This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers. InfoPlus+ is posted at www.istc.org.uk/Publications/Newsletter/newsletter.htm.

© ISTC September 2009 1

ContentsISTC news ........................1Affiliate news ....................3Industry news ...................4Blog news .........................6Training courses ...............8Events listings ................12Back pages ....................15

The ISTC is the United Kingdom’s professional association for technical authors, technical illustrators, and information designers.

ISTC Office: Airport House, Purley Way, Croydon, Surrey CR0 0XZ Tel: +44 (0)20 8253 4506 Fax: +44 (0)20 8253 4510 Email: istc@istc.org.uk Web: www.istc.org.uk

This monthly Newsletter is emailed to about 1500 people. As well as ISTC news, InfoPlus+ aims to cover anything of interest to the profession. To subscribe, contact the office.

Advertising: Felicity Davie or phone 01344 466600 Editorial: Newsletter Editor Letters: Letters Editor Events: Events Editor Blogs: Blogs Editor

If you’re reading a printed copy of this newsletter, go to www.istc.org.uk/Publications/Newsletter/newsletter.htm and open it online to explore the links mentioned.

InfoPlus+

September 09

ISTC newsTechnical Communication UK newsThe Technical Communication UK Conference is almost upon us (the deadline for registration is 8 September) and we really look forward to meeting the delegates and contributors.

As Vee Modal, editor of TCUK ’09 News! points out in the August edition, this year’s conference looks like the biggest the ISTC has ever organised, which should make for a great conference for delegates and exhibitors alike. The team has been working on the entertainment details for the gala dinner ensuring everything is in place for an enjoyable experience for all.

You can read the August edition of TCUK ’09 News! at www.technicalcommunicationuk.com/index.php?/tcuk-news-august2009-issue03.html. It includes speaker and sponsor interviews with Noz Urbina, Justin

Collinge and Amanda Caley and Platinum/Gold Sponsors, Adobe, Ovidius GmbH, CORTONA 3D and Mekon. There is also a preview of a collaboration with NomaDesk, and news of a free NomaDesk webinar with another of the speakers, Yves Barbion.

This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers. InfoPlus+ is posted at www.istc.org.uk/Publications/Newsletter/newsletter.htm.

© ISTC September 2009 2

ISTC 2010 examination timetableFor students of the ISTC open learning course, the following timetable applies to examinations in 2010:

May Exams: Wednesday 12 May 2010

Exam Registration Date: Friday 29 January 2010

Venue Details: Airport House, Purley Way, Croydon, CR0 0XZ

(Separate arrangements for candidates outside the UK)

Examination Times and Fees:

01 Technical Communication Techniques

0101 Written £45.00 +VAT: 13:30 to 16:30

0102 Report £30.00 +VAT: To be submitted on or before 12 May 2010

02 Technical Authorship

0203 Written £45.00 +VAT: 10:00 to 12:30

0204 Written £45.00 +VAT: 13:30 to 16:30

Results to Training Providers: Friday 9 July 2010

Results to Students (Certificates): Friday 9 July 2010

October Exams: Wednesday 13 October 2010

Exam Registration Date: Wednesday 18 August 2010

Venue Details: Airport House, Purley Way, Croydon, CR0 0XZ

(Separate arrangements for candidates outside the UK)

Examination Times and Fees:

01 Technical Communication Techniques

0101 Written £45.00 +VAT: 13.30 to 16.30

0102 Report £30.00 +VAT: To be submitted on or before 13 October 2010

02 Technical Authorship

0203 Written £45.00 +VAT: 10.00 to 12.30

0204 Written £45.00 +VAT: 13.30 to 16.30

Results to Training Providers: Friday 10 December 2010

Results to Students (Certificates): Friday 10 December 2010

About ISTC Open Learning

The ISTC offers an open learning course leading to the Communication of Technical Information qualification. It is offered in two parts (two separate courses): Technical Communication Techniques and Technical Authorship. More information is available at: www.istc.org.uk/Training_education/istc_course.htm.

BBC Radio 4 interviewA Radio 4 programme on how to write an instruction manual was broadcast on Friday 21 August at 11:00. A podcast of the interview can be found on the BBC website http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00m4470 or is available from the ISTC office e-mail: istc@istc.org.uk.

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© ISTC September 2009 3

By 1995 LlT had over 10 employees and had expanded its services to include additional commercial languages. Through partnering with specialist in-country translators and the use of translation memory tools, LIT now handled larger volumes of work and had increased its client base.

