebooks, web apps, HTML5, even native apps.
Mechanically, it’s surprisingly simple. It’s in the interface design and information
design that things can get messy. Come to this session to learn about how. We’ll
cover:
 The types of mobile supported by HATs and how to define your mobile needs
 Interface differences between online help and mobile
 What help authoring tool features work, may work, and won’t work in mobile
outputs

3. Session II 1:00 to 2:00
Willow Grove Room
Volunteering Your Way Up the Career Ladder
Todd DeLuca
Do you feel stuck in your current position? Have you been doing the same job for the
past few years? Do you think there are few opportunities available to advance your
career? In this presentation, we will share experiences, examples, and
recommendations on how active participation inside and outside your company can
help you get the recognition, experience, and confidence you need to move onward
and upward in your organization or career path.
If a person is motivated enough to move forward in their career, there are many non-
traditional opportunities inside and outside the company available to take advantage of. By the end of
the talk you will have some concrete ideas and suggestions that you can leverage to start “making
your move”.
Thunderbolt Room
There Is No Such Thing as a Boring Product
Traci Browne
There is no such thing as a boring product…only boring ways to present them. In this
session I will show the attendee how to transform their products into fascinating stories
that potential and current customers will find interesting. The story is never the
product itself, but instead it is in the way the product is used. Products don’t come
alive until they are part of a bigger picture. Attendees will learn how to uncover the
story using journalistic practices including research and interview techniques.
Scenic Room
The Future of Knowledge Transfer
David Dylan Thomas
The domain of technical communication is being encroached upon by the
democratization of learning, from YouTube videos describing how to set up a Salesforce
instance, to MOOCs offering college level instruction on artificial intelligence. At the
same time, the very nature of product knowledge is being altered by fundamental
shifts in how a product is (or isn't) defined upon release, with products often remaining
in perpetual beta. Content Strategist David Dylan Thomas discusses how these
changes are impacting knowledge transfer, and identifies gaps that people with technical and
instructional know-how can fill in the future of learning.

4. Alps Room
Seeking Sunshine in Cloud Technology
Roger Renteria
Can we keep our way of “doing business as usual” forever or do we need to leverage
online Cloud technology to accomplish our work? As technology changes, our
profession must adapt and adopt to a wide variety of online technologies we may or
may not have heard of.
Learn how to plan, transition, and use Cloud technology to increase your productivity
without fear of being washed out! Find out if your ROI (time, money, and skill set) is worth it to soar
up into the Cloud. Join others who have found the silver lining by using the Cloud to keep our
profession competitive and up to speed with the demands of our clients, customers, and ultimately
our audience.
Session III 2:15 to 3:15
Willow Grove Room
Tech Writer as Knowledge Broker
Bernard Aschwanden and Christopher Ward
Technical content is a commodity. Technical Writers must think of
themselves as Knowledge Brokers and communicate the value they
provide which includes increased revenue and improved customer
retention. This presentation will show you the right mindset to build
business cases that get your company to invest in Technical
Communication/Publications as a revenue generator.
Thunderbolt Room
“Mind the Gap” — The Client Need vs. the Client Request
Marilyn Woelk
From the moment you become involved in a project, you probably think about the
“players,” and the goals they want to achieve. What will the definition of success be?
Most clients define requirements and desired outcomes, but may not be asking for
what they really need. Often, they have done an assessment, but the real problem
has not been defined! Whether the project involves internal or external clients, there
will be expectations. To be successful, you must properly define the problem, manage
the expectations, and get the right results. This presentation will help you learn to
assess what your client really needs, and to give them better results than they ever
thought possible!

5. Scenic Room
Making It Clear: Using Plain Language to Communicate
Ellen Buttolph
Good technical writing isn’t about crafting perfect sentences. It’s about connecting
with your readers and providing them with the information they need and want. Even if
you’ve been writing technical documentation for years, you may need to tune up your
writing style to create content for the digital world. Using plain language can help you
create a more engaging and direct style of writing, while keeping your message clear
and concise. In this session, learn how to identify your audience, develop an
appropriate voice and tone, and write content for the web that is useful and easy to
understand.
Alps Room
What the Heck Is That? Neil Perlin
Tech comm is getting increasingly complex. Help authoring tools can now output
mobile, so we need to factor it into our output planning. HTML5 is hot, but what
exactly is it? What’s responsive design? What are em, ex, and % options in new CSSs?
And more…
This session looks at issues at many levels, including:
 HTML5 and CSS3
 The float option for graphic positioning
 Relative vs. absolute units of measure in CSSs
 Mobile outputs – web apps, native apps, hybrid apps, and using PhoneGap with HTML5
 Responsive design
 And more…
Closing Session 4:05 to 5:05
Willow Grove Room
Lightning Talk: It’s good for you
Barrie Byron
Happy people live longer, earn more, and are more productive. Learn how to overcome
the YOYO (you’re on your own) habit and build WIIT (we’re in it together) skills.
Develop strategies to balance the pursuit of happiness with overall well-being. This is a
version of a lightning talk Barrie is giving at the 2014 STC Summit.
Tech Comm in the FDA-regulated Industry: What is it and How to Get Started
Lev Feigin
Technical writers for FDA-regulated industries are always in demand. Such writers produce a wide
array of documentation, from policies and procedures to quality manuals and employee training,
which support good manufacturing practices and ensure compliance with FDA regulations. In this
session learn what it takes to excel in the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries as a
technical writer and find out what you’ll need to know about the latest documentation practices and
requirements to enter the field.