http://www.aodc.com.au/News relating to the AODC Conference for Help authoring, online documentation, structured authoring and technical communication, brought to you by the Australia's oldest hypertext company, HyperWrite.EN-AUCopyright 2007 HyperWrite Pty LtdTony SelfMon, 19 Feb 2007 04:00:00 GMTFri, 07 May 2010 02:26:19 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/images/hwlogo.gifhttp://www.hyperwrite.com/http://www.aodc.com.au/register.aspxIf you haven't registered yet, then you'd better put your skates on! There are still reasonably priced airfares, so don't look for excuses! All registrants will be sent an e-mail with administrative details this Friday (7 May).2010{a1d4851d-2db6-43e1-9916-7fd8ba77a579}Fri, 07 May 2010 02:24:56 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/agenda.aspx?d=Glance&Mode=FULLWe've added a bonus presentation to the AODC conference programme, with a session entitled "The Wonders of SVG" slotted in on Thursday morning at 8:00 am. SVG stands for Scaleable Vector Graphics, and you'll find out more about its importance to technical communication at AODC. On the Friday, we have a different style of presentation for the session "A Walk through Google Apps". Tony Self will firstly present an explanation of what the Google Docs service is, before launching into a live demonstration of collaborative authoring with the help of a panel of volunteers. There will be plenty of opportunity for questions and discussion, and we expect this session to be very thought-provoking.2010{e1844b40-49c3-b718-5059-6830fd3a5276}Thu, 06 May 2010 09:24:13 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/agenda.aspx?Mode=FULL&d=W#W3Widely used in Europe, but much less so in Australasia, is the technique of "controlled language". The most well-known controlled language is Simplified Technical English (STE). Controlled languages use basic writing rules and greatly restricted vocabularies to make sentences simpler and more consistent. At AODC, Dave Gash will be introducing you to controlled language and its many benefits, and will explain how to approach its adoption in your online documents. You'll find that controlled language is a logical, accessible technology that can truly make your documents better, faster, and cheaper!2010{aa047dad-154-8bc1-58db-82cd5aa6c0d3}Thu, 06 May 2010 02:22:52 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/speakers.aspx#speaker138One of our most popular speakers from past years is Matthew Ellison, and Matthew is already in the southern hemisphere! Matthew has been delivering some workshops for the Technical Communication Association of New Zealand (TCANZ), but he is normally based in England. With near on 20 years experience as a user assistance professional in the software industry, Matthew currently runs his own independent training and consulting company specialising in online Help design and technology. He also runs a sister conference to AODC, UA Conference Europe, with this year's event scheduled for September in Stockholm. Amongst his other skills and qualifications, Matthew is a Certified RoboHelp Instructor and a MadCap Flare Certified Instructor. At AODC, he will be presenting three sessions: "Turning Search into Find", "What Kind of Assistance do Users Really Need?", and "Help Authoring Tool Comparison".2010{9579dfa7-4432-5bc6-d74f-1a7ed4d1f997}Wed, 05 May 2010 02:22:19 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/vendor.aspxHyperWrite greatly appreciates the support of our 2010 sponsors. Our major sponsor this year is MadCap Software, sponsors of the Welcome Reception. Thanks to MadCap's support, this very social networking event will be free for all delegates and speakers. We also thank EC Software, our door prize sponsors, and ComponentOne DocToHelp, Swinburne University of Technology and AuthorIT Software. 2010{3122f0f6-bae-470-3f55-fe30946b3422}Wed, 21 Apr 2010 20:36:05 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/venue.aspxThe AODC 2010 venue is aptly named Palms, because it is set in a tropical palm garden. And it's Palms City Resort because it's bang smack in Darwin city. But it's not high-rise. The garden setting includes a free-form swimming pool, and it has all the accommodation necessities including air conditioning, 24 hour reception, and wireless Internet. This setting provides a great learning environment, and will also make AODC 2010 a very memorable event!2010{7e8b52bb-6ce4-7cac-7fc6-82d93e05571}Wed, 21 Apr 2010 20:26:25 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/socialevents.aspxOne of the most keenly anticipated events at AODC is actually an unofficial quiz night held nearby the conference venue on the Thursday night. 