Affiliate newsLloyd International Translations celebrates 20 yearsAs companies battle through yet another economic downturn, ISTC business affiliate Lloyd International Translations (LIT) celebrates two decades in business.

The past

Twenty years ago Mike Lloyd (Chairman and CEO) was a chartered engineer working in France, Germany and the USA. Mike was acutely aware of the need for technically accurate translation for the rapidly expanding and sophisticated electronic engineering industry and founded Lloyd International Translations.

Mike’s experience of working for American, French and Swiss organisations, his technical writing skills and specialist engineering background led to work from companies such as Schneider Electric, Emerson, Honeywell, Legrand and CompAir – all of whom remain valued clients to this day. Core specialisms included translation of automation and robotics documentation into English, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Portuguese.

For a full list of the ISTC’s current Business Affiliates, see www.istc.org.uk/Business_affiliates/ba_home.htm.You can read more about the scheme at www.istc.org.uk/Membership/business_affiliates.htm.

About Lloyd International Translations (LIT)Lloyd International Translations (LIT) helps companies to achieve global success by providing first-class translation and localisation services.

This includes translating all types of technical materials requiring a high degree of specialist knowledge, ranging from manuals, training courses, software applications and websites, to commercial catalogues, brochures and journals where marketing interpretation is essential.

Founded in 1989, LIT’s translation expertise spans an extensive portfolio of projects, languages, technology and media across major vertical markets, including automation, automotive, electronics, electrical and mechanical engineering, financial services, healthcare and life sciences, information technology, process manufacturing and telecommunications.

Great emphasis is placed by LIT’s team on the value of terminology management and the application of the latest language technology tools to streamline translation workflows, drive translation costs down and keep quality and consistency up.

For more information regarding Lloyd International Translations please visit www.lloyd.co.uk.

Mike Lloyd, Chairman and CEO of Lloyd International Translations

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© ISTC September 2009 4

Sustainable growth

Over the years, LIT’s founding directors (Diane and Mike Lloyd) have steered the company through steady organic growth to become a major player in the technical translation industry. LIT now provides a wide range of localisation services to many global customers - translating and localising an extensive portfolio of projects, languages, technology and media, across a wide range of industry sectors.

Continued market developments and ongoing confidence from customers has resulted in significant growth, with revenues for 2009 forecast to exceed £4 million. Today the team consists of 30+ employees in the UK and France, supported by a global network of specialist mother-tongue translators.

Future forward

So what can LIT expect in the next decade? Mike Lloyd (Chairman and CEO) comments: ‘With strategies to drive new growth, radical ideas that will shape new business and investment in the latest technology innovations, LIT is geared to expand its service offerings and provide greater benefits to its clients. We look forward to the challenges the next 20 years will bring.’

Industry newsOutstanding indexes shortlisted: Wheatley Medal 2009The Society of Indexers is pleased to announce that the following indexers have been shortlisted for the 2009 Wheatley Medal for an outstanding index:

Barbara Hird for her index to Jonathan Shepard, The Cambridge history of the Byzantine Empire c. 500-1492 (Cambridge University Press, 2009)

Members of the Einstein Papers Project (A. J. Kox, Tilman Sauer, Diana Kormos Buchwald, Rudy Hirschmann, Osik Moses, Benjamin Aronin and Jennifer Stolper) for their cumulative index in The collected papers of Albert Einstein, vol. 11: cumulative index (Princeton University Press, 2009)

Jan Ross for her index to Sarah Long et al., Principles and practice of pediatric infectious disease (W. B. Saunders, 2009)

‘We had the pleasure of judging a selection of books which covered a wide range of topics,’ said Jill Halliday, Fellow of the Society of Indexers and chair of this year’s judging panel. ‘The three shortlisted books reflect this breadth of subjects and all have

exceptionally good indexes.’

The winner will be announced and the medal and certificates presented on Saturday 12 September at the University of York, during the Society of Indexers’ annual conference.

The Wheatley Medal was established in 1961 by the Library Association and the Society of Indexers. It was named after Henry Benjamin Wheatley (1838-1917), widely regarded as the father of British indexing, whose works on the subject include much that is as relevant today as when they were first written over a hundred years ago.

