We’re dead — but it’s a comic book death, where the superhero comes back more powerful, and with a shinier costume.

At our annual chapter business meeting, chaired by former chapter president Manny Gordon, a motion was carried that that the chapter dissolve its relationship with the STC mothership in Virginia, USA.

The motion was voted on by paid-up members after lengthy discussion and conversation, and accepted unanimously.

Our charter goal is to improve the practice and arts of technical communication; the STC was merely a vehicle for that. It’s time to change busses. Or, as I’d argue, jump from the horse and buggy and onto the jet aircraft.

Details to follow in the days to come.

- STC-Montreal President Andy Gural

Long manuals are outdated, ineffective ways to teach people software. The quick reference guide (usually 2 to 6 pages), with strong visuals and a magazine-like layout, is something that end-users, project managers, and just about everyone absolutely loves. Quick reference guides should be a standard deliverable that technical communicators emphasize and prioritize in their work.

Why don’t they? Technical communicators often overlook quick reference guides because these guides require skill with layout and design, as well as talent with illustration to make them appealing. Layout, design, and illustration are often beyond the comfort level of most technical communicators.

This session will provide users with principles of design, some sample layouts they can use, and it will explain how to handle other tricky aspects of quick reference guides, such as translation, content reuse, and interactivity. The webinar will also motivate attendees to jump into this appealing format and start producing these guides with enthusiasm.

Like any new technology, mobile has its share of confusing new jargon and concepts. Getting them wrong may be harmless … or it might lead to buying the wrong tool, hiring the wrong person, or going off in the wrong strategic direction. Get the introduction you need with the live Web seminar Introduction to the Mobile Ecology, presented by Neil Perlin on Tuesday, 24 January, from 9:00-10:00 PM EST (GMT-5).

This webinar provides an overview of the main concepts and terms in the mobile world. First, it discusses rationales for going mobile at all. It then discusses the types of mobile outputs—native apps, web apps, and ebooks—and pros and cons of each type, and then explains what an “app” is. The webinar then discusses authoring tools, focusing on those familiar to technical communicators but introducing some useful ones from outside the tech comm world. Finally, the presenter discusses design, planning, and management issues for mobile on its own and integrated into a larger tech comm environment.

Hang on to your hats.

With regret, the STC-Montreal administrative council will present a resolution to dissolve the chapter at a general meeting. We will ask the attending membership to vote on the resolution.

The meeting will be held at Au Bistro Gourmet on January 31, 2012 for discussion and voting.

Though I’ve discussed it with many of you at meetings, those of you not attending our regular events are doubtless gobsmacked by this announcement. Sorry. I’ve resisted putting this in writing until the bitter end. Denial, I guess, and desperation that some other option would present itself.

We recommend that the chapter be closed because there are simply no STC members available to take leadership roles. Basically, we’re a web site. A good-looking web site, mind.

Therefore, at a pre-Christmas meeting of former chapter presidents, we decided to begin shuttering the chapter rather than have it drift into legal limbo when the mandates of the current elected administrative council run out in February. So please come on the final Tuesday in January to have your say in the matter. Flaming torches and pitchforks are optional.

When and Where

Date: Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: Au Bistro Gourmet, 2100 St-Mathieu (corner Maisonneuve)
Google Maps

http://www.aubistrogourmet.com/

Please RSVP with us (rsvp [at] stc-montreal [dot] org) as the restaurant will need to know how many are attending.

Both STC members and non-members are welcome to this dinner meeting. There is no charge other than what you order for your own food and beverages.

A Structural Problem

Our core activity is accelerating technical writing careers. We have to boost peoples’ careers, particularly freshly-minted undergraduates and writers making mid-career changes.

STC is no longer the single point of access to information for technical author training and has not been since Google opened its doors. We’re middlemen competing against free. If the internet is anything, it’s a pesticide for middlemen.

I guess it’s just taken this long.

Finally, the outrageous membership fees levied by STC HQ — that your chapter never sees a penny of, by the way — didn’t help us grow the membership pool from which we groomed our volunteers.

The Future

It’s a shame to lose the valuable job bank, the mailing list and the roster of speakers but the issues are structural. STC HQ has not been able to figure out a business model, and neither have we.

Every technology, with the exception of fire and the wheel, has had a lifespan. The same goes with professional societies and guilds like the Association of Horse and Buggy Whip Manufacturers.

If there is a need, a new group will form or existing organizations will evolve to answer those needs. When you pour water into a glass, it takes the tumbler’s shape. The same H₂0 in a teapot takes the teapot’s shape.

