2010-2011 Schedule
The chapter would like to extend a special thanks to Duquesne University’s Department of Communication & Rhetorical Studies in partnering with us to provide the space for our meetings at Duquesne.
You can also find our events at Pittsburgh.BusinessCalendar.Org
Scheduled Events
February Meeting: Joe Welinske of WritersUA
An Overview of Trends, Tools, and Technologies in Software User Assistance
The application of technical communication skills to the development of software user assistance has grown immensely in the past twenty years. This specialization is very fulfilling and challenging and technical communicators are finding their role in the software development process to be increasingly valued. User assistance is much more than “Help.” It encompasses a wide range of skills and technologies that are combined to improve the software user’s experience. We contribute through wizards, tutorials, and web-based training. We develop and populate knowledge bases and content management systems. Printed manuals and their PDF equivalents are still an important element of our documentation sets.
Many of us are now embedding helpful content directly into the user interface. We are involved with usability testing, localization, testing, quality assurance, and branding. This presentation provides a cutting-edge overview of the latest trends in software user assistance, defines the key terminology, highlights the most important technologies, and offers predictions on future directions of our field. The seventy-five minute session should be of interest to technical communicators of all backgrounds and experience levels.
Speaker Bio
Joe Welinske is the president of WritersUA. WritersUA is a company devoted to providing training and information for user assistance professionals. The WritersUA/WinWriters Conference draws hundreds of attendees each year from around the world to share the latest in user assistance design and implementation. The free content on the WritersUA web site attracts over 20,000 visitors each month. Joe has been involved with software documentation development since 1984. Joe recently published Developing User Assistance for Mobile Apps. He has also taught online Help courses at the University of Washington, UC Santa Cruz, and Bellevue Community College. Joe received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Illinois in 1981, and a M.S. in Adult Instructional Management from Loyola University in 1987. Joe was the President of STC Puget Sound Chapter from 2006-2008 and served as Membership Director for the Puget Sound Chapter of the Usability Professionals Association in 2010.
January Meeting: 2012 Employment Roundtable
Speakers & Services
- Janis Ramey, founder of WorkQuest, will give a talk on her Job Search Checklist comprised from working with job seekers
- Katherine Lebeck of E-Safe Consulting will give a talk on job searching from the recruiter’s point of view including what candidates could be doing better
- Tim Sullivan of the Pittsburgh Business Times will be conducting a Smart Reader Seminar
- Mona Abdel-Halim of CareerImp will be demoing Résunate for attendees and offering a free month of Premium account access to all attendees
Our Sponsors
October Meeting: Software Saturday
STC Pittsburgh will be holding a Software Saturday training session on Saturday, October 29th from 9am-4pm. This year’s session will be covering FrameMaker and will be led by our own Alan Houser.
Seating for this session is limited to 16 attendees, so sign up soon!
Overview
Adobe FrameMaker has long been a favorite tool for technical writers. If you have never used FrameMaker, or if your FrameMaker skills are rusty, this hands-on workshop will provide the background you need to begin using FrameMaker effectively.
Workshop outline
- Why FrameMaker?
- Working with FrameMaker documents
- Automated formatting with paragraph and character formats
- Automated layout with master pages
- Creating maintainable, reusable documents: variables, conditions
- Cross-references
- Graphics
- PDF publishing
| When: | Saturday, October 29, 2011 9am-4pm with a one-hour break for lunch on your own. A continental breakfast will be provided. |
| Where: |
ProTech Professional Technical Services, Inc.
610 Beatty Road
Monroeville, PA 15146
Toll Free: 800-373-9188
Local: 412-810-8855 Note this is the same road as the CCAC Boyce Campus.
|
September Meeting: Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
| When: | Thursday, September 15, 2011 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. |
| Where: | Duquesne University Student Union Room 119 600 Forbes Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15219Park in the Forbes Garage (cash only) and proceed to the top floor to cross to the Student Union. The Locust Garage is permit only. You will see a flag pole and a Starbucks sign outside of the Duquesne Union. Elevators are located at the back of the lobby past the shops and university offices.Campus Map |
| Price: | Members: $12, Non-Members: $15, Unemployed: $8, Students: Free |
| RSVP: | Email Robin Davidson at vp@stcpgh.orgor pay now using the PayPal button on our homepage. An RSVP is required to guarantee a meal. |
Meeting Overview
When you “Google” something, how does Google (and other search engines) decide what Web sites appear first in the search results? What can you do to make your Web site appear first (or as close to first as possible) in the search results? Why is this so important?
