Past Webinars

  • Recorded on September 28, 2022

       
    Most tech doc websites are barely usable.
    Why is that? For most people, moving from paper-based documentation to delivering technical content on the web is nothing but generating HTML pages that will turn into a website. But this simplistic view overlooks the difficulties stemming from the specificities of technical documentation and misses the usability and interactivity gains offered by a true digital transformation of tech doc.
    This webinar will uncover the intricacies of transitioning to a web-based documentation and the cultural and technological clashes it represents. We will carve out the different options you need to consider and the technical choices you need to make, how they vary according to your strategic goals, your corpus of content, and your audience, giving you some key insights for successfully achieving your content digital transformation.
     

    Presented by Fabrice Lacroix

    Fabrice Lacroix is a serial entrepreneur and a technology pioneer. He has been working for 25 years on the development of innovative solutions around search technology, content enrichment and AI. He is the founder of Fluid Topics, the leading Content Delivery Platform that reinvents how users search, read and interact with technical documentation.
  • Recorded on October 11, 2022
    Logo with the word stilo

    In the past, we have produced documents with a focus on how they look when published. Page layout, font face, font size, bolding and italics have been useful not just to make the documents attractive, but more importantly, to make them easier to read and understand. Nowadays we are told that semantic markup is preferable. Why is that, and how do we add it to our docs?

     

    Presented by: Helen St. Denis

    headshot of smiling woman with short dark hair Helen joined Stilo as a technical editor. She now works closely with Stilo Migrate customers, helping them to analyze their legacy content and configure appropriate mapping rules. She also provides Migrate customer training and support. Helen has helped Migrate customers to convert millions of pages of content to DITA and custom XML. Helen holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and has pursued graduate studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Email: [email protected]  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-st-denis-b1b60214/
  • Recorded on October 5, 2022  
                CPQ systems are just one of several business systems that can be enhanced with the content stored within your CCMS. Thomas and Rik will drill down into this with real-world examples of multiple deployments, including QAD’s own experience. They will discuss the pros and potential pitfalls of these combined systems and explore the best approach to take to maximize their success. Presented by: Thomas Blumer, QADheadshot of smiling man with short dark hair

    Dr. Thomas Blumer is the Director of Knowledge Management at QAD. He has a Doctorate in Business Administration with a focus on Knowledge Transfer in M&A Integrations. In his current role, Thomas is delivering enterprise-wide Knowledge Management initiatives focused on collaborating, accelerating best practices, and leveraging internal organizational knowledge. Thomas' main focus is to provide customers, partners, and QAD employees with the right product knowledge, at the right time and at the right place.

    Over the last 30 years, Thomas has worked for several Fortune 500 companies such as HP, UBS, and Sharp and implemented or enhanced knowledge base systems, subject matter expert yellow page systems, and communities of practice.

      headshot of smiling man with short hair and glasses Rik Page, Bluestream. Rik has worked with component content and document management solutions for over 20 years. He has worked with custom DTDs and Schemas, S1000D, iSpec2200, and DITA, together with various document and content management systems, including Documentum, SharePoint, XDocs, Ixiasoft, easyDITA, Astoria, and Vasont. His practical experience ranges from high volume data capture and content creation to dynamic multichannel delivery in various industries, including banking and finance, manufacturing, central government, and education. In addition, Rik has participated in multiple consultancy projects and helped formulate innovative solutions throughout Europe and North America. Rik is also an advocate of Documentation 4.0, a new concept reflecting the demands on content/documentation that results from moving to Industry 4.0 and ‘smart’ manufacturing.
  • Recorded on November 16, 2022
    colorful box next the words Kaleidoscope - Taking your content global

    Multilingual content is fundamental for successful communication with other people, cultures, and markets. Naturally, the quality of translations is of central importance. Often, these quality assurance processes are unsystematic and rely on spontaneous “feedback” from in-country reviewers. However, more often than not, these review processes lead to long waiting times, frustrating discussions, no real process improvements, and thus impede strategic and sustainable language quality management.

    We share how

    • to define translation quality
    • to measure translation quality
    • to involve and instruct all stakeholders
    • to manage translation quality actively and sustainably

    Join us to learn which aspects and stakeholders you need to take into consideration on your way to successful quality management of multilingual content.

