WebWorks is an Austin-based company. We have been here for over 20 years. I am a native Texan. I have lived here all my life. I was in Dallas during the heat wave of 1980—a 42-day string of high temperatures over 100 degrees. You could literally fry an egg on the sidewalk for breakfast. So let me tell you, when I got off the plane in Phoenix and said, “Damn, it’s pretty hot,” it was hot.
It was hot and beautiful, and the perfect setting for STC Summit 2014. I took all the precautions with my crew. “Drink plenty of water,” I told them. In heat like that, water is evaporated right out of your skin. It doesn’t hurt to mix a little Scotch in with that water. I am a Gin man myself, but we were talking survival here. Lucky for us, the conference was going to be another huge success.

I think for me, this conference started off better than any other had before. We were staying at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Phoenix, and inside the hotel, there is a restaurant named Networks. Doug Pocius is the beverage manager there—go in and say hi if you get a chance—and the food is fantastic. I met Kent on the first day, and we started talking normal hotel restaurant talk, like, “Hey, what you doing in town?” “Where are you from?” “No sir, it is not that kind of hotel.” Just the typical small talk. Kent was telling me what he does outside of working at the hotel, and we had a very interesting conversation. He told me about his band and the different sound equipment he uses while they are performing. I asked him if he ever used the manual on any of those, and he said, “The manuals just aren’t convenient for me, so I just pretty much figure it out on my own.” He explained what was convenient for him was forums and just word of mouth. He said, “You know, the manuals probably have all that information, but it is not easy to find. I mean, use the terms I am familiar with, or put it on my phone. It is easier for me to look stuff up on my phone.” I told him that was great feedback, and I was heading into a building where a lot of smart people were going to figure out how to give him exactly what he wants. Kent seemed to appreciate that, and really that is what it is all about: making our audience happy.

So, with Kent’s feedback in mind, I hit the conference.   The first day was fast for me and the team. Jack and Lauren headed to the exhibition floor with our channel partner, Georg Eck from SQUIDDS. Georg’s team has developed tools and a workflow for the most advanced mobile delivery system I have ever seen, but I will have to get to that later. The Phoenix Convention Center is just a fun place to be. It looks modern, bright, and new. Walking in just got my blood pumping and made me glad I came.

I gave my first presentation at 9:45. It was titled “How to Get What You Want, When You Need It.” I have been on the presentation circuit for a while, and I have seen some fantastic presentations. We all talk about building the importance of documentation and how we can improve workflows, systems, and content to increase value. It had dawned on me that we really have not spent a lot of time teaching technical communicators how to pitch these fantastic ideas so they can get upper management approval, or as I like to call it, “buy in.” So I went through a five-step process on how to position those ideas to give the best opportunity for buy in. Before you ask, no there are no slides for that presentation. One of the skills you need to pitch your ideas is that of listening. You also have to be the one to start the conversation, so for my presentation, I told the audience they would not have any slides and would have to practice their listening skills while we were going through the presentation. I also stated, “Without any references, you are going to have to ask questions in the presentation. Let’s get you talking, because this is a conversation you are going to have to start.” I think it went well.
My second presentation was with Bernard Aschwanden from Publishing Smarter. We talked about having a revenue-generating mindset when developing content. Bernard has been in the business for a while, and as a consultant has helped a lot of companies look at their content with that mindset. The two of us on stage offered a lot of useful information, and a lot of entertainment. I really like presenting with Bernard; we have similar styles, and even though we get detoured, the trip is well worth it.

Monday night was karaoke night. That is pretty much all I remember about Monday night, and I have been told all pictures have been destroyed. This is just one of those reasons why it benefits people to actually attend STC.

   Tuesday started off with as much energy as Monday. That is one of my favorite things about STC Summit. Everyone is excited to be there. There were a lot of first timers, and tons of them came by the booth to see Jack and Lauren. We are launching a new product this year, CloudDrafts, and we were giving sneak previews at the booth—another benefit to attending in person. CloudDrafts is a collaborative management system. We understand there are a lot of collaborative tools out there, but none of them are really designed for technical communication workflows or have the management features needed to run projects with a team.

