Helping People Understand Technology

October 4-5 will see technical communicators from across North America gather at the Boston University Corporate Education Center in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, for the fifth annual Documentation & Training conference. The focus for attendees? Tools, techniques, and processes for creating effective content.

(NSTI/PRWEB ) July 3, 2004 -- Within Engineering and MIS groups throughout the world there are specialized jobs for communicating information about technology; those jobs are called technical communicators. It is the job of the technical communicator to write manuals, create online help, develop Web-based training, and provide guidance to the design of technology products.

October 4-5 will see technical communicators from across North America and Europe gather at the Boston University Corporate Education Center in Massachusetts for the fifth annual Documentation & Training conference. The theme of this years conference is Its All About Effective Content".

The keynote speakers for the conference are Jesse James Garrett and Andy Ihnatko.

Garrett, author of the book The Elements of User Experience, will deliver a talk titled, The Evolution of Information Architecture." In his talk, Jesse will explore the art and science of structuring information and predict its future evolution.

Ihnatko, a popular technology columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and Macworld magazine, will deliver a humorous and insightful talk titled, Wheres My Atomic Heligyro?" Andy will talk about the rate of saturation humans have for new ideas, and why some concepts catch on immediately while others take decades to penetrate.

In addition to the two keynotes, the conference includes 32 nationally-recognized presenters talking on topics related to content design, development, and management. The sessions provide specific ideas that can immediately improve an organizations creation of content," according to conference manager Mike Doyle.

Doyle believes this to be the only industry conference blending the specialized professions of technical writers, course developers, instructional designers, and usability specialists.

These professions have historically operated in isolation," Doyle said. However, as technology companies look to consolidate functions and costs, we believe theyll continue to look at merging the various technical communication professions because they all work towards the same goal -- providing communications that help people better understand and use technology.

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EDITORS: Please contact Mike Doyle (Conference Manager) at mdoyle@pubsnet.com, or by phone at 978-649-8555. Doyle, a how-to software book author published by John Wiley & Sons, is available for interviews and quotes related to the technical documentation and training industry.