    Presented by Klaus Fleischmann Klaus Fleischmann studied translation and IT in Vienna, holds an MA in Conference Interpreting from Monterey, California, and a MAS in Technical Communication from Krems, Austria. In 1996, he founded Austria-based Kaleidoscope, a company implementing content, translation, and terminology management processes for internationally active companies. Kaleidoscope develops online collaboration software for enterprise-level terminology workflow, translator query management, in-country review etc., making the translation quality process comprehensible and strategically manageable. In 2007, he became CEO of Austria´s leading LSP, Eurocom Translation Services. Always active in the industry, Klaus got voted into the Gala Board of Directors in 2015 and 2017.
  • Recorded on November 3, 2022
      For over fifteen years, teams have tried to justify their need for a move to structured content with the same old arguments. In today’s ever-changing landscape, these old arguments are no longer sufficient and, in many cases, not even relevant. In this webinar, we will be looking at other drivers for the move to structure with real-world examples of what can be achieved. Presented by Rik Page, Bluestream headshot of smiling man with short hair and glasses Rik has worked with component content and document management solutions for over 20 years. He has worked with custom DTDs and Schemas, S1000D, iSpec2200, and DITA, together with various document and content management systems, including Documentum, SharePoint, XDocs, Ixiasoft, easyDITA, Astoria, and Vasont. His practical experience ranges from high-volume data capture and content creation to dynamic multichannel delivery in various industries, including banking and finance, manufacturing, central government, and education. In addition, Rik has participated in multiple consultancy projects and helped formulate innovative solutions throughout Europe and North America. Rik is also an advocate of Documentation 4.0, a new concept reflecting the demands on content/documentation that results from moving to Industry 4.0 and ‘smart’ manufacturing.  
  • Recorded on December 15, 2022
    graphics of the Quanos logo   The new 20s have been very turbulent so far, and have shaken many basic beliefs in the industry. It might seem comforting to know that at least Component Content Management Systems still work just as reliably as they did back in 2019, 2014, or 2008... wait. Isn’t it time for a change? Experts agree that even the latest trends like content delivery, ontologies, or the cloud won't bring about the change needed for software to evolve the way technical writers actually use it. If we question our basic assumptions on how a CCMS works, however, we might find some exciting new possibilities. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN An industry expert will highlight the megatrends of the 20s and try to draw new conclusions for CCMSs. And no matter where this webinar will lead us, we'll have plenty of material for discussion at the end. Presented By Sebastian Göttel headshot of smiling man with short dark hair and glasses Sebastian Göttel is Head of Marketing and Product Management at Quanos Content Solutions GmbH. The computer scientist has been involved with XML editing systems and content delivery since 1998. In the Tekom environment, he worked on version 1.0 of the iiRDS standard. [email protected]    
  • Recorded on November 30, 2022
    Adobe   Content reuse has been a topic for content managers for years. And the benefits and practices are now established in many organizations. For the most part, however, content reuse is still limited to the classic, “internal” reuse of an information unit across documentation. Time to say: Let‘s rethink content reuse – beyond internal reuse, to reuse in new channels. In this presentation, Stefan Gentz, Senior Worldwide Evangelist at Adobe, will discuss why we need to rethink technical content and share some ideas on increasing the value of information both within the organization and for the customer. He will share some use cases that go beyond traditional PDF and web publishing and repurpose technical content to create immersive, interactive experiences. Presented by Stefan Gentz headshot of smiling man with short dark hair and glassesStefan Gentz is the Senior Worldwide Evangelist for Technical Communication at Adobe, headquartered in San Jose, California, USA. Stefan’s mission is to inspire enterprises and technical writers around the world and show how to create compelling technical communication content with the Adobe Technical Communication tools. He is also a certified Quality Management Professional (TÜV), ISO 9001 / EN 15038 auditor, ISO 31000 Risk Management expert, and Six Sigma Champion. As a sought-after keynote speaker and moderator at conferences around the world, he travels around the globe half of the year. Besides that, he has been the European Ambassador for the Globalization and Localization Association (GALA) for many years, a member of the tekom Conference Advisory Board for several years, and a founding member of the tekom iiRDS working group for Intelligent Information and member of the OASIS DITA Adoption Committee. In 2016, Stefan Gentz was awarded by MindTouch as one of the Top 25 Leading Content Strategist Influencers in the world and as one of the Top 25 Content Experience Influencers in the world in 2017. Stefan is also the mastermind behind Adobe DITAWORLD, the world’s biggest DITA Online Conference for Marketing and Technical Communication Professionals. Stefan Gentz on LinkedIn https://www.adobe.com/products/one-adobe-solution-for-technical-content.html    
  • Recorded on December 1, 2022
    Stilo logo   One of the main benefits of using a structured format such as DITA is the ability to reuse content, but realizing where reuse is beneficial and estimating the probable savings can be a tedious and time-consuming task. In this webinar, we demonstrate how you can identify reusable or redundant content in your own documentation and pinpoint potential cost savings using detailed graphical reports with Stilo’s Analyzer. Presented by Jacob Brennan Jacob Brennan Jacob Brennan is a Technical Sales Product Specialist at Stilo. He works with Stilo Migrate customers and aids in converting their legacy content to DITA. Jacob is a recent graduate from the University of Ottawa holding a BASc. in Mechanical Engineering and a BSc. in Computing Technology.
  • Recorded on January 11, 2023

