Double-Header Event from STC-Montreal

"STC-Montreal Town Hall" & "Our Friends, the Programmers"

Two events for the price of one!

==============================

Join us on May 25, 2009 for an exciting double event:

- STC-Montreal Town Hall -- where you can air your concerns and
questions about your STC chapter
- Our Friends, the Programmers -- with Manuel Gordon

This presentation will be held in English.


Part 1: STC-Montreal Town Hall
----------------------------------------

May 25, 2009 is your opportunity to speak out with your peers.

Come tell us what you need and want from STC and from your chapter.
Also, come and meet the candidates for next year’s Administrative
Council as well as the current and incoming volunteers.

Find out more about the Town Hall event at the STC-Montreal web site.

http://stc-montreal.org/en/2009/05/13/double-header-event-our-friends-the-progra\
mmers-and-stc-montreal-town-hall/#part1


Part 2: Our Friends, the Programmers
----------------------------------------

If you are a technical communicator who writes about software,
programmers must provide much of the information you need, and
programmers must review your documents.

But programmers are a breed apart. Intelligent, high strung and
skittish, programmers often bolt or become mulish when brought face to
face with a technical writer, even ones bearing chocolate chip cookies.

This presentation by Manuel Gordon will give you insight into what makes
programmers tick, and suggestions for how to adapt your working style to
theirs.

Get more details about Our Friends, the Programmers at the STC-Montreal
web site.

http://stc-montreal.org/en/2009/05/13/double-header-event-our-friends-the-progra\
mmers-and-stc-montreal-town-hall/#part2


When and Where
----------------------------------------

When: Monday, May 25th, 2009, 7:00–9:00pm (doors open at 6:30pm for
schmoozing)

Where: Le Nouvel Hotel, 1740 René-Lévesque West, Montreal (Metro Guy).

Cost: Free for members of STC-Montreal. $5 for other STC members. $10
for non-members.

I had planned to raise my rates, but my main client made it clear that they
were tightening their belt, so I wimped out and kept them stable. For
smaller, short-term contracts I bumped up my rates a little. Mind you, it
had been a few years since my rates had changed, so I was long over-due.
Ann

On Mon, May 4, 2009 at 10:54 AM, superk <superk696@...> wrote:

>
>
> Hi John,
>
> I haven't done much freelance in the last few years, but my rates have
> still
> gone up :)
>
> It all comes down to how much you depend on those revenues or not I
> guess...
>
> Since I don't depend on that revenue, I raise my rates every year or so...
>
> K
>
>
> On Mon, May 4, 2009 at 10:42 AM, Dave
<david.hickey@...<david.hickey%40memotec.com>>
> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Greetings!
> >
> > What are the contractors noticing about opportunities with this global
> > recession in place? A friend was saying he noticed that the rates had
> > dropped by 20% since last year. Is anyone else feeling that?
> > --
> > John David Hickey
> > Documentia Inc.
> >
> >
> >
>
> --
> K
> b. http://lkm696.blogspot.com
> t. http://twitter.com/leroykmay
>
> "Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible" - Frank Zappa
> "The scariest moment in writing is just before you start." Stephen King
> "Statistics are like tequila shots. Always take 'em with a few grains of
> salt and a slice of lime" - Caroline McCarthy
>
> Signez la pétition pour que Steve Coleman vienne à Montréal
> http://www.petitiononline.com/scoleman/petition.html
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

This link might be a useful bookmark in case a client tries these
tricks on you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2a8TRSgzZY

Tip o' the hat to Erika Buky on copyediting-l for sharing.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geoff Hart (www.geoff-hart.com)
ghart@... / geoffhart@...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Effective Onscreen Editing:
http://www.geoff-hart.com/books/eoe/onscreen-book.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you, Geoff. I have not laughed this hard in a long time, possibly
years.  :-D

Next time we meet up, the drinks are on me. (Damn, I know you'll remember
that, too. I probably won't. So remind me. M'kay?)

Many thanks.
Alice Jane.
---
Alice Jane Emanuel
+31 629 376 374
commatheory.com
---

Montreal Techwriter Forum Posting Rules
(updated August 12th 2005)
=======================================
Greetings!

This is your monthly reminder of the posting rules
on this list. If you are a new member and just starting
to post, please take a minute to review the rules so
that we can ensure a high quality list.

The rules here are simple: absolutely no personal
attacks, defamation or excessively aggressive behaviour
will be tolerated here. All participants share the
responsibility to communicate in a respectful manner
in order to encourage a constructive dialogue in a
friendly atmosphere.

When posting a question to the list, please try to make
it as specific as possible. Vague questions are difficult
to address and answer, so they may be largely ignored.
This list is intended to provide support to new and
experienced technical writers. We'll be happy to help
you with whatever challenges you are facing with your
projects, but we're not here to train you in the art
of technical documentation.

This list is designed to promote the intrinsic value
of the writing profession. Any post that belittles,
devalues, or attacks the integrity of the writer or
the writer's contribution to a project is not welcome.

If you have any questions or comments, please email
me at jdave@.... These rules may change from
time to time, so if you're unsure about something,
feel free to ask me about it!

I do hope you enjoy your stay and experience in
the Montreal Techwriter Forum!

------------
About Spamming
------------

ABSOLUTELY NO SPAM WILL BE TOLERATED. This includes
marketing ads and invitations to join unrelated lists.
Doing so can result in your immediate removal from the list.
If you are unsure whether your post may be considered
spam, send it to the moderator (jdave@...)
and he will decide whether it is suitable or not.

Elist spam also includes postings that invite users to visit
websites that act as generalized FAQs, but are really
only vehicles to sell web advertisements. These postings
will be rejected and the members removed from the elist.

This elist is not a recruitment agency and it will not
provide you with a job simply by asking all 450+ of its
members to forward you any jobs that become available.
Therefore, any posts that are similar to the following
will be considered as spam:

* "Please send me notice of any job that becomes available"
* "Here's my CV. Please send it to any job that becomes
available"
* "I really want to move to Canada! Please help me find a
job!"

------------
Member Moderation
------------

This list is largely unmoderated. This means that your
posts should generally appear on the list without
impedement. However, if the owner/moderator of this
list feels that your posts violate the rules stated
above, the following will occur:

1. You will receive a warning and suggestions on how
to improve the quality of your future posts.

2. If the warning is ignored or the inappropriate
posts continue, your posts will be moderated (ie:
the moderator must approve them before they appear
on the list). The moderation will continue until
the moderator feels that you understand how to
post properly.

3. If the poster cannot conform to the posting
rules or the spirit of this list, he/she will be
removed from the list.

------------
Trimming your posts
------------

Please only quote the minimum of what you need to from a related post
to provide context for what you want to say. Requoting the previous
post in its entirety is wasteful for bandwidth and makes it that much
more difficult to read. Chances are we already read that post, so we
don't need to read it again.

So before clicking the Send button, please take a moment to make sure
you trim out the parts of the previous post you don't need. If you do
this by accident, don't worry about it (no apologies necessary). But
if you do it too much, you will receive a friendly off-list note about
it from the moderator.

===========================
1. JOB/CONTRACT POSTINGS
===========================

If you have a job or contract offer in the technical writing
field, feel free to post it on the elist. Make sure you put
as much information about the offer as possible.

Please remember that this elist is designed to serve the
needs of technical writers in and around the Montreal
area. The bulk of the membership is located in this area.

