Programme

—"Pre-conference workshops are a good idea - vendors have time to do proper demos so less likely to put this material into conference presentations"

"I could only attend the Thursday sessions, but those were well worth attending. The venue and the food were very good. Thank you for allowing me to register on the day"

"An excellent conference. Superb venue in all respects. The format, style and programme organisation also excellent. Well done to everyone involved in putting on such an exceptional conference. Many thanks."

For more about this year's programme, read interviews with speakers in our online newsletter

Tuesday 22nd - The pre-conference workshop day

• Three separate three-hour workshops in the morning, three more in the afternoon: you can pick one from the morning and one from the afternoon. These will provide in-depth briefings or hands-on opportunities with leading tools, technologies and methods.
• Informal dinner followed by a networking drinks reception

Programme:

Wednesday 23rd - Conference Day 1

• Peter Anghelides of IBM will deliver his Keynote address soon after 9.00am.
• Two full streams of 40minute+ presentations and workshops will follow
• There is a third stream under the X-Pubs banner containing presentations focussed around XML Content Management, XML-based Reuse, and XML Publishing.
• Pre-Gala Dinner drinks reception followed by the Gala Dinner in the evening
• Presentation of the Horace Hockley Award and the UK Technical Communication Awards

Programme:

Thursday 24th - Conference Day 2

• Two full streams of 40minute+ presentations and workshops will follow until about 4.00pm
• There is a third stream under the X-Pubs banner containing presentations focussed around XML Content Management, XML-based Reuse and XML Publishing.

Programme:

About the X-Pubs stream

Continuing 4 years of success with previous X-Pubs conferences, this year X-Pubs have partnered with Technical Communication UK to bring an XML-focused track of leading speakers to the UK market. This track will draw on end user experiences and cases studies such as Raymarine, the British Medical Journal and Micro Focus, and will also deliver thought-provoking educational presentations from XML specialists like Bret Freeman, Spencer Garlick and Noz Urbina.

These sessions aim to dispel XML misconceptions and expand your understanding of how XML can help take your content processes into the new millennium. We will also give you the real back-story as to how XML goes from an idea, to a project, to a liveable, transferrable solution that is valuable to your business not just as a technology but as a strategic enabler and a better, more efficient, way of working.

For 3 straight years, over 90% of X-Pubs attendees have said they gained valuable knowledge from participating in our events, and were happy with the quality of the presentations and expertise on offer.  Attendees from 2006 have come back in 2007 and beyond to present on their own projects that have advanced over time.

Come join us and see what all the buzz is about.

Abstracts / Outlines

Agile user assistance: using SCRUM to manage your documentation projects (Galyna Key)

Can we learn from our software development teams? Can we move from conventional documentation development to agile documentation development, and what happens when we do?

For the last two years I have been part of an agile process, and am ready to share my experiences with you in this interactive case study. You will find out why our team went agile, what it meant to our technical publications department, the advantages and disadvantages of the process, along with the trade-offs we made to make it happen.

You will also have a chance to create your own documentation sprint, and to try your hand at agile estimation!

Return to Wednesday's / Thursday's programme

Are you managing your global content the right way? (Spencer Garlick)

Most Content Management Systems (CMS) are only concerned with the source language content. But this typically makes up only 20% of the total content inside a global organisation. What happens with the other 80% of content that is not in the source language? It usually gets copied and pasted into emails or FTP sites to be sent to translators and then manually re-imported into the CMS. This can cause problems in the following areas:

• The Audit Trail - as soon as content is moved outside of the CMS on email or FTP the Audit trail is broken
• Broken Document Structures - if the documents are sent in entirety to the translators then there is the potential to change the document structure so it will no longer work with other business systems
• Language Variant Versioning - due to documents leaving the CMS it is not guaranteed that the language versions match with the source versions, they could be out-of sync

Spencer will discuss how you can leverage technology to enable multilingual content management to improve the quality and consistency of your technical communications.

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Authors don't do publishing (Steve Cripps)

The presentation will cover a brief history of authoring processing, investigating how we have been beguiled by computers into over-loading our technical experts. Computers alone are not the answer to improving authoring processes and speeding up production of our manuals and publications. Drawing from a case study into a technical publication business, the talk will show how we hamper and frustrate those we rely on for their knowledge, by demanding the complete complex desktop publishing functions. It will finish with recommendation for best practice and a brief look at the tools and standards available to re-empower our authors: let technical experts be experts while publishers do publishing.

