STC Summit 2008, update
Thursday, May 22nd, 2008Linked below is a PDF of ITC activities for the 2008 conference. Included in this document are also sessions/talks/ that are of particular interest to ITCers.
ITC activities and sessions, STC 2008 conference
Contact the ITC manager (Traci Nathans-Kelly) if you have other items of interest to add.
Highlights:
STC Summit, 2008: Philadelphia, PA, USA
Sessions and Activities of Interest:
International Technical Communication
Every day, all Exhibit Hall hours, the International Pavilion is open! Come visit the Pavilion and participate in the Passport activity, which has a grand prize of a $500 airline voucher!Your Passport activity card will be in your conference bag or you can pick one up at the International Pavilion. Sponsored by ITC and GALA!
International Pavilion Speakers and Activities
Monday
11:00am—Bob Caskey of OmniLingua
11:30am—Aki Ito of TOIN
2:00pm—Bob Caskey of OmniLingua
Tuesday
10:00am—Aki Ito of TOIN
11:30am—Mark Lawyer of LinguaLinx presents Wheel of Fortune! ITC style!
12:00-1:00—ITC SIG Luncheon
1:30-2:30—ITC Progression (see below)
3:00pm—Mark Lawyer of LinguaLinx presents Jeopardy! ITC style!
Wednesday
10:00am—Passport due at International Pavilion
11:00am—Passport winner announced!
STC Sessions
Monday, June 2
Communication Strategies of Successful Virtual Teams
3:30-4:30 PM (Room: 103B)
Format: Discussion
Skill Level: All
Effective technical communications are paramount for successful virtual teams. Add diversity of cultures, locations, and functional ability, and you have strategic communication decisions to make. Come learn from some veterans.
When Did Google Become a Verb? American English as a Moving Target
5:00-6:00 PM (Room: 112AB)
Format: Presentation
Skill Level: All
American English changes fast, and words that today are considered slang or mashed together can appear in dictionaries tomorrow. Plus, technology tests the bounds of terminology and usage. This session helps tech communicators make usage decisions.
How Quality at the Source Affects Global Customer Satisfaction
5:00-6:00 PM (Room: 103A)
Format: Presentation
Apart from offering the desired product/service, a global organization must emphasize all stages of customer communication. A satisfying experience happens only when communication is clear, consistent, error-free, and in the customers’ native language. This session focuses on new trends and technologies in the forefront of customer communication. We’ll discuss processes that integrate the whole linguistic supply chain, with special focus on authoring assistance.
Tuesday, June 3
Unifying Content Development and Localization at Palm
9:00-10:00 AM (Room: 103A)
Format: Case Study
Skill Level: All
This case study looks at what happened when Palm made a dramatic shift to marry two antagonistic organizations in order to improve its ability to serve global audiences. By tightly integrating informatino development and localization, Palm has been able to increase the volume of accessible content without sacrificing quality.
Global Ideas and Global Information: Creating Content for a Worldwide Audience
9:00-10:00 AM (Room: 111AB)
Format: Presentation
Skill Level: All
Information today is inherently global information. Today’s organization, however, can be overwhelmed with the choices for global authoring, including structured versus unstructured authoring, XML and DITA, about using tools to bring style guides to life, or about improving authoring consistency, quality, and efficiency. Learn about best practices and the exciting solutions from Adobe and SDL that make authoring for a worldwide audience simple and easy.
Cross-cultural Communication Issues
10:30-11:30 AM (Room: 106AB)
Format: Research Report
Skill Level: All
Two research reports examine international issues. The first examines the impacts of globalization on documents written in China for the international market, using rhetorical analysis, content analysis and visual analysis. The second analyzes changes in graphics between the English and Spanish versions of medical pamphlets.
Authoring for Globalization (Processes and Controls)
10:30-11:30am
Translation and localization of content are often managed operationally, but not strategically. How can we bring visibility to top management? What value do we provide, and how do we demonstrate it? And, most important, what makes your CEO excited about what you are accomplishing for the organization through globalizing its business processes?
