Presenters
If you are interested in participating as a sponsor or speaker, please contact Kay Whatley for more details.
Kay Whatley 1-919-244-8559
tc08@brightpathsolutions.com
You can also submit an online proposal to speak at the conference. Speaker guidelines for presentations may be found on the Speaker Resources page.
Users with real-world issues that they resolved, who have permission to present the solutions they found (case study format), are strongly encouraged to submit presentation proposals.
Confirmed Presenters (Alphabetical by last name)
Mariana Alupului, DITA Doclet Tool for API Documentation
Mariana Alupului is a senior technical writer (API) for IBM Software Group, Rational Software. In addition to documenting and leading API documentation projects for Java, VB, C++ in software programming environment, she is a member of the IBM Corporation team that developed the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) XML specialization for writing language-conformant reference documentation for API libraries. Mariana has two published inventions and a US patent for the DITA DOCLET TOOL AND METHOD FOR EXTRACTING AND ANALYZING API DOCUMENTATION. She is a member of the IBM Technical Writers Council, Society for Technical Communication and has presented at the "Beyond the Bleeding Edge" session in 2005.
Mollye Barrett, Content Management: No Mystery! and Content Analysis: The Keys to Reuse
Mollye Barrett is a technical communicator and content management veteran. At ClearPath, Mollye presents vendor-neutral content management options that focus on sound process, business case, content reuse, document analysis, workflow analysis, single-source writing and translation. She has implemented XML-based content management systems for both print and online delivery and is a long-time FrameMaker user. Mollye is the Marketing Communication Director for Content Management Professionals (CM Pros) and a member of STC for over fifteen years.
Don Bridges, Improving the migratability of your legacy content to DITA XML
Don Bridges is the Commercial Tech Docs Manager at Data Conversion Laboratory. He works with customers and prospects from Software, Aerospace, Manufacturing, Transportation, and other industries helping them develop migration plans to meet business and technical requirements. He is a frequent conference speaker and has written several articles on the business aspects of XML implementation. Prior to joining DCL he worked in the engineering, consulting, and software fields.
Kristen James Eberlein, Introduction to DITA and DITA and Information Architecture
Kristen James Eberlein is a information architect and a member of OASIS, the DITA Technical Committee, and the Editorial Board for dita.xml.org. A resident of Durham, NC (USA), she worked for seven years on contract at IBM as an information developer, team lead, and information architect. At IBM, she migrated several large libraries from SGML to DITA and developed strategies for helping writers manage the transition from book to topic-based writing. More recently, her work has focused on developing DITA training, instructional materials, and best practices workshops. A senior member of the Society of Technical Communication (STC), she has previously spoken at DITA East, DITA Europe, Content Management Strategies/DITA North America, and STC. In addition to DITA, her interests include usability, prototyping, and information design.
Glenn Emerson, So We Have DITA, Now What?
Glenn Emerson, Information Architect with Xerox Global Services, is an award-winning help and eLearning developer. Glenn moved to a strategic role in 2006, and has led the adoption of DITA, playing a key role in the selection and implementation of the content management system used at Xerox Global Services. Glenn has coached many writers in single sourcing tools, DITA and CMS technologies and strategies.
Mary Ann Howell, After the Import: Tweaking CSS to Make FrameMaker Files Look Nice In RoboHelp (With a Little Help From Dreamweaver)
Mary Ann Howell is an Adobe Certified Trainer, and the author of FrameMaker Tips, published in several STC chapter newsletters. At her daytime job, she is the supervisor of Tech Pubs at Orthodyne Electronics. On many weekends she teaches FrameMaker and Acrobat classes, often through local STC chapters. She has presented at many STC International and regional conferences, as well as at local chapters around the United States. Mary Ann is a CTTI certified software trainer, has a AS in Electronics, a BA in Journalism, and is finishing up her Masters in Information Science at Drexel University.
