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In this posting, look for the following ...

 * ANNOUNCE: AuthorIT Now Imports RoboHelp (NEW)
 * EDUCATION: Enjoy a Special Discount on UCLA Extension Online
             Technical Communication Spring Courses
 * WORKSHOP: Steve Krug and Lou Rosenfeld - IA and Usability 
             Gurus Offer Workshops
 * ANNOUNCE: Adobe FrameMaker for Mac OS X Petition
 * WORKSHOP: Toronto Workshops March 27-29
 * ANNOUNCE: WritersUA Update


and at the end you'll find the concluding administrivia with 
information about these ads and how to place your own. 

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ANNOUNCE: AuthorIT Now Imports RoboHelp

AuthorIT Software Corporation Limited (ASCL), recently released a much
anticipated import format, RoboHelp(tm). With the introduction of the
AuthorIT RoboHelp(tm) Importer, AuthorIT version 4 users can now import
their legacy RoboHelp(tm) content.

AuthorIT has built upon its industry renowned importing engine to raise
the bar even higher. The latest release of the AuthorIT's importing
technology supports the migration of Macromedia RoboHelp(tm) content
created using the latest version of RoboHelp(tm) as well as a number of
earlier versions.

http://www.authorit.com/index.mv?home

03/21/06 - 04/17/06
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EDUCATION: Enjoy a Special Discount on UCLA Extension Online
          Technical Communication Spring Courses

Refresh your professional skills this spring from the comfort of your home or office. UCLA Extension's Spring Quarter begins April 1, and courses are filling fast. There's still time to enroll by visiting uclaextension.edu/online_tech_com.

As an STC member, you are entitled to a special $50 discount on all Technical Communication courses, including:

Making Sense of Knowledge Management
Managing Effective Proposals
Technical Editing
Introduction to Policies and Procedures
Project Management Communications
Foundation Skills in Technical Writing

UCLA Extension limits enrollment in its virtual classrooms, so students benefit from the instructor's full attention. Join the more than 35,000 students from around the world who have studied with UCLA Extension online. And be sure to take advantage of your $50 discount as an STC member.

For more information about Technical Communication courses online, visit uclaextension.edu/online_tech_com or contact Helen Williams at hwilliam -at- uclaextension -dot- edu or (310) 825-7729.

03/20/06 - 03/26/06
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WORKSHOP: Steve Krug and Lou Rosenfeld - IA and Usability 
          Gurus Offer Workshops

Steve Krug and Lou Rosenfeld are on the road offering their popular, back-to-back, day-long web usability and information architecture 
seminars.  Discounts are available for early registration, for groups of three or more, and for registering for both seminars.  Details follow:

--- Don't Make Me Think: The Web Usability Workshop (with Steve Krug)
     Tampa - April 10, 2006:  $795; $695 by March 17
     Austin - May 12, 2006:  $795; $695 by April 21
     Philadelphia - June 2, 2006:  $795; $695 by May 15

Expanding on the topics in his best-selling Web usability book, Steve's workshop will teach you how to recognize and solve the usability problems in your own site, and how to make low-cost/no-cost testing an everyday part of your company's design process.  The day includes a live usability test and expert reviews of a number of websites using URLs submitted by attendees--perhaps even your own.

More info and registration:  http://www.sensible.com/workshops.html

--- Enterprise Information Architecture (with Lou Rosenfeld)
     Tampa - April 11, 2006:  $795; $695 by March 17
     Austin - May 11, 2006:  $795; $695 by April 21
     Philadelphia - June 1, 2006:  $795; $695 by May 15

This day-long seminar will help you convert a disjointed collection of content silos into a unified, user-centered web site or intranet. Coverage includes a combination of design recommendations, governance advice, and research methods that work in the highly political and often nasty environment known as the enterprise.  The seminar combines lecture, discussion, and group exercises.

More info and registration:  http://www.louisrosenfeld.com/eia

Register today!
https://louisrosenfeld.com/presentations/seminars/eia/
Registration_Spring06.html

03/17/06 - 03/23/06
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ANNOUNCE: Adobe FrameMaker for Mac OS X Petition

Apple introduced its first Intel-based Macs in January and intends to transition the entire range from PowerPC to Intel by the end of the year. This is significant for Mac FrameMaker users because the new Intel Macs don't support the Classic environment and cannot run FrameMaker. To mark this critical phase in our campaign, I've set up a new domain for the FrameMaker for Mac OS X Web site (fm4osx.org), totally redesigned the site, and added PDF form letters to make writing to Adobe and Apple really easy. Please take a look at the new site and write to Adobe and Apple today. <http://www.fm4osx.org/>

Apparently, after putting all of its efforts into Acrobat and Creative Suite for the last few years, Adobe has reevaluated its portfolio and is reinvesting in FrameMaker. The first evidence of this was the September release of FrameMaker 7.2 for Windows and Solaris. Adobe has also said that if the market for Mac FrameMaker changes and there's an opportunity, it will respond. In other words, if enough people let Adobe know that they want FrameMaker for Mac OS X, they'll make it.