That’s what you and I will do as we jump into an exciting future.

Let’s go exploring!

See you all on January 31, 2012. Don’t forget to RSVP.

— Andy Gural, STC-Montreal President

On the former site of the historic Canadian Pacific Rail Angus Yards in Montreal, the STC hosted a dynamic workshop-seminar entitled “Technical Writing 101- The Basic Skills; Technical Writing for the Real World,” presented by the erudite and veteran STC board member Manuel (“Manny”) Gordon. The nearly twenty attendees ranged in age from the twenties to the sixties, and ranged in profession from software programmers, to translators, to a disgruntled machinist, to educators, to publishers, all eager to get a “Master Class” from Mr. Gordon.

After a delicious breakfast, the workshop began (in the active voice!).

Manny opened by inviting the participants to introduce themselves: Names, backgrounds, IT experience (Wait a minute! What happened to heavy industry? Angus Yards, RIP) as well as goals and expectations from the workshop. He then listed his credentials as an old computer wizard, Programmer, Analyst, Tech Writer, and Professor, having presented workshops at McGill, Ericsson, Bell, etc.

A convenient booklet was handed out, containing the imminent power point projections.

In case readers of this website article wanted some of the referenced material, go get your own copy of “The Elements of Style” (1959) by William Strunk, Jr. and EB White.

The first real power point: What is Technical Writing, from whom to whom, by whom and for whom? Then we were introduced to the extremely USEful acronym, USE: Understand, Simplify, Explain.
And don’t forget to analyze your audience. Are you writing for Managers, or Mechanics? What would be their socio-economic background?

The workshop unfolded in a very pedagogical way, with the participants being given additional handouts, texts over-stuffed with badly punctuated and disorganized information. It was up to us, the participants, to understand what was there, organize it, and put it IN-FORMATION (get it?).
The next exercise was especially fun, as Manny challenged us to compare our own analytical powers to those of super-sleuth Sam Spade, as he was portrayed by Humphrey Bogart in an early, critical scene from the old black and white classic “The Maltese Falcon” (1941). We were shown a clip from the film, where a seemingly distraught and anxious woman by the name of Miss Wanderlie (from NYC) shows up at Mr. Spade’s office (in San Francisco) to hire him for the purposes of locating her allegedly missing sister, who allegedly ran away with a Mr. Floyd Thursday. She then throws Sam a lot of data, when Manny hit the pause button, to allow us to prepare some kind of a report, which Sam would have to present to his secretary and partner. I will not tell you what she said, or what we wrote, or even what Sam Spade (Bogey) presented as HIS version. Go look on You Tube, or at Block Buster Video, OK?

Then we went for comestibles.

After lunch, we had to come back to the table(s).

We were given more exercises, which were designed to draw upon the lessons supposedly learned from the earlier exercises of analyzing our audiences, and making sure the Maltese Falcons fly in-formation. Also, how to use tables (not the type used for eating, drinking, drafting or dealing cards, but the type used with charts and diagrams).

The workshop seemed to be very successful, as all the participants participated. Not only doing the exercises, but asking questions and engaging discussions, which continued even after the workshop formally ended.

Even for those already familiar with Manny of the concepts, it was still a very exciting experience to have had!

When may we next participate in Technical Writing 201?

Join STC on Tuesday, 17 January, for The Art of the Demo, presented by Robert Rhyne Armstrong from 9:00-10:00 PM EST (GMT-5). Did you know that the success of your demonstration can be determined in the first minute? This webinar walks you through how to prepare software, your system, and yourself to give the best possible demonstration for your audience. After this webinar, you’ll know how to prepare for, organize, and deliver a demonstration, including how to take into account audience-based factors in your planning. Tell the story the right way!

Wish you had more time to deeply understand customer reasoning? Join Indi Young and STC for the live Web seminar Mental Model Diagrams: Supportive Content for Specific Folks and get the understanding you need.

Mental model diagrams provide a clear roadmap of where to invest your energies and where you shouldn’t. Derive information architecture, head off arguments, and get everyone on the same page. Stretch your limited resources by building the diagram over time, depending on core behaviors that will last decades.

Every few years, new computer interaction paradigms are introduced. Mediated communication networks have become mainstream. Moving from the human-computer interaction to the human-network interaction, socio-technical design looks at the exchange of information within mediated communication networks, and sets the groundwork for group interaction within these environments. Join Phylise Banner in examining this, with the live Web seminar Socio-Technical Design: The Future of the Online Community, taking place on Wednesday, 14 December from 1:00-2:00 PM EST (GMT-5).

