STC PMC Newsletter June/July/August 2004

1. June/July/August 2004 Vol. 39, No. 1
Managing Content from a Single Source
by Suzanne Mescan
oday, technical writers
use a variety of tools
to develop their docu-
mentation from word
processing applica-
tions to XML
authoring and editing
tools. Although these
tools allow you to repurpose your
XML content from a single source to
different print and electronic media
channels, they, along with word pro-
cessing applications, have limited
capabilities when it comes to helping
you manage and reuse your content.
For example, suppose you produce
user manuals for 10 models of digital
cameras. Within these manuals, you
have an assembly instruction that says,
“Plug USB cable into Part A.” Now,
the manufacturing department changes
the parts on all models, resulting in a
new assembly instruction: “Plug USB
cable into Part B; if USB cable is
plugged into Part A, all of your photos
will be automatically deleted.” You
must now update all the
documentation with this new
instruction.
If you managed this content in a
word processing program, you would
have to search through 10 different
documents and replace each old
instruction with the new one. This
would require you to manually read
through every user manual to find the
instruction that needs to be revised, or
you would have to rely on the
“search” command and hope that all
the occurrences of this instruction are
identified. If you miss revising one
instruction, it will make your
documentation inaccurate and, in this
case, result in your customers deleting
their photos.
Because word processing
applications and XML authoring and
editing tools only store content as
entire documents, they cannot track
what the content in other documents is
doing or where it has been duplicated
or changed. These applications require
you to manually go through your
documentation and revise it. This
manual process could be eliminated,
however, if you have a content
management system in place.
Content management software is
great for managing and producing
content because it stores your content
in a centralized database. However, the
market is saturated with hundreds of
vendors all claiming that they provide
content management solutions,
making it hard for potential buyers to
know which solution is best suited for
their needs. Not all content
management systems are created
equal; in fact, when evaluating content
management systems, it is often
comparing apples to oranges. When
the content management market
exploded several years ago, the
majority of the products available only
addressed one medium—the Web.
Today the market has evolved and it
is now comprised of several segments.
Web content management continues to
be the largest segment, and many
people still associate the term “content
management” with Web content
management. This segment allows you
to manage and deliver your content to
Websites. Another segment is
document management that manages
your documents at the file level,
providing a low level of content
granularity. Document management
does not go a step further to actually
store the content itself. Digital asset
(Continued on page 11)
In This Issue…
Features
1 Managing Content from a Single
Source
4 Conference Quotes from New Jersey
4 Closing Thoughts from the
Conference Manager
7 Exploring: A Trolley Tour of Center
City's Murals
8 One Technical Communicator’s
Experience with Offshoring
Columns
2 Editor’s Voice
3 President’s Podium
5 Upcoming STC Phone Seminars
6 Member Spotlight
10 Crossword Puzzle

2. NEWS & VIEWS 2 June/July/August 2004
Newsletter Staff
Managing Editor
Lori Corbett stcmember@comcast.net
Layout Editor
Rose Marie Sosnowy (610) 792-4031
Associate Editors
Al Brown (856) 222-7427
Rebecca Richardson
rebecca.one@verizon.net
Mary Shaw mary@ladywriter.net
Also Contributing to this Issue
Submissions and Reprints
You may reprint original material
appearing in News & Views, as long as you
acknowledge the source and author and
send us a copy of the publication
containing the reprint.
ISSN 1078-9952. News & Views, published
six times per year, is the official publication
of the Philadelphia Metro Chapter of STC.
We encourage letters, articles, and other
items for publication. Note: By submitting
an article, you implicitly grant a license to
this newsletter to run the article and for
other STC publications to reprint it without
permission. Unless otherwise noted,
copyrights for all newsletter articles belong
to the authors. The design and layout of
this newsletter are copyright STC, 2004.
Address submissions or comments to Lori
Corbett, Managing Editor, News & Views,
834 Westridge Drive, Phoenixville, PA,
19460, phone (610) 382-8683;
email stcmember@comcast.net.
Toolbox
We produce News & Views with Frame-
Maker 6.0 and Acrobat 6.0 on various
Pentium computers.
News & Views
Barrie Byron Zsolt Olah
Wayne Kroger Gloria Reisman
Julia Margulies Jill Cassidy Rolette
Sheila Marshall Mike Sharp
Suzanne Mescan
Editor’s Voice
A New Chapter Year…
Inevitable Changes
by Lori Corbett
t has been quite a busy
year for the staff of News
& Views. It is almost un-
believable that we’re
coming to the end of an
entire chapter year and be-
ginning a new one. I am
grateful to our hard-
working, dedicated staff: Rose Marie Sos-
nowy, Al Brown, Rebecca Richardson,
and Mary Shaw. Without their dedica-
tion, News & Views would not be the
award-winning publication that it is. It is
a testament to their work that News &
Views received an Excellence award in
the STC chapter newsletter competition.