Indexes submitted for the Wheatley Medal are judged on:

clarity ■

comprehensiveness ■

choice of terms and headings ■

use of cross-references ■

avoidance of strings of undifferentiated ■

page numbers

layout and presentation ■

overall impact ■

relevance to the text ■

A complete list of previous winners, and

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© ISTC September 2009 5

information about indexing, can be found on the Society of Indexers website at www.indexers.org.uk.

Reed Business Insight launches Website Health CheckReed Business Insight has launched a new Website Health Check service to evaluate, assess and report its client’s websites.

The Website Health Check will look at key elements of a website - usability, design and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) - and provide a thirty page report on practical, easy-to-implement improvements that can be made straight away, plus expert recommendations to help build a long-term website strategy for commercial success.

With lead generation being one of the primary functions of a website, the Website Health Check can give dramatic results on the performance of a site, providing clients with the information they need to increase traffic, maximise sales opportunities and improve conversion rates on their site.

Reed Business Insight is part of Reed Business Information, one of the world’s largest business-to-business marketing solutions and information providers, and has over 10 years experience developing a

large number of its own websites aimed at business-to-business professionals.

Senior Research Manager Nick Watt said: ‘Reed Business Insight has a deep understanding of their customers’ marketplace, and where appropriate can gain input from industry experts such as editorial, sales and brand marketing, and feed these into the report. We truly understand the client’s target audience, giving more relevant and contextual feedback, as well as market specific issues that other agencies may miss.

‘Our experience in creating websites for our own brands has given us a first-hand knowledge of actually developing sites to meet user needs and, as a result, our team of digital marketing and user design specialists are well placed to advise others on how best to optimise a b2b [ed: business-to-business] site in terms of usability, design and SEO.’

Marketing Director Lawrence Mitchell said: ‘This is one of the first times a b2b publisher has ever launched a report on all three elements - usability, design and SEO. And because of this, the service offers incredible value for money.’

About Reed Business Information

Reed Business Information UK (RBI UK) brings over 100 market leading brands to an audience of 30 million decision makers worldwide through its multi-platform media of web products, magazines, exhibitions, conferences and industry awards. RBI UK is part of Reed Elsevier, a FTSE-100 company. For more information, visit: www.rbi.co.uk.

A name I call myself…by Geoffrey Marnell, Principal Consultant, Abelard Consulting Pty Ltd

From the many names we have called ourselves over the years, it is apparent that technical writers/authors/communicators/etc, have not always been comfortable with the labels used to describe what we do in our profession. Given that we know what we do and, more importantly, are seasoned wordsmiths, perhaps we should wipe the slate clean and try to come up with a name that truly captures what we do; a name that doesn’t associate us with technical matters (since many of us don’t write about things that are particularly technical) nor tie us down to writing (since many of us communicate in ways other than by writing).

To that end, my organisation is conducting a worldwide survey to gather the thoughts

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© ISTC September 2009 6

of practising technical writers on what name they think is apt for our profession. The survey is entirely anonymous and you are all very welcome to take part.

The survey can be found at www.abelard.com.au/survey.html and a discussion on the names some of us now use can be found at www.abelard.com.au/words-1-3.pdf. The results of the survey will be available at www.abelard.com.au/survey.html on 1 November.

And just to lighten things up a little, there is a part of the survey where you can suggest a humorous name for our profession: word pusher, meaning engineer, technology debaffler and so on. Go on, have some fun. Let’s put our collective wordsmithery together and see what we can come up with.

Blog newsEmbracing the Social Web By Gordon McLean, MISTC

Previously the bulk of my technical writing knowledge was gleaned from co-workers, the (very) occasional training course and that staple of our profession, published books. These days, whilst you can get a lot of good information online (I hope you may have found one or two through this newsletter), books remain a good source of knowledge and, increasingly, they are being backed up by further streams of information online.

In this vein, this interview with Richard Hamilton (author of Managing Writers) teases out some additional detail around reviewing documentation, which offers further insight into how Richard thinks, adding to the value to be found in his book. Tom Johnson also interviewed Richard early this year.

Elsewhere a book I’ve been waiting on was published this month. Conversation and Community by Anne Gentle made quite a ripple through the technical communications blogs, and with a sub-title of The Social Web for Documentation, it’s no wonder why. I’m

in the midst of reading it myself, but already there are many positive reviews out there. Anne shows how we can get the best of both worlds by combining our own tried and tested profession, with the social web of the Internet to create unique information sources for our products. It’s a fascinating read and, as Sarah Maddox says in her review: ‘Here’s a tip: When reading this book, have a notebook with you. The ideas will just keep popping into your head’.

