InfoPlus+
June 09
The ISTC is the United
Kingdom’s professional
association for technical
authors, technical
illustrators, and information
designers.
ISTC Office: Airport House,
Purley Way, Croydon,
Surrey CR0 0XZ
Tel: +44 (0)20 8253 4506
Fax: +44 (0)20 8253 4510
Email: istc@istc.org.uk
Web: www.istc.org.uk
This monthly Newsletter
is emailed to about 1500
people. As well as ISTC
news, InfoPlus+ aims to
cover anything of interest
to the profession. To
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office.
Advertising: Felicity Davie
or phone 01344 466600
Editorial: Newsletter Editor
Letters: Letters Editor
Events: Events Editor
Blogs: Blogs Editor
If you’re reading a printed
copy of this newsletter,
go to www.istc.org.uk/
Publications/Newsletter/
newsletter.htm and open it
online to explore the links
mentioned.
© ISTC June 2009
Contents
ISTC news ISTC news......................... 1
Affiliate news..................... 4
Industry news.................... 5
New meeting format for ISTC Blog news.......................... 7
Council Software news................... 8
Science communications
By Marian Newell, FISTC news.................................. 9
Training courses.............. 10
Over the past year, I’ve been approaching Events news.................... 14
corporate members (that’s Member and Events listings................. 15
Back page....................... 18
Fellow grades) to serve on Council. We need
more people to progress initiatives and, just
as important, we need our governing body
to be truly representative.
I’ve found more willingness to stand for
election than I perhaps expected, with the
main obstacles being lack of time to take on
the role and lack of availability to attend the
quarterly meetings in London. We can’t give
people more time but we can do something
about the meetings.
At our May meeting, we voted to adopt a
new approach from this year’s AGM, which
will be held in September near Nottingham.
The November meeting will remain a
face-to-face meeting in London, although
This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers. 1
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attendance won’t be mandatory and it may
be possible for some people to phone in
for parts of the meeting. The intention is
to give newly elected Council members
the opportunity to meet the team and to
facilitate detailed discussions of the strategy
and budgets for the coming year. After that,
meetings will be held online on a weekday
evening every two months (January, March,
May, July, September). We hope that this
will open up Council membership to all
corporate members who are interested,
irrespective of their locations.
You’ll receive nomination forms with the
preliminary AGM papers soon. Do contact
me, Marian Newell, if you would like to know
more about serving on Council or about
finding supporters and getting elected. We
hope you’ll join us in developing the ISTC for
the future.
Local area groups
By Rachel Potts, MISTC
A recent consultation on ISTC membership
benefits highlighted local area groups as
very popular, where they exist. I’m looking
at what we can do to help get local groups
started, and support them once they’re up
and running, and I’d really like to hear about
your experiences:
■■ Have you tried to start a local group, but
had trouble getting it off the ground?
■■ Were you a member of a group which
has now disbanded?
■■ Have you started a group, but you’re not
sure how to keep the momentum going?
Whatever your experience — success or
disaster — I’d love to hear from you: rachel.
potts@red-gate.com.
Spread the word!
By Rachel Potts, MISTC
Putting on a successful conference isn’t
all about the speakers and the workshops.
Delegates tell us every year that one of the
great things about the conference is the
people they meet.
People attend from a range of industries,
and from all sectors of technical
communication — including permanent
employees, contractors, and small
businesses. We think that the broader the
range of delegates, the more successful the
conference will be.
So please help by spreading the word as
much as possible. If you are attending
or running an event over the summer,
you could promote the conference by
distributing flyers. Contact Rachel: rachel.
potts@red-gate.com.

Hyperlinks disclaimer
The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the ISTC of the linked websites, or the
information, products or services contained on those sites. All external hyperlinks were accurate and working at the time of
writing. However, the ISTC does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations, so
the ISTC cannot be responsible for changes to content found at these locations or any material on those sites that may be
inaccurate, misleading or offensive to you.
All links are provided with the intent of meeting the mission of the ISTC and its Newsletter, and the ISTC disclaims any
responsibility for the accuracy, completeness and availability of any linked site.
Please let us know about existing external links which you believe are inappropriate or inaccurate and about specific
additional external links which you believe ought to be included.

© ISTC June 2009 This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers. 2
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Technical Communication UK –
latest
By Paul Ballard, Technical Communication UK
Team
The Technical Communication UK Team
has now selected all 41 presentations for
the Wednesday and Thursday, across three
streams, including one stream dedicated to
XML- and CMS-related topics. In the next
few weeks we will be firming up the Tuesday
pre-conference tools workshops.