1. If the job/contract offer is located in a city outside of
the Montreal area, please indicate if the work can be
done remotely, or if it is to be an on-site position, if your
company is willing to pay relocation costs.

2. If the job/contract offer is located in a foreign country
to Canada, please indicate if the work can be
done remotely, or if it is to be an on-site position.

3. If the applicant must work in a foreign country, please
indicate if a work VISA is necessary,
or if the employer is willing to provide a work VISA for the
person who is selected.

If the moderator requires this type of information, he will
email you at the address you used to post the job/contract
offer. If you do not respond to his questions within 7 days,
he will reject your post and remove you from the elist.

Job Spam and Identity Theft are very real threats and
the moderator wishes to keep the members of this elist
as safe as possible. Thank you for your understanding
in this matter.

=====================================
2. ACCESSING THE MTL_TECHWRITER WEBSITE
=====================================

I've received a few emails about this issue, so I've
decided to add it into the monthly posting message.

Even though you are a member of this elist on
Yahoogroups, you may not necessarily have access
to the mtl_techwriter website
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mtl_techwriter/).
This website not only gives you access to the
message archives, but also related files, photos,
database entries, bookmarks, and polls.

To access the website, you must created a Yahoo
ID linked to the email address you use to access
the elist. It's one of those dumb Yahoo rules...
Believe me, I ain't happy about it.

Creating a Yahoo ID is completely optional, but if
you want to access the website, you will need to
create one. Go to "Sign-in and Registration Help"
at http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/edit/ to find out
more about it.

--
Be seeing you,

Dave
=====================================
John David Hickey
mtl_techwriter Moderator
jdave@...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mtl_techwriter/

A llama?!?! He's supposed to be dead!
=====================================

STC-Montreal Spring Banquet 2009

Come join us at Café Saigon for delicious Vietnamese dishes. Eat, drink,
and network.

Café Saigon makes some of the best spring rolls in Montreal, and their
peanut sauce is so good you’ll be pouring it into the center of the roll
before each bite. All at reasonable prices. The music is Galaxie
ambient; note the big golden Oscar near the door.

This is a BYOW resto; if you wish to pick up wine, the SAQ at the corner
is open until 7p.m.

This restaurant accepts cash only, no cards. ATM on the premises.

Please RSVP by email to rsvp@... by June 10 to help us
estimate the turnout in advance. All are welcome. Door prizes for STC
members.

When and Where

When: Wednesday, June 17, starting at 6:30–7:00

Where: Café Saigon, 1280 St. André
Metro: Just East of Berri Metro, South of St. Catherine

Hi,
I'm a technical writer from India. I've a very unusual requirement by one of my
clients for some kind of authoring tool that can automate the documentation
process as follows:

1. It can automatically take the screen-shots of the software (even the
restricted area that needs login; onee login credentials are provided).
2. Author the content on-the-fly with or without human involvement.

If you can provide me details for any such kind of tools or methods, that will
be a great help for me.

Manoj Singh Rawat wondered: <<I've a very unusual requirement by one
of my clients for some kind of authoring tool that can automate the
documentation process as follows: 1. It can automatically take the
screen-shots of the software (even the restricted area that needs
login; onee login credentials are provided). 2. Author the content on-
the-fly with or without human involvement.>>

Based on your description, your client is looking for the well-
respected H.A.L. 9000 software. The underlying algorithms haven't been
upgraded since 1968, but that's because the software does what it's
designed to do perfectly. The software is now open source, and comes
in distributions for Windows (up to XP, but not Vista), Mac, and
Linux. It does have some minor problems, but since your client seems
to want to eliminate humans from the picture, those problems should be
seen more as opportunities. For more details, see the Wikipedia
article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_9000).

Ok, that's not such a polite reply. <g> Let me try again with tongue
less firmly in cheek. What your client is asking for is software that
can eliminate humans from the process, by using software to replace
human understanding of the needs of the audience and the human ability
to translate arcane software into terms humans can understand. That
kind of software simply doesn't exist, won't exist for decades, and
(if we're lucky) won't ever exist.

Ask your client to precisely define the parts of the process that
don't require humans and that are therefore subject to automation and
we can help you. For example, there's no shortage of good screenshot
software such as SnagIt, but it requires a human to decide what shots
and what parts of each shot are important; there's no shortage of good
"film sequences" software such as Camtasia, but it requires humans to
decide what to film and how to edit it; and all help-authoring
toolkits automate the process of importing screenshots once you tell
them what screenshots to include, and where. Software such as Acrobat
can also be set to automatically distill (human-written) files in a
default directory into a PDF as soon as the files arrive, or at
various times of day.

But if they're looking for a magic wand that will do everything for
them, they're dreaming in technicolor.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geoff Hart (www.geoff-hart.com)
ghart@... / geoffhart@...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Effective Onscreen Editing:
http://www.geoff-hart.com/books/eoe/onscreen-book.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I recently signed up a one year contract that perfectly suits my needs and
decided not to raise my rate to facilitate the negociation with that client,
particularly with the actual economic situation.
For my other regular client, I did not raise my rate either since they are
regular client. They made some layoffs recently and I'd rather keep them at the
actual rate than trying to make more money and lose them. I should revise in
January.

It would be interesting to make a survey of the rates by specialization
(pharmacology, IT, etc.)
Chantal



________________________________
De : Ann Howell <ann.howell@...>
À : mtl_techwriter@yahoogroups.com
Envoyé le : mercredi 27 mai 2009, 14 h 15 min 37 s
Objet : Re: [mtl_techwriter] Has the recession affected your rates?





I had planned to raise my rates, but my main client made it clear that they
were tightening their belt, so I wimped out and kept them stable. For
smaller, short-term contracts I bumped up my rates a little. Mind you, it
had been a few years since my rates had changed, so I was long over-due.
Ann

On Mon, May 4, 2009 at 10:54 AM, superk <superk696@gmail. com> wrote:

>
>
> Hi John,
>
> I haven't done much freelance in the last few years, but my rates have
> still
> gone up :)
>
> It all comes down to how much you depend on those revenues or not I
> guess...
>
> Since I don't depend on that revenue, I raise my rates every year or so...
>
> K
>
>
> On Mon, May 4, 2009 at 10:42 AM, Dave <david.hickey@ memotec.com<david.hickey%
40memotec. com>>
> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Greetings!
> >
> > What are the contractors noticing about opportunities with this global
> > recession in place? A friend was saying he noticed that the rates had
> > dropped by 20% since last year. Is anyone else feeling that?
> > --
> > John David Hickey
> > Documentia Inc.
> >
> >
> >
>
> --
> K
> b. http://lkm696. blogspot. com
> t. http://twitter. com/leroykmay
>
> "Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible" - Frank Zappa
> "The scariest moment in writing is just before you start." Stephen King
> "Statistics are like tequila shots. Always take 'em with a few grains of
> salt and a slice of lime" - Caroline McCarthy
>
> Signez la pétition pour que Steve Coleman vienne à Montréal
> http://www.petition online.com/ scoleman/ petition. html
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





       Offrez un compte Flickr Pro à vos amis et à votre famille.
http://www.flickr.com/gift/

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Web-Based Training Sessions:  "Improve Your FrameMaker Skills" , Part 4
1 hour each (starting 10am PDT | 1pm EDT | 17pm UTC/GMT)

Topics in Part 4:
* Character Formats, July 9
* FrameMaker Hypertext, July 23
* Conditional Text, August 6
* Equations, August 20
* Graphics -- Tips & Tricks, September 3