On a similar theme, more and more of us are finding ourselves writing for the web, and whilst many of these are familiar and already considered best practice, these 20 tips for writing for the web by Eric Reiss should certainly help most of us tighten up our writing style, whether it’s for the web or not.

Of course part of embracing the Internet is not only in adapting your writing style and where information is sourced, but how it is designed and displayed makes a big difference too. In steps Ben Minson with some excellent advice on How Help Can Be Structured To Look Like A Website, taking you through some basic design points and ideas.

And lastly, for the Typophiles amongst us a quick link to a new resource called Typedia

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© ISTC September 2009 7

which is ‘In a nutshell... a community website to classify typefaces and educate people about them. Think of it like a mix between IMDb and Wikipedia, but just for type. Anyone can join, add, and edit pages for typefaces or for the people behind the type’.

If you are toying with setting up your own technical writing blog, or if you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch. Similarly if you have a technical writing blog that you think should be featured here, do let me know: blogs@istc.org.uk.

A technical writer for almost 15 years, Gordon has been blogging for almost 10 of those. He monitors a large breadth of blogs covering most aspects of both technical communications and software development. You can download the full list of RSS feeds from his blog at www.onemanwrites.co.uk.

Quick links to the bloggers and their blogsFabrice Talbot: community.livetechdocs.com/voice/2009/04/interview-richard-hamilton

Tom Johnson: www.idratherbewriting.com/2009/03/23/managing-writers-interview-with-richard-hamilton-podcast

Anne Gentle: justwriteclick.com/2009/07/31/announcing-conversation-and-community-the-social-web-for-documentation

Cherryleaf review: www.cherryleaf.com/blog/2009/08/review-of-conversation-and-community-the-social-web-for-documentation

Palimpset review: scriptorium.com/palimpsest/2009/08/let-conversation-begin.html

Future Changes review: www.ikiw.org/2009/08/10/book-review-conversation-and-community-by-anne-gentle

Jeff’s Open Source Resource review: jefro.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/book-review-conversation-and-community-by-anne-gentle

Sarah Maddox review: ffeathers.wordpress.com/2009/08/22/book-review-conversation-and-community-by-anne-gentle

Eric Reiss: www.fatdux.com/blog/2009/08/07/20-tips-for-writing-for-the-web

Ben Minson: www.gryphonmountain.net/2009/08/time-for-online-help-to-get-a-new-wardrobe

Typedia: typedia.com

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© ISTC September 2009 8

Training coursesSeptember

8 Business English as a Second LanguageThis course covers the most important rules of English usage, giving you the skills to communicate with confidence in English. It looks at the kind of clichés that are common in business usage, and covers many of the standard phrases you may typically come across in day-to-day work.

Plain Words, APACS, London.

www.plainwords.co.uk/co_business_english_second_language.html.

9-10 Adobe Photoshop IntroThis Photoshop Introduction course enables delegates with no previous experience of Photoshop to acquire this level of theoretical and practical proficiency and those with a repro background, and an understanding of related theory to adapt their expertise efficiently.

Mekon Creatives, Sutton, Surrey.

www.mekon-creatives.com/courses.cfm.

9-10 Writing a Compelling Business Case WorkshopWorkshop that shows you how to produce business cases that effectively sell your ideas.

Plain Words, APACS, London.

www.plainwords.co.uk/co_business_cases.html.

10 Introduction to Technical Authoring Short course for new technical authors and people in other roles who need to carry out technical authoring work. Covers audience analysis, structuring and designing documents, writing in plain English, punctuation and grammar, designing an effective layout, reviewing and proofreading.

10% discount for ISTC members.

Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands. www.armadaonline.co.uk/techauthortraining.

14-16 Advanced Technical Authoring TechniquesIntensive course for career technical authors who want to improve their skill set and the quality and effectiveness of the documentation they produce.

10% discount for ISTC members.

Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands. www.armadaonline.co.uk/techauthortraining.

Listings are restricted to scheduled courses that are low cost or are in some way unusual. Listings are a service to members. A listing does not imply ISTC endorsement.If you hear of any training courses that you think might be of interest to InfoPlus+ readers, please contact the Newsletter copyeditor at newsletter.editor@istc.org.uk.If you would like to promote your course or event to ISTC members, why not consider giving ISTC members a discount for courses and events listed in our newsletter. For more information, please email istc@istc.org.uk.

