Upcoming Chapter Events

by Opal Gamble, Program Manager

If you have any questions about upcoming chapter events, or if you have a suggestion for a meeting topic, feel free to email Opal Gamble (Program Manager) or Paul Lofthouse (Program Assistant).

For details about our chapter's events for the rest of the year, as well as last minute updates or additions to the schedule, take a look at the STC calendar.

February 10
Word 2003 and XML

Office 2003 adds XML functionality to most of the Office applications, including Microsoft Word. Peter looks at what all this new functionality actually means to the technical writer.

There are two aspects that matter to the technical writer:

• using Word to create XML document
• saving Word documents as XML

Peter Vogel will look at the differences between these two similar sounding activities and, in addition to showing how to do both, describe why technical writers care about either. Along the way, you'll be introduced to the DocBook specification (a standard for creating documents about hardware and software), WordprocessingML (the XML dialect used by Word), and see how Word's new functionality lets Word documents be delivered over the Internet and processed on any platform. Get some insights from one of the consultants working with Microsoft on XML in Office 2003.

About the Speaker

Peter Vogel (MBA, MCSD) is a principal in PH&V Information Services, which provides consulting services in client/server and intranet development. Peter’s white papers appeared in the Visual Studio.NET and Office 2003 release package. He also did extensive work on XML in Office 2003.

Peter was the founding editor of the XML Developer newsletter, now Hardcore Web Services Developer. In addition to teaching for Learning Tree International, Peter wrote their ASP.NET and Technical Writing courses. His articles have appeared in every major magazine devoted to VB-based development and can be found in the Microsoft Developer Network libraries.

Peter lives in Goderich, Ontario, Canada but presents at conferences all over the world. In the Fall of 2002, Peter was the keynote speaker for the XML and Web Services conference in Orlando, Florida. His next appearance is in Palm Springs, California in October where he will be presenting both at the Office Systems conference and the ASP.NET conference.

The Fine Print

This month's meeting is in Room 1304, Davis Centre, University of Waterloo [map].

The doors open for networking at 6:30 pm; the meeting begins at 7:00 pm.

February 17
Council Meeting

6:30-8:30 pm in the Seminar Room at Grand River / Stanley Park Community Library, 175 Indian Road, Kitchener.

All members welcome - help your chapter by becoming a volunteer!

RSVP to Heidi Marr.

February 18
Free Contractors and Independent Consultants Workshop
The Six-Step Selling Process

Attend this workshop from 6:30 to 9:00 pm in the Games Room of the Doon Pioneer Community Center to find out how to turn leads into paying customers. [details].

February 19-20
February Workshop: Single Sourcing in Practice - XML Migration Strategies and Tool Comparisons

You don't want to miss this event! More

March 9
Wine and Cheese

Come join us as we celebrate our chapter's success!

7:00 - 9:00 pm at UW's University Club. [map]

March 10
Phone Seminar: Keywords for Indexing and Search

By popular demand*, our chapter is offering this phone seminar with presenter, Seth Maislin.

Language is the first, biggest, and most obvious barrier between people and their goals of finding information. Whether you're optimizing search queries and results presentation, improving the navigation of your Web site, or writing print and online indexes, choosing the right words can improve both accessibility and user confidence. In Seth Maislin's third practical seminar, you'll learn how to accomplish the following:

• find the words that work
• optimize context and categorization
• develop and control vocabularies
• label for storage vs. keyword for retrieval
• build searches and search results
• use dynamic presentation environments
• translate terms between audiences and languages

Owing to the proliferation of search engines and automatic content, the burden on users to guess the right index words is increasing. Improved labeling, better keyword vocabularies, and functional label architectures can relieve that burden. A summary of examples will help you realize the potential to immediately improve your index, Web, and search products.

This free seminar ($35 for non-members) takes place at the Waterloo Recreation Complex, 101 Father David Bauer Drive, Waterloo, from 12:30-3:00 pm.

Please RSVP to Opal Gamble by Tuesday, March 9, 2004. In your e-mail message, please state the names of attendees and membership status.

*Survey results from January 5-12, 2004, on www.stc-soc.org indicate that chapter members preferred this topic. Do you want to have a say in our programming? Check the homepage frequently for surveys.