Highlights of the

2013 STC Summit

A “lightening” overview of hot topics in our profession

The STC Summit-at-a-Glance• May 4-8

• Atlanta, GA

• ~800 attendees

• ~30 vendors

• 137 offered

• 22 attended

• Access to most sessions online now

• All sessions online by mid-summer

Sessions

Modes of Communication• Tweeting (@STC_Summit)

• QR codes

• Blogs

• Texting

• Emailing

• Lanyrd messaging

• Professional development

• Social media

• Single-sourcing

• Content strategy

• Business acumen and metrics

Hot Topic Areas

• Professional development

• Social media

• Single-sourcing

• Content strategy

• Business acumen and metrics

Hot Topic Areas

Professional Development• Network

• Know your niche

• Cultivate your online presence

Networking: On a personal level• Making interpersonal, face-

to-face connections

• Meeting the people behind the articles/presentations

• Learning how other companies *really* function

Networking: On a chapter level• Carolina Chapter and South

Carolina Foothills Chapters

• Other chapter presidents

Know Your Niche

Documentation Specialist

Technical Writer

INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNER

Procedure Writer

Content Strategist

Information Developer

Web Content Writer

Process Designer

Cultivate Your Online Presence• Strong LinkedIn profile

• Conscious social media presence

• Example(s) of recent growth

Resources: Professional Development• Slideshare.net/bwoelk

• Slideshare.net/JackMolisani

• Slideshare.net/roger-renteria

• Professional development

• Social media

• Single-sourcing

• Content strategy

• Business acumen and metrics

Hot Topic Areas

The Flow of Social Media

Blog Tweet LinkedIn Email FaceBoo

k

Measuring Social Media

Leveraging Social Media for Feedback

Maintaining Security in Spite of Social Media

• Use a passphrase (ItwasaDark4%Stormynight>78*) or a “password safe” like 1Password

• Update security patches routinely

• Recognize phishing scams

• Google yourself periodically

Resources: Social Media• Slideshare.net/bwoelk

• More to come at STC.org. None of the sessions I attended are online yet.

• Professional development

• Social media

• Single-sourcing

• Content strategy

• Business acumen and metrics

Hot Topic Areas

Single-Sourcing: The usual suspects• DITA

• Customized XML

• MadCap Flare

• FrameMaker (search Techwhirl.com)

• Anything else?

Non-DITA Single-Sourcing Session• This session explores….how

the world’s largest prison system developed and implemented a multi-author, single-source (non-DITA) workflow into a project mid-stream to provide a flexible set of documentation and training materials.

What did they use?• Tracking sheets built in Excel

• Flare

• Contributor

Flare Conditional Text

Necessity is the Mother of Invention• Single-sourcing as a concept,

rather a practice dependent upon one tool (e.g., DITA)

• Real-world innovation in response to constraints

For our Flare Users• Use XML layers to conditionalize

graphicsConditional display in

Flare

Use Capture to edit graphic

Bitmap base layer

Resources: Single-Sourcing• www.homerchristensen.com

• Slideshare.net/scriptorium (for info on DITA)

• Stay tuned for MadCapMike’s presentation published at SUMMIT@aClick

• Professional development

• Social media

• Single-sourcing

• Content strategy

• Business acumen and metrics

Hot Topic Areas

What does your company do?

Purposeful Content is powerful!

Content as a Service

Business Drivers

Tools/Processes

Analytics

Criteria for Content• Importance of information

• Economic Impact

• Usefulness

Characteristics of Strategized Content• Uniform appearance

• Controlled storage

• Re-usability

Resources: Content Strategy• Slideshare.net/4jsgroup/

• www.thirtysix.net

• Slideshare.net/Saraboettcher

• Slideshare.net/Culturecom

• Content Strategy 101 by Sarah O’Keefe

Content Strategy & “Business Speak”

Content Strategy

Content Strategy

Content Strategy

Content Strategy

Business speak

• Professional Development

• Social Media

• Single-Sourcing

• Content Strategy

• Business acumen and metrics

Hot Topic Areas

Building a Business Case• Staff Training

• Tool Cost/Compatibility

• Process Changes

• Content

• Training

• Customer Satisfaction

• “Must have” vs. “Nice to have”

Business Cases

• Don’t …focus on “Saving Money”

• Do …focus on “Adding Revenue”

Start→Continue→End with Metrics• Start: Identify problems, define

the vision, prove that the vision is right

• Continue: Measure success in small increments, determine when it’s time to course-correct, keep sponsors engaged

• End: Prove the business value of information architects, encourage future investments

Metrics: Two Audiences

• Business people

• Content people

Roles Aligned with MetricsBusiness Stakeholder Example MetricsMarketing Executive ROI

Cost per leadConversion metrics

Sales Executive Viable leadsProduct performance

Development Executive Development costsComplianceQuality and test results

Metrics: The nuts and bolts• Normalize results to scores

• Categorize and weight metrics

• Validate the framework

Quantitative Metrics: How good is good?• Time

• Beginner: 15 minute mile• Intermediate: 11 minute mile• Athlete: 8 minute mile

• Heartrate• Below fat-burning zone• Fat burning zone• Aerobic zone

Quantitative Metrics: Normalized

• Time• Horrible = > 15 minute mile• OK = Beginner: 15 minute mile• Good = Intermediate: 11 minute mile• Great = Athlete: 8 minute mile

• Heartrate• Horrible = no heart rate • OK = Below fat-burning zone• Good = Fat burning zone• Great = Aerobic zone

Normalizing Content• How does content speed user success

and time to value? (Direct link to customer value)

• How does content impact product quality? (direct link to customer loyalty)

• How does content influence customer satisfaction? (direct link to ROI)

Resources: Business Acumen & Metrics

• May 2013, Intercom article

• Slideshare.net/mobile/akriley

• Thirstysix.net (Lisa Pietrangeli)

Honorable Mention• Conveying Messages with

Graphs, by Jean-luc Doumont• www.principiae.be

• Cascading Style Sheets: Beyond the Basics, by David Gash• Lanyrd.com/profile/dave-gash/

Go to CRC STC for more information!• www.charlotteregionalstc.com

• @crcstc

• crc.stc@gmail.com

• crcstc.eventbrite.com

• Look for our new online presence on LinkedIn and FaceBook

Our next meeting…• What: STC Social

• When: Tuesday, June 25 at 6:30 PM

• Where: Cabo Fish Taco, 3201 N Davidson St, Charlotte