The 2011 Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase will take place Tuesday, August 16 at the Union League Club of Chicago where, this year, we expect 250+ attendees. See our event registration page to sign up.
NEW!
Our Early Bird promotion has been extended through Wednesday, July 20. Sign up today to save. In each of the previous three years, we've sold all available tickets to this event. Don't wait to register!
Showing posts with label Training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Training. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Friday, April 03, 2009
Learning Resources Barometer in Uncertain Times
The Masie Center updated their Learning Resources Barometer for March with 500+ responses. It provides hints on where to focus your marketing calls or what new skills to learn.
What is UP: number of elearning modules; webinars; social learning communities; user content
What is DOWN: spending on consultants; face to face classes
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Learning Technology Products 2009
Brandon-Hall Research has a new and FREE report on all the current software products used to produce and display content for training and education.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
FrameMaker Workshop presented by STC Fellow Betsy Maaks
Betsy Maaks knows FrameMaker 8.0 very well, and she enjoys presenting her knowledge to other technical communicators. If you or one of your co-workers could use a good, valuable, and inexpensive one-day introduction to the software, then this would be the workshop to take.
Communication is our 'bag', so to say, and Betsy is a recognized expert in passing technical expertise on to other experts.
Contact Jim Jones, education@stc-chicago.org, for more information about the workshop.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
2008 Showcase Follow-up
Session materials from the 2008 Chicago e-Learning & Techonology Showcase are now available online.
For additional details about the program lineup, see the Showcase Program Guide.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Another reason to learn about XML/DITA ...
Bernard Aschwanden's workshops are informative and entertaining. Aschwanden recently held an XML/DITA workshop at Northeast Ohio STC. Here is a review from NEO STC senior member Lori Neuman:
Software Saturday Beats Laundry, Chores and Carpool Any Day!
Lori Neuman, Senior Member
Rockwell Automation
Saturday morning. Early. I got up, got dressed like I was going to work, grabbed my coffee, and headed back to college. I left behind my sleeping family, and a laundry list of the usual Saturday chores. I was off to Tri-C to create in XML!
Bernard Aschwanden of BrightPath Solutions was better than I could have imagined. In addition to his vast knowledge, he provided the sort of witty repartee I don’t always get to indulge in my daily life. He was quick with the one-liners and sardonic humor as he dished out perhaps the clearest explanation of DITA and XML authoring I have ever heard.
For those of you new to the DITA camp, the acronym stands for Darwin Information Typing Architecture. It’s a set of XML-based constructs for authoring. Those of us (myself included) who work at companies embracing DITA know the justifications. Re-using content because it’s retrievable and reusable because it’s tagged with DITA elements. Freeing up writers to create technical masterpieces because we don’t have to spend time formatting. All good. But DITA is also cool because it’s XML, and, that, as we know, is the language of the Internet. It impresses my 13-year old stepdaughter (though she won’t admit it) to actually know someone who can author web content. I can tell because of the way she fails to hide her covert admiration when I toss out “BRB!” (be right back) in Internet-speak when I leave the room, or ROTFL (rolling on the floor laughing) when she says something funny.
Back to DITA and XML. After showing us what DITA looks like, and how it fits into the larger world of XML, Bernard got down to it. Although he used specific tools, never once did this session feel like he was shilling for a vendor. Bernard showed us how to author in both Adobe FrameMaker (Structured; V. 8), and JustSystems XMetal, two power players in the emerging DITA authoring world. Bernard pointed out strengths and weaknesses of each tool, and showed us how to go from one tool to the other. For those of us who ever believed that it was easy to convert Word files into something else, like FrameMaker, and were sorely disappointed, this was Nirvana. Because it’s XML, and because it used DITA constructs, going between one DITA-compliant software and another is truly painless. As it turns out, FrameMaker is great for authoring because of the simple authoring pane and tag view it displays. XMetal, on the other hand, is a great single-source engine, allowing you to dynamically create many outputs, including online help.
The day whizzed by, aided not only by Bernard’s swift, on-track delivery style, but by the boxes (yes, boxes!) of Starbucks Café Verona our Chapter hosts and hostesses provided. Cool authoring tools, my favorite coffee, and a break from the usual grind. Great way to spend my Saturday!
Software Saturday Beats Laundry, Chores and Carpool Any Day!
Lori Neuman, Senior Member
Rockwell Automation
Saturday morning. Early. I got up, got dressed like I was going to work, grabbed my coffee, and headed back to college. I left behind my sleeping family, and a laundry list of the usual Saturday chores. I was off to Tri-C to create in XML!