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© ISTC September 2009 9

...September

16 Care Notes & ReportsLearn how to write notes and reports that say what you mean. This course not only covers the basics of how to improve your writing skills but also how to make sure your written communication helps you in your day-to-day work.

Plain Words, APACS, London.

www.plainwords.co.uk/co_care_notes_reports.html.

17 Punctuation Training CourseThis half-day course combines short presentations with lively examples of wrong and correct usage that make the difference clear. You then practise each point with exercises using relevant business examples.

Plain Words, APACS, London.

www.plainwords.co.uk/co_dot_comma_punctuate.html.

17 Email MasterclassThis half-day course covers the seven principles that make email work. This includes how to organise your content and consider your audience to get the best results from the emails you send. It discusses things that can affect the tone of your emails, and what to do if an interchange is becoming heated

Plain Words, APACS, London.

www.plainwords.co.uk/co_effective_email.html.

17 Structuring and Writing ReportsThis one or two day course has been designed specifically for people who are required to write business reports. It concentrates exclusively on the skills you need to make the writing process easier and the resulting document more effective.

Plain Words, APACS, London.

www.plainwords.co.uk/co_reports.html.

21-22 Adobe Flash Introduction CourseThis Flash course is aimed at web designers and animators who need to create dynamic and exciting animations. The course is conducted over two days.

Mekon Creatives, Sutton, Surrey.

www.mekon-creatives.com/courses.cfm.

22 Writing for the WebThis course has been designed for people who want to write effective web-based documentation, either from scratch or based on existing material in a paper format.

Plain Words, APACS, London.

www.plainwords.co.uk/co_web_writing.html.

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...September

22-23 Business and Report Writing for ManagersThis course has been designed to build on the skills of senior managers who are required to write key documents which will support management reporting or decision-making.

Plain Words, Novotel, Leeds.

www.plainwords.co.uk/co_business_report_writing.html.

22-23 Copywriting Essentials WorkshopThis workshop teaches you how to plan and use the right techniques to make your copywriting more effective and get some real results.

Plain Words, APACS, London.

www.plainwords.co.uk/co_copywriting.html.

24 Effective Business WritingThis course not only covers the basics of how to improve your writing skills but also how to achieve the right result from your written correspondence.

Plain Words, APACS, London.

www.plainwords.co.uk/co_effective_business_writing_day.html.

24-25 Basic/Intermediate Adobe RoboHelp 8This course for beginners teaches how to use RoboHelp to create online help in most popular formats, and produce hard copy guides in Word and PDF format from the same project. It covers the use

of advanced features including templates, stylesheets, skins and conditional tags.

10% discount for ISTC members.

Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands.

www.armadaonline.co.uk/techauthortraining.

29 Effective Writing Skills for People with DyslexiaThis course covers rules that can help you work out the spelling of over 80% of English words, techniques to make your handwriting easier to read, ways to make computers more user-friendly, strategies to make it easier to read long or complex documents and a range of suggestions and experiences.

Plain Words, APACS, London.

www.plainwords.co.uk/co_dyslexia_writing_skills.html.

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...September

30 Minuting Disciplinary & Grievance MeetingsThis course helps you to prepare for such meetings, and to make sure your record of them is accurate and meets your company’s requirements. It presents general principles that will support your company’s disciplinary and grievance procedures.

Plain Words, APACS, London.

www.plainwords.co.uk/co_minuting_disciplinary_meetings.html.

October

1-2 Introduction to Adobe Captivate 4This course for beginners teaches how to create web-enabled simulations, demos and tutorials for software applications.

10% discount for ISTC members.

Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands.

www.armadaonline.co.uk/techauthortraining.

9 Introduction to Technical Authoring This is a short course for new technical authors and people in other roles who need to carry out technical authoring work. It covers audience analysis, structuring and designing documents, writing in plain English, punctuation and grammar, designing an effective layout, reviewing and proofreading.

10% discount for ISTC members.

Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands.

www.armadaonline.co.uk/techauthortraining.

15-16 Website creation essentials with Adobe DreamweaverThis course provides a comprehensive introduction to the powerful capabilities of Dreamweaver, teaching you how to professional websites quickly.

10% discount for ISTC members.

Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands.

www.armadaonline.co.uk/techauthortraining.

