Archive for September, 2008

Twice a year, the Burton Group presents their Catalyst Conference. The July editions is in the US, and the October edition is in Europe. Although aimed primarily at IT staff, the last few conferences have had conference sessions and pre-conference workshops that are of interest to technical communicators.

The 2008 Catalyst/Europe conference has a session track that sounds especially interesting: New Ways to Work. It will cover all kinds of collaborative working environments, with an emphasis on the use of social networking software for companies and work groups. Other tracks include sessions on information and document management, new tools for creating and managing the user experience (user interface/online help/just-in-time training), and tools for enabling the mobile workforce.

While Prague is a bit far for most of us to go for a professional conference, there is a good chance that similar topics will be presented in San Diego in July.

[updated 25 Nov 2008]
The preliminary announcement for the July Catalyst Conference in San Diego has been published:
. The full site with program schedule will be available online in January ‘09.

October 2008

Designed to promote economic development, civic engagement, community volunteerism and entrepreneurship, Eyes on the Future 2008 — an event sponsored by the Small Business Council of Rochester — features a panel discussion comprised of local, regional and national economic development officials and business professionals. The first Eyes on the Future offered outside perspectives on the region’s many assets and why it’s a great place to do business. This year’s event answers the question “Why Rochester?” from leaders and business professionals who are successful every day in our community.

The goal of Eyes on the Future 2008 is to motivate attendees with a sense of civic duty and regional pride to get directly involved in our community through the various efforts that are available and necessary to provide a successful path for economic and community success for everyone in the Greater Rochester Region.

Details of the 2008 program are available at this site:
Eyes on the Future │ 2008 │ Home.

Update
More than 1500 people attended this conference. The site now has a link to a PDF file giving highlights of the panel discussion and other conference events.