Part 1+2 topics are offered again, as follows: (all times PDT)
* Table Of Contents Demystified, July 16 (starting 9:30am)
* Mastering Running Headers/Footers, July 16 (starting 11am)
* Table Tips & Tricks, July 30 (starting 9:30am)
* Paragraph Overrides, July 30 (starting 11am)
* Text Editing and Spelling Techniques, August 13 (starting 9:30am)
* Paragraph Autonumbering, August 13 (starting 11am)
* Word-to-FrameMaker Conversions, August 27 (starting 9:30am)
* Indexing Essentials, August 27 (starting 11am)
* Handling Author Comments in FrameMaker, September 10 (starting 9:30am)
* Cross-Reference Tips & Tricks, September 10 (starting 11am)

For session descriptions + participants' feedback, visit
http://www.microtype.com/training.html

Registration form: 
http://www.microtype.com/training/WebImproveFMSkills2009-Reg.pdf
[register to any of the sessions before June 18 and get a bonus session free of
charge: "User Variables -- Tips & Tricks", June 18]


Shlomo Perets

MicroType, http://www.microtype.com
Training, consulting & add-ons: FrameMaker, Structured FM and Acrobat


-------------------------

1-hour webinars (free), starting 1pm EDT


* Better PDFs with FrameMaker-to-Acrobat TimeSavers  Webinar -- Thursday, June
25
Demonstration/discussion of different techniques for improving and enriching
PDFs authored in FrameMaker, and how to achieve these goals automatically &
consistently using TimeSavers general settings and/or TimeSavers hypertext
markers placed in individual FrameMaker files.
Register at https://student.gototraining.com/register/2548117978369721874


* Effective PDF Bookmarks with FrameMaker-to-Acrobat TimeSavers  Webinar -- Tue,
July 21
How to Improve bookmark hierarchy and visibility of FrameMaker-generated
bookmarks, and how to easily add useful bookmarks through hypertext markers
(with FrameMaker-to-Acrobat TimeSavers) -- pointing to other PDFs or web pages,
instantly providing e-mail feedback, launching external files, starting
Acrobat/Reader actions (eg common search phrases) and much more.
Register at https://student.gototraining.com/register/1035786782006430995


* Enhancing PDFs with Form Fields (with FM-to-Acrobat TimeSavers + Form Asst) 
Webinar -- Tue, August 18
PDF form fields are typically associated with forms as a data collection tool
(eg purchase orders or registration forms). However, form fields can serve as an
underlying mechanism for other interactive features.
Form Assistant (FM-to-Acrobat TimeSavers add-on) enables you to include the
definitions of PDF fields in FrameMaker through hypertext markers, so that they
are automatically present in the PDF file: text fields, check boxes, buttons,
lists and digital signatures, with complete control over field properties.
Register at https://student.gototraining.com/register/3420308416844530916


"32 Ways to Improve Your PDFs with TimeSavers/Assistants"
http://www.microtype.com/ImprovePDF.html

Greetings!

I'm noticing that many contracts and jobs in the technical documentation field
require an understanding of programming code. This has always been a weakness
for me in my career since I haven't coded anything since the 80s (in basica of
all things).

If I wanted to learn how to write software code so that I'd be able to write SDK
or API documentation, or simply to be able to read code in order to write the
documentation, how would I start learning that?

I'm wondering what level of education I'd need to learn basic coding techniques
that would give me some insight in writing documentation about it. Is this about
get a BSc in programming, does it involve year-long course to get a certificate,
or is there something else?
--
John David Hickey

Dave Hickey wondered: <<I'm noticing that many contracts and jobs in
the technical documentation field require an understanding of
programming code. This has always been a weakness for me in my career
since I haven't coded anything since the 80s (in basica of all
things). If I wanted to learn how to write software code so that I'd
be able to write SDK or API documentation, or simply to be able to
read code in order to write the documentation, how would I start
learning that?>>

If you're talking about learning the basics of any standard modern
programming language, such as C, C++, C#, or Java, there are "for
dummies" books available by the dozen. Don't let the title offend you;
I own half a dozen of these books for various programs, and they're
generally excellent. Of course, you might not like the attitude, in
which case you again have many options; the O'Reilly books are all
uniformly excellent in my experience. I was going to suggest you head
over to Camelot and do some browsing, but it looks like they've gone
out of business. Chapters/Indigo or Archambault should give you a
decent selection.

Note, however, that since you learned Basic, you already know that one
programmer's elegant and clear algorithm is a complete mystery to
someone else. This hasn't changed in 30 years so far as I've heard;
programming remains as much art as science. Simply learning what the
programming statements mean won't necessarily tell you a lot about
what a given code module actually does, unless the programmer
documented it clearly as they wrote code. I'm told that this and the
Easter Bunny are both seen in the wild every so often. <g>

That actually suggests a sideways approach that might work: since
programmers hate documenting what they're doing, possibly you could
volunteer to work with them to write the code documentation. That is,
they describe what the module does, and you turn that description into
English and embed that English in the code. They'll love you for it --
at least, when I worked with programmers to write the UI text, they
were always grateful.

You might also want to look into the MIT Open Courseware resource
(http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm
). Under the "engineering" links, there are a scad of courses,
including various introductory level courses. Plus, dropping the name
"MIT" gets you serious street cred among programmers.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geoff Hart (www.geoff-hart.com)
ghart@... / geoffhart@...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Effective Onscreen Editing:
http://www.geoff-hart.com/books/eoe/onscreen-book.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------

JD, I used the "Teach Yourself" series for C and C+ and found it really useful.
It won't teach you to be a developer, but at least it'll help you decipher code
better.

Cheers,
Lisa

Hi all,



Dave Hickey asked: <<I'm noticing that many contracts and jobs in

the technical documentation field require an understanding of

programming code. This has always been a weakness for me in my career

since I haven't coded anything since the 80s (in basica of all

things). If I wanted to learn how to write software code so that I'd

be able to write SDK or API documentation, or simply to be able to

read code in order to write the documentation, how would I start

learning that?>>



Most books and courses on programming are trying to teach you how to
program. Their focus is on solving problems and constructing algorithms.



But that's not what technical writers need. We need to know just enough
about programming and the programming language (C, C++, Java, ...) to write
the documentation. That's quite different - and quite a lot easier to learn.



<Self-promotion_alert!>



Well, it just so happens that I give two one-day workshops on that topic:



.         Just Enough Java
(http://www.gordonandgordon.com/java_workshop_details.html)

.         Just Enough C and C++
(http://www.gordonandgordon.com/c_plus_workshop_details.html)



I'm always pleased to deliver these workshops to groups of technical
writers.



But for Just Enough Java, there is an alternative.



Yes folks, you can bring Manny Gordon right into your living room with Just
Enough Java: Workshop-on-a-DVD!
(http://www.thirdwavestudios.com/gg/java_video.html).



Marc Proulx of Third Wave studios (marc@...) has done a
remarkable job of trimming a one-day workshop into a three hour, 40
minute-long set of DVDS. The package includes the workbook and the
exercises.



</self-promotion_alert!>



I hope this helps, Dave. And thanks for running this forum!



--- Manny



======================================

  Manuel Gordon

  -- Partner --

  Gordon & Gordon

  "Technical Writing for the Real World"

--------------------------------------

  (514) 934-3274

  Fax:  (514) 934-6077

  www.gordonandgordon.com

  manuel@...

  personal: manuel_gordon@...

