Wednesday, October 14th – Tell Your Story the Walt Disney World Way: Adding Disney Imagineering to Your Technical Communication Toolbox

Posted on September 22, 2020 by Jane Olivera

Speaker: Lou Prosperi

Description

Since the opening of Disneyland in 1955, Disney’s Imagineers have been entertaining audiences of all ages at Disney parks around the world by bringing stories to life through immersive and engaging experiences.

From 1955 through today, storytelling has been at the heart of everything the Imagineers do, and the key to the Imagineers’ storytelling is effective communication. What does that have to do with technical communication? More than you might think!

This presentation explores a number of Imagineering Storytelling tools – practices and principles used by Walt Disney Imagineering in the design and construction of Disney parks and attractions – and how those same tools can be applied to technical communication and information development to help us effectively communicate with our audiences.

About the Speaker

Lou Prosperi has over 30 years of technical writing experience. He is a Senior Manager of Documentation and Curriculum at Oracle, based out of Burlington, MA. Lou styles himself as an “Imagineer Evangelist” and has published two books on the subject. His first, The Imagineering Pyramid: Using Disney Theme Park Design Principles to Develop and Promote Your Creative Ideas, was published in April 2016. His second, The Imagineering Process: Using the Disney Theme Park Design Process to Bring Your Creative Ideas to Life, was published in May 2018.

Event info

Time: Wednesday, October 14th, 2020 6:30 p.m. Pacific

Location: Zoom

Program:
6:30 to 7:00: Networking
7:00 to 7:15: Announcements
7:15 to 8:30: Presentation
8:30 to 8:45: More networking
8:45: Clear the room; move conversations to offline

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83255941040

Meeting ID: 832 5594 1040
One tap mobile
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Dial by your location
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Meeting ID: 832 5594 1040
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/ksKvvthQU

Important notes:

  • Members of other chapters welcomed. If you belong to another STC chapter, you can attend our meetings for the regular price.
  • IABC members welcome. All members of the San Francisco Chapter of the IABC are welcome to register for Berkeley STC General Meetings at the member price.
  • Non-members can attend. You don’t have to be a member to attend our meetings. See the link above for tickets.
  • Tell us if you’re hiring or job-hunting. Attendees are encouraged to announce open positions or to announce that they are searching for work. Feel free to bring job listings, resumes, or business cards for distribution.
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Wednesday, September 9th – The Holy Trifecta of Translation

Posted on August 28, 2020 by Jane Olivera

Speaker: Val Swisher

Description

Technical communication professionals revolutionized the publishing world with the introduction of structured writing and intelligent content. By adopting innovative methods, approaches, and content standards, we were able to craft and deliver content to multiple channels quickly, often with reduced effort and cost. And, we’re not done yet.

When technical content is required for global audiences, intelligent content alone is not enough to tackle the obstacles that multilingual content introduces. Combining structured intelligent technical content, terminology management, and translation memory together can solve these challenges. We call this the Holy Trifecta of Intelligent Technical Content. When all three of these are leveraged together, we can produce consistent content that is on-brand, on-message, and easy to read in every language.

In this session, attendees will learn:

– A clear description of intelligent content, terminology management, and translation memory
– An understanding of how they are interrelated and why they are important to technical communication projects
– A game plan for coordinating all three in order to create intelligent content that works, all the time, on any device, in any language

About the Speaker

Val Swisher is the Founder and CEO of Content Rules, Inc. Val enjoys helping companies solve complex content problems. She is a well-known expert in content strategy, structured authoring, global content, content development, and terminology management. Val believes content should be easy to read, cost-effective to create and translate, and efficient to manage. Her customers include industry giants such as Google, Cisco, Visa, Facebook, Microsoft, and Juniper Networks. Her fourth book, “The Personalization Paradox: Why Companies Fail (and How to Succeed) at Creating Personalized Experiences at Scale,” will be released in 2020 by XML Press.

Val is on the Advisory Board for the Technical Communications Program at the University of North Texas. When not working with customers or students, Val can be found sitting behind her sewing machine working on her latest quilt. She also makes a mean hummus.