          The results have been collected, analyzed, and discussed. Now it’s time to share the results and our observations with you. Join Dawn Stevens as she shares the results of the 2022 CIDM Benchmark Survey on translation and localization practices in our community. She’ll examine the trends and answer questions such as: 
    • What strategies, processes, and measurements do companies use to ensure the quality of translated content? 
    • What content components do companies translate—just body text or do they translate images, metadata, and video too? 
    • Which are the most common languages into which technical publications are translated? 
    • How much do companies spend on translation and does cost affect translation decisions? 
    • Which translation tools do companies use now? 
    • What activities do companies depend on their LSPs to perform? 
      Presented by: Dawn Stevens, President, Comtech Services and Director of CIDM has 28 years of practical experience in virtually every role within a documentation and training department, including project management, instructional design, writing, editing, and multimedia programming. Dawn is the perfect advisor to identify and remove the challenges you face in producing usable, technical information and training content. With both engineering and technical communication degrees, Dawn combines her solid technical foundation with strong writing and design skills to lead our team of consultants and specialists in providing the expertise you need.    
  • Recorded on January 12, 2023 
    RWS logo

    Is your content CCMS-ready? Have you optimized your content versioning and lifecycle management? If you want to fully leverage your CCMS features, it’s time to update your IA.

     In this webinar, Amber Swope, Information Architect at DITA Strategies, and Wiegert Tierie, VP of Strategic Accounts at RWS, share tools for transforming authored content so that it is CMS ready. Learn how to evaluate your map structures, topic structures, metadata, and content reuse strategies.

      Presented by: Headshot of smiling man with short hair

    Wiegert Tierie, Vice President of Strategic Accounts and Tridion America Sales Team Lead, brings over 25 years of experience in numerous senior leadership roles. He is an ambitious visionary executive that uniquely combines strategy, sales, and marketing experience with an extensive background in financial, business process optimization, and product management to offer our customers a competitive edge, building their brand and their go-to-market strategy. To deliver results and success for the key customers he works with. Earlier Wiegert worked with Tridion, the leading Dutch Customer Experience and WCM vendor, and successfully launched numerous projects with Marquee brands. Prior to that, he played a key role in the introduction of Adobe Acrobat in Europe. Wiegert earned a Master of Science in Business from the University of Groningen (The Netherlands). He loves the outdoors, sailing and currently lives near St. Petersburg FL (he moved from San Francisco, CA in May 2020)

      Headshot of smiling woman with long hairAmber Swope is an internationally recognized Information Architect, Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) expert, and information architecture (IA) consultant. With over 20 years of information development experience and 15 years of DITA expertise, Amber specializes in helping organizations create opportunity through IA. She helps teams build scalable IA solutions to future-enable their content and empowers team members to advance their architecture as it evolves to meet new business needs.  

  • Recorded on January 26, 2023 
    acrolinx logo Traditional web analytics are an invaluable tool that can help you understand how your content is performing in the real world — but they often don’t tell the whole story. Site visitors, time on page, and bounce rate numbers tell you what is happening, but they miss one critical detail: why. In this discussion, learn how collecting qualitative analytics about your content can help drive more actionable feedback by adding a third dimension to the insights you receive about your content. Here are the key takeaways:
    • Why traditional web analytics only tell part of the story
    • How consistently aligning content with your brand identity impacts the bottom line
    • Types of qualitative analytics and their impact on content performance
      Presented by: Headshot of smiling man with glasses Chad Dybdahl is a Senior Solutions Consultant with Acrolinx, based out of his home in Wisconsin. He has more than a decade of experience managing enterprise content and loves music and collecting and restoring vintage hi-fi gear. He spends entirely too much time on home automation projects and loves gadgets of all kinds.   LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/chad-dybdahl

  • Recorded on January 19, 2023   
    Providing excellent customer service that keeps your customers happy without driving service costs up is always a challenge. It becomes even more critical when you have thousands of customers, and their number is growing.
    Our client, a Swiss manufacturer of high-end digital printing systems, faced those challenges and quickly realized that enabling self-service documentation was key to unlocking their growth while raising their service levels up to the company’s standards.
    In this session, we are going to discuss how by introducing structured content, standardizing the content processes, and changing the way the content was delivered to customers, the company changed the service culture from “call for solution” to “information self-service”.
    Join Fabrice Lacroix, CEO at Fluid Topics, and Alex Masycheff, CEO at Intuillion, as they explain how:
    - The documentation team realized that PDFs were not efficient in providing customers and service teams with relevant and useful information.
    - They started providing customers and field operation teams with a self-service platform that delivered personalized content on spare parts and product documentation.
    - Service engineers got access to the most up-to-date product information.
    - The entire company improved the ROI as a result of making these changes.
    Presented by: Headshot of smiling man Fabrice Lacroix is a serial entrepreneur and a technology pioneer. He has been working for 25 years on the development of innovative solutions around search technology, content enrichment and AI. He is the founder of Fluid Topics, the leading Content Delivery Platform that reinvents how users search, read and interact with technical documentation.     Headshot of smiling man with glassesAlex Masycheff is the CEO of Intuillion Ltd. (http://intuillion.com/) that develops solutions for managing, automating, and delivering enterprise content. He has been in the content industry for 25+ years. He leads implementation of XML-based solutions in many companies, including Kodak, Siemens, Netgear, and EMC. 
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