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Building interactive documentation and Web 2.0 user assistance using the Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2 (RJ Jacquez)

RJ Jacquez, Adobe’s Senior Product Evangelist for Technical Communications, will deliver an unprecedented 3-hour overview of how technical communicators can harness the technological power of Web 2.0 – it’s not just for developers anymore! Learn how to engage your audience by developing truly interactive content, building an ecosystem where users not only receive information, but can contribute to it, creating a direct line of communication between the writer and the consumer. Not only will this interaction create a highly engaged user, but it will also solidify a relationship, which not even Marketing can trump! Learn how developing interactive communications can bring you a higher value add to the organization and give you a higher level of job satisfaction, all while using the same tools you already know and love.

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Choosing a strategic sourcing model for localisation (Ian Butler)

Many people responsible for their company's localization efforts struggle with how to best structure the team, build the program, and allocate resources -- especially when localization goals, volume and needs are ever-changing. Anyone who struggles with questions like these will benefit from this presentation.

• How will volume vary as your business expands, and how can you predict staffing needs and budget?
• How will you find qualified resources when demand is growing so fast?
• How do you balance localization quality requirements with time, efficiency, and cost pressures?
• Are there tools, processes and practices to improve project management, streamline, and maintain quality?

This presentation will explain the options and attributes associated with various localization models, along with best practices from leading global companies.

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Consistency, consistency, consistency - industry surveys reinforce the need for better terminology management from authoring through to translation (Sophie Hurst)

We all know terminology management is important, but are we doing it correctly? Who owns an organization's terminology? How damaging can inconsistent terminology really be?

Surveys have revealed that 85% of businesses notice inconsistent uses of terminology across their organization. 44% believe that technical communicators own an organization's terminology. 42% believe it should be marketing.

These are just some of the intriguing statistics uncovered from surveys carried out by SDL in 2009 that underline the need for consistency and better terminology management. This session will discuss the implications of the results from this survey and others as well as looking at ways of improving consistency in terminology.

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Controlled Language, how standardizing terminology and grammar improves readability, reduces translation cost and facilitates DITA and CMS (Berry Braster)

Controlled English is a method of writing that makes technical English easy to understand. The adaptation of a controlled language stimulates the (global) acceptance of technical documentation as it improves readability and translatability, and prevents misunderstandings and misinterpretations. During this session, content quality advocate Berry Braster of Tedopres will explain the benefits of controlled authoring using case studies, and show how overall cost, time to market, and content volume will be reduced and how you can save considerably on translations: up to 40% per language!

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Delivering user documentation in new and dynamic ways (Mark Poston)

Whilst content management and authoring are essential to the creation of any technical publication, the benefit an end user can realise is the ultimate aim. This presentation focuses on how new XML-related developments, such as XMLnative databases and XQuery, can be used to create more engaging deliverables for end users.

Using relevant examples, Mark Poston shows not only how these new developments provide a more efficient means of publishing content but also how content can be delivered in ways that would otherwise be difficult to achieve.

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Distributed client-server applications - Team Chameleon test drive 'Author-it Live' (Amanda Caley)

Is the future Cloud computing?

In the 1950s through to the 1970s it was all mainframes and dumb terminals. In the 1980s the trend changed towards Personal Computers and people started storing applications and data locally rather than centrally.

Are we now going through another major shift back to centrally stored applications and data? Distributed systems and Web Applications are becoming more and more common place as people demand the flexibility of anytime, anywhere access to their applications and data.

This session explores the advantages and disadvantages of client-server applications and Team Chameleon takes a look at 'Author-it Live', a Web-based authoring, content management and publishing solution.

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DITA and single-source publishing: implementing the system (Andrew Simpson)

So you've chosen your vendor and persuaded your management to invest some serious cash. All that is left now is to install the system and roll it out.

The presentation is a warts and all account of a DITA single source implementation within a small technical communications department.

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Everybody's (not) doing it: is it really OK to keep ignoring document users? (David Farbey)

Despite the fact that we live in the information age, telling people that you are information developer - that you write the user guides and online help systems distributed with software and technology products - still invites ridicule rather than respect.

In December 2008 David Farbey conducted his own private online survey and in this presentation he shares some of the more than 100 negative comments about user documentation that he received. He examines reasons why the general standard of user documentation stubbornly fails to improve and invites suggestions and contributions for a "better user documentation manifesto".