(Way to go team!)
Print production has been a challenge
for us. In order to keep costs down, we
used one of our member’s in-house
printer. Alas, that printer has gotten too
busy, which is the reason you haven’t
received a printed copy of the April-May
edition. Printing and distribution through
a commercial printer is cost-prohibitive.
Therefore, we need to change our
distribution policy.
Important Policy Change
Beginning with the September/October
issue, only members of STC-PMC who do
not have access to the Web or cannot
download the PDF version of News &
Views will receive a printed copy via snail
mail. If you fit this category, please
contact me at 610-382-8683 or
stcmember@comcast.net.
The good news about getting the
newsletter from the STC-PMC Website is
that it contains color throughout. Note
that if you cannot use Acrobat 6.0, but
must use Acrobat 5.0, page 2 might not
always display on your printer; however,
if you download the file to your PC, and
print the newsletter from there, all pages
will print. Nope, I don’t understand this
aberration, but I’ve tested it and it works.
Yes, I’m one of those folks who must use
Acrobat 5.0 at work.
Topic Ideas for Next Year
Some interesting topic ideas for
newsletter columns and articles have
floated past my desk recently. I’d like to
incorporate the following columns in
upcoming issues of News & Views:
❏ Software reviews, possibly including
reviews of Acrobat, FrameMaker, Flash,
Dreamweaver, Photoshop, to name just a
few.
❏ Website links to sites you use for your
work as a technical communicator (For
example, I’ve used http://www.pcwebo-
paedia.com/ as a source for computer and
internet technology definitions.)
❏ Pet Peeves in Grammar, resurrecting
the Grammar Gripes column. What
grammar errors bug you the most?
I think these are all great ideas. What
do you think? This brings up another
idea. All letters to the editor are
appreciated (and might even be published
in News & Views). We want our
newsletter to be the best it can be and
serve the needs of all STC-PMC members.
That is you!
Introducing Transformation
The STC has introduced a new
initiative entitled Transformation. The
Transformation initiative goal is to meet
individual member needs, to flex to their
changing professional environments, and
to provide different information delivery
mechanisms. In other words, STC is
undergoing a transformation to provide
greater value to its members—you (and
me)!
To learn more about the
Transformation initiative, go to http://
www.stc.org/transformation. Note that
only STC members can access this
Website. ■

3. June/July/August 2004 3 NEWS & VIEWS
President’s Podium
“Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted.”
—Groucho Marx
by Steven Lungren
hat’s right. You may
think that I said what
you thought you heard,
but are you sure that
what you thought you
heard was what I really
said?
“Isn’t language great! ...There is always a
better way to say almost everything.”
—Attributed to Grunt Gwarnog of Chalons,
General to Attila, AD 451
I’m so sure that there are better ways
to say what I’m going to tell you in this
column that I’m going to use some of
them. Right now.
“Freedom means the opportunity to be
what we never thought we would be.”
—Daniel J. Boorstin
Our STC-Philadelphia Metro Chapter
is about 350 members strong. In the past
year it has become more active and more
interesting thanks to the leadership of our
outgoing President Nad Rosenberg, Vice
President Sheila Marshall, Secretary Jill
Cassidy, our Programs (Gloria Reisman,
Julia Margulies, Larry Angert),
Competition (Donn DeBoard, Marc
Green, Brian Winter), Membership (Mike
Sharp), and Careers (Giacomo
DeAnnuntis) committees, plus all of the
chapter members who have helped to
achieve the goals that Nad described in
this column last year.
“Time flies like the wind. Fruit flies like
bananas.”
—Groucho Marx
The year went by fast. Time does fly by
when you’re busy, and when you’re
having fun! This has been a great group
to participate with (I can’t call it work
because it was a pleasure for me), and
their superior efforts have been
recognized at the recent STC Annual
Conference in Baltimore! The
Philadelphia Metro Chapter received the
STC Pacesetter award, and this newsletter
the STC Newsletter Excellence award .
(Congratulations to our Editor, Lori
Corbett and the rest of the News & Views
staff! Great job!)
“Don't let what you cannot do interfere
with what you can do.”
—John Wooden
It had never crossed my mind that I
would become the president of this
chapter. But now I am, and I have an
excellent predecessor to follow. Doing
this job as well as it has been done before,
by Nad and by other past Presidents (like
Mike Sharp, for example), is quite a
challenge.