2010 will once again see this highly unusual trivia evening, where the least knowledgeable seem to have the best chance of winning. Quizmaster Uncle Dave has dreamt up a set of puzzling questions that will have participants laughing, crying, or both! There are unbelievable prizes, so if you're going to Darwin for AODC, cross off Thursday night in your diary!2010{aea52d70-59e-a290-e8e2-42058d19700d}Wed, 21 Apr 2010 20:21:47 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/speakers.aspx#speaker140There's a lot of talk about the benefits of structured content, whether it's in Structured FrameMaker, Author-it, or in DITA or DocBook. One of the impediments to adopting structured authoring is the task of converting existing, unstructured documents. The source data may be in Word, unstructured FrameMaker, or any other format, but the fundamental issues are always the same. How do we introduce hierarchical structures into unstructured data? How do we capture and markup tables? How do we deal with graphics? How do we handle non-standard characters? What about cross-referencing? At AODC, Dr Alan Burton, principal consultant at eGloo Technologies, will be explaining how to manage the migration to structured content. Alan has a PhD in the field of computer based text and language processing, and has worked in a range of industries including legal publishing, government, defence, education, sport and leisure, and medical and pharmaceutical.2010{8039e969-f36b-5b70-4b52-6c78aa37ad98}Wed, 21 Apr 2010 20:19:49 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/venue.aspxWe have negotiated some special accommodation rates at the Palms City Resort, venue for AODC 2010 in Darwin. For a standard motel room, the cost is $162 per night, while a superior room is $171. Another option to consider is the villa accommodation, with a duplex at $175.50, business at $216, and the luxurious spa villa at $256. You can see photos of the different room types on the Palms City Resort Web site. To book at these prices, contact the Palms City Resort reception, and tell them your with AODC.2010{f3cd9923-c709-2da0-8304-a52ff77e6f8c}Fri, 09 Apr 2010 05:12:33 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/agenda.aspx?Mode=FULL&d=Wednesday#W5The Apple iPad has been all over the news of late, and if the hype turns out to be true, this device is going to revolutionise the way we read. But what's it really like? Find out at AODC in Darwin. Although not on sale in Australia yet, Joe Welinske will be bringing his iPad to Darwin, and delegates will be able to judge for themselves what the fuss is all about. Joe will also be bringing a Netbook running the Google Chrome operating system, another potentially game-changing technology. Joe Welinske is the president of Seattle-based WritersUA, formerly known as WinWriters. The WritersUA/WinWriters Conference in the US draws hundreds of attendees each year from around the world to share the latest in user assistance design and implementation. Joe has been involved with software documentation development since 1984. Together with Scott Boggan and David Farkas, Joe authored two editions of the popular and pioneering book Developing Online Help for Windows. He has also taught online Help courses at the University of Washington and UC Santa Cruz.2010{de1c2bf9-cb25-b00b-aea0-c5016d9b8b7c}Fri, 09 Apr 2010 05:12:00 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/agenda.aspx?Mode=FULL&d=F#F6Controlled languages use basic writing rules and tightly-controlled vocabularies to make sentences simpler and more consistent. Already widely used in aerospace, defence, and other precision-critical industries, controlled language is finding its way into other technical arenas such as medicine, finance, and, of course, user assistance. The most widely used controlled language is Simplified Technical English, or STE. Controlled language may be an approach you can adopt to make your documents better, faster, and cheaper, and AODC is the place for you to learn about this logical, accessible approach. Dave Gash, otherwise famous for his collection of colourful shirts, will be travelling from California to share his knowledge of controlled languages. (Dave is also the host of the conference's social events, Uncle Dave's Trivia Night.) 