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How document pictograms are understood (Richard Truscott)

Many technical communicators use caution and note boxes that contain a pictogram. How well are these pictograms understood by the users of the documentation? This survey discusses the results of testing five pictograms on two diverse audiences and suggests a set for use in documentation.

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How to get that job (David Jones)

In the current recession making sure you get that all important interview is more important than ever. My perception is many writers don't help themselves. As information designers we should be able to submit a quality CV. Unfortunately this isn't always the case. Length and quality of CV are important. On receiving a CV I  turn on Show/Hide, which commonly shows up reasons not to interview.

In addition:

• How can we use the web to our advantage?
• How do you deal with recruitment agencies?
• What else can you do to make your application stand out?

I'll be looking for feedback from both writers and current managers. Are my perceptions unique?

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If you can write an article, you can write anything! (Kim Schrantz-Berquist)

Unleash your 'inner pen' in just a few simple steps. Enthral your readers in all formats: email, reports, manuals. Best of all, write what you really mean in ways your reader understands.

Is the secret to good writing really that simple? Yes, it is.

This presentation will show you the techniques that journalists use every day to make writing come alive. Through the example of a short article, you'll learn how to use the 5W's and H, present information in an inverted pyramid, answer readers' questions before they ask, build hierarchies, and make sentences flow.

Who would have thought that writing could be learned from a short article and a few simple techniques? A writing guru from the Wall Street Journal showed me how, and now I'm here to show you.

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Implementing DITA for the Technical Author (Ferry van der Vorst)

In this introductory workshop, after a brief introduction to DITA, a practical example will be given on how to convert a typical document to DITA. The workshop will be looking at how to plan what content is migrated into topics; whether and how content is split up over multiple ditamaps or nested within other topics; and how reltables in a ditamap are used to link topics.

Through demonstrations, we will demonstrate the advantages for a technical author migrating to DITA when managing and publishing single-source content to different output streams; using and amending DITA topics through a range of different publishing tools; and reusing content in new publications.

A basic understanding of mark-up languages (HTML, XML, or SGML) is beneficial but not required.

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Integrating your technical documentation to the engineering process (Peter Li)

There is increasing interest in binding the technical documentation process closer to the R&D process shorten lead times and enable amendments. Most R&D departments today uses 3D cad tools that contain a lot of valuable information relevant in the documentation, e.g. to create spare parts catalogs or services manual instructions. If the Technical documentation department can have access to these then a lot of information duplication can be avoided.

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International English for international audiences (Mike Unwalla)

Companies want to reach international audiences through their websites. Translation and localisation by humans is expensive. We have an economic crisis, and companies want to minimise costs.

International English (global English, worldwide English) is a good solution to the problem, because it makes text very clear. It helps most readers, and specially, people who do not read English as a first language. Additionally, international English gives good results with machine translation, and it reduces the costs of human translation.

Mike's presentation covers the following topics:

• Plain English is not sufficient to make text clear
• Controlled language in business
• Some guidelines for international English
• Machine translation
• Human translation and translation memory systems
• Possible conflicts and the business case for international English

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MadCap Flare from a user's perspective (Adrian Morse)

An introduction to MadCap Flare and best practices for single sourcing to online help and PDFs.

The following points will be addressed:

• Key features
• Decisions to make
• What to look out for

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MadCap Flare: See what the buzz is about (Mike Hamilton)

Mike Hamilton, a MadCap Vice president and one of the company founders, will personally present a brief overview of the capabilities of the various products available from MadCap Software. The session will then provide a hands-on introduction to MadCap Flare, MadCap Software’s core authoring and publishing software. Participants are welcome to participate in the presented exercises or just observe. Information and exercises to be covered include:

• Success Factors - concepts and definitions, work flow strategies, how to get started
• Reuse Existing Content - importing of Microsoft Word, FrameMaker, DITA, and other content
• Authoring Techniques - the use of XML meta-data for single-source/multi-channel publishing
• Publishing - the generation/transformation of authored content to multiple delivery formats

After the interactive exercises, there will be a discussion of advanced strategies and techniques for tracking customer documentation usage, using Web 2.0 techniques to include the customer in the documentation process, and other advanced topics.

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Making Word word for you - not against you (Alison Peck and Alison Reeves)

Note: The workshop is running on the Tuesday morning only.