The answer is three letters: SEO. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the art and science of designing your Web site to be more visible and relevant to both search engines and the people who search for them, as well as measuring your Web site’s visibility.
Join Bryce Walat, a Content Development Specialist, and Jamie Keaney, a Senior Search Strategist, both from IMPAQT, a leading Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization firm, as they talk about how SEO works, why it’s important, how you can find out how visible your Web site is, and what you can do to improve your Web site’s visibility in search results.
August Social: STC Pittsburgh & WorkQuest
We’re starting our 2011-2012 year with a social for STC Pittsburgh and WorkQuest members past and present. This year’s social will be at Sharp Edge’s newest location, Sharp Edge Bistro on Penn, just a block or so from the David L. Lawrence Convention center. We’ll be using their private room upstairs and will provide a selection of appetizers, but any meals or beverages are on your own.
For those of you who haven’t been there before, their menu includes soups, salads, and pizzas along with burgers made from lamb, buffalo, duck, bison, salmon, and ostrich or garden and mushroom burgers.
| When: | Thursday, August 18, 2011 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. |
| Where: | Sharp Edge Bistro on Penn 922 Penn Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15222 412-338-2437 www.sharpedgebeer.com |
| Price: | $15 per person |
Questions?
Contact Robin Davidson at president@stcpgh.org
May 2011 Meeting
| When: | Thursday, May 12th, 6:30-8:30 PM |
| Where: | Omnyx, LLC 30 Isabella Street, Suite 301 Pittsburgh, PA 15212Google Maps |
| Price: | Members: $12 / Non-Members: $15 / Unemployed: $8 / Students: Free |
| RSVP by Monday, May 9th with your name, phone number and e-mail address and if you prefer a vegan meal to Robin Davidson at vp@stcpgh.org. |
Meeting Overview
The speaker will be Jonny Goldstein of Envizualize.
Speaker Bio
Jonny Goldstein helps people understand complex ideas through visual thinking. Jonny is a keynote visualizer at companies and conferences, creating large scale visual notes of what the speakers are presenting in real time.
He also teaches visual problem solving techniques to corporate clients and is a vistiting instructor at the the University of the Arts Masters of Industrial Design Program in Philadelphia.
Jonny has worked with organizations ranging from the Centers for Disease Conrol and Prevention, Johnson & Johnson, the Dassault Group, and the City of Philadelphia.
Jonny graduated lum laude with a BA in English from Colorado College, studied visual art and design at Pratt Institute, the School of Visual Arts, and the Art Students League, and earned a Masters Degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU.
In previous years, Jonny ran a technology education program in the Bronx, was a field producer for NBC-Universal-iVillage, and was a freelance video producer.
He has been blogging at jonnygoldstein.com since 2005 and has been linked to by BoingBoing and Scobleizer.com.
His professional site is http://envizualize.com.
Jonny recently moved to Pittsburgh and enjoys eating sandwiches with french fries on them.
Examples of his large scale visual notes here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonnygoldstein/4880176170/in/set-72157624580111701/
March 2011 Meeting
How Microsoft SharePoint Gives You a Realistic Approach to Content Management
| When: | Thursday, March 24th 6:30-8:30 PM |
| Where: | Omnyx, LLC 30 Isabella Street, Suite 301 Pittsburgh, PA 15212Google Maps |
| Price: | Members: $12 / Non-Members: $15 / Unemployed: $8 / Students: Free |
| RSVP by Monday, March 24th with your name, phone number and e-mail address to Robin Davidson at vp@stcpgh.org. |
Meeting Overview
How Microsoft SharePoint Gives You a Realistic Approach to Content Management
Whether you are a single author or part of a team, managing your content is an important practice that ensures efficiency in your work and accuracy in your documentation. Content management practices will help you route material through an approval or signature process, ensure that the right people work on it at the right time, facilitate quality assurance, allow you to track changes, and facilitate content reuse. The problem is that most content management systems are very expensive and require a large learning curve. In fact, many implementations fail because of the complexity.