The range of topics reflects the breadth of
Eastwood Hall, the venue for Technical Communication UK
© ISTC June 2009
technical communication in the UK. By far,
the majority would be useful and relevant no
matter what tools you use or what you write
about. This is what this new conference
is all about: what we have in common as
professional communicators, the shared
challenges, frustrations and opportunities
we face.
A few of the highlights:
■■ Peter Anghelides of IBM is our Keynote
Speaker
■■ David MacKay of Cambridge University
who was been invited to describe
the approach he took to writing the
critically acclaimed and influential book
‘Sustainable Energy — without the hot
air’
This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers.
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■■ Matthew Ellison will be discussing
pattern language for information
architecture
■■ Andrew Marlow will be providing
practical guidelines about how to start
your own technical authoring business
■■ Justin Collinge, who was the highest-
scoring presenter from last year’s
conference
■■ Adrian Morse who presents MadCap
Flare from a user’s perspective
■■ Noz Urbina on XML: It’s 2009 and We
Still Don’t Get It
■■ Chris Hadley who will be presenting
‘Flipping the switch’— going live with a
CMS and DITA.
The Technical Communication UK team
would like to thank all of this year’s sponsors
and exhibitors for supporting the launch
of this new event; for committing their
resources in a tough economic climate and
for demonstrating their confidence in the
future of technical communication in the UK.
We are also pleased to announce the first
of our Platinum-level sponsors SDL and the
final list of our Gold-level sponsors: 3di, ITR,
DDC Systems, Mekon and Ovidius.
3
Affiliate news the stress out of complicated international
technical writing projects.’
clients in the USA, Europe and New Zealand.
Although we can and will travel to our
‘We are delighted to join the TechComm customer sites, TechComm Alliance gives
TechComm Alliance us the option to work with a local partner
Alliance as a founding member with two
ISTC Business Affiliate Cherryleaf Ltd other outstanding organisations. Our to provide on-site support. Our customers
is joining with Scriptorium Publishing customers are global companies that need benefit from faster support and lower travel
(United States of America) and HyperWrite support worldwide,’ said Sarah O’Keefe, costs.’
(Australia) to create the TechComm Alliance. President, Scriptorium Publishing. ‘The
Ellis Pratt, Sales and Marketing Director TechComm Alliance gives us a trusted Donovan Data Systems: New
at Cherryleaf Ltd, commented: ‘Working network of partners with whom we can Business Affiliate
with TechComm Alliance means that you’re provide technical communication services
around the world.’ The ISTC is
working with technical communicators
pleased to
who are experts in developing large and One major advantage to the consortium is in welcome a
complex user assistance projects and providing local resources for training. Tony new business
content management solutions. We can take Self, Founder of HyperWrite, says: ‘We have affiliate.
Donovan Data Systems (DDS) creates media
buying, digital advertising and agency
TechComm Alliance is an international consortium of technical communication service
workflow services, systems and software for
providers, www.techcommalliance.com.
the world’s most successful agencies. DDS
Scriptorium Publishing provides expert advice on how to develop, deploy, and manage work with clients every step of the way, from
content. The company is based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA; www. creative brief to billing and paying.
scriptorium.com.
For more information, visit
Cherryleaf Limited is a technical communication company based in the United Kingdom. www.dds.co.uk.
The company has expertise in single sourcing (reusing content) and online Help with
locations in Brighton, Heathrow (London) and Oxford (Thame); www.cherryleaf.com.
HyperWrite is an Australian hypertext solution company, founded in 1993. The company
provides specialized hypertext and Web consultancy services, training, and produces For a full list of the ISTC’s current Business Affiliates, see
the very successful annual Australasian Online Documentation and Content (AODC) www.istc.org.uk/Business_affiliates/ba_home.htm.
You can read more about the scheme at
Conference, now in its eleventh year; www.hyperwrite.com. www.istc.org.uk/Membership/business_affiliates.htm.

© ISTC June 2009 This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers. 4
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Industry news
Government publishing
consultation described as
‘inadequate’
A new report to improve skills for the
publishing industry was described by
a major professional organisation as
‘inadequate’. The Society for Editors and
Proofreaders (SfEP) criticised in detail
Skillset’s consultation process 12 months
after the Publishing Skills Council was
launched.
Katharine Timberlake, SfEP’s marketing
and PR director, said: ‘Questions were not
asked, answers were not given and the
evidence was patchy and poorly presented.
Important issues and valuable opportunities
are in danger of being overlooked because
the strategy is based on an ill-prepared
consultation paper.’
Skillset, the Sector Skills Council for
Creative Media, was given responsibility for
publishing skills in April 2008, to consult on
training and recruitment needs across the
industry. The resulting consultation focused
on both the demand for and investment in
© ISTC June 2009 This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers.
