Recent Conferences and Topics

Lavacon in New Orleans
October, 2009

tekom in Germany
November, 2009

Previous Conference Topics

A partial list of conferences we have presented at in the past few years follows. Topics are arranged by date (newest at the top).

2008: LavaCon, Honolulu

• Migrating to DITA: Real World Successes, Failures and Lessons Learned
• Choosing a Content Management System that's Right for You Workshop
• Choosing a Translation Vendor that's Right for You

2008: STC: Atlanta

• Reorganize, Revamp, Revitalize, and Stay Relevant: How the Toronto STC Survives Tough Times
• Adobe FrameMaker 9.0 and DITA: Write, Edit, Publish
• Moving Unstructured Content to Structure

2008: STC Spectrum

• 25 Things Writers Need to Know about DITA
• Team Building in Tough Times

2007: LavaCon, New Orleans

• How to Save Big Bucks on Your CMS Implementation

2006: STC: Toronto

• XML For Techwriters: XML Basics: Bernard Aschwanden of Publishing Smarter will give an introduction to XML (extensible mark-up language). XML is W3C standard and authoring tool independent language. The XML standard allows an enterprise to define its own mark-up languages with emphasis on specific tasks such as data management and publishing. The properties of XML mark-up make it suitable for representing information in an open, platform-, vendor-, and language-neutral manner. XML provides a greater opportunity to reuse this data outside of the sources from which it was derived. XML also helps guide writers in the creation of content.

2006: DITA Conference, Raleigh

• From 0 to DITA in 30 Days, A Case Study: During this presentation you'll hear the story of one company and its quest to develop DITA compliant content from Adobe FrameMaker. Upon the realization that 'out of the box' is not what they need, the team turned to Bernard Aschwanden to help build a custom DITA publishing application in under 30 billable days.

2006: TriXML, Raleigh

• XML Authoring and Tool Selection: Making the decision on what software to use for XML authoring is not one that should be based on a developers demo or the price of the tool alone. During this session we examine several leading tools and examine how they handle XML and what is required to support importing and exporting of content. By performing a far more detailed examination of the tools a deeper understanding of what can (and can not) be done is gained. This assists managers in making the decision on what software to recommend for structured authoring.
• CMS and XML: Ever get the feeling that every XML Consultant is out to fleece you and every CMS Vendor wants to buy you a few tequila's and then show you *his* implementation? This informative and fun lunch presentation helps you get a good idea of what NOT to ask of others. It also provides a great insight into the mindset of the consultant, the vendor and the client. Real answers (and those you only wish you could hear) are presented to the most common questions about the software and the strategies that need to be in place for a successful implementation.

2006: LavaCon, Hawaii

• Selecting a CMS Vendor: Instead of reviewing and comparing features of CMS marketing content, wouldn't it be useful to know what you specifically need? We explore the exact features that people should ask for, rather than the features offered. During this session learn about the key questions to ask a CMS vendor
• Structured Authoring and Tool Selection: Making the decision on what software to use for XML authoring is not one that should be based on a developers demo or the price of the tool alone. During this session we examine several leading tools and examine how they handle XML and what is required to support importing and exporting of content. By performing a far more detailed examination of the tools a deeper understanding of what can (and can not) be done is gained. This assists managers in making the decision on what software to recommend for structured authoring.

2006: FrameMaker Chautauqua: Austin, TX

• FrameDITA-lite: It's a free application that can be used to get going with structured FrameMaker and DITA. Output is fully compliant with the DITA specification and can be opened in a variety of tools. This presentation shows you how FrameDITA-lite works.

2005: STC: Toronto

• DITA/DocBook and XML: Bernard Aschwanden demonstrates DocBook and DITA input and output using XML and FrameMaker. This is a complete workflow showing XML source files being imported, remapped, modified and exported.

2005: STC: Milwaukee, WI

• XML Tools and Technology: An overview of the process and various people and tools required to work with FrameMaker 7.2 and XML. Attendees will gain an understanding of the benefits of structuring AND hurdles that need to be overcome.

2005: DocTrain: Boston, MA

• Getting Started with XML and FrameMaker: Anyone who is looking for a detailed introduction to working with XML and FrameMaker is encouraged to attend and to bring questions. We address everything related to FM and XML from importing XML documents to the development of templates, read/write rules, EDD files and XML Applications to automate conversion of files.
• XML Publishing with WebWorks ePublisher Pro: ePubliser Pro is a re-engineered, XML-based revision of Quadralay Corporation's powerful single-source online publishing solution. Dozens of improvements start with a superior, user-friendly interface, which includes an online content preview window for visual style development, GUI-based advanced customizations, robust code editor, and much more.

2005: FrameMaker Chautauqua: Raleigh

• FrameMaker and Beyond: Featured speaker are Bernard Aschwanden, explores the most recent release of FrameMaker and offers insights on what is ripe for change, hyped as great but found to be lacking, and what is out of sight and exceeds what he expected from the development team.

2005: STC Single Sourcing SIG: Toronto

• This hands-on seminar walks you through the development of a working EDD and the associated template. If you are one of those people who have not yet been exposed to the EDD, Read/Write rules, the associated template and all the other bits and pieces that make up a structured application then this is for you.

2004: Doctrain: Boston

• Automating FrameMaker with FrameScript: FrameMaker is an incredibly powerful publishing tool that can be hampered by its interface and a lack of macro tools to facilitate automation. The solution to these problems lie in FrameScript, an automation tool that allows FrameMaker books and documents to be configured by automating many of the manual tasks normally consuming hours every day. The return on investment is immediate.
• FrameMaker Template Development: So you know FrameMaker and need to build a template. Now that the training is completed what do you really need to know to create documentation that can be reused for years to come? Attend this seminar to see the tips and tricks that make good templates great. Everything from creating and managing the infamous "Note, Caution or Warning" through to best practices for naming paragraph, character and table tags, development of reference page content and more.