You may be using Word because it’s your tool of choice, or you may be forced into using it, kicking and screaming, because your employer or client insists on it. Word is only one in a range of tools available to technical communicators – it is widely used both within and outside the profession – but many people have only scratched the surface. Word can probably do a lot more than you think – you just have to ask it nicely, and make sure it knows who is boss! Using both Word 2003 and Word 2007, we will show you how we have used Word to cope with long documents, prepare a book for publication and design forms. We will share our experiences of what works – and what doesn’t – and how we use Word everyday to produce professional, consistent documents.

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Migrating to XML - from legacy content conversion to authoring (Gabriele Ostermaier)

Autodata's core business is the research, compilation and maintenance of technical information for use in automotive workshops for the repair of cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles. Experiencing a shift in demand from printed titles to electronic media as preferred source of technical information, Autodata decided to base its content creation on XML. This presentation describes the progression from legacy content conversion to XML authoring and outlines the results that have been realized to date.

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Migrating unstructured documents to DITA using Adobe FrameMaker 9 (RJ Jacquez)

Many technical authors understand the importance of DITA, but not the methodology to implement it. This session, featuring RJ Jacquez, Adobe’s Senior Product Evangelist for Technical Communications and eLearning, will provide an overview of implementing DITA using Adobe FrameMaker. Features such as Conversion Tables will be covered, the application of DITA templates and DITA-specific EDD and even resolving ConRefs.

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Not "just a writer": use your technical writing skills throughout the enterprise (Lois Patterson)

Increase your value by applying your technical writing skills to fields such as software testing, interface design, user experience, and business analysis. Drawing on personal experience and that of experienced colleagues, I will discuss how you can make your work more interesting while improving your company's products and business value. I will encourage audience participation and sharing of personal stories.

• Technical writers typically have varied backgrounds, from art history to engineering to construction. They are versatile people who have a lot to offer.
• When layoffs occur, the survivors typically have to take on extra work and more roles. How can a technical writer make the best of this situation?
• Variety increases job satisfaction.

Return to Wednesday's / Thursday's programme

Paths to success: networking and contributing (it’s all about relationships) (Linda Urban)

What does it take to be successful as a technical communicator?

Often we focus on skills and abilities. There is always so much more to learn! But there is another set of factors that are equally important. This interactive session focuses on the relationships, attitudes, and actions that can make all the difference. You will have an opportunity to think about your own experiences and discover ideas to help you move in the direction you want. You will learn to:

• Make the most of day-to-day networking. The most successful networking comes about naturally. It does not have to feel like a "marketing encounter".
• Recognize the relationship threads that weave throughout your professional experiences
• Find the professional contributions that work for you.
• Follow your generous impulses and resist the stingy ones.

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Pattern language for information architecture (Matthew Ellison)

Authors of online content have many techniques for the presentation, structure and layering of information. For example, a topic with a large number of cross-references to other topics could be implemented using a link cluster, a navigation bar, or embedded links. This session explores the concept of a "pattern language" as a solution to common information architecture problems. We will look at common patterns, their strengths and weaknesses, and situations where a design pattern represents a "golden rule" of information architecture. In addition to being a way of defining best practices for creating effective online content, design patterns represent a great learning tool for novices, and can work well within a standards environment.

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Quality Improvement in technical communication (Nigel Greenwood)

Quality management is about meeting the needs of the customer. Technical writing is about understanding and meeting the needs of the reader. Writers or managers wishing to improve documentation can learn from quality management, a mature discipline used extensively in industry. A standard quality management approach to improvement is called PDCA, or Plan - Do - Check - Act:

• Plan: define goals, scope, customers, requirements, existing process, causes of non-quality, new process
• Do: change process
• Check: measure results and analyse against goals or business case
• Act: make any further improvements needed and ensure that changes will be sustained

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Rapid advances: the evolution of e-learning development (Andrew Jackson)

There is a profound change gathering pace in the world of e-learning development. The future will likely see the decline of e-learning specialists controlling an organisation’s e-learning output. Replacing this will be teams of subject matter experts working collaboratively across disciplines to create small modules of content quickly and cost effectively.

This new world will, more than ever, require two key components. First, subject matter experts adept at planning and writing audience-focused modular content. Second, development software which provides powerful, easy-to-use tools that can deliver an engaging learner experience. This presentation will look at how a tried and tested approach to developing modular content and a cutting-edge piece of development software can be combined to provide a rapid solution for this new world of learning.