InfoPlus+ is posted at www.istc.org.uk/Publications/Newsletter/newsletter.htm.
skills, and also in raising the perceived skill
level within the current workforce.
The SfEP’s principal criticism of the
consultation concerned the lack of data.
Skillset had:
■■ not consulted the self-employed even
though they are a significant part of the
workforce
■■ no knowledge of current training
provision
■■ ignored public information publishers
■■ displayed low standards of research and
publishing protocols.
Gerard Hill, SfEP’s mentoring director,
said: ‘Our suggestions for the strategy are
based on experience of the changes and
challenges facing the publishing sector.’
Kersti Wagstaff, an advanced SfEP
member, says: ‘Government policy is
barely conscious of publishing other than
newspapers and magazines.’
The SfEP reported that it was waiting to see
whether the final strategy had incorporated
its ideas.
AMEC announces its 2009 Awards
Programme
The Association for Measurement and
Evaluation of Communication (AMEC),
has announced the categories for its
Communication Effectiveness Awards
programme for 2009.
A new category is Student of the Year,
eligible to any student of the online AMEC
College judged on a 2000 word essay
on ‘Why Communication Evaluation is
important during an economic downturn.’
Barry Leggetter, Executive Director of
AMEC, said: ‘In a recession our members
are doing important work in demonstrating
to corporate teams and PR consultancies
that their campaigns are working. I am
confident we are going to get some strong
entries this year.’
Now in their eighth year, the objective
of the Awards is to recognise and
promote best practice in communication
planning, research and measurement.
The programme is open to in-house and
consultancy practitioners across the PR and
communication industry as well as AMEC
members.
5
The Awards will be judged by an International Development Journalism Competition 2009 Launched
independent panel of communication
professionals from academic, consultancy
and in-house backgrounds. The Chairman
of the Judges is Trevor Morris, Visiting
Professor, University of Westminster, London
Leading global family planning organisation, ‘Marie Stopes International is proud
and former head of the QBO agency and
Marie Stopes International (MSI), has to continue its support this innovative
CEO of Chime’s PR division.
joined The Guardian and the Department competition,’ said Michael Holscher, MSI
The final closing deadline for entries is 8 for International Development (DFID) to Director of External Affairs. ‘Good journalism
July 2009. The Awards Ceremony will be launch the second annual The Guardian is one of the most compelling ways to draw
held in London on Wednesday 18 November International Development Journalism attention to international development
2009. More information is available at: www. Competition. stories that otherwise struggle to be heard.’
amecorg.com.
The success of this unique competition According to Holscher, MSI was amazed
last year prompted the co-sponsors MSI, by the number of entries last year for such
Winning Documentation
Project Management the Guardian, DFID and GlaxoSmithKline a demanding competition: ‘We hope and
Solutions to renew their support for the competition, expect we will get even more entrants this
3di has the expertise to scope,
which encourages journalists and amateur year.’
resource, manage and deliver writers to write about some of the most The other international development NGOs
documentation projects to meet your
time, budget and quality targets. important issues facing the developing supporting the project this year are British
world today. Red Cross, African Medical and Research
� Reliable in-house project
management skills Last year, the competition attracted over Foundation, Farm Africa, Find Your Feet
� Access to leading UK and offshore- 400 entrants, generating unprecedented International Childcare Trust, One World
based resources ensuring the best
mix of expertise to meet your project news coverage for some key development Action and Panos London.
needs
issues. Topics ranged from reproductive For details of the competition, visit: www.
Commitment to implement proven
health challenges in the slums of Dhaka
�

methods and communicate regularly guardian.co.uk/developmentcompetition.

� Tools-independent - best of breed and Mumbai, to older people murdered for The deadline for entries is 30 June 2009.
technical solutions witchcraft in Tanzania, to one of the winning
Call us: 01483 211533
articles on young people’s response to For further information, contact: Diana
High Street, Ripley,
Woking, Surrey climate change in the Philippines. Thomas, Communications Manager, Marie
GU23 6AF Stopes International. Tel: 020 7034 2317
www.3di-info.com Email: diana.thomas@mariestopes.org.
© ISTC June 2009 This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers. 6
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Blog news
Experience, trends and techniques
By Gordon McLean, MISTC
Halfway through the year already, and many
bloggers are taking stock of what they’ve
accomplished so far before looking forward
to the challenges ahead. A lot of that
thinking is centred around the position that
technical documentation occupies and how
best to shift to position it for the future.
Louis Marascio writes about Documentation
as a Point of Experience and how in the
current climate, with the focus on building
customer loyalty, we should ‘Understand
that your users ultimately want answers
and give them a way to build a community
without jumping through hoops. Use your
documentation as a seed to grow happy
users and I think you’ll find that the return on
your documentation investment will increase
dramatically.’