======================================





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Montreal Techwriter Forum Posting Rules
(updated August 12th 2005)
=======================================
Greetings!

This is your monthly reminder of the posting rules
on this list. If you are a new member and just starting
to post, please take a minute to review the rules so
that we can ensure a high quality list.

The rules here are simple: absolutely no personal
attacks, defamation or excessively aggressive behaviour
will be tolerated here. All participants share the
responsibility to communicate in a respectful manner
in order to encourage a constructive dialogue in a
friendly atmosphere.

When posting a question to the list, please try to make
it as specific as possible. Vague questions are difficult
to address and answer, so they may be largely ignored.
This list is intended to provide support to new and
experienced technical writers. We'll be happy to help
you with whatever challenges you are facing with your
projects, but we're not here to train you in the art
of technical documentation.

This list is designed to promote the intrinsic value
of the writing profession. Any post that belittles,
devalues, or attacks the integrity of the writer or
the writer's contribution to a project is not welcome.

If you have any questions or comments, please email
me at jdave@.... These rules may change from
time to time, so if you're unsure about something,
feel free to ask me about it!

I do hope you enjoy your stay and experience in
the Montreal Techwriter Forum!

------------
About Spamming
------------

ABSOLUTELY NO SPAM WILL BE TOLERATED. This includes
marketing ads and invitations to join unrelated lists.
Doing so can result in your immediate removal from the list.
If you are unsure whether your post may be considered
spam, send it to the moderator (jdave@...)
and he will decide whether it is suitable or not.

Elist spam also includes postings that invite users to visit
websites that act as generalized FAQs, but are really
only vehicles to sell web advertisements. These postings
will be rejected and the members removed from the elist.

This elist is not a recruitment agency and it will not
provide you with a job simply by asking all 450+ of its
members to forward you any jobs that become available.
Therefore, any posts that are similar to the following
will be considered as spam:

* "Please send me notice of any job that becomes available"
* "Here's my CV. Please send it to any job that becomes
available"
* "I really want to move to Canada! Please help me find a
job!"

------------
Member Moderation
------------

This list is largely unmoderated. This means that your
posts should generally appear on the list without
impedement. However, if the owner/moderator of this
list feels that your posts violate the rules stated
above, the following will occur:

1. You will receive a warning and suggestions on how
to improve the quality of your future posts.

2. If the warning is ignored or the inappropriate
posts continue, your posts will be moderated (ie:
the moderator must approve them before they appear
on the list). The moderation will continue until
the moderator feels that you understand how to
post properly.

3. If the poster cannot conform to the posting
rules or the spirit of this list, he/she will be
removed from the list.

------------
Trimming your posts
------------

Please only quote the minimum of what you need to from a related post
to provide context for what you want to say. Requoting the previous
post in its entirety is wasteful for bandwidth and makes it that much
more difficult to read. Chances are we already read that post, so we
don't need to read it again.

So before clicking the Send button, please take a moment to make sure
you trim out the parts of the previous post you don't need. If you do
this by accident, don't worry about it (no apologies necessary). But
if you do it too much, you will receive a friendly off-list note about
it from the moderator.

===========================
1. JOB/CONTRACT POSTINGS
===========================

If you have a job or contract offer in the technical writing
field, feel free to post it on the elist. Make sure you put
as much information about the offer as possible.

Please remember that this elist is designed to serve the
needs of technical writers in and around the Montreal
area. The bulk of the membership is located in this area.

1. If the job/contract offer is located in a city outside of
the Montreal area, please indicate if the work can be
done remotely, or if it is to be an on-site position, if your
company is willing to pay relocation costs.

2. If the job/contract offer is located in a foreign country
to Canada, please indicate if the work can be
done remotely, or if it is to be an on-site position.

3. If the applicant must work in a foreign country, please
indicate if a work VISA is necessary,
or if the employer is willing to provide a work VISA for the
person who is selected.

If the moderator requires this type of information, he will
email you at the address you used to post the job/contract
offer. If you do not respond to his questions within 7 days,
he will reject your post and remove you from the elist.

Job Spam and Identity Theft are very real threats and
the moderator wishes to keep the members of this elist
as safe as possible. Thank you for your understanding
in this matter.

=====================================
2. ACCESSING THE MTL_TECHWRITER WEBSITE
=====================================

I've received a few emails about this issue, so I've
decided to add it into the monthly posting message.

Even though you are a member of this elist on
Yahoogroups, you may not necessarily have access
to the mtl_techwriter website
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mtl_techwriter/).
This website not only gives you access to the
message archives, but also related files, photos,
database entries, bookmarks, and polls.

To access the website, you must created a Yahoo
ID linked to the email address you use to access
the elist. It's one of those dumb Yahoo rules...
Believe me, I ain't happy about it.

Creating a Yahoo ID is completely optional, but if
you want to access the website, you will need to
create one. Go to "Sign-in and Registration Help"
at http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/edit/ to find out
more about it.

--
Be seeing you,

Dave
=====================================
John David Hickey
mtl_techwriter Moderator
jdave@...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mtl_techwriter/

A llama?!?! He's supposed to be dead!
=====================================

Montreal Techwriter Forum Posting Rules
(updated August 12th 2005)
=======================================
Greetings!

This is your monthly reminder of the posting rules
on this list. If you are a new member and just starting
to post, please take a minute to review the rules so
that we can ensure a high quality list.

The rules here are simple: absolutely no personal
attacks, defamation or excessively aggressive behaviour
will be tolerated here. All participants share the
responsibility to communicate in a respectful manner
in order to encourage a constructive dialogue in a
friendly atmosphere.

When posting a question to the list, please try to make
it as specific as possible. Vague questions are difficult
to address and answer, so they may be largely ignored.
This list is intended to provide support to new and
experienced technical writers. We'll be happy to help
you with whatever challenges you are facing with your
projects, but we're not here to train you in the art
of technical documentation.

This list is designed to promote the intrinsic value
of the writing profession. Any post that belittles,
devalues, or attacks the integrity of the writer or
the writer's contribution to a project is not welcome.

If you have any questions or comments, please email
me at jdave@.... These rules may change from
time to time, so if you're unsure about something,
feel free to ask me about it!

I do hope you enjoy your stay and experience in
the Montreal Techwriter Forum!

------------
About Spamming
------------

ABSOLUTELY NO SPAM WILL BE TOLERATED. This includes
marketing ads and invitations to join unrelated lists.
Doing so can result in your immediate removal from the list.
If you are unsure whether your post may be considered
spam, send it to the moderator (jdave@...)
and he will decide whether it is suitable or not.

Elist spam also includes postings that invite users to visit
websites that act as generalized FAQs, but are really
only vehicles to sell web advertisements. These postings
will be rejected and the members removed from the elist.

This elist is not a recruitment agency and it will not
provide you with a job simply by asking all 450+ of its
members to forward you any jobs that become available.
Therefore, any posts that are similar to the following
will be considered as spam:

* "Please send me notice of any job that becomes available"
* "Here's my CV. Please send it to any job that becomes
available"
* "I really want to move to Canada! Please help me find a
job!"

------------
Member Moderation
------------

This list is largely unmoderated. This means that your
posts should generally appear on the list without
impedement. However, if the owner/moderator of this
list feels that your posts violate the rules stated
above, the following will occur:

1. You will receive a warning and suggestions on how
to improve the quality of your future posts.

2. If the warning is ignored or the inappropriate
posts continue, your posts will be moderated (ie:
the moderator must approve them before they appear
on the list). The moderation will continue until
the moderator feels that you understand how to
post properly.

