Date

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Program Title

Three experts in technical communication will talk about the tools and trends they see as important avenues for full-time or contract employment, in the next few years. Speakers include Cheryl Landes, Neil Perlin, and Ed Marshall (speaker/moderator).

Social Networking

Ed Marshall uses social networking, successfully, to land business. During the past five years, social networking has grown rapidly in popularity, and is an essential component in promoting small businesses and finding work. Ed will introduce some of the most popular and helpful social networking sites, and will cover the following topics:

• Learn best practices for using social media sites, safely.
• Learn how to use social media sites to advertise your availability for work, research companies and positions, and expand your network.

• Opportunities outside of traditional tech comm, where you can leverage your existing skills, while moving into new areas exposed by the rapid growth in social media.

For information about Ed Marshall go to: www.MarshallDocumentationServices.com

Green Industry and Indexing Digital Materials

Cheryl Landes, who freelances as an independent and agency contractor in the Northwest and Northeast since 1995, has noticed a shift in her clientele during the past two years. She will talk about two emerging trends: the green industry and indexing digital materials. She will provide tips on how to choose the best opportunities to pursue in an ever-changing climate. These tips are extracted from her capstone project in her master’s program in educational psychology at Capella University.

For information about Cheryl Landes go to: http://tabbycatco.com

Mobile Trends and Planning for Change

Neil Perlin will talk about the following trends:

• Mobile – Neil will explain the mobile options, how to approach them using tech comm tools and new, non-tech comm tools for native apps, and discuss the differences between the mobile/tech comm and mobile/non-tech comm markets.
• Standards - Online help arose unexpectedly 22 years ago and caused all kinds of problems as people tried to adapt to the new requirements for online, and still are. In other words, people didn't expect and plan for change. Today, we should know better and should expect to plan for change - in mobile and other unexpected formats; but, people often still don't. There is no excuse. Neil will discuss the need to be aware of and follow external and internal standards.
• The need to think in business terms.

For information about Neil Perlin go to: www.hyperword.com

Time