Paul Mueller picks up on various trends in
his post about Technical Communication
Trends and Ideas. With talk of Wikis and
conversations, personalised content, and
the delivery of technical information via
social media channels, there does seem
© ISTC June 2009 This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers.
InfoPlus+ is posted at www.istc.org.uk/Publications/Newsletter/newsletter.htm.
momentum building around these areas.
I recently had a developer ask why our
Quick links to the bloggers and their
blogs
documentation wasn’t published to a Wiki.
Louis Marascio:
Ever had to tackle writing up best practice http://blog.lugiron.com/2009/05/documentation-
guidelines? If so I’m sure you’ll have asked point-of-experience.
the same question that Amy Blankenship Paul Mueller:
asks, Who Decides? ‘How does one join this http://www.useraid.com/blog/2009/05/13/trends-
group of highly advanced people that are so and-ideas .
much more knowing than us mere mortals Amy Blankenship:
about best practices?’ Thankfully Amy
http://www.insideria.com/2009/05/who-decides.
provides five ways to join that group. html.
How you present information is important, Eddie Vanarsdall:
and in his post The Proximity Effect, http://www.vanarsdall-infodesign.
Eddie Vanarsdall discusses how small com/2009/05/08/the-proximity-effect.
improvements in presentation can make Jennie Ruby:
your information far more usable: ‘Proximity http://iconlogic.blogs.com/weblog/2009/05/
may seem like a small, insignificant editing-with-ms-word-2007-plan-the-track-
design aspect, but it is a key principle for changes-workflow.html .
structuring information and promoting Anne Wayman:
comprehension. When you are creating http://www.aboutfreelancewriting.com/2009/05/6-
content for print or the Web, pay attention to tips-for-proofreading-your-own-writing.
how you block the information.’ Rhonda Bracey:
On to more practical matters and Jennie http://www.cybertext.com.au/10353.htm .
Ruby offers a guide to Editing With MS Word Sarah Maddox:
2007: Plan the Track Changes Workflow http://en.wordpress.com/tag/aodc.
something which has vexed me in the
past, Anne Wayman provides 6 Tips for
Proofreading Your Own Writing (it’s not
aimed at technical writing but some good
7
ideas there), and Rhonda Bracey offers her
slides for a presentation titled Techniques
for Reviewing a User Interface, useful if
you’ve ever been asked to provide feedback
on a user interface.
And finally Sarah Maddox has been writing
up her notes from the recent Australasian
Online Documentation and Content
Conference, many of which talk about
improving the Point of Experience provided
by technical documentation and online help.
If you are toying with setting up your own
technical writing blog, or if you have any
questions, please feel free to get in touch.
Similarly if you have a technical writing blog
that you think should be featured here, do let
me know. Contact: blogs@istc.org.uk.
A technical writer for almost 15 years,
Gordon has been blogging for about 10 of
those. He monitors a large breadth of blogs
covering most aspects of both technical
communications and software development.
You can download the full list of RSS feeds
from his blog at www.onemanwrites.co.uk.
© ISTC June 2009 This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers.
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Software news the highest quality using the Raw Photo
Studio
■■ High Dynamic Range imaging – combine
Serif launches PhotoPlus X3
shots with different exposures for
Digital Studio stunning HDR photos
UK-based design, ■■ High Colour Images – work with 48-bit
publishing, and colour photos for the highest quality
creative software results
developer, Serif
(Europe) Ltd, ■■ Quick and easy image correction and
has released a enhancement with the addition of more
new version of Studios
its digital photo ■■ New effects such as realistic metal and
editing software. glass effects add subtle reflections to
PhotoPlus X3 Digital create eye-catching special effects
Studio offers high-
end image editing ■■ Microsoft HD Photo support – open
and save in this new format which
capabilities and enhanced ease of use,
aimed at making advanced photo editing offers significantly better compression
more accessible and affordable. efficiency.
‘Serif is thrilled to announce the release of
Sophisticated features such as High
PhotoPlus X3 which makes it even easier
Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging, Raw Photo
Studio and 48-bit image editing are included, to fix photos and add professional effects
to images,’ says Gary Bates, Managing
while the QuickFix, Makeover and other
task-focused studios are designed to offer Director of Serif. ‘PhotoPlus X3 offers an
professional quality fixes. unsurpassed combination of usable features
and high-end digital darkroom power
Key new features and benefits include: making it the ideal choice for anyone looking
■■ Raw image processing – process and to get the most from their digital photos.’
fix Raw images from digital cameras at For more information, visit: www.serif.com.