Pictures & Profits: Innovations in Visual Instruction and Multi-ethnic Usability Research
10:30-11:30 AM (Room: 113A)
Format: Presentation
Skill Level: All
Learn visual design and international usability research strategies that helped build three innovative, visual guides. From building the guides to running the research, learn how simple, cheap ideas can lead to spectacular profits.
Convergence of Authoring and Translation in the Web 2.0 World
10:30-11:30 AM (Room: 102A)
Format: Discussion
Skill Level: All
The concept of Web 2.0 is gaining much attention in the popular media. What impact do new technologies and workflows stemming from the next generation Web have on the way technical authors and translators work together
Working in Multicultural Environments
1:30-2:30 PM (Room: 105AB)
Format: Progression
Skill Level: All
International issues that encumber the everyday technical communicator can be overwhelming. Experiences from experts who have knowledge of these issues and some resolutions can be of help to all.
Developing Content for the International Marketplace
1:30-2:30pm
Need to develop content once that is applicable to both the domestic and international markets? What do you need to know to write once and use everywhere? This session will show you what caveats, strategies, and best practices you can employ to meet global, diverse users expectations in your documentation.
Why Can’t My Software Talk to My CMS?: Why Open Standards for Multilingual Document Production Matter to You
3:00-4:00pm
Open standards are like the air we breathe: you only notice them when they aren’t there. In technology-driven fields, like multilingual document authoring and production, they play an especially important role by allowing tools and processes to work together rather than in conflict with each other. In this session a panel of experts will discuss the various standards, their impact on technical communication processes and workflows, and what you as a technical communicator need to know to make effective use of these standards.
Doing More With Less: Optimizing a Localization Budget
3:00-4:00 PM (Room: 109B)
Format: Case Study
Fluke Corporation, a manufacturer of hand-held devices, planned to localize its content into nine languages; the budget only allowed five. Using ABREVE from Translations.com, the content retained usability and accuracy, and was localized into seven languages.
Improving Source Content Quality for Global Audiences
4:30-5:30 PM (Room: 109B)
Format: Presentation
Skill Level: All
Find out how Avaya implemented global authoring strategies to dramatically improve authoring productivity. By automating stye guide and reuse checks, the time and cost of global authoring have been greatly reduced.
Delivering on the Promise of Lower Localization Costs
4:30-5:30 PM (Room: 113C)
Format: Presentation
Skill Level: Advanced Topic
Lowering localization costs requires more than writing, translation, and technology best practices. SMEs, vendors, and writers must be managed effectively. This case study analyzes cost metrics, lessons learned, and the reality of localization projects.
Wednesday, June 4
International Collaboration in Technical Communication
9:00-10:00 AM (Room: 113A)
Format: Discussion
Skill Level: All
As communication technologies improve, the barriers of geography are becoming less significant. Geographically separated groups are being replaced by collaborative teams that cross cultural, geographic, and time-zone boundaries. This panel features participants and managers of collaborative teams that have spanned the globe. Come to hear their advice and success stories.
10:00am—Passport Activity due at the International Pavilion!
11:00am—Passport Activity winner announced!
Globalizing Garmin: Finding the Way and Other Points
10:30-11:30 AM (Room: 108B)
Format: Featured Speaker
Skill Level: Advanced Topic
Spent a million dollars lately? Whoever said talk is cheap obviously didn’t have it translated! Learn how to establish a localization group in your company and factors you should consider.
Documentation Goes Global
10:30-11:30 AM (Room: 102A)
Format: Featured Speaker
Skill Level: All
The ability to produce high quality and accurately localized documentation quickly and cheaply can make or break a successful product launch. Aberdeen Group’s Documentation Goes Global study found that leading companies launch products with localized documentation up to three working months faster than their peers while simultaneously controlling localization spend. Come find out how!
Translation Management Solution (TMS) Benefits During Localization
1:30-2:30 PM (Room: 108B)
Format: Presentation
Skill Level: All
Translation Management Systems (TMS) are making inroads to enhance localization processes, communications, and meeting requirements. A must-attend session if you’re involved in localization and don’t know what TMS is.
Pictures from STC 2007’s International Pavilon!