Why not use Microsoft SharePoint? SharePoint has built-in document management features that you can begin using immediately without worrying about a costly implementation and learning cycle. Acquiring and implementing SharePoint is not a hard sell because most organizations already have it and, if not, there are free versions of SharePoint available. For these reasons, SharePoint is becoming the gold standard for many business activities, including content management.
This session will discuss why you should use SharePoint (or how it is much easier than people think) and what features you can take advantage of. We will also spend a few minutes discussing Doc-To-Help and its integration with SharePoint.
Speaker Bio
Nicky Bleiel is the Lead Information Developer for Doc-To-Help. She has 16 years of experience in technical communication; writing and designing information for software products in the documentation, media, industrial automation, simulation, and pharmaceutical industries. She is a Director-At-Large of the Society for Technical Communication and has presented talks at the STC Summit, WritersUA, tcworld, LavaCon, and DocTrain on many topics, including embedded help, tools and technologies, user assistance design, single sourcing, wikis, Web 2.0, and convergence technical communication.
Call for Vice Presidential Candidates
STC Pittsburgh Chapter
Our chapter is looking for a vice president for the 2011-2012 program year. The vice president will work with (future) president Robin Davidson and will become president for the 2012-2013 program year. This officer also will attend 4 board meetings throughout the year. The vice president’s particular duties are:
- Oversee program development
- Write the monthly Constant Contact meeting notices
- Keep track of meeting registration and coordinate meeting location and catering for meetings
- Assume the duties of president when the president is unavailable
If you are interested, please contact Nancy Carpenter at carpentn@genco.com to put your name on the ballot. The chapter will hold formal elections at the March meeting.
February 2011 Meeting
| Time: | Wednesday February 16, 2011, 6:30-8:30 PM EST |
| Location: | DynaVox 2100 Wharton St # 400 Pittsburgh, PA 15203Google MapsParking is either on-street or in the nearby paid lot at 20th & Sidney.Enter the building at the 21st Street door and take the elevator to the 4th floor. |
| Cost: | Members: $12 / Non-Members: $15 / Unemployed: $8 / Students: Free with valid ID |
| Submit your RSVP via the PayPal button below, or send an e-mail to vicepresident at stcpgh.org to pay cash at the door. |
Meeting Overview
As many Documentation departments struggle to enforce consistent structure and formatting in their publications, structured authoring can enable writers to author consistent content, publish across different media, and reuse content throughout information products.
With many commercial solutions costing thousands (and even hundreds of thousands) of dollars to implement, how can a writing team take advantage of these benefits without breaking the bank?
Please join Technical Writer and XML evangelist Bill Lawrence as he shows the value structured authoring can provide for you while demonstrating an end-to-end authoring and publishing solution using entirely free, open source solutions.
Employment Roundtable 2011
This year’s Employment Roundtable will be focusing on Alternative Employment: Freelancing, Self-Employment, & Franchising.
| Starts: | Saturday January 22, 2011, 09:00AM EST |
| Ends: | Saturday January 22, 2011, 12:00PM EST |
| Location: | Duquesne University, Student Union Room 613 600 Forbes Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15219 USPark in the Forbes Garage (cash only) and proceed to the top floor to cross to the Student Union. The Locust Garage is permit only. You will see a flag pole and a Starbucks sign outside of the Duquesne Union. Elevators are located at the back of the lobby past the shops and university offices.Campus Map |
| Cost: | $20 Non-members / $15 Members / $10 Unemployed / Students FREE with valid ID |
| Submit your RSVP via the PayPal button below, or send an e-mail to employment at stcpgh.org to pay cash at the door. |
Speakers & Services
- John Tubridy of FranNet will speak about franchising
- Ron Kubitz of Brayman Construction Corp. will give a talk entitled “LinkedIn to Linked Together – Using Social Media to Find a New Career”
- Tim Sullivan of the Pittsburgh Business Times will be conducting a Smart Reader Seminar
- Ruby Wilkosz of Volunteers of America’s Working Order program will speak about being an entrepreneur
Read the full speaker bios here
Thank you to the Pittsburgh Business Times for once again sponsoring this event.