8
FatWire ranks as top software
solution for web experience
optimisation
Leveraging the certified assessment
methodology of the worldwide quality
standard ISO 9001:2000, the Yphise Award
ranks software solutions in more than
170 technical or functional assessment
categories. FatWire Content Server earned
high marks in the assessment for increasing
the agility of businesses in setting up and
managing websites, optimising web content
to support corporate objectives, increasing
business activity on the web, and facilitating
website deployment.
Fatwire Content Server
© ISTC June 2009 This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers.
InfoPlus+ is posted at www.istc.org.uk/Publications/Newsletter/newsletter.htm.
‘Web experience management and
optimisation are critical drivers for marketing Science
success and business efficiency,’ said
Loren Weinberg, FatWire Vice President of communications news
Marketing and Product Management. ‘This
award is an important testament to the Euroscience Media Awards
high quality of FatWire’s products, as well Euroscience has announced that its existing
as the completeness of our vision and our journalism awards will, from 2009, be
commitment to helping customers achieve expanded to include awards for popular
their goals online.’ television and research media relations.
Original sponsors, Euroscience Stiftung
have been joined by Johnson and Johnson
About FatWire
Pharmaceutical Research & Development,
For more information about FatWire
Europe, and the AlphaGalileo Foundation to
Software, visit: www.fatwire.com.
provide an opportunity for everyone involved
in securing more and better media coverage
for European research to showcase their
About Yphise
work. The journalistic awards have the
Yphise is an support of the European Union of Science
independent Journalists Associations.
company that
conducts ongoing
research to help
business and IT
executives make
sound IT investment
decisions. For more
information, visit:
www.yphise.com.
9
The awards will be presented annually: in
the autumn of 2009 in Hannover and in July
2010 at the Euroscience Open Forum Torino.
The awards are:
■■ 
The Euroscience Stiftung Young
Journalists Award
■■ The Euroscience Stiftung Lifetime
Journalism Award
■■ The Johnson and Johnson Award for
R&D/Science TV journalism Award
■■ The AlphaGalileo Award for Research
Public Relations Award.
The closing date for the competitive awards
(television and public relations) is 30 June
2009.
Applications for the TV and media
relations awards must be made via the
website. 
Awards will be worth €5,000 each
apart from the Young Journalist category
where the sponsors reserve the right to
award one award of €5,000 or two awards
of €2,500. 
Additional sponsors of new or
existing awards will be welcome in future
years. For further information, visit:
www.eurosciencemediaawards.org.
© ISTC June 2009 This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers.
InfoPlus+ is posted at www.istc.org.uk/Publications/Newsletter/newsletter.htm.
Training courses 8-9 Adobe Dreamweaver Training
Course — Introduction
This two-day training course is
June suitable for those about to use
Adobe Dreamweaver for creating
5 Introduction to Technical and managing web pages. The
Authoring course includes understanding the
This is an intensive one-day course development process, creating
ideal for people who are not career and laying out a new site, adding
technical authors. It covers project content, understanding and
planning, writing from a design, authoring cascading style sheets
structuring documents, good (CSS), adding and editing graphics,
writing practice, punctuation and building navigation and creating
grammar, navigation techniques, jump menus, designing web
proofreading and standards. forms, and publishing, testing and
maintaining your site.
10% discount for ISTC members.
Mekon Creatives, Sutton, Surrey.
Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands.
www.mekon-creatives.com/
www.armadaonline.co.uk/
courses.cfm
techauthortraining
8-10 Advanced Technical Authoring
Listings are restricted to scheduled courses that are
low cost or are in some way unusual. Listings are a
Techniques
service to members. A listing does not imply ISTC This is an intensive course for
career technical authors who want
endorsement.
If you hear of any training courses that you think to improve their skill set and the
might be of interest to InfoPlus+ readers, please quality and effectiveness of the
contact the Newsletter copyeditor newsletter.editor@ documentation they produce.
istc.org.uk.
If you would like to promote your course or event 10% discount for ISTC members.
to ISTC members, why not consider giving ISTC
members a discount for courses and events listed Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands.
in our newsletter. For more information, please email www.armadaonline.co.uk
istc@istc.org.uk. techauthortraining
10
...June
11 Adobe Photoshop Training
Course - Intermediate
This one-day course is aimed at
delegates with previous experience
of Photoshop. The course will
take a look at Photoshop tools,
shortcuts and techniques which will
maximise productivity and save you
from hours of experimentation and
exploration.
15 Adobe InDesign Training Course
— Tips & Tricks
This one-day course is designed
for people who have previous
experience of the InDesign
software. You will learn how to use
the software to streamline day-to-
day production.
