Global Talk

by Traci  Nathans-Kelly, ITC SIG Manager 

This is a quick overview of the state of the ITC SIG.

As the new manager of the International Technical Communication SIG for STC, I am making many efforts to continue the great work inherited from Kit Brown, those managers before her, and the leadership teams.  Below are some notes about the 2007 conference in Minneapolis (with our beginning plans for the conference in 2008), along with other calls for help for some ITC projects.

–2007 Conference:  ITC hosted the first “International Pavilion” at the STC Conference in May 2007 in Minneapolis.  We had corporate and academic sponsors, along with great speakers that addressed issues in many areas of concern to ITC professionals and technical communicators as a whole.  We had a large area with seating, which was substantially more than the table/2 chairs provided for others in the vendors/SIG info space.  It was incredible, and a large team of people really worked hard to make it a success.

–2008 Conference. The next annual conference is scheduled for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, June 1-8, 2008.  We are planning to host the International Pavilion again, and we hope to be more fully integrated into the overall conference format and schedule.  The ITC Leadership Team has already begun work towards this goal.

ITC SIG members are encouraged to submit proposals to the 2008 conference.  There is more information at  http://stc.org/cfp/index.aspx

–We have provided a Community Status Report to the STC SIG advocate that noted that our SIG is in good health.  We have over 1000 members worldwide, we have projects that have come to fruition (like the International Pavilion), and we have plenty of good energy.

–We requested and were approved for a modest budget by the STC office.  Most of the money goes towards our SIG’s activities at the annual conference.  Other money goes for operating costs, such as leadership team phone calls and the like.

–We are working hard to make this website/newsletter a valuable resource for SIG members and the field of international technical communication. If you have ideas or would like to help, write to kelly@epd.engr.wisc.edu

–As well, if you would like to work as a volunteer editor for a section or content area of the website/newsletter, please register on this site and send a message to ann@annlwiley.com asking to become a Contributor. Then make a post in plain text and Ann will write to you about the role you’d like to play.

Thank you, and please contact me with any questions or comments.  We need volunteers to act as liaisons to regions/areas.  We need volunteers to help us update our website content, and so forth.  Let us know if you are interested!

To mark the European Day of Languages on September 26 2007, SDL invites you to attend a webinar to discuss the importance of using language standards in delivering multilingual communications and the implications for European governments.

The European Day of Languages — a day for celebrating linguistic diversity — was set up in 2000 by the Committee of Ministers of The Council of Europe in 2000. It aims to celebrate increase plurilingualism and intercultural understanding; promote the rich linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe; and encourage lifelong language learning.

The webinar will feature expert speakers who will give you an insight into the importance of translation and localization standards to the production of EU laws and regulations.

Speakers include:

• Laura Vrabie, Terminologist at the European Institute of Romania (IER), the body responsible for translating all EU policy into Romanian for this new member state
• Arle Lommel of the LISA organization (Localization Industry Standards Association), an expert on both governmental issues and linguistic standards

Attend this webinar and gain insight into the importance of localization standards to the production of EU laws and regulations.

To register, go to www.sdl.com and click on the flash banner.

The STC France Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication is starting off the season on September 24 with ”Saveurs et Savoirs “. This evening meeting will start with a buffet cocktail followed by our guest speaker’s presentation.

Karen Schriver will present, ”If You’re So Smart, Why Does Your Writing Suck? ”

Subject-matter experts often have trouble writing for general audiences. Experts may fail to understand what audiences need to know and create texts permeated with insider jargon and content that is too difficult, too complex, and not focused on what readers expect. It may be easy to attribute experts’ problem to arrogance and cluelessness, but this interpretation is too simple. Research into the cognition of expertise offers insights into why subject-matter experts have trouble transforming their knowledge for audiences. This work suggests that sophisticated subject-matter knowledge can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. Come learn about domain experts writing for smart people outside of their field. Get ideas for working with people who may believe that clear writing waters down their thinking.

Dr. Karen Schriver is a researcher, consultant, and educator in information design. Her early work at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) charted new territory in understanding the integration of word and image, audience analysis, and people-centered design. Her book, Dynamics in Document Design: Creating Texts for Readers (Wiley & Sons), now in its 9th printing, is regarded as an essential work in the field. Winner of nine awards for research, Karen has made a significant impact on how information designers around the world think about their work. Karen is a Fellow of STC and a frequent keynote speaker. She has taught at universities in the US, Holland and South Africa, and is on the board of directors for the Communications Research Institute (Australia) and the Center for Plain Language (Washington, DC).

Karen will speak in English. The meeting takes place Monday, September 24 19:00 - 21:30, at FIAP Jean Monnet, 1st floor 30 rue Cabanis 75014 Paris Métro: Glacière (line 6) or Denfert-Rochereau (lines 4, 6, RER B)

Space is limited. Register before 15/Sept/2007 by sending an e-mail with your name and membership number (members of STC, IABC, or CRT) to secretary@stcfrance.org. Payment at the door, cash or check: 10 euros students or members of STC, CRT, or IABC 25 euros non-members .

GALA Negotiaing to Close Workshop. Seattle. October 15, 2007. http://www.gala-global.org/GALA-event-negotiating_to_close_workshop-82.html

CIDM. Third Annual DITA Europe Conference. Brussels. November 13 to 14, 2007. http://www.infomanagementcenter.com/DITAeurope/index.htm

European Interaction Design Summer Schooltook place in July 1-12, 2007 at Kadir Has University in Istanbul. The program is funded by ERASMUS LLP. The projects completed are posted at http://www.khas.edu.tr/idss07/

There are posts of interest on the STC Forum, in particular http://stcforum.org/viewtopic.php?pid=4075#p4075

The ITC SIG email list provided these links to Apple (PDF) and IBM resources.

Drupalcon conference. Barcelona. September 19-22, 2007. http://barcelona2007.drupalcon.org/ immediately before EuroIA: http://stc-on.org/id/departments/events/2007/05/14/european-information-architecture-summit/

The August, 2007 STC France Chapter newsletter has a calendar of technical communication events in Europe coming up this fall. The issue has just been posted at http://www.stcfrance.org/node/2405 Download the PDF for the calendar.

 Euro-IA, “Translating Information Architecture.” September 21-22, 2007,  Barcelona, Spain Abba Garden Hotel. http://www.euroia.org/