Socio-technical design research comes from the early 1990s, when computer networking became widely possible. Researchers are now looking to the principles of socio-technical design to explore relationships in human networks which rely on technology. These principles are critical to the development of viable online communities, especially with the advent of Web 2.0 technologies, which have shifted content creation to the user community. Learn about the field of socio-technical design and how to incorporate these design principles into the design and development of online technical communication user communities.

From where I stood at the front of the room, the Technical Writing 101 workshop went very well last Saturday (November 26, 2011). We had 14 participants who listened attentively, took notes, spoke up, worked diligently on the exercises, and provided excellent solutions. Some were technical writers, and many others were programmers. Two worked in sales and customer support. We also had a business writer, a translator, an editor, and a specialist in online learning. Tout le gang.

The day’s success was due in large part to Radka Losert: from 8:00 in the morning to almost 6:00 in the evening, Radka made sure that everything went smoothly.

Jim Royal could sleep soundly that morning, because he had done all he could to promote the workshop on the chapter’s website, through email—and by talking up the workshop to his own employer!

Andy Gural looked after the heavy lifting (of the projector, mainly), and supported the endeavour in every other way he could.

But it was Marta Cepek, the Wizard of Ottawa, who was the organizer-in-chief of this workshop. Marta pulled it all together: the budget, the room, the caterer, the publicity, the forms, the printer, the payments, and more. When necessary, she even prodded the presenter to stick to the deadlines. She pulled off all this magic from behind her Ottawa curtain. She makes it look easy. But she doesn’t fool me.

Thank you Marta, Radka, Jim, Andy, and everyone else who worked on this project. Thanks to Cedric Migliorani took all the pictures, and to Harold Quesnel, will write an article about the workshop.

If you know Marta Cepek, you know how very outgoing she is. Unfortunately, Marta is now the outgoing Workshop Coordinator for STC-Montreal. Marta will be a tough act to follow, but I know that you are up to it.

Yes, I’m talking to you. Sit up straight. Pay attention. Wipe that smile off your face.

You may think that you don’t have the time to volunteer for STC-Montreal, but I say that you need to make time. You need to start showing your peers – and your future employers, clients, and co-workers – that you complete your tasks with minimal supervision and assistance, yet are flexible and ready to work with other team members. That you have the ability to work to tight deadlines, deliver on time, and ensure high quality, and are willing to acquire knowledge and learn new skills. That you have excellent organizational skills.

And that you are fun to work with.

So even if someone grabs the Workshop Coordinator position before you do, just send me an email: I know just the job for you.

Manny is responsible for recruiting volunteers and elected officials for STC-Montreal. You can reach him at election [at] stc-montreal [dot] org.

Read the full writeup on the event by Lynne Wright.

The presentation was held at Star of India Restaurant in Montreal in Montreal on November 29, 2011, and about 20 people were in attendance.

During the evening, Robert covered the following topics:

• Is freelancing right for you?
• Transitioning from employee to freelancer
• Get your accounting ducks lined up
• Consider incorporation
• Some resources to get you started

You can download the audio of the presentation together with the slides.

Subscribe via iTunes

Download the Presentation (PDF format, 50 KB)

Download the audio (MP3, 31 MB. Duration: 45 min)

Dinner seminar on when and how to take the leap from employee to freelancer

Presented by Robert MacIsaac, Nov. 29, 2011, at Star of India Restaurant in Montreal.

Review by Lynne Wright

Download the podcast and presentation slides.

If you’ve ever found yourself spending day after day breathing lugubrious sighs against the walls of a cubicle wondering why the clock refuses to move faster, the giddy prospect of working from home on your own schedule can make freelancing seem like the holy grail of professional freedom.

But as Robert MacIsaac illustrated with a sobering barrage of practical advice, there’s a lot to consider before you throw off the shackles of the ol’ 9-to-5 and strike out on your own.

Is freelancing right for you?

