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ABOUT THE EVENT
STC TransAlpine Chapter Annual
Conference 2008 hosted by HERMES SoftLab
April 16-18, 2008, HERMES SoftLab, Litijska
51, Ljubljana
HERMES SoftLab is hosting this year's STC
TransAlpine Chapter's annual conference and workshop. This is an
excellent opportunity for anyone interested in technical
communication, graphic design, emerging technologies, innovative
software projects, usability, DITA, and more. All sessions will be in
English.
Intended audience for the conference:
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Technical writers
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Information designers
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Illustrators
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Online help developers
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Usability experts
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Trainers
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Technical marketers
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Project managers
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Software developers
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User interface designers
WORKSHOP (April 16)
Intuitive images: Creating and evaluating
usable graphics for international audiences
The conference will be preceded by an optional
one-day workshop. The workshop, led by Patrick Hofmann, will focus on
visualizing different types of information and will include innovative
hands-on exercises.
About Patrick Hofmann
A trained technical writer, Patrick Hofmann now works as a visual
interaction designer and has become “a man of few words”. For over
thirteen years, this vibrant Canadian has helped clients such as Sky,
HP, Nokia, Motorola, Philips, FedEx, Logitech, and Netgear improve the
usability of their products. Patrick now works at Google in Sydney,
Australia, and hopes to complete his book on visual instruction soon.
CONFERENCE SESSIONS (April 17-18)
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Keynote: Patrick Hofmann: Pictures and profits: How visual information
design and simple usability studies can save your company millions
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Jasna Vukoviè: Business anthropology research as a tool for
understanding users
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Erin Heximer: Building a team from the ground up
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Helen O'Shea: Brave new world: How one writing team moved to
DITA-based authoring
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Andrej Vernekar: Conversion to XML: Moving from FrameMaker to DocBook
and surviving
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Katarzyna Kostorz: Improving the quality and usability of error
messages
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Alice Jane Emanuel: Tools that work
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Bogo Vatovec: Web 2.0 and technical communication
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Piero Margutti: Leading a small group of technical writers working in
"Scrum" teams
CONFERENCE AGENDA
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Wednesday, April 16, 2008, Workshop, Intuitive images:
creating and evaluating usable graphics for international
audiences |
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8:30 |
Registration |
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9:00 |
Workshop morning session |
Continental breakfast during morning break |
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12:30 |
Lunch |
Provided at the workshop site |
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13:30 |
Workshop afternoon session |
Refreshments during afternoon break |
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17:00 |
Closure |
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Thursday, April 17, 2008, Conference Day 1 |
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8:15 |
Registration |
Continental breakfast |
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9:00 |
Welcome |
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9:15 |
Keynote address |
Pictures and profits: how visual information design and
simple usability studies can save your company millions —
Patrick Hofmann |
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10:45 |
Break |
Continental breakfast |
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11:15 |
Presentation |
Business anthropology research as a tool for understanding
users — Jasna Vukovic |
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12:15 |
TAC membership meeting |
A business meeting for chapter members and potential members |
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12:45 |
Lunch |
Buffet in the atrium |
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14:00 |
Presentation |
Brave new world: How one writing team moved to DITA-based
authoring — Helen O'Shea |
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15:00 |
Break |
Refreshments |
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15:15 |
Presentation |
Conversion to XML: Moving from FrameMaker to DocBook and
surviving — Andrej Vernekar |
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16:15 |
Break |
Refreshments |
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16:30 |
Presentation |
Building a team from the ground up — Erin Heximer |
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17:30 |
Closure |
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19:30 |
Networking dinner |
Optional, pay-as-you-go dinner in Ljubljana's old town |
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Friday, April 18, 2008, Conference Day 2 |
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8:30 |
Registration |
Continental breakfast |
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9:00 |
Presentation |
Improving the quality and usability of error messages —
Katarzyna Kostorz |
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10:00 |
Break |
Continental breakfast |
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10:30 |
Presentation |
Tools that work — Alice Jane Emanuel |
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11:30 |
Break |
Refreshments |
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11:45 |
Presentation |
Web 2.0 and technical communication — Bogo Vatovec |
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12:45 |
Lunch |
Buffet in the atrium |
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14:00 |
Presentation |
Leading a small group of technical writers working in "Scrum"
teams — Piero Margutti |
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15:00 |
Break |
Refreshments |
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15:15 |
Chocolate raffle |
Bring your local favorite chocolate — and win some to take
home. |
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16:00 |
Farewell and apéro |
Join us for “champagne” and snacks |
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17:00 |
Closure |
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REGISTRATION
Send an e-mail to
tac_conference@hermes-softlab.com. Please state whether you will
be attending the workshop, conference, or both.
1-day workshop fee: €295
2-day conference fee: Chapter members: €150; Non-members: €195.
MORE INFORMATION
More information is available in the conference
brochure:
http://stc-on.org/transalpine/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/tac-conference-2008.pdf.
 For
any further questions you can contact Maja Praznik Kristan via her
e-mail:
maja.praznik-kristan@hermes-softlab.com.
Maja Praznik Kristan, who holds a BA in
English and German, started a career of a technical communicator in
2000 when she joined HERMES SoftLab. Presently she works in a team of
ten writers who produce user manuals, online Help and other forms of
user documentation. She has been a member of Society for technical
communication (STC), the world's largest organization for technical
writers, since 2006. In the summer of 2007 she was elected Vice
President of the STC TransAlpine Chapter (TAC), a Central European
chapter that covers Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
ABOUT STC
The Society for Technical Communication (STC) is the world’s largest
organization for professionals working in the broad field of technical
communication. STC has over 14,000 members, organized into over 150
local chapters. For more information, visit
http://www.stc.org.
ABOUT TAC
The STC TransAlpine Chapter (TAC) covers five countries in Central
Europe, including Slovenia. For more information, visit
http://stc-on.org/transalpine.
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