Mekon Creatives, Sutton, Surrey.
www.mekon-creatives.com/
courses.cfm
24 Advanced Adobe FrameMaker 9
This course teaches FrameMaker’s
advanced features when working
in unstructured mode. Covers
variables, books, contents, index
and cross-references.
10% discount for ISTC members.
Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands.
www.armadaonline.co.uk/
adobetraining

Mekon Creatives, Sutton, Surrey. 25-26 Introduction to

22-23 Basic/Intermediate Adobe
www.mekon-creatives.com/
courses.cfm
11-12 Introduction to
Adobe RoboHelp 8
This is a course for beginners that
teaches how to use RoboHelp to
create online help in most popular
formats and produce hard copy
guides in Word and PDF format
from the same project. It covers the
use of advanced features including
templates, and stylesheets, etc.
10% discount for ISTC members.
Adobe Captivate 4
FrameMaker 9
This course for beginners teaches
This course provides beginners
how to create software simulations,
with a thorough grounding in
demos and tutorials for your
FrameMaker. Starting from
application. 10% discount for ISTC
first principles, delegates learn
members.
how to create new documents,
modify existing ones and use 10% discount for ISTC members.
FrameMaker’s most popular Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands.
features.
www.armadaonline.co.uk/
10% discount for ISTC members. adobetraining
Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands.
www.armadaonline.co.uk/
adobetraining

Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands.

www.armadaonline.co.uk/
techauthortraining
© ISTC June 2009 This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers. 11
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 >THINK DIFFERENTLY
>THINK COMMUNICATION
Course starting in September 2009 via
e-learning in
• MA Technical Communication
• MA e-Communication
• MA Corporate Communication
• MA Professional Communication
• MA Communication and Media

PART-TIME COURSES
THAT WORK FOR YOU
For more information please visit
www.shu.ac.uk/media/mapipc

© ISTC June 2009 This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers. 12
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...June
22-23 Adobe Flash Training Course —
ActionScript Advanced
This two-day course is intended
for the intermediate to advanced
Adobe Flash animator who wants to
learn ActionScript programming to
add more complex interactivity to
their movies than simple navigation.
Familiarity with Mac or Windows
operating system and some
previous experience of Adobe Flash
is recommended.
Mekon Creatives, Sutton, Surrey.
www.mekon-creatives.com/
courses.cfm
23-24 Adobe InDesign Training Course
— Introduction
This two-day course is suitable for
those with no previous experience
of Adobe InDesign or those who
are self taught. You will learn how
to produce documentation from
design concept right through to
output. Practical projects will range
from creating single sided literature
to longer publications incorporating
text and graphic elements to
achieve appropriate layouts.
© ISTC June 2009 This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers.
InfoPlus+ is posted at www.istc.org.uk/Publications/Newsletter/newsletter.htm.
Mekon Creatives, Sutton, Surrey.
www.mekon-creatives.com/
courses.cfm
26 Adobe Acrobat 8
This one-day course is aimed at
completely new Adobe Acrobat 8
users. On successful completion of
this course, students will be able
to: Access information in a PDF
document; create PDF documents;
modify PDF documents; add PDF
navigation aids; work with multiple
PDF documents and review PDF
documents.
Mekon Creatives, Sutton, Surrey.
www.mekon-creatives.com/
courses.cfm
29 Adobe InDesign Training Course
— Migration Course
This one-day course is designed for
experienced users of any version of
QuarkXPress to make an effortless
transition to Adobe InDesign. It will
take your existing QuarkXPress
skills and convert them to the
InDesign equivalents.
Mekon Creatives, Sutton, Surrey.
www.mekon-creatives.com/
courses.cfm
29-30 Adobe Photoshop Training
Course — Introduction
This two-day course enables
delegates with no previous
experience of Photoshop or those
with a repro background, and an
understanding of related theory, to
acquire a level of theoretical and
practical proficiency and to adapt it
their personal expertise.
Mekon Creatives, Sutton, Surrey.
www.mekon-creatives.com/
courses.cfm
30 Adobe InDesign Training Course
— Advanced
This one-day course is suitable
for those have attended the
introductory level course, or have
an equivalent level of knowledge.
The course is designed to expand
your InDesign skill set with new
techniques for applying master
pages, styles, text control,
sectioning, and XML.
Mekon Creatives, Sutton, Surrey.
www.mekon-creatives.com/
courses.cfm
13
July
9-10 Introduction to Adobe InDesign
This course provides a
comprehensive introduction
to the powerful capabilities of
InDesign, including setting up new
documents, shapes, frames and
using InDesign’s most popular
features.
10% discount for ISTC members.
Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands.
www.armadaonline.co.uk/
printdesigntraining
17 Introduction to Technical
Authoring
This intensive one-day course is
ideal for people who are not career
technical authors, but who need
to carry out such work. It covers
project planning, writing from a
design, structuring documents,
good writing practice, punctuation
and grammar, navigation
techniques, proofreading and
standards.
10% discount for ISTC members.
Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands.
www.armadaonline.co.uk/
techauthortraining
© ISTC June 2009 This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers.
InfoPlus+ is posted at www.istc.org.uk/Publications/Newsletter/newsletter.htm.
29-31 Advanced Technical Authoring
Techniques
This intensive course is designed
for career technical authors who
want to improve their skill set and
the quality and effectiveness of the
documentation they produce.
10% discount for ISTC members.
Armada, Bromsgrove, Midlands.
www.armadaonline.co.uk/
techauthortraining
Events news
‘8x8 London’: Live design event to
inspire designers
ilovedesign.com in association with Quark
and Design Week magazine has announced
a new live design event in London. Following
the sell-out David Carson event last summer,
8x8 London will feature eight highly talented
designers that have just eight minutes each
to share what inspires them, where they get
their ideas from and what motivates them to
create exceptional designs.
‘The event will be fast paced, packed
with interesting thoughts and ideas with
plenty of time for a drink and a chance to
network afterwards.’ said Sarah Harwood,
ilovedesign.com manager.
8x8 London takes place at 7:30pm on
Wednesday 1 July, at Imperial College,
London. Tickets are priced at £15 each with
a student concession price of £10 (students
should bring their student ID with them). To
14
purchase a ticket and find out more, visit:
ilovedesign.eventbrite.com.
For more information about Quark Inc., visit:
www.quark.com/en.
Conference: Accessibility in
Technical Communication and the
Workplace
The Society for Technical Communication
(STC) UK and Ireland chapter has
announced a major event in Cambridge
for 13 and 14 June 2009. Designed to
give practical information, the conference
presents quality speakers to help you
gain a competitive edge for your products
and services. The training and lecture
programme is designed to be useful and
insightful as well as affordable and will
include workshops on website design and
accessibility standards in the USA and EU.
Full details of the conference are on the STC
UK and Ireland Chapters web site at: www.
stcuk.org/index.php.
Online bookings can be made by visiting:
accessibilitytechcomms.eventbrite.com.
© ISTC June 2009 This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers.
InfoPlus+ is posted at www.istc.org.uk/Publications/Newsletter/newsletter.htm.
Events listings
June
4 SDS June talk. The London
Underground Map: Design
Challenges and Challenging
Designs
A talk by Maxwell Roberts.
Sometimes called a design classic,
the London Underground map has
been a part of London for decades.
With more and more additions,
the challenge to produce clear,
attractive maps places increasing
demands on its designers. Max
Roberts, a lecturer in psychology
at the University of Essex, asks
why maps based on Henry Beck’s
design principles help us to plan
journeys; does following the rules
always guarantee the best possible
design; and what happens when we
break the rules?
London, UK.
www.signdesignsociety.co.uk/
content.php?folder_id=21
8-10 Localization World 2009
Dr. Norbert Walter, Chief Economist
of Deutsche Bank Group, will be the
keynote speaker.
Berlin, Germany.
www.localizationworld.com/
lwber2009/program.php
13-14 Accessibility in Technical
Communication and the
Workplace
Conference organised by the STC
UK and Ireland Chapters. See Event
news for more details.
Cambridge, UK.
www.stcuk.org/index.php
This section introduces new events and reminders of
the most relevant events in the coming months. ISTC
events are highlighted.
You can view previous events listings on the ISTC
website’s Newsletter archive at www.istc.org.uk/
Publications/Newsletter/newsletter.htm
To include an event in the listings, please email
events@istc.org.uk
15
...June
9-19 & 23 Tcworld roadshows
A series of one-day events planned
by tekom with the aim of promoting
technical communication as an
industry and to draw attention to
the upcoming tcworld conference
in November. The roadshows
will deal with the main topics
of the conference: information
development, content management,
terminology, translation and
localization, visual communication,
standards and guidelines, technical
authoring, process optimization and
quality management.
9th in Prague, 18th in Moscow, 19th
in Milan, and 23rd in Barcelona.
www.tekom.de/index_neu.jsp?url=/
servlet/ControllerGUI?action=voll&i
d=2698
© ISTC June 2009 This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers.
InfoPlus+ is posted at www.istc.org.uk/Publications/Newsletter/newsletter.htm.
10-12 AMEC/IPR 1st European Summit 15-16 Web Content 2009 Chicago:
on Measurement Delivering Personalized Dynamic
The International Association for Web Content
the Measurement and Evaluation Call for presentations is open as of
of Communication’s (AMEC) first 27 January.
summit on measurement. Chicago, Illinois.