Bernard Aschwanden of BrightPath Solutions was better than I could have imagined. In addition to his vast knowledge, he provided the sort of witty repartee I don’t always get to indulge in my daily life. He was quick with the one-liners and sardonic humor as he dished out perhaps the clearest explanation of DITA and XML authoring I have ever heard.
For those of you new to the DITA camp, the acronym stands for Darwin Information Typing Architecture. It’s a set of XML-based constructs for authoring. Those of us (myself included) who work at companies embracing DITA know the justifications. Re-using content because it’s retrievable and reusable because it’s tagged with DITA elements. Freeing up writers to create technical masterpieces because we don’t have to spend time formatting. All good. But DITA is also cool because it’s XML, and, that, as we know, is the language of the Internet. It impresses my 13-year old stepdaughter (though she won’t admit it) to actually know someone who can author web content. I can tell because of the way she fails to hide her covert admiration when I toss out “BRB!” (be right back) in Internet-speak when I leave the room, or ROTFL (rolling on the floor laughing) when she says something funny.
Back to DITA and XML. After showing us what DITA looks like, and how it fits into the larger world of XML, Bernard got down to it. Although he used specific tools, never once did this session feel like he was shilling for a vendor. Bernard showed us how to author in both Adobe FrameMaker (Structured; V. 8), and JustSystems XMetal, two power players in the emerging DITA authoring world. Bernard pointed out strengths and weaknesses of each tool, and showed us how to go from one tool to the other. For those of us who ever believed that it was easy to convert Word files into something else, like FrameMaker, and were sorely disappointed, this was Nirvana. Because it’s XML, and because it used DITA constructs, going between one DITA-compliant software and another is truly painless. As it turns out, FrameMaker is great for authoring because of the simple authoring pane and tag view it displays. XMetal, on the other hand, is a great single-source engine, allowing you to dynamically create many outputs, including online help.
The day whizzed by, aided not only by Bernard’s swift, on-track delivery style, but by the boxes (yes, boxes!) of Starbucks Café Verona our Chapter hosts and hostesses provided. Cool authoring tools, my favorite coffee, and a break from the usual grind. Great way to spend my Saturday!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
IPD Announces Spring 2008 Schedule
The Institute for Professional Development (IPD) will offer three new courses in Naperville for Spring 2008. These two-day courses are open to all:
- Creating Effective Tables, Graphs, and Diagrams | February 2 & 16
- Writing for Global Audiences | March 1 & 15
- Instructional Design for Technical Communicators | March 29 & April 12
Each course can be taken for one hour of college credit, undergraduate or graduate.
The IPD is a partnership between STC Chicago and Northern Illinois University. To register for Spring 2008 courses today, see our Web site.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Just-in-time wiki
The April 18 STC Chicago meeting was on Just-in-Time Documentation and Training with guest speakers Jacqueline Napier and David Orr. The PowerPoint slides can be found on the wiki that we created during the meeting (http://stcjitslides.wetpaint.com/) as an exercise in collaborative development.
Jacque and David will post new materials on the topic as they become available. Feel free to apply to be a Writer so that you can add comments and information. If you sign up to the wiki, you can also invite associates who might be interested in the topic.
Jacque and David will post new materials on the topic as they become available. Feel free to apply to be a Writer so that you can add comments and information. If you sign up to the wiki, you can also invite associates who might be interested in the topic.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Say you're new to flickr?
No problem. We'll help you get up to speed in time for the Summit.
Our new, quick-start blog training will include information about uploading photos to the STC Chicago photo pool and posting photos on the blog. Soon you'll be posting photos directly from your cell phone, if you so choose.
In a hurry to share your photos? Not to worry. You can read up on it here: Newbie's Guide to Flickr.
To learn more about quick-start blog training, send an email to blog@stc-chicago.org.
Our new, quick-start blog training will include information about uploading photos to the STC Chicago photo pool and posting photos on the blog. Soon you'll be posting photos directly from your cell phone, if you so choose.
In a hurry to share your photos? Not to worry. You can read up on it here: Newbie's Guide to Flickr.
To learn more about quick-start blog training, send an email to blog@stc-chicago.org.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Workshop schedule announced
Workshops are now available for Adobe® FrameMaker® and Adobe® RoboHelp® through STC Chicago.
Intermediate RoboHelp
Saturday, March 3
9am - 3pm
College of Lake County
Grayslake, Illinois
Advanced FrameMaker
Saturday, March 10
9am - 3pm
College of Lake County
Grayslake, Illinois
See www.stc-chicago.org for details or to register.
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