Posts in Category "Tech Comm Suite"

First Look at New FrameMaker 11: 90 minute overview Aug 7

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Maxwell Hoffmann | Comments (0)

FrameMaker 11, along with RoboHelp 10 and Tech Comm Suite 4 was announced and simultaneously released Tuesday July 24th. August 7th at 10 AM, Sr. Product Manager Kapil Verma will give a detailed product overview of FrameMaker in a 90 minute session. Attend this session to find out why I consider this the most important release of FrameMaker in 10 years.

Go here to register:

http://adobe.ly/Oj0MTK

(Note: if you miss the session, it will be recorded, and this blog will be updated with the link)

For a complete overview of FrameMaker, read Kapil Verma’s excellent blog, “FrameMaker 11 and FrameMaker Publishing Server 11 are here!” Continue reading…

The Future of Tech Comm is Here! [Video]

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Maxwell Hoffmann | Comments (0)

View our recent YouTube video which illustrates the “future” of  technical communications in a unique way. Watch a speed-ed up white board artist cover just about every component of tech comm that you can think of. Then think about it; the “future” is already here.

Enjoy!

Webinar Highlights: Are You Tempted to Use a Template to Expedite Policies & Procedure Development?

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Maxwell Hoffmann | Comments (0)

Last week Raymond Urgo, “Mr. P&P” covered a highly useful topic you may not have considered before. If you are authoring or revamping your Policies and Procedures, what considerations should you have around templates? Should you work with boilerplate? Should you have a dynamic “shell” that your staff can easily fill in? There are many choices, and the wrong choice can have consequences down the road. Urgo gave some very sage advice: “Know the rules before you choose the tools.”

You will find a link to the recorded webinar at the end of this blog. It requires a free “Adobe.com” account for log-in credentials to view the recording. Continue reading…

Content Scenarios for exploring new Information Products

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Maxwell Hoffmann | Comments (0)

Every day technical communication teams are being asked to do something new. Given the rate of change that is apparent in the marketplace, and the expanding array of new devices and venues that will need to be supported, this trend will only accelerate. One question that comes up is how do teams explore the new publishing pathways so that they can determine what changes they will need to their overall content creation and publishing process. Intelligent Content thought leader Joe Gollner recentlly guided us through some proven steps in exploring new information products and refining content processes in our recorded webinar, “Content Scenarios for exploring new Information Products.”

You may review the slides below. This blog provides a brief overview of the insights share in this dynamic webinar.

Content Scenarios New Information Products

Highlights from “Designing technical documentation for tablets” Webinar

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Maxwell Hoffmann | Comments (0)

This week Ellis Pratt of Cherryleaf shared many insights and considerations for creating technical documentation for tablet computers that you may not have thought of before. This blog has a link to the full slide deck below and at the end of the blog, a link to a recording of the webinar itself.

Designing technical documentation for tablets

Continue reading…

Resizing Content: How to rethink content for mobile devices

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Maxwell Hoffmann | Comments (5)

I wrote on this topic back in February, but expanded on the theme for a presentation to the San Francisco chapter of STC last week.

Although it may seem self-evident that a small screen requires shorter sentences, shorter word count, etc., some customers are trying to “squeeze” existing legacy content (created for full page display, replete with complex tables and multi-level nested lists) onto mobile devices.

This blog touches on a few highlights of the presentation, which is fairly self-evident in the slide share above. Continue reading…

When gray scale is better: Getting Real: Electronic Documents in the Field

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Maxwell Hoffmann | Comments (0)

This blog touches on highlights of Joe Gollner’s excellent co-Webinar with Adobe TCS on “Getting Real”, creating documentation for challenging environments where backlit screens and relatively short battery life for an iPad may not work well. There are a variety of areas, ranging from military to remote construction, where eReaders with opaque, grayscale screens can work better.

 

Getting real: Electronic Documents in the Field

“I wouldn’t change a thing…” STC President’s thought-provoking quote

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Maxwell Hoffmann | Comments (4)

A couple of months back, STC’s new President, Alan Houser was on a closing panel of an event, and his answer to a frequent question has haunted me for weeks. The question? “What, if anything, would you have done differently in your tech comm careeer, knowing what you know today.” Read on to find out Houser’s answer. And I think I’ve finally found my answer.

Snow storms and brain storms

This April I represented Adobe at an outstanding STC regional event, STC Spectrum 2012, in Rochester, NY. Despite an unseasonable snowstorm that covered all directional signage at the RIT campus, a capacity crowd showed up for an event that had a wide array of tract and themes. There was a sizable flock of hardy Canadians who are always nonplussed by anything that Mother Nature throws our way.

By the way, I was very impressed with the grasp everyone (veterans and newbees) had on many of the challenges that face us today. The days of spelling out D-I-T-A are definitely a thing of the past.

Continue reading…

YouTube Video on FM10 PDF annotations vs. FM7 manual steps

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Maxwell Hoffmann | Comments (0)

For a more complete demonstration, click on the video link below

“Getting Real: Electronic Documents for the Field” / eSeminar with a twist Apr 17 @10 AM

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Maxwell Hoffmann | Comments (0)

Thought leader Joe Gollner, who has extensive experience with taxonomies, DITA, S1000D and all aspects of content management tackles a topic with a new twists in this week’s eSeminar. In “Getting Real: Electronic Documents for the Field” Joe will share several case studies in which up-to-the-minute structured data needs to be accessed in harsh physical environments where iPads and iPhones wash out.

Most of us take for granted that in a few years the majority of our content will be consumed via tablets like iPads or smartphones like iPhones. But we assume that all of us are “on the grid,” not in some remote, desert or arctic region where eReader devices must operate in bright sunlight and go for hours without a battery recharge.

Gollner, who has an impressive military career before he entered the jungles of structured data has several projects that require devices to work in environments like the one described above.

Our eSeminar takes place Tues April 17th at 10 AM Pacific, and you click here to register. Like all of our eSeminars, this one will be recorded and will eventually be accessible from this website.

We hope you can join us for what promises to be a fascinating exploration and discussion.