19-20 Basic/Intermediate Adobe FrameMaker 9This course provides beginners with a thorough grounding in FrameMaker. Starting from first principles, delegates learn how to create new documents, modify existing ones and use FrameMaker’s most popular features.

10% discount for ISTC members.

Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands.

www.armadaonline.co.uk/techauthortraining.

21 Advanced Adobe FrameMaker 9This course teaches FrameMaker’s advanced features when working in unstructured mode. It covers variables, books, contents, index and cross-references.

10% discount for ISTC members.

Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands.

www.armadaonline.co.uk/techauthortraining.

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...October

22-23 Introduction to Adobe InDesign CS4This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the powerful capabilities of InDesign, including setting up new documents, shapes, frames and using InDesign’s most popular features.

10% discount for ISTC members

Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands.

www.armadaonline.co.uk/techauthortraining.

26-28 Advanced Technical Authoring TechniquesThis is an intensive course for career technical authors who want to improve their skill set and the quality and effectiveness of the documentation they produce.

10% discount for ISTC members.

Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands.

www.armadaonline.co.uk/techauthortraining.

Events listingsSeptember

10 Climbing the levels of collaboration: How to Harness the Power of Crowds (or your new co-authors)This STC live web seminar will investigate collaborative authoring technique, from the perspective that groups can take action quicker than ever thanks to tools that amplify group communications.

Online, 8pm BST.

https://access.stc.org/imispublic/Core/Events/eventdetails.aspx?iKey=WEB0910.

13-15 SfEP AGM and 20th annual conference: Editing in the 21st centuryThe Society for Editors and Proofreaders will hold its 20th annual conference at the University of York.

York, UK.

sfep.org.uk/pub/confs/conferences.asp.

This section introduces new events and reminders of the most relevant events in the coming months. ISTC events are highlighted.You can view previous events listings on the ISTC website’s Newsletter archive at www.istc.org.uk/Publications/Newsletter/newsletter.htm To include an event in the listings, please email events@istc.org.uk

WEBINAR

REGISTER NOW

Phone +353 (1) 211 3380www.cortona3d.com

Demonstrating the 3D Technical Authoring of Illustrated Parts

Catalogs

Join us on 10 September 2009

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...September

14-16 The RealWorld DITA 2009 ConferencePresentation submissions are now being accepted for this DITA conference.

Raleigh, North Carolina USA.

www.aboveandbeyondlearning.com/ditaconference.html.

14-16 GALA 2009: The language of business. The business of languageThis new conference dedicated to the language industry will provide 90 minute workshops and panels including case studies, practical toolkits and experience-based presentations to enable delegates to be more effective in their work. Craigslist founder Craig Newmark will give the keynote address. Member discount rates are available for ISTC members.

Cancun, Mexico.

www.gala-global.org/conference.

16 Collaborative authoring on a common platformJoin Yves Barbion, Managing Director of Scripto and certified Adobe FrameMaker instructor, as he reviews what to look for in a good collaboration platform and discusses best practices for DITA-based technical documentation on top of such a platform.

Online, 5pm BST.

www.nomadesk.com/istc.

16-19 EASE Conference 2009: Integrity in Science CommunicationThe tenth EASE general assembly and conference.

Pisa, Italy.

www.ease.org.uk/con/index.shtml.

17-18 UA Europe 2009 ConferenceThe annual conference for software user assistance professionals, this year featuring Mike Hughes from the USA and many other expert speakers. UA Europe is the only European conference to focus specifically on software user assistance and online Help.

Cardiff, UK.

www.uaconference.eu.

22-24 Technical Communication UKTechnical Communication UK runs on 23 and 24 September 2009, with pre-conference workshops on 22 September. It will deliver more than 30 sessions over the three days, with presentations, workshops, case studies, and hands-on product demonstrations from experts in their field. The ISTC annual dinner and UK Technical Communication awards ceremony will be held on Wednesday night.

Nottingham, UK.

www.technicalcommunicationuk.com/index.php?/programme.html.

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...September

29 WritersUA User Assistance SymposiumThe WritersUA symposium is a full day of information-packed instruction from four acknowledged industry experts. Registration is open.

Newton, Massachusetts.

https://www.writersua.com/boston/registration.htm.

October

20-22 Localization World Silicon ValleyThe program for Localization World has been released.

Santa Clara, California.

www.localizationworld.com/lwsv2009/program2.php.

25-27 LavaCon 2009The seventh annual LavaCon conference on career and professional development will focus on actions you can take to increase your corporate value. The program organizes almost 60 sessions and hands-on workshops into DocTrain, project management and professional development tracks.