The next presentation we attended was Jack Molisani’s “Monetizing Your Content.” Good, good presentation with some charts that will blow your mind. If you didn’t go, I would recommend getting on the STC website and getting a pass for those presentations: http://www.stc.org/education/technical-communications-summit/summit-at-a-click

The last conference presentation for me was with Georg Eck, our German Channel Partner. Georg was presenting his case study with Bihler. The case study solved a multi-device publishing problem Bihler was having. Bihler makes these huge stamping machines. They range anywhere from 500 to 2 mil Euros. On all of these machines is a touch screen used to control and adjust the machine itself. It is also used to display the help manuals when requested. Like my friend Kent, the technicians that were working on these machines did not find it convenient to switch back and forth from a control panel and PDF on the same display. It was actually very unproductive. Georg and his team came up with a workflow that could deliver the manuals to a mobile device that the technicians carry with them—any device the technician prefers. All the technician has to do is walk up to the machine that needs service. On the machine are individual QR codes. The technician scans the QR code with his/her mobile device, and the correct manual for service loads. Bihler loved the results. They showed the workflow off at a conference, and they increased new sales by 2%. Next year, they are outfitting their entire sales team with iPads so they can show the workflow in their demos. What a way to end a conference, with a case study that showed just how important and revenue centric documentation can be. I didn’t think it could get any better, but I had forgotten about the awards show that night.
The last night of the conference always includes the awards show. Deserving recipients collect awards for achievements they earned throughout the year. The Society of Technical Communication recognizes exemplary performance on the national as well as the local level. It is a well-deserved banquet, and yes everyone cuts loose and has some fun. Here is a quick video: 2014 STC Summit Awards
It was an awesome Summit, and again, I am glad we were there as presenters, exhibitors, and attendees. If you have any questions or want to know more about where we are going next, just email me at christopher@webworks.com.

DITA North America this year was held in the sunny city of Seattle. Now I know that sounds a little funny at first, especially if you are familiar with Seattle, but the weather was fantastic. I had been to Seattle once before to visit Boeing. If you have never been, you can see when first arriving that Seattle is a true industrial harbor.

Warehouses and cranes edge up right to the water line just thirsty for work. Every time I see the cranes for moving goods on and off the ships, they remind me of large metal orange giraffes—moving slowly but gracefully, never stopping until the job is done. That view with the mountains in the backdrop just really makes Seattle one of the most unique places to fly in to.

Another thing that made DITA North America special for me this year was having Bernard Aschwanden in the WebWorks booth. I think the message is finally getting out that if you use the Open Tool Kit to generate output, you need to be looking at ePublisher. That generated a lot of traffic to the booth, and even though we are the experts when it comes to generating output from DITA, Bernard is a guru when it comes to transitioning to DITA or improving your current DITA process. I thought it would be good for attendees to have someone to talk to about their situation and offer help when needed. It was a huge hit for the attendees, although Bernard and I almost didn’t make it to the conference.

Bernard’s flight was delayed, so I called the hotel to let them know we were checking in a little late. Suzanne from Vasont Systems, a good friend and awesome partner with WebWorks, was kind enough to wait with me in the airport. I was telling Suzanne that every phone call I’d had with The Westin about our reservations had seemed a little odd, starting when I called back in March to book our rooms. She said, “Give me an example.” I told her we asked for a suite with two king beds, and they replied that they could put the request in the notes, but they couldn’t guarantee it so far out. I thought that was a little odd since we were only a month away. When I called from the airport, I asked about the room, and they had the same non-committal attitude. I was a little concerned.

Bernard finally hit Tecoma International, and we headed to The Westin. Upon our arrival, they could not find our reservation. I was ready, because of my sense of impending doom, and I threw down our confirmation number. Type, Type, Type on the keyboard and AHA! He found us. Unfortunately, the reservation was made for April 27^th of 2015. I just said no. The front desk attendant looked at me with a blank face, not understanding. He was still smiling, but the word “no” seemed out of place to him, as though he were not sure how to interpret my use of it.