3. If the poster cannot conform to the posting
rules or the spirit of this list, he/she will be
removed from the list.

------------
Trimming your posts
------------

Please only quote the minimum of what you need to from a related post
to provide context for what you want to say. Requoting the previous
post in its entirety is wasteful for bandwidth and makes it that much
more difficult to read. Chances are we already read that post, so we
don't need to read it again.

So before clicking the Send button, please take a moment to make sure
you trim out the parts of the previous post you don't need. If you do
this by accident, don't worry about it (no apologies necessary). But
if you do it too much, you will receive a friendly off-list note about
it from the moderator.

===========================
1. JOB/CONTRACT POSTINGS
===========================

If you have a job or contract offer in the technical writing
field, feel free to post it on the elist. Make sure you put
as much information about the offer as possible.

Please remember that this elist is designed to serve the
needs of technical writers in and around the Montreal
area. The bulk of the membership is located in this area.

1. If the job/contract offer is located in a city outside of
the Montreal area, please indicate if the work can be
done remotely, or if it is to be an on-site position, if your
company is willing to pay relocation costs.

2. If the job/contract offer is located in a foreign country
to Canada, please indicate if the work can be
done remotely, or if it is to be an on-site position.

3. If the applicant must work in a foreign country, please
indicate if a work VISA is necessary,
or if the employer is willing to provide a work VISA for the
person who is selected.

If the moderator requires this type of information, he will
email you at the address you used to post the job/contract
offer. If you do not respond to his questions within 7 days,
he will reject your post and remove you from the elist.

Job Spam and Identity Theft are very real threats and
the moderator wishes to keep the members of this elist
as safe as possible. Thank you for your understanding
in this matter.

=====================================
2. ACCESSING THE MTL_TECHWRITER WEBSITE
=====================================

I've received a few emails about this issue, so I've
decided to add it into the monthly posting message.

Even though you are a member of this elist on
Yahoogroups, you may not necessarily have access
to the mtl_techwriter website
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mtl_techwriter/).
This website not only gives you access to the
message archives, but also related files, photos,
database entries, bookmarks, and polls.

To access the website, you must created a Yahoo
ID linked to the email address you use to access
the elist. It's one of those dumb Yahoo rules...
Believe me, I ain't happy about it.

Creating a Yahoo ID is completely optional, but if
you want to access the website, you will need to
create one. Go to "Sign-in and Registration Help"
at http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/edit/ to find out
more about it.

--
Be seeing you,

Dave
=====================================
John David Hickey
mtl_techwriter Moderator
jdave@...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mtl_techwriter/

A llama?!?! He's supposed to be dead!
=====================================

This announcement is also posted online: http://www.sfbayptcuser.org/blog/

Please join us online for our next online meeting:

*“Information Quality Lifecycle Management*“

* Presented by Mike Iantosca, IBM*

*
Date*: Saturday, 22 August 2009, 9:00-10:30 AM Pacific/US
* *

*Location*: Online via LiveMeeting.
* *

*RSVP*: You must RSVP to receive the LiveMeeting invite
https://www.123signup.com/event?id=jqjxg
<https://www.123signup.com/event?id=jgzdt>* *

*Cost*: Free and open to all who wish to attend. Registration is limited to
30.*
*

*
Topic*

IBM’s long standing commitment to our clients is to deliver the right
content to the right person at the right time and in the right place. To
that end, IBM has embarked on a multi-year development initiative to create
an end-to-end life cycle information management system. The system, known
internally as IDCMS Blue, is intended to integrate and automate IBM
Information Development processes and tools.

A significant element of IDCMS-Blue is information quality management.
Information quality management begins with information architecture  and
extends through content authoring, editorial review, defect management,
customer collaboration and feedback, and a variety of information usage
statistics that when combined,  form the IBM quality management strategy
based on structured authoring with DITA, Arbortext Editor, Acrolinx IQ, IBM
Task Modeler and the IBM Eclipse Help System.

* *

*About the Speaker*

Mike Iantosca is the corporate product development team (PDT) lead for IBM
DITA Authoring Tools and Content Management Systems for IBM Information
Development worldwide.  A founding member of the team that ushered in the
era of SGML and XML/DITA in IBM Information Development, Mr. Iantosca has
served multiple roles including systems analyst, architect, senior advisor,
project, and product manager. Mr. Iantosca led the worldwide conversion of
millions of pages of IBM product documentation to structured formats and has
served in additional roles in IBM Information Development as a writer,
instructor, developer, tester, and evangelist of structured document
solutions in IBM for more than 25 years.  He is also a former executive
board member of AUGI.



*About the SF Bay Arbortext PTC/User Group:*

We hold virtual meeting on the 4th Saturday of the month at 9 AM Pacific. We
are soliciting suggestions for an alternate meeting time. Please email me
separately <liz.fraley@...> with your preferences.

Meeting announcements are posted regularly here:
http://www.sfbayptcuser.org/blog/
If you're interested in presenting, please tell
us<liz.fraley@...>!



Thanks,

Liz Fraley

You should follow me on twitter here <http://twitter.com/SingleSourcing>.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

"Liven up your PDFs with FrameMaker-to-Acrobat TimeSavers/Assistants" -- 1-hour
webinar (free)

Thursday, September 10
Starting 10am PDT | 1pm EDT | 5pm UTC/GMT

Liven up static documentation (software/hardware) and engage readers through
interactive graphics, information displayed on demand (popups/rollovers/layers),
multimedia (such as video simulations and demonstrations of software processes
and functions), interactive 3D, and more. All features demonstrated in the
webinar are specified in FrameMaker and are present automatically in the
resulting PDFs, with no post-creation actions in Acrobat.

Register at https://student.gototraining.com/register/8019702938678710980



Shlomo Perets

MicroType * http://www.microtype.com
FrameMaker/Acrobat training & consulting * FM-to-Acrobat TimeSavers/Assistants
"Improve Your FrameMaker Skills" web-based training sessions

Montreal Techwriter Forum Posting Rules
(updated August 12th 2005)
=======================================
Greetings!

This is your monthly reminder of the posting rules
on this list. If you are a new member and just starting
to post, please take a minute to review the rules so
that we can ensure a high quality list.

The rules here are simple: absolutely no personal
attacks, defamation or excessively aggressive behaviour
will be tolerated here. All participants share the
responsibility to communicate in a respectful manner
in order to encourage a constructive dialogue in a
friendly atmosphere.

When posting a question to the list, please try to make
it as specific as possible. Vague questions are difficult
to address and answer, so they may be largely ignored.
This list is intended to provide support to new and
experienced technical writers. We'll be happy to help
you with whatever challenges you are facing with your
projects, but we're not here to train you in the art
of technical documentation.

This list is designed to promote the intrinsic value
of the writing profession. Any post that belittles,
devalues, or attacks the integrity of the writer or
the writer's contribution to a project is not welcome.

If you have any questions or comments, please email
me at jdave@.... These rules may change from
time to time, so if you're unsure about something,
feel free to ask me about it!

I do hope you enjoy your stay and experience in
the Montreal Techwriter Forum!