Ed Marshall, Using File Management Systems / Source Code Control Systems
Ed Marshall is an independent consulting writer, with 20 years experience writing and producing documentation for highly technical products including Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Java-based products, Software Developer Kits (SDKs), Web Services, and other tools for developers. He is the sole proprietor of Marshall Documentation Consulting. Ed has presented talks on source code control, developer documentation, and editing / proofreading at the local, regional, and international levels of the STC, Writers UA Conferences and the Pubsnet Conference.
Neil Perlin, Creating Visual Training and Marketing Materials Using Adobe Captivate and Using Help Authoring Tools to Create "Test-Bed" CMSs and What's Up With RoboHelp (and Adobe's Technical Communication Suite)
Neil Perlin has 29 years experience in technical communication, with 23 in training, consulting, and development for online formats and tools like WinHelp, HTML Help, CE Help, RoboHelp, Flare, ScreenCam, Captivate, Mimic, and many now known only in legend. Neil spent six years at Digital Equipment Corp., then became a partner in a documentation consulting firm in the late 1980s, before forming Hyper/Word Services in 1990. Neil writes columns and articles on online help and documentation and is a popular speaker at IEEE PCS, STC, and other professional groups. He is Adobe Certified for RoboHelp and Captivate and Madcap Certified for Flare and Mimic. He provides training, consulting, and development for online content methodologies like structured authoring and single sourcing, related technologies like XML, and related tools like Flare, RoboHelp, Captivate, and Mimic. He can be reached at nperlin@concentric.net, www.hyperword.com.
Robert Perry and Kristeen Broussard, We Broke All The Rules. Now What? A story of an imperfect implementation
Robert Perry is a senior documentation and training professional with over twenty years of experience in the software, pharmaceutical, environmental and financial industries. Although a native North Carolinian, he is currently "doing time" in New York City as the lead on several segments within the Investment and Advisory division of Thomson Reuters.
Kristeen Broussard is a Senior Technical Writing Manager at Thomson Reuters with nine years of professional experience in the financial software industry. Kristeen is an Authorit expert and coordinates documentation localization. Located in San Francisco, she wishes she were "doing time" in New York.
Lynne A. Price, Defining Structure Applications in FrameMaker and Tech Comm Bingoand Subsetting Publicly Available Tagging Schemes and Breaking Out of the DITA Box: A Real-World Usage Case Study
Lynne A. Price is president of Text Structure Consulting, Inc., a consulting company that specializes in structured FrameMaker and XML. Prior to founding Text Structure Consulting in 1996, Lynne was a software engineer at Frame Technology and then Adobe where she worked on FrameMaker's structure features. While Lynne has been active in the XML/SGML community since 1985, her interest in structured documentation began in graduate school. She completed a Ph. D. in Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1978, writing a dissertation titled "Representing Text Structure for Automatic Processing".Speaker ToBeAnn (with Lynne A. Price), Breaking Out of the DITA Box: A Real-World Usage Case Study
More information on this speaker, tentatively presenting a case study, will be provided ASAHP.
Yaniv Shoshani, Building Powerful Corporate Technical Knowledgebase Using DITA
Leading the IFN CCM product suite is the Deputy CEO of IFN Solutions, Mr. Yaniv Shoshani. With more than 11 years of experience in developing technical documentation and training technologies, Yaniv is recognized as an expert in the field of documentation, worldwide. Yaniv is an expert in single sourcing, document and content management technologies. Currently he is leading the development of the ConteX CCM platform. Qualidocs, another brain child of Mr. Shoshani has shown a tremendous ROI for automated content validation. Prior to joining IFN, Yaniv was the CEO of Live Linx Ltd.
Terry Smith, DITA Authoring in FrameMaker 8 and Strategies for Conditional Text in FrameMaker 8
Terry Smith, a technical consultant at Scriptorium Publishing, helps companies with their documentation processes. Terry recently updated "Publishing Essentials: Adobe FrameMaker 8" to include the latest unstructured FrameMaker features. She has also authored chapters on the new conditional text features in both unstructured and structured FrameMaker and on FrameMaker's built-in DITA features in structured FrameMaker.
