It’s time to book for TCUK 2012

Technical Communication UK (TCUK), which takes place in Newcastle in October, is the UK’s annual festival of technical communication – it’s like a Glastonbury festival for technical communicators, but without the mud!

I’m delighted to announce that we have published a preview of sessions for TCUK 2012, and we have also opened online booking at our special early-bird prices.

We have done our best to keep our prices as low as possible, and we believe that TCUK continues to offer tremendous value. We offer a special 3-day inclusive package, which includes two nights’ accommodation at the conference hotel, at a price which is lower than what some organisations are charging for a two-day conference without accommodation. If you book before 30th June you can benefit from reduced “early-bird” prices.

As well as three days of workshops and presentations, TCUK is your opportunity to meet and network with other technical communicators from across the UK and many other countries. We have planned social activities including receptions and a Gala Dinner (where we present the ISTC’s annual technical communication awards). Last year delegates organised a number of popular conference fringe events, from late-night salsa dancing to early morning runs, and there are sure to be similar activities this year.

But the important thing to remember is that TCUK is a fantastic educational experience, giving you three days of concentrated learning. We have even prepared a draft letter to help you persuade your manager that attending TCUK is a learning opportunity that should not be missed.

I look forward to seeing you at TCUK!

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At last someone gets it right

You know me. I’m a passionate advocate of user-focused content. I have frequently criticised people who get the user focus wrong with their products and websites. So the presentations I saw on 19th April at the London Content Strategy Meetup were a revelation, as it looks like someone has got it right at last. Now please sit down while I tell you something shocking: the someone who has got their website right is the UK Government. Continue reading

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Looking forward to TCUK 2012

I’ve been lucky enough to see some of the proposals submitted so far for Technical Communication UK 2012, and I’m really excited. There’s still time left to submit your proposal too!

For the last three years the Technical Communication UK (TCUK) Conference has been the highlight of the technical communication calendar in the UK. This year’s conference promises to be just as good, as we build on the experience we’ve gained since 2009. Continue reading

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Corporate content needs a kick in the pants

(Based on a 5-minute “lightning talk” presentation I gave at the London Content Strategy Meetup on 24 January 2012)

Most of the people who describe their work as “content strategy” are involved with developing and maintaining websites. Websites are the way that commercial organisations communicate with their clients, generate new leads, and build their business. Websites are the way that public organisations communicate with the people who use their services and how they get feedback. If you are a website content specialist you can use detailed analytics to know how many times a page has been visited, where the visitor came from, what they did, and where they went next.  Continue reading

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On Awards and Algorithms

I am very proud to be listed as No. 8 on MindTouch’s list of Tech Comm Influencers for 2011. Nevertheless, and despite that fact that I don’t have a good success record at questioning awards I receive (or don’t receive), I do have a few questions for MindTouch about their list. I suppose that’s just because I’ve always been part of the awkward squad. Continue reading

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Following punctuation rules? Don’t forget to think!

Ugur Akinci published a useful post earlier this week on The Discipline of Punctuation in Technical Writing. I agree with Ugur’s general point, that technical writing needs to display “discipline, precision, and consistency”, and with many of his specific statements, but there is one statement he makes that I think requires some clarification. Continue reading

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Plenty of UK events in 2012

Happy new year everyone. If you are interested in technical communication, information design, or content strategy (or any combination of the three!) there’s a lot going on in the UK in 2012. Here are just a few of the highlights from the first few months of the new year:

Looking ahead to the autumn, the Technical Communication UK 2012 conference is taking place in Newcastle. I have the honour of being Chair of this year’s conference, and I am already working on a long list of tasks. The call for speakers will be published in January, and I’ll post a link about this here as soon as it is.

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The “Minimum Effective Dose” of Content

When I spoke at the Congility Conference in May 2011 I used the phrase “minimum effective dose” to describe the amount of content we need to deliver to our users. This is a phrase that arose in discussions about content strategy at the company where I work, which is a developer of software systems for the clinical trials industry. Many of my work colleagues have spent the whole of their working lives in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors and therefore this sort of analogy to medical practice comes easily to them. It would, therefore, be wrong for me to claim sole authorship of the phrase or its application to technical communication. I am delighted, however, that the phrase has caught on and that eminent speakers in our industry such as Noz Urbina and Rahel Bailie have recently quoted the term from my talk in their own presentations. Continue reading

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