------------
About Spamming
------------

ABSOLUTELY NO SPAM WILL BE TOLERATED. This includes
marketing ads and invitations to join unrelated lists.
Doing so can result in your immediate removal from the list.
If you are unsure whether your post may be considered
spam, send it to the moderator (jdave@...)
and he will decide whether it is suitable or not.

Elist spam also includes postings that invite users to visit
websites that act as generalized FAQs, but are really
only vehicles to sell web advertisements. These postings
will be rejected and the members removed from the elist.

This elist is not a recruitment agency and it will not
provide you with a job simply by asking all 450+ of its
members to forward you any jobs that become available.
Therefore, any posts that are similar to the following
will be considered as spam:

* "Please send me notice of any job that becomes available"
* "Here's my CV. Please send it to any job that becomes
available"
* "I really want to move to Canada! Please help me find a
job!"

------------
Member Moderation
------------

This list is largely unmoderated. This means that your
posts should generally appear on the list without
impedement. However, if the owner/moderator of this
list feels that your posts violate the rules stated
above, the following will occur:

1. You will receive a warning and suggestions on how
to improve the quality of your future posts.

2. If the warning is ignored or the inappropriate
posts continue, your posts will be moderated (ie:
the moderator must approve them before they appear
on the list). The moderation will continue until
the moderator feels that you understand how to
post properly.

3. If the poster cannot conform to the posting
rules or the spirit of this list, he/she will be
removed from the list.

------------
Trimming your posts
------------

Please only quote the minimum of what you need to from a related post
to provide context for what you want to say. Requoting the previous
post in its entirety is wasteful for bandwidth and makes it that much
more difficult to read. Chances are we already read that post, so we
don't need to read it again.

So before clicking the Send button, please take a moment to make sure
you trim out the parts of the previous post you don't need. If you do
this by accident, don't worry about it (no apologies necessary). But
if you do it too much, you will receive a friendly off-list note about
it from the moderator.

===========================
1. JOB/CONTRACT POSTINGS
===========================

If you have a job or contract offer in the technical writing
field, feel free to post it on the elist. Make sure you put
as much information about the offer as possible.

Please remember that this elist is designed to serve the
needs of technical writers in and around the Montreal
area. The bulk of the membership is located in this area.

1. If the job/contract offer is located in a city outside of
the Montreal area, please indicate if the work can be
done remotely, or if it is to be an on-site position, if your
company is willing to pay relocation costs.

2. If the job/contract offer is located in a foreign country
to Canada, please indicate if the work can be
done remotely, or if it is to be an on-site position.

3. If the applicant must work in a foreign country, please
indicate if a work VISA is necessary,
or if the employer is willing to provide a work VISA for the
person who is selected.

If the moderator requires this type of information, he will
email you at the address you used to post the job/contract
offer. If you do not respond to his questions within 7 days,
he will reject your post and remove you from the elist.

Job Spam and Identity Theft are very real threats and
the moderator wishes to keep the members of this elist
as safe as possible. Thank you for your understanding
in this matter.

=====================================
2. ACCESSING THE MTL_TECHWRITER WEBSITE
=====================================

I've received a few emails about this issue, so I've
decided to add it into the monthly posting message.

Even though you are a member of this elist on
Yahoogroups, you may not necessarily have access
to the mtl_techwriter website
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mtl_techwriter/).
This website not only gives you access to the
message archives, but also related files, photos,
database entries, bookmarks, and polls.

To access the website, you must created a Yahoo
ID linked to the email address you use to access
the elist. It's one of those dumb Yahoo rules...
Believe me, I ain't happy about it.

Creating a Yahoo ID is completely optional, but if
you want to access the website, you will need to
create one. Go to "Sign-in and Registration Help"
at http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/edit/ to find out
more about it.

--
Be seeing you,

Dave
=====================================
John David Hickey
mtl_techwriter Moderator
jdave@...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mtl_techwriter/

A llama?!?! He's supposed to be dead!
=====================================

Start the STC season on the right note. Join your colleagues and
friends for a cold drink and cool jazz at Le Cabaret.

Do you want to meet other technical writers? Do you want to hire a
technical writer? Or become one yourself? This event is open to the
public so drop by.

When and Where

When: Monday, September 21, 2009, starting at 6:30 p.m.

Where: Le Cabaret Piano Bar at Hôtel de la Montagne, 1430 Rue de la
Montagne, Montreal

Cost: No fee at the door, pay for your food and drinks; open to all.

I thought that this might be of interest as it's DITA focused and there's
been a lot of interest online, on many of the DITA mailing lists, and
elsewhere about integrating DITA and Wiki.


---------- Forwarded message ----------


Please join us online for our next meeting:

"*IBM DITA Wiki--One year retrospective*"
Presented by *Don Day, IBM*

Date: Saturday, 26 September 2009, 9:00-10:30 AM Pacific/US
Location:  Online via GoToMeeting. You must Register to receive the
GoToMeeting invite.
Cost: Free and open to all who wish to attend.
Registration: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/168595330

*Topic*

The IBM DITA Wiki is an internal application created originally to
demonstrate the feasibility of using native DITA in a collaborative
authoring tool. It is positioned today as a key means for capturing the
writings of Subject Matter Experts within the company in the reusable,
easily repurposed DITA format.

The wiki is now a hosted service within IBM that enables contributors whose
jobs are NOT technical writing to move their content development into the
DITA standard. The collaboration aspect in particular has appealed to
programming and education teams, and we are exploring the wiki's suitability
for other domains as well, such as engineering and support professionals.

This presentation will provide some background on DITA and this project's
history before delving into some of the experiences and successes of various
user communities to date.


*About the Speaker*

Don Day is an advisory software engineer for IBM. For the past 15 years, he
has designed and supported publishing tools for IBM's Information
Development community. Don provides XML expertise for Information Design and
Development in IBM's e-business Operating Systems Solutions area and for IBM
Corporate User Technology. He has represented IBM on the W3C XSL Working
Group and is presently IBM's alternate rep for the W3C CSS Working Group.
Don holds a dual-major Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Journalism and
a Master of Arts degree in Technical and Professional Communication (with a
minor in Computer Science) from New Mexico State University.

http://www.ibm.com


*Note*

This meeting will be held online. You must RSVP to receive the LiveMeeting
invite: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/168595330. After registering
you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining
the Webinar.


*Acknowledgements*

This meeting is brought to you by the SF Bay Arbortext PTC/User Group

We want to thank Wolters Kluwer <http://www.wolterskluwer.com> for
supporting our organization and community-focused programs.

We want to thank Single-Sourcing Solutions
<http://www.single-sourcing.com>for coordinating our meeting
logistics, administration, and for providing
access to their GoToMeeting resources and conference bridge facilities.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

STC Annual Wine & Cheese Schmooze!
At Le Cabaret

Monday is the day! Start the STC season on the right note. Join your
colleagues and friends for a cold drink and cool jazz at Le Cabaret.

Do you want to meet other technical writers? Do you want to hire a
technical writer? Or become one yourself? This event is open to the
public so drop by.

When and Where

When: Monday, September 21, 2009, starting at 6:30 p.m.

Where: Le Cabaret Piano Bar at Hotel de la Montagne

Cost: No fee at the door, pay for your food and drinks; open to all.

Montreal Techwriter Forum Posting Rules
(updated August 12th 2005)
=======================================
Greetings!

This is your monthly reminder of the posting rules
on this list. If you are a new member and just starting
to post, please take a minute to review the rules so
that we can ensure a high quality list.