2010{1355eb3c-9843-5f2b-6da1-2716e0aabd4b}Sun, 28 Mar 2010 22:58:43 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/agenda.aspx?Mode=FULL&d=T#T1You'd be hard pressed to find a technical communicator anywhere in Australasia with more experience and knowledge than Monica Allen. Perhaps the key to Monica's success is her dedication to professional learning and participation in the technical communication community. Monica is one of just three people who have attended every AODC without fail since the first conference in Melbourne way back in 1998. She is also the current president of the Australia Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (STC). At AODC 2010 in Darwin, Monica will be sharing her knowledge with a case study on managing a documentation project. Find out what worked and what didn't, and discover ideas and solutions that will help you with your own projects.2010{6d45529c-7f6a-3747-7a2f-96c1d499c920}Fri, 19 Mar 2010 03:55:03 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/agenda.aspx?Mode=FULL&d=Thursday#T2Although AODC 2010 has the mix of sessions covering techniques, tools, and case studies that everyone has come to expect, this year's conference has four sessions focussed on DITA. Many delegates won't yet have had exposure to the Darwin Information Typing Architecture, so Suchi Govindarajan's session is an easy first step into understanding this much talked about methodology. If you are a reader of the quarterly Words e-bulletin, you would have seen Suchi's excellent article which provided a "rough guide" to DITA. At AODC 2010, in a session entitled "Who's Afraid of the DITA Wolf?", Suchi will de-mystify DITA and provide an impartial view of its strengths and weaknesses. She answers the questions of "how much do we really need to know?" and "how different it is from other approaches?" through practice rather than theory.2010{ef47b54b-faff-cb67-4172-6c902ccc189b}Sun, 14 Mar 2010 09:50:58 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/agenda.aspxThe agenda for AODC 2010 in Darwin is taking shape now, with eight expert speakers confirmed so far to deliver 14 topical sessions. With the conference venue being Darwin, we could hardly help not putting some extra emphasis onto the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA). If you want to get a good understanding of what DITA means (or doesn't mean) to the profession, Suchi Govindarajan is putting together a session entitled "Who's Afraid of the DITA Wolf", based on her excellent article in the latest Words online magazine. Don't worry if DITA holds no interest for you! We have many other sessions covering topics such as improving searchability, engaging readers, controlled language, and case studies.2010{429e2144-3aea-7efb-79b8-d63f4dcdea41}Mon, 15 Feb 2010 02:10:46 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/Virgin Blue, JetStar, and Qantas are currently offering discounted fares to Darwin covering the AODC conference dates. Fares include Adelaide-Darwin for $169 (Jetstar), Brisbane-Darwin for $129 (Virgin Blue), Melbourne-Darwin for $129 (Virgin Blue and Jetstar), Perth-Darwin for $149 (Virgin Blue), Canberra-Darwin for $189 (Qantas), Sydney-Darwin for $149 (Jetstar). As the May dates draw near, you can expect fares to rise somewhat, so it's best to be early to get a good deal!2010{158546d4-bbca-d073-ee3c-81cc18a4be9}Sun, 31 Jan 2010 03:45:30 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/agenda.aspxThe first draft of the AODC 2010 agenda has been released on the Web site. Work is currently underway behind the scenes to put the remainder of the program in place. The aim is to provide high quality information on topics of relevance to technical communicators, delivered by speakers expert in their fields. 2010{88085c7b-3073-a657-4064-bc809f3eb316}Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:00:00 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/The conference will finish on the last day (Friday) in time for anyone needing to catch the 6:15 pm Virgin Blue flight to Melbourne. You can sometimes find fares on that flight for as low as A$159.2010{b6516789-a72b-59d-6f0b-cb0cbabf70d1}Sat, 02 Jan 2010 12:29:40 GMThttp://www.aodc.com.au/default.aspxAODC 2010 will be held in the tropical city of Darwin in Australia's spectacular Northern Territory. A comprehensive series of presentations by local and international experts makes this annual event an invaluable learning and professional development resource for technical communicators in Australia and New Zealand. The conference will be held from Wednesday 12th to Friday 14th May 2010. 2010{5f74fa4e-9c25-a63f-7065-213fd20094ec}Mon, 17 Dec 2007 01:00:00 GMT