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Reading between the words… Using text formatting to increases persuasiveness and actionability of copy (Kath Straub)

You’ve mapped the information. You’ve designed the typography. You’ve designed, refined and tested your copy: Its engaging. It’s clear. It’s actionable. The only thing left to change is the size of the spaces.

As it turns out, spaces size matters. This talk presents emerging reading comprehension research demonstrating when relative intra-word/intra-letter space size reflects psychologically relevant* groupings, readers read faster, retain more and report that they are more likely to act on what they have read.

We provide clear and concrete examples of how this approach can be applied today to enhance the effectiveness and persuasiveness of your writing.

* Linguists should be prepared to be a bit disappointed.

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Smart authoring for a smarter planet (Peter Anghelides)

Our world is instrumented: sensors enable us to measure, sense and see the condition of everything. The world is interconnected: people, systems and objects can communicate and interact with each other in entirely new ways. And these instrumented, interconnected things are intelligent: powerful systems can analyse mountains of data to make decisions and actions in real time that make the world work better.

Novelists, dramatists, technical authors – over the past two decades, the writer’s job has evolved significantly. Information Development is now a key role in IBM’s development businesses, and that role is evolving again. In a world that is instrumented, interconnected and intelligent, can technical authors help create a smarter planet?

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Starting your own documentation business (Andrew Marlow)

Are you thinking of starting your own business in technical documentation? Perhaps you’ve been hankering to work as a self-employed contractor, or maybe aspiring to set up a larger business, such as a documentation house or agency. Even if you are confident about your professional technical communication skills, you may be less sure of your business development credentials. That’s where this session can help.

What you’ll get is a crash course on the basis business model for a technical documentation service, a guide to developing your own business startup strategy, plus simple and effective ideas for business growth. It really is more straightforward than you might imagine.

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Sustainable Energy: without the hot air (David MacKay)

Much has been written about sustainable energy that is incomprehensible to the average reader. Recognising this, David MacKay decided to explain the issue in words and numbers we can all understand, in a lively and entertaining way. During his presentation, David will describe the process of writing and publishing "Sustainable Energy - without the hot air", discussing the issues he faced and how he resolved them. Along the way, David's presentation will also shed light on the sustainable energy challenge.

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The Future Vision for Technical Communicators: Are We Delivering Content or Captivating Audiences? (RJ Jacquez)

Since the concept of technical communication began, the prevailing idea has been to deliver content. However, in the past 5 years, there has been a radical shift within technology which has enabled interactivity between content producer and content consumer. Can technical communicators produce interactive content? And more importantly, why would they want to?

Join RJ Jacquez, Adobe’s Senior Product Evangelist for Technical Communications, for a revolutionary presentation, which will explain why and how technical communicators can create and deliver a unique User Experience, which will truly captivate audiences.

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The secrets of telepathy (Justin Collinge)

Would you like to create instant and effortless rapport?

Would you like to build mutually beneficial relationships and learn the mysteries of motivation?

Would like to be able to avoid those moments of unnecessary conflict with team members or members of the public?

The exciting news is that the secrets of invisible communication can be learned. As human beings we are constantly giving off all sorts of unconscious signals, which we all notice and respond to without realising it. Once discovered and understood it becomes impossible to see the world the same way again! Suddenly all sorts of things make sense and can be used to help build rapport. Backed by the latest research Justin Collinge will introduce some ways to:

• create instant trust
• connect with people's inner purpose
• resolve conflict and tension effortlessly
• create transformational relationships through respect and shared expectations

Justin has distilled a collection of strategies and tools that will bring you 'The Secrets of Telepathy'. Renowned for making the extremely complex simple, Justin will leave you feeling like you can read minds.

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Topic Based Authoring - Getting Your Feet Wet (Greg Urban and Linda Urban)

A 2-part workshop

Topic-based authoring is a technique for writing content as discrete, stand-alone pieces (“topics”) that can be combined and reused in different ways.

The topic-based approach has been getting a lot of attention recently because it is an integral part of DITA (the Darwin Information Typing Architecture) and other XML-based solutions. However, topic-based authoring has actually been around for quite some time, and does not require DITA or XML.

Using a topic-based approach can improve consistency and usability of information, and can make it easier to reuse topics in different contexts. It can also simplify maintenance, speed up the review process, and facilitate shared authoring.