The rules here are simple: absolutely no personal
attacks, defamation or excessively aggressive behaviour
will be tolerated here. All participants share the
responsibility to communicate in a respectful manner
in order to encourage a constructive dialogue in a
friendly atmosphere.

When posting a question to the list, please try to make
it as specific as possible. Vague questions are difficult
to address and answer, so they may be largely ignored.
This list is intended to provide support to new and
experienced technical writers. We'll be happy to help
you with whatever challenges you are facing with your
projects, but we're not here to train you in the art
of technical documentation.

This list is designed to promote the intrinsic value
of the writing profession. Any post that belittles,
devalues, or attacks the integrity of the writer or
the writer's contribution to a project is not welcome.

If you have any questions or comments, please email
me at jdave@.... These rules may change from
time to time, so if you're unsure about something,
feel free to ask me about it!

I do hope you enjoy your stay and experience in
the Montreal Techwriter Forum!

------------
About Spamming
------------

ABSOLUTELY NO SPAM WILL BE TOLERATED. This includes
marketing ads and invitations to join unrelated lists.
Doing so can result in your immediate removal from the list.
If you are unsure whether your post may be considered
spam, send it to the moderator (jdave@...)
and he will decide whether it is suitable or not.

Elist spam also includes postings that invite users to visit
websites that act as generalized FAQs, but are really
only vehicles to sell web advertisements. These postings
will be rejected and the members removed from the elist.

This elist is not a recruitment agency and it will not
provide you with a job simply by asking all 450+ of its
members to forward you any jobs that become available.
Therefore, any posts that are similar to the following
will be considered as spam:

* "Please send me notice of any job that becomes available"
* "Here's my CV. Please send it to any job that becomes
available"
* "I really want to move to Canada! Please help me find a
job!"

------------
Member Moderation
------------

This list is largely unmoderated. This means that your
posts should generally appear on the list without
impedement. However, if the owner/moderator of this
list feels that your posts violate the rules stated
above, the following will occur:

1. You will receive a warning and suggestions on how
to improve the quality of your future posts.

2. If the warning is ignored or the inappropriate
posts continue, your posts will be moderated (ie:
the moderator must approve them before they appear
on the list). The moderation will continue until
the moderator feels that you understand how to
post properly.

3. If the poster cannot conform to the posting
rules or the spirit of this list, he/she will be
removed from the list.

------------
Trimming your posts
------------

Please only quote the minimum of what you need to from a related post
to provide context for what you want to say. Requoting the previous
post in its entirety is wasteful for bandwidth and makes it that much
more difficult to read. Chances are we already read that post, so we
don't need to read it again.

So before clicking the Send button, please take a moment to make sure
you trim out the parts of the previous post you don't need. If you do
this by accident, don't worry about it (no apologies necessary). But
if you do it too much, you will receive a friendly off-list note about
it from the moderator.

===========================
1. JOB/CONTRACT POSTINGS
===========================

If you have a job or contract offer in the technical writing
field, feel free to post it on the elist. Make sure you put
as much information about the offer as possible.

Please remember that this elist is designed to serve the
needs of technical writers in and around the Montreal
area. The bulk of the membership is located in this area.

1. If the job/contract offer is located in a city outside of
the Montreal area, please indicate if the work can be
done remotely, or if it is to be an on-site position, if your
company is willing to pay relocation costs.

2. If the job/contract offer is located in a foreign country
to Canada, please indicate if the work can be
done remotely, or if it is to be an on-site position.

3. If the applicant must work in a foreign country, please
indicate if a work VISA is necessary,
or if the employer is willing to provide a work VISA for the
person who is selected.

If the moderator requires this type of information, he will
email you at the address you used to post the job/contract
offer. If you do not respond to his questions within 7 days,
he will reject your post and remove you from the elist.

Job Spam and Identity Theft are very real threats and
the moderator wishes to keep the members of this elist
as safe as possible. Thank you for your understanding
in this matter.

=====================================
2. ACCESSING THE MTL_TECHWRITER WEBSITE
=====================================

I've received a few emails about this issue, so I've
decided to add it into the monthly posting message.

Even though you are a member of this elist on
Yahoogroups, you may not necessarily have access
to the mtl_techwriter website
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mtl_techwriter/).
This website not only gives you access to the
message archives, but also related files, photos,
database entries, bookmarks, and polls.

To access the website, you must created a Yahoo
ID linked to the email address you use to access
the elist. It's one of those dumb Yahoo rules...
Believe me, I ain't happy about it.

Creating a Yahoo ID is completely optional, but if
you want to access the website, you will need to
create one. Go to "Sign-in and Registration Help"
at http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/edit/ to find out
more about it.

--
Be seeing you,

Dave
=====================================
John David Hickey
mtl_techwriter Moderator
jdave@...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mtl_techwriter/

A llama?!?! He's supposed to be dead!
=====================================

Please join us online for our next meeting:

*"Content is King"*
*Presented by Rajal Shah, Juniper Networks*

*Date*: Saturday, 24 October 2009, 9:00-10:30 AM Pacific/US
*Location*:  Online via GoToMeeting. You must register to receive the
GoToMeeting invite.
*Cost*: Free and open to all who wish to attend.
*Registration*: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/557482411


*Topic*

Juniper Networks has focused on an topic-based documentation and publishing
approach for their product documentation for the past 5+ years. Come explore
their journey as they began as a vision for "operation efficiency" by
migrating from Frame Maker to xml, to a vision that offers a "business value
proposition" with topics by offering services to customers to create dynamic
content. This presentation will provide an opportunity to learn about our
experiences and give you some valuable tips on how to leverage a topic-based
approach.

*About the Speaker*

Rajal Shah is the Director of Document Engineering in the Foundation
Technologies group at Juniper Networks. FT is the corporate R&D Group at
Juniper Networks. His group is responsible for facilitating and promoting a
unified documentation and publishing approach across all five business
groups at Juniper.

http://www.juniper.net/



*Note*

This meeting will be held online. You must RSVP to receive the GoToMeeting
invite: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/557482411. After registering
you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining
the Webinar.


*Acknowledgements*
This meeting is brought to you by the SF Bay Arbortext PTC/User Group

We want to thank Wolters Kluwer for supporting our organization and
community-focused programs.

We want to thank Single-Sourcing Solutions for coordinating our meeting
logistics, administration, and for providing access to their GoToMeeting
resources and conference bridge facilities.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Mediaville Montreal

Where freelancers go to town!

Attention writers, editors, publishers, translators, and anyone
interested in pursuing a career as an independent media professional!

Mediaville Montreal is a professional development and networking event
you won’t want to miss! There will be expert panel discussions on:

- How to build a successful freelance media career
- How to develop your freelance business
- A workshop on how to sell your services to the federal government
- A client-freelancer mixer
- An inter-association networking event.


Early-bird discount on tickets until October 10, and space is limited,
so register soon!

For full details, visit mediaville.ca

Presented by:

- American Medical Writers Association (AMWA), Canada chapter
- Association of English-Language Publishers of Quebec (AELAQ)
- Editors’ Association of Canada (EAC), Quebec/Atlantic Canada branch
- English-Language Arts Network (ELAN)
- Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC), Quebec chapter
- Society for Technical Communication (STC), Montreal chapter


When and Where

When: Saturday, October 24 2009 / 11:30 am to 9:00 pm

Where: Best Western Hotel Europa, 1240 Drummond Street, Montreal
(Google Maps)

Cost: Until October 10, general admission for the full day is $30, $25
for members of the partner associations.