I then said, “Who calls in a hotel reservation and gives the year? You say, I would like to make a reservation for April the 27^th, or May the 21^st, but never Tuesday, March 22nd of 2024. It just doesn’t make any sense.” What did make sense to me finally were all the previous conversations: “We can’t guarantee that, sir, this far in advance.” Never did it dawn on me that they assumed we were making a reservation for next year. After presenting my argument, the front desk agreed, and this is where customer service and customer experience has made me a loyal Westin traveler. They hooked us up with the best possible room.

The view overlooked the harbor I love, and Bernard and I could not believe our favor.

I often say that content can be the most pivotal asset to a company’s continued success. The informed consumer demands information before they make a purchase. The reason is they understand the benefits of being informed. Companies understand that retaining customers is what generates revenue. Let me put those fragmented thoughts together. Upsets come from two things: miscommunications, or expectations that were not realized. Both are what caused my upset at the front desk.

At that point, the staff had to exceed my expectations to deliver a positive customer experience. They don’t always have the ability to do that. If that suite had not been available, or if a room were not available, then I would have left and never returned. As a business, you don’t want to have to scramble at that moment to “fix” things. Informed consumers want to make sure they do not experience an upset, so they do their research before making a purchase. They want to look at content and have a full understanding of what is available and how solutions will be able to deliver to their needs. If they do not get the information, they will not even consider the solution for purchase. This has increased the value of documentation, good documentation, and increased the importance of access before the purchase. Every technical communicator should be aware of this and build strategies around it.

On to the conference. We did an unofficial survey of the presentations. Basically, we went into the rooms and counted the number of attendees. The big winner happened on the first day: An Overview of DITA 1.3, by Kristen James Eberlein.

It had by far the largest attendance, and a really good presentation by Kris showing the new items in the DITA 1.3 standard. You can find the bullet points and short description of the presentation here: http://www.cm-strategies.com/2014/abstracts.htm#Eberlein

One thing to keep in mind: JoAnn Hakos has been running this conference for a while. She has been involved with the DITA movement from the beginning. This conference has a lot of high-level presentations. There are some really smart people out there talking about DITA and where it should go as a standard. If you are new to the idea of DITA, you can catch yourself up here: https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=dita. This is one of the groups that keep tabs on the standard, and you can get updates from the OASIS site.   Now if you do a search on DITA, do not get confused if your search results come up with an attractive woman who looks a little like this:

This is actually Dita Vonteese, who is an American burlesque dancer, model, costume designer, entrepreneur, and just about anything else you can imagine. She is also more famous than Darwin Information Typing Architecture, and due to the nature of her profession, some photos are NSFW. So be careful when doing your research. She is a nice lady, and I actually met her at DITA Europe.

If you are wondering about the beard, it was Movember.

Ok, where was I? Yes, so if you are looking to get up to speed on DITA, follow some of those links and be cautious when searching. There are a lot of benefits to DITA, and it deserves a look. I think the biggest obstacle for people is knowing where to start. You don’t have to figure it out on your own. Conferences like DITA North America and organizations like The Center for Information-Development Management are great places to gather some information. Consultants like Bernard Aschwanden over at Publishing Smarter can actually come in and help you get started, or refine your process. WebWorks can provide the systems you need to implement the content strategies you decide are best for your environment. ePublisher is by far the best tool to convert DITA source into value output for your audience. CloudDrafts is a collaboration management system that helps you control the chaos of team projects and still allows you to pick the tools that best fit your needs. If you want more information on our systems or any of these resources, just contact us.

– Christopher

LavaCon 2012 has already come and gone, and just like all of the LavaCon conferences before it, this year was fantastic! Hats off to Jack Molisani, who did a wonderful job of organizing this year’s event. It was truly a great success.

This year’s LavaCon ran from Sunday, October 7, through Tuesday, October 9. Though I always attend LavaCon, this year I was going to the conference to serve a dual role. First and foremost, I was there in my usual capacity to represent my company, WebWorks. However, in addition to this role, I was also there as a speaker for one of the LavaCon seminars on how to build profitability into your content workflow. I felt adequately prepared for both of these roles. I have been analyzing strategies and procedures for nearly twenty years now, so talking about how to align them to revenue generation in a TechPub came naturally and was a very exciting opportunity for me. I was looking forward to this conference for a long time, and I would have to say I was very uniquely, totally, absolutely not let down one bit. (Yes, I know that after reading that, you probably have a question mark in your head, but it is a private joke between me and one of my readers—if you check previous comments from past articles, I’ll bet you can figure it out.)

