STC TransAlpine Chapter

The Center for Information-Development Management announces the 4th Annual DITA Europe Conference
November 17-18, 2008, in Munich, Germany.

You can contribute!

The CIDM and Dr. JoAnn Hackos ask you to consider bringing your best practices to the upcoming DITA Europe conference.

We invite you to share your experiences in content management strategies, DITA implementation, DITA tools, topic-based authoring, and introducing new practices into your organizations.

Please submit your presentation proposal by September 5, 2008 at http://www.infomanagementcenter.com/DITAeurope/callforspeakers.htm.

If you have questions or would like to learn more, please contact Anne Bovard at anne.bovard@comtech-serv.com, or call +1-303-232-7586.

I look forward to seeing you at DITA Europe 2008!

JoAnn T. Hackos, PhD
Director
Center for Information-Development Management
710 Kipling Street, Suite 400
Denver, CO 80215
303-232-7586
joann.hackos@comtech-serv.com
www.infomanagementcenter.com

Based on all the reports I’ve heard, the Transalpine conference in Ljubljana was good fun (though I somehow managed to miss it).

Download the STC TAC 2008 conference slides here (zip file, 11 MB).

Join us April 16–18 in Ljubljana, Slovenia for the STC TransAlpine chapter’s annual workshop and conference.

Plans for the STC TransAlpine chapter’s annual workshop and conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia, April 16–18 are taking shape. Hermes Softlab will host our event at their facilities in Ljubljana.

TAC members and non-members alike have submitted over 15 presentation proposals. Conference organizers will review each proposal and select eight of them to include in the 2008 conference. In addition, planners are exploring full and half-day workshop ideas. And we’re identifying potential conference hotels and restaurants for our regular networking dinner on Thursday night.

Watch for our conference brochure in January

In addition to registration and fee information, our conference brochure will include descriptions of our workshop and presentations, biographies of our presenters, and a general agenda for the 3-day event. Watch for it to arrive by email in January or find it here on the TAC Web site at that time.

We can still use your help to create a great conference

The conference organizing committee still needs volunteers to help out with tasks both big and small (15 minutes to 2 hours of your time). Perhaps you can edit our brochure, create event posters, or write some text for our Web site or newsletter. If you can help, send your name, email address and phone number to TAC President Dan Jones (daniel. jones@zurich.com) by email.

We’re expecting a great turnout in 2008. Don’t miss your chance to learn some new skills, expand your knowledge, and network with technical communicators from Europe and around the world.

New! We expect over 12 people to attend!

Join other technical communicators in Switzerland for a networking fondue dinner at the Restaurant Hasenburg (Schneidergasse 20, 4051 Basel) on Friday, January 18 at 19:00.

If you would like to join us for an evening of fun and fondue while we chat about our field, send a message to Dan Jones by Wednesday, January 16. We’ll include you in our reservation.

Call for Panel and Paper Proposals: IEEE International Professional
Communication Conference 2008 (IPCC 2008)

Conference Theme: Opening the Information Economy

Conference Location: Concordia University, Montréal, Canada

Conference Website: http://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pcs/?q=node/2

The information economy is based on the collection and the exchange of data and ideas. We all either contribute to or use materials from the information economy in most aspects of our everyday lives. Thus, the information economy exists as an environment in which we are all contributors and consumers. Within this system, effective communication is essential to success and means individuals can contribute ideas and information effectively and can make efficient use of the goods and services. Few of us, however, understand all of the nuances of the information economy or the communication factors that affect its operations.

This conference seeks to “open” this economic model by examining the connections between communication practices and the products, practices, and services that constitute the information economy. The objective of such an examination will be to help attendees better understand and participate in the information economy as both contributors and consumers.

The conference will take place on the campus of Concordia University in Montréal, Canada, and will consist of paper presentations and panel discussions that focus on various communication, design, social, and cultural aspects of the information economy.

Possible Topic Areas
Suggested topic areas include but are not limited to the following:

• Establishing and assessing the value of knowledge work and knowledge products
• Information design, usability, and accessibility
• Virtual teams, online collaboration, and distributed models of work
• Cross-cultural communication, globalization, outsourcing, translation, and localization
• Legal policies and social issues related to the information economy
• Media selection and multimodality
• The role of and perspectives on teaching and training within the information economy
• Content management, open source software, single sourcing, and XML

Proposal Submission Process and Submission Dates

1. Send 1-2 page (250-500 word) proposals to IPCC2008@gmail.com by 15 December 2007. In your proposal, please be sure to do the following:

• State the focus/main topic of the presentation

• Provide an overview of the main points or ideas that will be covered in the presentation

• Discuss how the presentation enhances attendees’ understanding of the information economy

2. For each presenter, include a 50-100 word biosketch and a contact email address.

For conference- or proposal-related questions contact: IPCC2008@gmail.com

The 2007 DITA Europe conference takes place at the Stanhope Hotel, in Brussels, Belgium 13-14 November. This conference will be hosted by the Center for Information-Development Management and OASIS. Please also visit the conference web site at http://www.infomanagementcenter.com/DITAeurope/index.htm for details about the conference.