Jake Sorofman, The DITA Maturity Model: Fast-Tracking Your Enterprise Content and XML Adoption Strategy
Jake Sorofman, Senior VP of Marketing and Business Development, North America and EMEA at JustSystems, has canceled. A new presenter is being sought for this presentation slot.Barbara Stuhlemmer, From MS Word to DITA - A step-by-step process (case study)
Barbara Stuhlemmer is the President and CEO of ClearComm Information Design, a company she developed to support growth and add value to her clients' businesses through effective information management and outsourced documentation support. Barbara's company provides technical writing and communications for high-tech manufacturers, focusing on the medical device industry. With over 20 years experience in a variety of high-tech industries, Barbara brings core competencies in all levels of business and a high-level of expertise in the communications aspect of project process. Recently, Barbara has been appointed as the Technology Manager for Content Management Professionals. She also volunteers company time for the International Business Program through Georgian College, is the Regional B2B Ambassador for BNI, and is on the Leadership Team of the Business Retention and Expansion program for the City of Barrie.Hal Trent, Reducing Translation Costs with Scalable Vector Graphics and Understanding the Structure and Benefits of DITA
Hal Trent serves as a Consultant, Style Sheet Developer, and Information Systems Architect at Comtech Services Inc. He has seven years of experience in XML CMS implementations for a variety of businesses and academic institutions and is currently focusing his efforts on SVG integration with DITA. Hal earned his BS in Biology from Roanoke College and his MS in Information Systems from DePaul University.
Julio J. Vazquez, Using Semantic Elements
Julio J. Vazquez is an Information Architect and DITA educator working with SDI. He has been an information developer for over 20 years and was a member of IBM's corporate task force during the design of the language. He is the author of "Architecting Content for DITA" which was published in May of 2002 before the first release of DITA.
Kay Whatley, Understanding Structured FrameMaker: The Files Behind Round Tripping XML
Kay Whatley is a recognized XML expert. She is an Adobe Certified Expert and Adobe Certified Instructor in FrameMaker and a WebWorks University certified trainer. Kay has authored several books, including: XML Weekend Crash Course, Advanced FrameMaker, XML and FrameMaker, and her newest book XML: Problem-Design-Solution (co-authored with Mitch Amiano and two additional XML experts). She presents at conferences including Tri-XML, DITA, FrameMaker Chautauqua, CMS Strategies, Doctrain, STC, and more. In addition to her expertise in publishing, she teaches a variety of classes for Bright Path Solutions. Teaching experience includes XML and related technologies, DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture), SGML, structured authoring, content management, HTML, Adobe FrameMaker, Structured FrameMaker, and WebWorks. Kay has helped clients create a variety of documents: online help, user guides, online training materials, student/instructor workbooks, aircraft maintenance manuals (among other ATA documents), military documents, and more.
Leigh White, To CMS or Not to CMS? and Converting FrameMaker 8 Content to Online Help Using RoboHelp 7 and XML Basics
Leigh White, Senior Technical Writer at Misys Healthcare Systems, has been working with managed (and unmanaged) content for over 10 years. She is particularly interested in exploring ways that smaller documentation teams can manage their content without expensive commercial CMSs. Leigh has extensive experience with structured FrameMaker, template and EDD development, XSLT, and information organization, categorization, and reuse. Leigh is a regular presenter at events including the FrameMaker Chautauqua and the DITA Conference.
Scott Wolff, Selecting a Component Content Management System for use with DITA and Developing an Task Based Information Model for DITA
Scott Wolff is owner of WOLFF & Associates, LLC., a consulting firm dedicated to improving the quality, effectiveness and cost of producing Technical Publications for print and the web. I help clients implement structured authoring techniques, content management, content and translation reuse and automated desktop publishing using open standards such as XML, DITA and CMS technology. I also provide vendor independent assessments for application selection of Content Management Systems and authoring tools. My clients are typically large corporations seeking to significantly reduce the cost of publication by implementing structured authoring for their product information value chain. Prior to starting WOLFF & Associates, Scott worked for Hewlett Packard Co. as a Software Engineer, CMS Program manager, Technical Publication Manager and a Manufacturing Engineer and Manager. Scott holds a BS in Industrial Engineering an ME in Industrial Engineering, and an MS in Computer Science.