Event info

Time: Wednesday, September 9th, 2020 6:30 p.m. Pacific

Location: Zoom

Program:
6:30 to 7:00: Networking
7:00 to 7:15: Announcements
7:15 to 8:30: Presentation
8:30 to 8:45: More networking
8:45: Clear the room; move conversations to offline

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88693531252?pwd=MGM0ei9OYW5FdzdOSTd6Zit4RkZPZz09

Meeting ID: 886 9353 1252
Passcode: 718350
One tap mobile
+14086380968,,88693531252#,,,,,,0#,,718350# US (San Jose)
+16699006833,,88693531252#,,,,,,0#,,718350# US (San Jose)

Dial by your location
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
Meeting ID: 886 9353 1252
Passcode: 718350
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kclC8eqNHy

Important notes:

  • Members of other chapters welcomed. If you belong to another STC chapter, you can attend our meetings for the regular price.
  • IABC members welcome. All members of the San Francisco Chapter of the IABC are welcome to register for Berkeley STC General Meetings at the member price.
  • Non-members can attend. You don’t have to be a member to attend our meetings. See the link above for tickets.
  • Tell us if you’re hiring or job-hunting. Attendees are encouraged to announce open positions or to announce that they are searching for work. Feel free to bring job listings, resumes, or business cards for distribution.
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Wednesday, August 12 – Independent Contractor/Employee Classification of Workers in California: The Devil Is In the Details

Posted on June 30, 2020 by Nicki Davis

Speaker: Denis Kenny, Experienced Labor and Employment Attorney

Description

Many technical writers work as independent contractors rather than as employees, working on a freelance basis and handling taxes and benefits differently. With this in mind, how will recently passed legislation affect independent contractors in California?

Join us as attorney Denis Kenny explains:

Continue reading →

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July 8th – Tech Comm Trivia Night

Posted on June 26, 2020 by Jane Olivera

Speaker: Jack Molisani

Hello everyone! After a few months of inactivity and uncertainty, we’re pleased to announce our first virtual chapter meeting for STC San Francisco Bay! This follows the merger of the Berkeley, East Bay, and San Francisco Chapters.

Please join us this Wednesday, July 8th, via Zoom for a Tech Comm Trivia Night hosted by Jack Molisani! Come prepared for a variety of questions and a good time!

About Our Speaker
Jack Molisani is the president of ProSpring Technical Staffing, specializing in engineering and content professionals. Every year, he runs the LavaCon Content Strategy Conference, which this year he has cunningly reworked to a virtual format. He has been an STC Fellow since 1998. Jack is passionate about technical communication, content strategy, and user experience.

Event info

Time: Wednesday, July 8th, 2020 6:30 p.m.

Location: Zoom 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86134433279

Meeting ID: 861 3443 3279
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,86134433279# US (San Jose)
+14086380968,,86134433279# US (San Jose)

Dial by your location
+1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
+1 408 638 0968 US (San Jose)
+1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
+1 646 876 9923 US (New York)
+1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
Meeting ID: 861 3443 3279
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/keld3h1uOC

Program:

6:30 to 7:00 pm: Conversation

7:00 to 7:15 pm: Announcements

7:15 to 8:30 pm: Presentation

8:30 to 9:00 pm: Conversation, follow up on job announcements

Important notes:

  • Members of other chapters welcomed. If you belong to another STC chapter, you can attend our meetings.
  • IABC members welcome. All members of the San Francisco Chapter of the IABC are welcome to register for Berkeley STC General Meetings.
  • Non-members can attend. You don’t have to be a member to attend our meetings. 
  • Tell us if you’re hiring or job-hunting. Attendees are encouraged to announce open positions or to announce that they are searching for work. Feel free to bring job listings, resumes, or business cards for distribution.
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Weekly Virtual Happy Hour!

Posted on June 2, 2020 by Jane Olivera

Hello all! It is my pleasure to announce an update to our weekly virtual happy hour for San Francisco Bay STC!

We’ll be continuing our weekly happy hours through the December 18th, 2020. We’ll start them up again next year after the holidays.

We meet every Friday starting at 5 pm Pacific Time. Everyone is welcome, whether you are a member of our chapter, a member of another chapter, or a friend of any of our members. Bring your favorite drink and snacks, and enjoy some company from the comfort and safety of your home! We would love to have you!

If you are interested, click this link to access the meeting: 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88945452076

Please make sure your Zoom client is up to date and that you are signed in to your Zoom account. If you have questions, contact me at at lambra1674@gmail.com.

I hope to see you there. In the meantime, stay safe out there!

Sincerely,
Rachel Lamb
VP for Programs, Berkeley chapter, Society for Technical Communication

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