New Orleans, Louisiana.

www.lavacon.org.

November

4-6 tcworld conference 2009 and tekom Trade FairThis annual event has a diverse programme which includes more than 150 lectures, workshops, tutorials, and discussion groups. Well-known speakers will present the latest developments in technical communication and the event provides excellent opportunities to exchange knowledge.

Wiesbaden, Germany.

www.tekom.de/tagung/tagung.jsp.

Call us: 01483 211533High Street, Ripley,

Woking, Surrey GU23 6AF

www.3di-info.com

Localization into allmain languages3di has significant experience inlocalizing:

� Software Products� Online Help� E-learning & CBT� Websites

� Expert application of industry-leadingtools and software

� Scalable and robust IT infrastructure

� Ability to localize, recompile and testapplications on all major hardware orsoftware platforms in most languages

� Expert, accessible and friendly project management

Hyperlinks disclaimerThe appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the ISTC of the linked websites, or the information, products or services contained on those sites. All external hyperlinks were accurate and working at the time of writing. However, the ISTC does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations, so the ISTC cannot be responsible for changes to content found at these locations or any material on those sites that may be inaccurate, misleading or offensive to you. All links are provided with the intent of meeting the mission of the ISTC and its Newsletter, and the ISTC disclaims any responsibility for the accuracy, completeness and availability of any linked site. Please let us know about existing external links which you believe are inappropriate or inaccurate and about specific additional external links which you believe ought to be included.

This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers. InfoPlus+ is posted at www.istc.org.uk/Publications/Newsletter/newsletter.htm.

© ISTC September 2009 15

When OK is not OKFrom Martin Ley FISTC

Once again, your intrepid back-page-blooper hunter has been out on safari, this time aided and abetted by his beautiful assistant (long-suffering wife) who appears to be developing a stupidity-spotoscope all of her very own. I guess it had to rub off sooner or later.

Today, for your delectation and delight, we bring you this classic from the depths of the online scrabble game run on Facebook, more specifically, the dictionary application that cheats (sorry, inquisitive players) use to check words before placing their virtual tiles. I don’t think we need dwell any further, so enjoy:

In closing, I can report that my ‘local sign’s and graphic’s service’ has seen the light and amended its advertising board. Well, one of them, at any rate. Shame, really... now I’ll have to find something else to make me squirm and chuckle in equal measure on my journey into Cambridge.

Back pagesFormer Newsletter editor releases CD!What do technical communicators do to relax in their spare time? A bit of music, perhaps? One ISTC member has recently taken her singing hobby to new heights.

Sophie Watson FISTC (a former editor of InfoPlus+, in its previous incarnation as the ISTC Newsletter) has been singing with a cappella folk group Triangle since the mid-80s, and they are delighted to have released their first professionally produced CD entitled Time Out Of Mind. It was a long time coming, but they think it was worth the wait!

The CD, recorded at the Mikesound studio in Henley, includes both traditional and self-penned songs, all of which tell stories, and most of which concern the band’s favoured subjects of beer, religion, politics and things that go bump in the night.

To find out more and to buy the CD, visit the band’s website at www.trianglemusic.info. You can also hear some sample tracks at www.myspace.com/3triangle3.

The editor would like to hear from other ISTC members about their own ‘moonlighting’ activities that can be featured in InfoPlus+. Please send details to newsletter.editor@istc.org.uk.

Sophie Watson (left) with Triangle members Sue Manley and Mim MacMahon

This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers. InfoPlus+ is posted at www.istc.org.uk/Publications/Newsletter/newsletter.htm.

© ISTC September 2009 16

A winning captionYou will probably have heard that the Royal Show, held in the first week of July and organised for 160 years by The Royal Agricultural Society of England and held for 40+ years at their showground near Kenilworth has been held for the last time.

In the NFU (National Farmers Union) journal British Farmer and Stockbreeder, the untitled cartoon was displayed and members were invited to give it a caption and the winner would get the original.

Well, William Waddilove FISTC obviously has an appropriate way with words having created the winning caption and has been presented with the original.

William claims to have been to every Royal Show on that site since it became ‘permanent’, being brought initially by his father the first year and even one year coming by bicycle when at school as he lived 20 miles to the north in Sutton Coldfield. He even worked in an office on the showground for 16 years with the Agricultural Training Board.