On day one, early Sunday morning, Jack Newman and I headed to the Austin International Airport destined for Portland, Oregon. Now don’t get your Jacks confused; Jack Newman is a WebWorks man who was there to help represent our company, while Jack Molisani is the organizer of the LavaCon event. Both Jacks did an awesome job. Jack Newman and I boarded our plane in Austin and headed west. Going west, we always gain a little time, and with the layover in Salt Lake City, Utah, I felt like I was in a scene from Groundhog Day. It was always nine o’clock in the morning. Eventually, we did manage to arrive in Portland, and what a beautiful city it is. Because of the Portland marathon that same weekend, the city was packed; people were everywhere and involved in some sort of activity. It was an absolutely fantastic way to arrive. To be honest, I was drained from the flight, but seeing so much action really got me charged up, so we set out to set up the booth in the exhibit hall before I took some time to rest and check out the schedule. Jack Molisani always does a good job of bringing topics that are bleeding edge and relevant to his conferences. The five tracks he picked for this year were:

• Project Metrics and Development Team Management
• Content Strategy and Content Management
• Case Studies and Roundtable Discussions
• User Experience and Multichannel Publishing
• eBooks, New Media, and Mobile Devices

Jack also started the conference off this year by presenting “The State of the Industry: We’re Not in Kansas Anymore.” I loved it all. I could really see that everyone can sense the changes going on, and they are eager to see those changes. I think this attitude is a shift from previous years, where change has been met with a lot of resistance. One thing that really encouraged me was how many young people I met at the conference. Most of them were college students that were there on their own dime—smart kids that realize in today’s economy, they are looking to vital, growing industries to give them the edge and a better shot at employment upon graduation. I personally believe that technical communication can be that industry; we just need to change our mindset and realign our procedures to get companies to invest in what we do every day.

Day two, Monday, opened up with a keynote panel discussion: “The Content Revolution.” It was a good panel, and I liked most of the questions, but the more presentations I watched, the more I realized that we were still missing one very important topic. This stirred up my excitement level behind my presentation because I felt my presentation covered this very topic. I was scheduled to present at three o’clock that day. It was the first time I would have a co-presenter at a conference of this type. I know strategy and procedures, and I know how to generate revenue from them, but my background is in sales. I really wanted to connect with the audience, and back in June, I had been introduced to Emmelyn Wang. She writes for Dun Bradstreet, and she is also the president of the Austin STC chapter. I felt with her on my team, we would have the expertise and background to really connect with a technical communication audience. Together, we sat down and refined a message to provoke a change in the industry. We went with a different concept than handing out spreadsheets and charts, as we realized that most people in our industry do not have the mindset to talk about revenue. These conversations are had with senior-level management that result in investing dollars. In fact, the conference confirmed this notion in the sense that there were several conversations centered around ROI, and all measures were tied into cost savings. Emmelyn and I understood how critical it was to have a mindset focused on returning revenue instead of cost savings. It is the only way to get growth and an energized new base coming in. Here is an example: When you build a case study that cuts costs, and you implement it, and when you save your boss $20,000 in expenses, you are a rock star. When the next year comes around, your boss looks at you with a smile and says, “If you invest this much money into TechPubs this year, then you will get a 10% revenue increase.” Again, you execute the task, and once again you are a rock star. The following year, your boss comes to you, smiles, and says “How much do you need this year?” That is what a growth cycle feels like, and that is how we build technical communications into the most pivotal department in a company’s success.

Emmelyn knocked it out of the park! I was and am still extremely glad I was given the opportunity to present with her. I cannot wait until we get the opportunity again. I am certain that as long as we keep spreading the word of revenue, as opposed to that of cost, we can promote the changes this industry needs.