Eight-Step Editing: A One-Day Workshop
With Jim Taylor

Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned editor, a would-be writer, or a
business manager supervising others’ writing, this workshop will help
you make your words work better.

This approach to editing uses a step-by-step process to identify the
most common obstacles to readers’ understanding and shows you quick
and simple techniques to fix them. By the end of the day, you’ll know
to how to edit a piece of writing without rewriting and making the
author’s life miserable.

Visit stc-montreal.org for full details and registration.

http://stc-montreal.org/en/2009/09/21/eight-step-editing/


When: Wednesday, 18 November, 2009, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

Where: Ericsson, 8400 Decarie Boulevard, TMR (Metro de la Savane)

Cost: $195 for STC-Montreal and EAC members / $245 for all others. $20
discount if payment is received before Friday, 30 October, 2009.

I'm trying to produce French Help using DITA, and it's working pretty well,
except that strange characters are appearing for accented characters and
apostrophes in the index. Anyone out there know why this is happening or how to
fix it?

Thanks
Mary Perchanok

On 2009-10-28, at 5:12 PM, MaryP wrote:

> I'm trying to produce French Help using DITA, and it's working
> pretty well, except that strange characters are appearing for
> accented characters and apostrophes in the index. Anyone out there
> know why this is happening or how to fix it?


This sounds like a problem with the character encoding, it usually
happens when a Unicode text is being interpreted as Windows Latin-1 or
some other similar text encoding. Check both the text encoding of the
source files and the output files. You'll need a robust text editor to
do this.


Jim Royal (jim@...)
LinkedIn | Flickr | Facebook | JimRoyal.com




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Montreal Techwriter Forum Posting Rules
(updated August 12th 2005)
=======================================
Greetings!

This is your monthly reminder of the posting rules
on this list. If you are a new member and just starting
to post, please take a minute to review the rules so
that we can ensure a high quality list.

The rules here are simple: absolutely no personal
attacks, defamation or excessively aggressive behaviour
will be tolerated here. All participants share the
responsibility to communicate in a respectful manner
in order to encourage a constructive dialogue in a
friendly atmosphere.

When posting a question to the list, please try to make
it as specific as possible. Vague questions are difficult
to address and answer, so they may be largely ignored.
This list is intended to provide support to new and
experienced technical writers. We'll be happy to help
you with whatever challenges you are facing with your
projects, but we're not here to train you in the art
of technical documentation.

This list is designed to promote the intrinsic value
of the writing profession. Any post that belittles,
devalues, or attacks the integrity of the writer or
the writer's contribution to a project is not welcome.

If you have any questions or comments, please email
me at jdave@.... These rules may change from
time to time, so if you're unsure about something,
feel free to ask me about it!

I do hope you enjoy your stay and experience in
the Montreal Techwriter Forum!

------------
About Spamming
------------

ABSOLUTELY NO SPAM WILL BE TOLERATED. This includes
marketing ads and invitations to join unrelated lists.
Doing so can result in your immediate removal from the list.
If you are unsure whether your post may be considered
spam, send it to the moderator (jdave@...)
and he will decide whether it is suitable or not.

Elist spam also includes postings that invite users to visit
websites that act as generalized FAQs, but are really
only vehicles to sell web advertisements. These postings
will be rejected and the members removed from the elist.

This elist is not a recruitment agency and it will not
provide you with a job simply by asking all 450+ of its
members to forward you any jobs that become available.
Therefore, any posts that are similar to the following
will be considered as spam:

* "Please send me notice of any job that becomes available"
* "Here's my CV. Please send it to any job that becomes
available"
* "I really want to move to Canada! Please help me find a
job!"

------------
Member Moderation
------------

This list is largely unmoderated. This means that your
posts should generally appear on the list without
impedement. However, if the owner/moderator of this
list feels that your posts violate the rules stated
above, the following will occur:

1. You will receive a warning and suggestions on how
to improve the quality of your future posts.

2. If the warning is ignored or the inappropriate
posts continue, your posts will be moderated (ie:
the moderator must approve them before they appear
on the list). The moderation will continue until
the moderator feels that you understand how to
post properly.

3. If the poster cannot conform to the posting
rules or the spirit of this list, he/she will be
removed from the list.

------------
Trimming your posts
------------

Please only quote the minimum of what you need to from a related post
to provide context for what you want to say. Requoting the previous
post in its entirety is wasteful for bandwidth and makes it that much
more difficult to read. Chances are we already read that post, so we
don't need to read it again.

So before clicking the Send button, please take a moment to make sure
you trim out the parts of the previous post you don't need. If you do
this by accident, don't worry about it (no apologies necessary). But
if you do it too much, you will receive a friendly off-list note about
it from the moderator.

===========================
1. JOB/CONTRACT POSTINGS
===========================

If you have a job or contract offer in the technical writing
field, feel free to post it on the elist. Make sure you put
as much information about the offer as possible.

Please remember that this elist is designed to serve the
needs of technical writers in and around the Montreal
area. The bulk of the membership is located in this area.

1. If the job/contract offer is located in a city outside of
the Montreal area, please indicate if the work can be
done remotely, or if it is to be an on-site position, if your
company is willing to pay relocation costs.

2. If the job/contract offer is located in a foreign country
to Canada, please indicate if the work can be
done remotely, or if it is to be an on-site position.

3. If the applicant must work in a foreign country, please
indicate if a work VISA is necessary,
or if the employer is willing to provide a work VISA for the
person who is selected.

If the moderator requires this type of information, he will
email you at the address you used to post the job/contract
offer. If you do not respond to his questions within 7 days,
he will reject your post and remove you from the elist.

Job Spam and Identity Theft are very real threats and
the moderator wishes to keep the members of this elist
as safe as possible. Thank you for your understanding
in this matter.

=====================================
2. ACCESSING THE MTL_TECHWRITER WEBSITE
=====================================

I've received a few emails about this issue, so I've
decided to add it into the monthly posting message.

Even though you are a member of this elist on
Yahoogroups, you may not necessarily have access
to the mtl_techwriter website
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mtl_techwriter/).
This website not only gives you access to the
message archives, but also related files, photos,
database entries, bookmarks, and polls.

To access the website, you must created a Yahoo
ID linked to the email address you use to access
the elist. It's one of those dumb Yahoo rules...
Believe me, I ain't happy about it.

Creating a Yahoo ID is completely optional, but if
you want to access the website, you will need to
create one. Go to "Sign-in and Registration Help"
at http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/edit/ to find out
more about it.

--
Be seeing you,

Dave
=====================================
John David Hickey
mtl_techwriter Moderator
jdave@...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mtl_techwriter/

A llama?!?! He's supposed to be dead!
=====================================

"Graphics & Video in PDFs" -- 1-hour webinar (free)

Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Starting 1pm EST

Brief demonstration and discussion of graphics & video in PDFs and related
aspects: livening up static documentation (software/hardware) and engaging
readers through interactive graphics, displaying information on demand
(popups/rollovers/layers), integrating multimedia (such as video simulations and
demonstrations of software processes and functions) & interactive 3D

Note: this presentation focuses on PDFs and Acrobat, and is not specific to any
authoring tool

Register at https://student.gototraining.com/4b34y/register/5808052943743757771


Shlomo Perets, www.microtype.com
FrameMaker / Acrobat / TCS training & consulting