TechWhirl: Technical Communications Recap for May 4, 2012

[TechWhirl Admin <admin -at- techwhirl -dot- com>]

*This week’s update on technical communications and the TechWhirl community
is supported by Platinum sponsor Adobe & RoboHelp 9 | http://adobe.ly/Ay5bVC
*



One of the busiest threads on the TechWhirl email discussion list this week
epitomizes the challenges when “traditional” technical communications
intersects with the goliath of social media, Facebook. Monique Semp decided
to turn to the list for wording/word suggestions about what happens when
users “follow” other users, or “friend” (verb) in the parlance of Facebook
itself.  This discussion was fascinating on a number of levels:


   - The situation referenced documenting an application that integrates
   with Facebook - a traditional tech writing duty for a new kind of app.
   - A discussion ensued about the proper terminology – traditional
   TechWhirl activity.
   - New words and new uses for words were suggested – an increasingly
   common activity in the community.
   - Another discussion ensued on passive versus active voice – another
   traditional community activity.
   - The discussion morphed to verbification of nouns – a more recent
   tradition and gripe in the community.
   - Contributors cited sources, and identified differences among media
   (follow on Twitter, like on Facebook, etc.) – the educational nature of the
   community.
   - Posters recognized that current usage and proper usage are in conflict
   – the philosophical nature of the community.

Perhaps this is just a good example of “everything old is new again.”  But
it’s also evidence that our concepts of the purpose of the community and
how we perform our technical communications chores are changing almost as
quickly as the technology around us.



Speaking of fast-changing technology … Ebooks are top of mind throughout
the technical communications field this week.  Take some time to read Keith
Soltys’ informative interview with Joshua
Tallent<http://techwhirl.com/business/interviews/ebook-publishing-technical-communication-mutual-learning-opportunity/>of
eBook Architects on how eBooks are being used in tech comm, and what
we
can learn from publishers and vice versa. Kudos to DCL (Data Conversion
Labs) for hosting a terrific
webinar<http://www.dclab.com/learning_series/upcoming_webinars.asp>on
incorporating eBook content conversion into content strategy.
“Assessing
the Convertability of Your Content” featured Jack Molisani (LavaCon)
interviewing Joe Gollner (Gnostyx Research), Val Swisher (Content Rules)
and Scott Abel (The Content Wrangler).  Look for a recording of the webinar
to be posted on DCL YouTube
channel<http://www.youtube.com/user/dclaboratory>shortly.



Check out Roger Renteria’s latest article, “Tips and Tricks for Technical
Writers: Using Googly Freely and
Productively,”<http://techwhirl.com/tips-tricks/tips-and-tricks-for-technical-writers-google-freely-and-productively/>for
some excellent ideas on getting the most out of all the free tools
available via Google.  And finish up with a little bit of fun by taking this
week’s poll on Conference SWAG (Stuff We All
Get)<http://techwhirl.com/business/polls/technical-writing-poll-justifying-conference-attendance-with-swag/>and
how it impacts what technical communications conferences you attend.
Feel free to post a comment on what SWAG you’d like to see, or the best
stuff you’ve gotten. And as always, we encourage you to be a part of the
community by following and posting in the TechWhirl email discussion
list<http://www.techwr-l.com/about-technical-writing-discussion-groups.html>
.



Have a terrific weekend

-The gang at TechWhirl
In Case You Missed it: This Week  @ TechWhirl

*New features and articles on http://TechWhirl.com <http://techwhirl.com/>**
:*


   - Tech Writer This Week for May 3, 2012, by Craig Cardimon |
   http://bit.ly/IEcx36
   - The EBook Publishing – Technical Communication Mutual Learning
   Opportunity, Interview with Joshua Tallent, by Keith Soltys |
   http://bit.ly/Jez9q0
   - Technical Writing: Convincing Conference Swag – Poll Question |
   http://bit.ly/Jn3l07
   - Tips and Tricks for Technical Writers: Google Freely and Productively,
   by Roger Renteria | http://bit.ly/JlxHQD



*Tech Comm News on http://News.TechWhirl.com <http://news.techwhirl.com/>:*


   - Voice of the Customer Study Shows Metrics-Driven Approaches Drive
   Customer Support| http://bit.ly/L5qIRN
   - Crocodoc Launches Enterprise-grade HTML5 Document Embedding Service|
   http://bit.ly/KQ1KGa
   - SiberLogic Offers Free DITA CCMS (Component Content Management
   System)| http://bit.ly/JH1l5H
   - W3C HTML Working Group Seeks Editors for Review of HTML5
   Specifications | http://bit.ly/JFSCAN
   - STC-Montreal Transforms to Ars Communica | http://bit.ly/KuMxKj
   - Corel Releases WordPerfect Office X6 with Expanded Capabilities |
   http://bit.ly/JqxbU5

Social Media and the Chance to Follow TechWhirl:

   - Our Google Plus Page – what’s happening behind the scenes |
   http://goo.gl/SO0R4
   - Will you be our Friend? Please, you know you want to click |
   http://goo.gl/tDrW7
   - Want all this TechWhirl goodness a few characters @ a time |
   http://goo.gl/itjDg
   - Updates from TechWhirl delivered to your email in box |
   http://bit.ly/tjshxU
   - Or, try our RSS feed (great on Flipboard) | http://goo.gl/msLzu

SPONSOR-Luv

We want to send a very special “thank you” to our sponsors for their
support.



*Platinum*: Adobe Systems
Incorporated<http://www.runaware.com/clients/adobe/techsuite/>

*Gold: *ComponentOne Software <http://bit.ly/doc-to-help>,* *Madcap
Software<http://www.madcapsoftware.com/products/flare/overview.aspx#whatsnew>
**

*Silver*: Society for Technical Communication (STC)
<http://www.stc.org/>, Vancouver
Island University <http://pr.viu.ca/techcomm/>



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