Being the type of person who thrives on flexibility, autonomy and variety isn’t enough. To be self-employed entails:

• Being able to live with uncertainty – can you handle not knowing when the next job or cheque is coming in without being consumed with stress?
• Being disciplined and motivated – aside from pushing out the jobs you’ve got, you need to spend some time each day developing contacts and lining up work. Depending on factors such as how long you’ve been freelancing, how many regular clients you have, and how much existing work you have lined up, be prepared to spend anywhere from 30-50% of your time each day marketing yourself (contacting new or repeat clients; networking; maintaining a website).
• Running a small business. This means that in addition to writing, you need to negotiate and liaise with clients; while managing promotion, accounting, and possibly sub-contractors/employees.
• A potential, paradoxical lack of freedom. Especially when starting out, you may not be able to afford the luxury of turning down jobs that come at a bad time, or that aren’t terribly appealing or satisfying. Be prepared for having to scrape through lean periods and having to put your personal plans on hold so you can work like an absolute dog when business is booming.
• Considering the demands of family. If you have small children, that’s going to affect your ability to work long hours when required, or to get any work done at all on days when they are home; this will impact your ability to meet deadlines that you’ve committed to. If you have a spouse, they need to be supportive about the probability that you will occasionally need to work through evenings or weekends.

Transitioning from employee to freelancer

If you feel that you fit the personality and lifestyle criteria, the next step is to think through these financial issues:

• You should have enough cash in the bank to see you through a minimum of three months with little or no incoming cash flow.
• Set up a line of credit before quitting your job. Banks smile more favourably on those with a steady paycheque.
• Find out whether any company health/life insurance plans that you are on can be continued once you are no longer an employee.
• See if you can maintain your existing retirement fund.
• It helps if you have a spouse with a steady job that meets your baseline household expenses; bonus points if you can be covered on their work health insurance plan.

Get your accounting ducks lined up

• Find an accountant experienced in handling the self-employed/small businesses. They will save you the time and hair-pulling aggravation of trying to figure out how to keep your books and deal with taxation issues. The Revenue Canada website (http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca) has information on deductions, GST and the like; but you don’t want to go there. You’ve got better things to do with your time.
• Set yourself up with a GST number and collect sales tax from the outset.
• Keep receipts for business-related expenses, and add notes to receipts to detail what the expenditure was for (for example, specify what client meeting a gas receipt is associated with). Set up a filing system to store receipts by category, and file receipts as they come in to avoid utter chaos when its time to hand them over to your accountant (or auditor!).

Consider incorporation

• If there are possible liability issues associated with what you produce, incorporation protects you from being personally responsible (any potential law suit would be filed against the company; your personal assets are protected).
• It gives you flexibility in how you deal with income. You can pay yourself in regular amounts, with any cash reserves being held by the company, so that your taxable income stays constant.
• Allows you to define partnership roles/who will contribute what; how profits will be split; what happens if a partner leaves the business. Make sure that these issues are decided upon and clearly documented as part of the incorporation papers.
• Enables the business to continue without you (i.e. a partner can buy you out).

Some resources to get you started

www.freelance-work-guide.com Offers comprehensive basic information on getting started, where to look for contracts, how to evaluate the market and develop a business plan, how to avoid scams, outsourcing, time management.

www.pwac.ca Professional Writers Association of Canada. Has information on best practices; standard freelance agreement and copyright kit; guidelines on how to set rates.

www.writers.ca PWAC maintains a searchable database of Canadian freelance writers on this site. Prospective clients can search for writers based on subject matters such as Telecommunications, Science and Technology; Medecine and Health; Engineering; Types of Writing categories include Technical Writing/Editing; training materials.

You may also want to contact companies that offer writing service to feel out what the current climate is for freelancers, and determine how marketable your skills are. A few suggestions:

Information Architecture www.inarc.net

Writing Assistance, Inc. www.writingassist.com

Tom Johnson tackles help content with Organizing Help Content: Breaking Out of Topic-Based Hierarchies on Thursday, 1 December, from 4:00-5:00 PM EST (GMT-5). Organizing help content so that users can both find and learn information often requires technical writers to break out of the traditional topic-based folders and move toward faceted navigation, search engine optimization, interface text, level-based help, and other methods for organizing content.

Organizing content is the heart what technical writers do. In organizing content, technical writers often have two competing questions: how can I help users find the information? And how can I help users learn the information? Complete answers to these questions pull the technical writer in two different directions: information architecture and instructional design. Regardless of these different directions, a good technical writer has to consider and account for these two purposes and organize the help accordingly. Maintaining the status quo of topic-based hierarchical folders often fails to achieve either purpose. This webinar will present a variety of alternative methods of organization that technical writers can implement to break out of topic-based hierarchies and create more usable help.

Original link: http://notebook.stc.org/upcoming-webinar-on-1-december-organizing-help-content-breaking-out-of-topic-based-hierarchies