From the many choices, I selected these workshops:
DevOps Docs: Fast, Great Content for the Cloud
Vanessa Wilburn (IBM Corporation)
- Constantly changing GUI/features; documentation changes need to be as real-time as possible.
- User stories that address the customer’s needs.
- Need the right tools to move quickly: Agile; automate as much as possible.
- Writers attend stand-up meetings from the beginning of the project.
Effectively Using PDF as Source
Liz Roscovius (D2 Worldwide) and Mike Sawyer (Control4)
- Caveat for the tips/tools in the presentation: must have the full version of Adobe Acrobat.
- Before extracting text, you might be able to edit in Acrobat DC.
- For extraction: collect information from Document Properties; extract non-editable text as jpg.
- Graphics: need to know whether the graphic is raster/bitmap or vector (vector works better than bitmap); could be several steps including conversion to Word, then open in DTP, or export image.
Three Hats of Independence
Rich Maggiani (Solari Communication)
- As an independent consultant, we wear three hats simultaneously: expertise, marketing, and finance.
- Expertise: keep up with industry changes; provide a specific service.
- Marketing: if it’s hard for us, get over it! Our website represents us visually, tells our story.
- Finance: bill and collect on time; “Don’t be afraid to ask for money!”
Seek and You Will Find: Taxonomy and Delivery
Joe Gelb (Zoomin Software)
- Content needs to be available at all customer touchpoints: search engines, documentation portal, knowledge base, call center, customer community, and IoT (Internet of Things).
- Key to success: deliver relevant content quickly.
- Best practice: shared taxonomy between technical documentation, support, and other groups that create and use content.
Closing the Deal: Getting that Freelance Project
Alisa Bonsignore (Clarifying Complex Ideas)
- Before we close a deal, we need to set the stage, find prospects, research the client company and contact, and pitch the proposal.
- Make sure your proposal details all the terms; some examples: the scope, deadlines, fees, responsibilities of client and your responsibilities, and expiration date of the proposal.
- During the process, we build a bridge so that there’s mutual trust and good working relationship.
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