This two-part, hands-on workshop provides an overview of topic-based writing concepts and principles, and then lets you try your hand at using a topic-based approach. We will define key concepts (such as topic, information type, and element), look at examples of different types of topics, and discuss pros and cons of a topic-based writing approach.

You will get a chance to work with actual content, as you

• Identify and define information types
• Chunk linear information into topics
• Assess what kinds of changes are required to make individual topics work effectively for users
• Consider how to connect and cluster topics, to provide a cohesive collection of information for users, even when content is complex

Along the way, we will touch on related questions such as:

• How long should a topic be?
• What’s the difference between topic-based writing and structured writing?
• Do you need to use DITA to benefit from topic-based authoring? Do you need a content management system?
• Just how hard is the shift to a topic-based approach?

Part 1: Topic-based authoring overview, and identifying and defining information types.

Part 2: Moving from linear content to modular topics.

Recommended: Please bring a sample of your own content to consider during the workshop (10 to 15 pages, printed single-sided).

A laptop computer is NOT required.

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Visual attention: a psychologist's perspective (Chris Atherton)

Beneath the surface of every psychologist lurks a latent instructional designer. We present some key findings from cognitive psychology, to show how humans process visual information, then narrow the focus to look at the usefulness of slideware (such as PowerPoint) in teaching. We argue that dense, simultaneous verbal and visual delivery risks overloading the audience's working memory, impairing learning, and present data showing that sparse slide content improves students' recall of the material presented. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings for audiovisual instruction, and invite comment and discussion from the audience.

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Where do you keep your files? Collaborative content development on a common platform (Yves Barbion)

The traditional tools for collaboration - email, FTP, and removable storage - are no longer effective as the complexity of document management increases between customers, graphic designers, translators, technical writers and publishers. Specifically, the DITA-based workflow is incomplete without a common platform for collaborative authoring, and -by extension- collaborative content development and publishing. What document collaboration platforms are available for the professional writer who uses DITA-based technical documentation? There are some stringent requirements: A collaboration platform must be easy to use for all the players involved; it must be consistently reliable; it must be secure, with automated file back-ups; and it must be flexible and affordable enough to create when needed (i.e., a software-based solution versus a hardware-based solution).This talk will review what to look for in a good collaboration platform, and review some best practices for using DITA-based technical documentation on top of such a platform.

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Why blog? (Gordon McLean)

In this session, Gordon McLean (who writes the Blog news column for the ISTC Newsletter) discusses the benefits of blogging, and how you can bring them to you and your organisation.

Love them or loathe them blogs are here to stay, and as we continue to explore and embrace how we as technical communicators can make the most of the online world, blogs continue to be an excellent way to start, maintain and participate in global conversations about our profession.

If you are mystified as to why anyone reads blogs, why anyone writes one, if you are considering starting your own, or your company is considering dipping its toes in the Web 2.0 water, then this session should help provide some answers and insight.

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Why your XML projects keep failing (Bret Freeman)

XML has been touted as the killer app...the way forward, the be all and end all of the mine field that is information management. If that is the case, why are so many organisations in today's culture attempting their second, third, maybe even fifth XML implementation? Why do so many projects fail? What is missing?

Join Brett Freeman as he discusses why content management could be the missing ingredient in any XML project. He will address questions such as:

• What considerations must be taken into account when architecting your solution?
• What is the difference between WCMS and component CMS?
• How can a CMS provide additional intelligence around your information?
• What are the best practices around CMS implementation?

How to get it right the first time

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XML and manager contentment - living up to expectations? (Sean Harrop)

This presentation will illustrate how XML is enabling an organisation migrate from being a publisher of products to an information services provider. Two cases will be covered. The first will describe the gradual transition from a file-system based XML workflow to the use of a CMS in the production workflow for a major weekly journal. The second will discuss the evolution of a product that extensively uses existing content.

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XML: it’s 2009 and we still don’t get it (Noz Urbina)

The following are all lies:

XML

... is a North American thing

... is only advantageous in heavy translation environments

... does something for my company but not for me!

... can only be made user-friendly if you have a huge budget

... is only useful if you have various target formats to go to.

... reduces the usability of my output

... complicates my creation process

In this multi-case-study-based presentation Noz Urbina explains why and sheds some new light on what, for some people, is becoming old XML wisdom.

This is a low-tech presentation that contextualises XML benefits and technologies, and approaches XML solutions from the perspective of the full-time author, the contributing author, the manager, and - most important of all - the end users of our information.

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