Berlin, Germany.
www.webcontentconferences.
www.amecorg.com com/2009/news/call_
for_presentations_open_
13-14 Accessibility in technical january_27_2009/
communication and the
workplace 30 How to reduce technical
The UK and Ireland Chapter of the documentation costs and add
STC is running a two day event in value for your customers
Cambridge. There is a discount for Seminar held at Hilton Puckrup Hall
ISTC and tekom members. Hotel.
Cambridge, UK. Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.
www.stcuk.org/content/view/118/13 www.techdocseminars.info
16
July
13-15 Association Congress 09
The Association Congress is a key
event for executives concerned
with providing a high-value
service to members in the area of
events, membership, education,
online services, publishing and
networking; as well as the strategic
development of their organisation.
London, UK.
www.associationcongress.com/
27-28 The Summer XML 2009
Conference
Presentation submissions are
now being accepted for this XML
conference.
Raleigh, North Carolina USA.
www.aboveandbeyondlearning.
com/xmlconference.html
© ISTC June 2009 This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers.
InfoPlus+ is posted at www.istc.org.uk/Publications/Newsletter/newsletter.htm.
September
13-15 SfEP AGM and 20th annual 22-24 Technical Communication UK
conference: Editing in the 21st Technical Communication UK
century is the new annual conference
The Society for Editors and that aims to meet the needs of
Proofreaders will hold its 20th technical communicators, their
annual conference at the University managers and clients, from
of York. every corner of the industry.
York, UK. It will deliver more than 30
sessions over the three days, with
sfep.org.uk/pub/confs/conferences. presentations, workshops, case
asp studies, and hands-on product
demonstrations from experts
14-16 The RealWorld DITA 2009 in their field. Call for papers is
Conference currently open (visit the web site).
Presentation submissions are Nottingham, UK.
now being accepted for this DITA
conference. www.technicalcommunicationuk.
com
Raleigh, North Carolina USA.
www.aboveandbeyondlearning.
com/ditaconference.html
16-19 EASE Conference 2009: Integrity
in Science Communication
The tenth EASE general assembly
and conference.
Pisa, Italy.
www.ease.org.uk/con/index.shtml
17
Back page
Sir Tim Berners-Lee to receive
webby lifetime achievement award
It might seem like the most obvious person
to be the recipient of an award for his
contribution to the World Wide Web, but
at the 13th Annual Webby Awards, Sir Tim
Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide
Web, is to be honoured with the Webby
Lifetime Achievement Award.
Berners-Lee created the first versions of the
technologies – including HTML, URL, and
HTTP – that turned the Internet, previously
a domain of scientists and researchers only,
into a mass medium. Since he invented the
Web twenty years ago, Berners-Lee has
remained its most active and passionate
advocate, working tirelessly to ensure that
it remains open, free, and a tool for helping
humankind. He founded the World Wide
Web Consortium in 1994 and currently
serves as director of the World Wide Web
Foundation and co-director of the Web
Science Research Initiative (WSRI). He
was knighted in 2004 and was elected as a
foreign associate of the National Academy
of Sciences earlier this year.
© ISTC June 2009 This is the Newsletter for technical authors, technical illustrators and information designers.
InfoPlus+ is posted at www.istc.org.uk/Publications/Newsletter/newsletter.htm.
Well, that’s clear then!
Charles White, of Craigton
Technical Services Ltd, had the
following as a translation from
Japanese when he was carrying
out some work for a major shipping
company. This is verbatim:
‘When the pressure of the main
hydraulic line came down bellow
set value or in case of fire or in
an emergency, the ESDS valve of
shore connection switches the
Sir Tim Berners-Lee
solenoid valve for use of ESDS
‘Sir Tim Berners-Lee sealed his place in history valve in the I.S. solenoid valve
with the creation of the Web, but more importantly, box installed on the upper deck
he guided its development as a tool for promoting owing to signals (OFF) from cargo
creativity and humanitarian values,’ said David- console, and be closed urgently
Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby owing to the pressure oil collected
Awards. ‘It is an honour to pay tribute to a brilliant in the accumulator for exclusive
pioneer responsible for creating the most influential use of the ESDS valve.’
mass medium the world has seen.’
It took a long time poring over
The Webby Awards are presented by the International drawings and speaking to the
Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 650-person Japanese supplier to get a proper
judging academy whose members include David understanding of the Emergency
Bowie, Harvey Weinstein, Arianna Huffington, Matt Shut Down System.
Groening, Vinton Cerf, and Richard Branson.
You can find out more about this at
If you have any material suitable for the back
www.webbyawards.com. page, please submit it to: newsletter.editor@
istc.org.uk.
18