Holiday Party 2010
Please join STC Pittsburgh for our annual Holiday Party. We will meet at noon at the Carnegie Science Center on Saturday, December 18, and tour the center together. The center closes at 7 pm that day so there’s plenty of time to see everything.
We will purchase tickets at the group rate for one building. Cost to us is $7 per person, including children. Meals and Omnimax and Submarine are on your own.
Please RSVP on the stcpgh.org web site by December 16. You can pay using PayPal, or send a check to Nancy Carpenter. Nancy will have your tickets. We hope you can join us!
Note: We need at least 15 people in order to get the group rate. If we don’t get that number by December 16, we will cancel and refund your money.
November 2010 Meeting
When: Thursday, Nov 11th, 6:00-8:30 PM
Where: Duquesne University – Duquesne Union
Room 613
600 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA
On Campus: Campus Map
Park in the Forbes Garage (cash only) and proceed to the top floor to cross to the Student Union.The Locust Garage is permit only.You will see the flag pole and a Starbucks sign outside of the Duquesne Union.
Price:
Members: $12, Non-Members: $15, Unemployed: $8, Students: Free
RSVP by Monday, November 8 with your name, phone number and email address to Robin Davidson at vp@stcpgh.org
Summary of Panel Review
You know that your website is not as effective as it could be, but are not sure why. You’ve been told that your website needs to be updated, but are not sure how. You’ve heard about website usability, but are not sure what it really means.
We are here to help.
With several web and writing professionals, STC Pittsburgh volunteers will hold a panel overview of attendee websites. Each website must be submitted to president@stcpgh.org by 5:00pm on Friday, November 5. Please submit your website URL, five most valued keywords/terms, and the overall goal of your website. Using this information, our panel will review your website and present a 15-20-minute overview of how well your website is performing and where it could improve. Please join us to provide your own insight, learn how you can improve your own website, and to find out more about the latest trends in web design and usability.
September 9th: She’s a Director; He’s a Fellow!
Date: September 9th 2010
Time: 6:30-8:30 PM
Place: Penn Brewery – 800 Vinial Street Pittsburgh, PA 15212 – www.pennbrew.com – Phone: 412-237-9402
Cost: Free
RSVP: Please RSVP through http://stcmixerpitt.eventbrite.com.
It has been another great year for the Society for Technical Communication Pittsburgh Chapter. The chapter continued to achieve distinction within the Society, as Nicky Bleiel was re-elected to the STC Board of Directors, and Alan Houser earned the distinction of STC Fellow and served as STC Summit Conference Manager.
Join Nicky and Alan for an evening of food, drink, networking, and conversation, as we celebrate our chapter and look forward to another great year.
This event is sponsored by Group Wellesley, Inc. and ComponentOne. There is no charge for this event.
Questions?
Contact Alan Houser, arh@groupwellesley.com or Nicky Bleiel, nickyb@componentone.com.
August 26th: Technology Group Social Media Mashup
Date: August 26th 2010
Time: 5:30-8:00 PM
Place: AlphaLab Google Maps
Cost: Free
RSVP: Please RSVP through http://techmashup.eventbrite.com/ as there is a 150 person limit.
STC Pittsburgh, along with TechPOWR, is proud to announce the chapter’s second Pittsburgh Technology Group Mashup. All technology groups in Pittsburgh are invited to attend as well as anyone interested in social media. This three hour event will include opportunities to network along with two or more presentations on social media. Our Keynote speaker will be Ian Rosenberger, Social and Emerging Media Director of Strategic Images.
More information can be found in the Blue Pencil blog under the post: Pittsburgh Technology Group Social Media Mashup
Thank you to AlphaLab for proving the location and to our sponsors:
Gold Sponsor: Best Buy For Business
Silver Sponsors: Group Wellesley, NuRelm