I would like to finish this post with a question that someone asked me after our presentation. They were very well aware that I was a vendor exhibiting at LavaCon, and well aware that in my presentation, I spoke more to the mindset of what we need in this industry instead of pitching my product. They wanted to know why I took this route. Here is the reason: I’m a damn good analyst. In fact, I will tell you that I am the best, and I will back it up. What I see when I look at the current state of the industry is one that is dying because it is not used to change. Yes, I understand that content changes all the time, but we get so caught up in the procedure of that changing content that we often lose sight of the other changes around us. Mobile devices will outnumber PCs 5 to 1 by the year 2014 if not sooner. Yet to this day, most people develop their content with a focus around PDF or printed output. Users are evolving beyond that, and this industry has to keep up. If we do it the right way, TechPubs can become the most profitable, most informative, and most pivotal department in a company. When that happens, you will grow, I will grow, and everyone will prosper. I am here to serve, and I am with a company that chooses to serve technical communications, so why in the hell wouldn’t I be doing this?

Flew into Harrisburg, PA. on my way to the Vasont Users’ Group. One of my most favorite things about flying into this meet-up is the size of the planes going into this conference. I truly believe I’ve been in larger restrooms, but hey, it makes for an adventure. Outside of feeling every little bump the ride in is really quite remarkable. You circle around Three Mile Island where you can see the nuclear reactors. There are four stacks in all, but only two billow smoke as they produce energy. It definitely makes for a unique experience every time.

From the airport it is off to Hershey, PA. and the Hershey Lodge. We were given a very nice reception upon our arrival Monday evening. I’ve always enjoyed seeing partners and clients face-to-face. The reception provided the perfect forum for us to just relax and talk about what’s going on in the industry; what we’d like to see improved, and what we would like to get out of the conference.

The next morning, breakfast at the hotel and off to the conference. The opening session is always an awesome review of Vasont the company and its solutions. Here they talk about past successes and future possibilities. It’s always an informative session which sets the right tone for a lead in to the presentations and labs.

As noon rolls around everyone gears up for lunch. One of the benefits of having a conference at Hershey, is the desert. If I had a nickel for how many times I heard, “well I have been on a strict diet, but I have to take a break from it while I’m in Hershey,” I would be able to buy this town. However, it is a perfectly sane statement, because you really can’t get better chocolate in so many different ways anywhere else in the world. Even the smell of chocolate in the shampoo and conditioner was so good I had to have a taste to see if they were edible. After the 3rd bottle I determined they were not.

The Vasont User Group sessions were broken up into four different zones. Zone 1 focused on static content and dynamic deliverables. Zone 2 focused on getting the most from your translations. Zone 3 showed users how to measure success in the Vasont CMS, and zone 4 focused on using Vasont across the enterprise. I would have to say that my personal favorite was zone 1. Not just because this was the zone I was presenting to, but because of the topic. Quadralay always has its ear to the ground when it comes to technical communications. We have watched technical communication move from print, to digital, and on to Mobile. Content can now keep up with users and it’s becoming more dynamic every day. I think Vasont did a really good job informing their users about the important of this topic.

The first day of the conference ended with an icebreaker that really entertained the attendees, they called it Grapevine. Basically, the attendees split up into groups. The first player in the group gets a phrase in which they have to draw on a piece of paper. The player sitting next in line looks at the drawing and then writes down what phrase they think the drawing represents. That continues from player to player until everyone in the group has had a chance. It definitely generated a lot of laughter and gave everyone a really good time. By the way, if you’re curious, the phrase was, “if you pour milk on your feet, you will grow taller.” It was a really great way to end the day.

Day two started bright and early, jumping right into presentations and labs. I was slotted to give a 9:30 presentation over ROI out of your TOC. A nice crowd showed up for the presentation and it was well received. Everyone want to impact their business in a positive way, but the comment I received most after I present it, “my company would never let me do that.” It makes me realize why the industry is looked at the way it is today, however I have to respectfully disagree. Your company would let you do that, it’s just a matter of moving out of our comfort zones and presenting the business case. If you would like to see some notes form my presentation, just click here.

All in all, the Vasont Users’ Group was a great success and very informative. I can only hope that my presentation has given at least one person the confidence to start having this ROI conversation with their company. I truly believe it is an integral part of a business’ growth cycle in today’s world of business.