If you haven't already written to Adobe, I urge you to do so now. Even if you have already written, please write again. The new PDF form letters on the Web site mean that it will only take a few minutes of your time. I've also provided address labels.

Apple is still using Classic (Mac OS 9) and FrameMaker 6.0 to produce its own user guides and I know that its technical writers want FrameMaker for Mac OS X just as much as we do. Even Adobe is still using it.

If you've not yet signed the petition, please do so now.
<http://www.petitiononline.com/fmforosx/petition.html>

Paul Findon
FrameMaker for Mac OS X Petition Organizer

03/14/06 - 03/20/06
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WORKSHOP: Toronto Workshops March 27-29

Your role as a technical communicator is destined to change.

Are you ready? From March 27-29, the Toronto chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) is presenting a three-day hands-on workshop series on Preparing for the Content Management Tipping Point.  Several of the best-known industry experts and luminaries will lead us  through half-day sessions on information design, architecture, and technologies needed for managing technical content.

DAY ONE
Saul Carliner, of Concordia University, kicks off the series with an exploration of information design. Jim Purdy, of Communicare in Toronto, looks into the well-established best practices of Information Mapping(R). 

DAY TWO
Michael Priestley, of IBM, sets aside the morning to walk us through the intricacies of DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture). Scott Abel, the Content Wrangler, dedicates the afternoon to examining  many of the peripheral technologies that will impact the way content is collected, managed, and distributed. 

DAY THREE
Ann Rockley, of the Rockley Group, helps us develop a content management reuse strategy. 

CM PROS SPONSORED EVENT
The afternoon program is hosted by CM Pros (Content Management 
Professionals) and features: Content Management - Doing it right. 

CM Pros is a non-profit organization established in 2003. The event is open to all members of the community but is limited to no more than 40 participants.

REGISTRATION AND FEES
Members of either the STC or CM Pros enjoy significant discounts on registration. Visit http://www.stctoronto.org/conference.htm to register online or call us at +1(416) 941-8383 x 13826. VISA, check or money order, and PayPal accepted.

Money raised by the conference will be used to support the Toronto STC chapter.

03/13/06 - 03/19/06
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ANNOUNCE: WritersUA Update

Survey: User Assistance Salary Survey Results Available
The results of the 2006 WritersUA Salary Survey are now available. Thank you to all of the user assistance professionals who contributed their information!
 http://www.writersua.com/surveys/salary06/index.html

WritersUA Conference Approaches
The 14th Annual WritersUA Conference for Software User Assistance will be held in Palm Springs April 9-12. The conference focus, as always, is on user assistance Design, Tools, Technologies, and Content Development. Over 60 informative sessions will be presented by 45 expert speakers.
 http://www.writersua.com/ohc06/index.html

Events: WritersUA Visiting STC Chapters
Joe Welinske, President of WriterUA, will be speaking about Trends in Software User Assistance at the following STC chapters: Pittsburgh -  Mar. 13, and Central Ohio - Mar. 15.
 http://www.stcpgh.org/events/evchpt.html
 http://www.centralohiostc.org/calendar.html

Product News
A number of announcements have recently been made by vendors including, Adobe, MadCap Software, Olson Software, and Quadralay.
 http://www.writersua.com/articles/news/news_022306.htm
 http://www.writersua.com/articles/news/news_013106.htm
 http://www.writersua.com/articles/news/news_020306.htm
 http://www.writersua.com/articles/news/news_021506.htm

Registration is Open for Australasian Online Documentation and 
  Content Conference 
The ninth annual Australasian Online Documentation and Content Conference, AODC 2006, will be in Cairns, from Wednesday 3rd to Friday 5th May. AODC 2006 features 20 sessions covering techniques, technologies, tools and case studies, presented by international and local expert speakers. Session topics include DITA, structured authoring, XML, usability, editing, migration to Microsoft Vista, user assistance, dynamic HTML and case studies. For all the details, see the  agenda.
 http://www.aodc.com.au/

MANY MORE Free Articles, Surveys, and News items on the WritersUA web site.
 http://www.writersua.com/
 Resource Directory:
 http://www.writersua.com/resource.htm

03/10/06 - 03/23/06
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