New Jersey’s Jane Phillips is our new
Vice President. With her extensive
marketing/communications experience,
she can help us to promote the chapter
beyond our own membership. I like the
fact that our members on the east side of
the Delaware River will be represented in
the chapter leadership.
Gary Samartino, who resides in
Chester County, PA, has been elected
Treasurer for the coming year. Having
run his own successful business for many
years, he’ll be a valuable asset to the
chapter. I’m sure that he’ll have a
different perspective and some new ideas
for us, too.
Continuing (thank goodness!) as
chapter Secretary is the multi-talented Jill
Cassidy of Delaware County. Jill brings
intellect, imagination, and verve to
chapter activities, and she does so many
things to help the chapter that I can’t
imagine the leadership group without her.
“The advertisement is one of the most
interesting and difficult of modern
literary forms.”
—Aldous Huxley
One of the things that I would like to
see the chapter do this year is promote the
Chapter Officers
President
Steve Lungren (267) 620-2421
Vice President
Jane Phillips (856) 608-7200
Treasurer
Gary Samartino (610) 701-0577
Secretary
Jill Cassidy (215) 590-9815
Immediate Past President
Nad Rosenberg (856) 484-6598
Region 1 Director/Sponsor
Jon Baker (978) 443-3049
Chapter Committee Managers
Employment
Giacomo DeAnnuntis (215) 482-1255
Programs
Julia Margulies (610) 397-2448
Membership
Mike Sharp (856) 854-2141
News & Views
Lori Corbett stcmember@comcast.net
Nominating
Mike Sharp (856) 854-2141
Website
Lois Shank lbshank@ptd.net
Competition
Donn DeBoard (484) 595-6216
Marc Green (610) 358-0631
Address correspondence for the
Philadelphia Metro chapter of STC to
STC-PMC, P.O. Box 60069,
Philadelphia, PA 19102-0069.
Mission Statement: Designing the Future
of Technical Communication.
The Society for Technical
Communication (STC) is an organization
dedicated to advancing technical
communication. Membership is open to
those employed in, interested in, or
concerned with the profession of technical
writing, publishing, or associated
disciplines. Contact STC at 901 N. Stuart
St., Suite 904, Arlington, VA 22203,
(703) 522-4114 or http://www.stc.org.
STC-PMC Leadership
Society for Technical
Communication
(Continued on page 13)

4. NEWS & VIEWS 4 June/July/August 2004
September 23 Using Personas to
Connect With Your Audience,
Presented by Whitney Quesenbery
Good usability starts with
understanding the audience for a
Website or online service. We can
observe users, do usability testing,
analyze site logs, and conduct
interviews, but how do we analyze all
of the information to create a clear,
vivid portrait of the site's users? And
how do we put that understanding to
work?
Personas are an increasingly popular
way to encapsulate and share user
research—a low-cost, high impact way
to make users come alive for the
entire team. In this interactive
presentation, Whitney Quesenbery
will present the basics of creating and
using personas, and look at what they
add to the audience analysis toolkit.
About the Speaker
Whitney Quesenbery is a highly
regarded speaker, user interface
designer, and design consultant. She
is an expert in developing new
concepts that achieve the goal of
meeting business, user, and
technology needs. As one of the
developers of LUCID (Logical User-
Centered Interaction Design), she
promotes the importance of a user-
centered approach and usability in
design. As a principal at Cognetics
Corporation for 12 years, she was
instrumental in building a great
design staff, and the design leader for
many design and usability projects.
Her project credits include work
with companies such as Novartis,
Deloitte Consulting, Lucent,
McGraw-Hill, Siemens, Hewlett-
Packard, and Dow Jones.
STC-PMC Calendar
(Continued on page 14)
STC-PMC Annual Conference
Conference Quotes from New Jersey
by Barrie Byron
he 2004 Philadelphia
Metro Chapter annual
conference theme, “Mor-
phing into the Future
with STC,” directs our
attention to the change
and transformation of
our jobs and our future
career prospects. Keeping our skills sharp
is not enough these days; we must also
transform our thought processes, redirect
our professional attention to learning
new skills and tools, and concentrate on
the future. In response to an excellent
publicity campaign and conference
mailing, several New Jersey residents
made the drive to Malvern to learn about
morphing into the future. Here are some
of their thoughts and comments about the
day.
“There is much concern in our field right
now because the offshoring/outsourcing
situation puts our job and even our careers
in jeopardy. It was great to have a forum to
share our concerns and discuss solutions
for our futures in technical writing. I found
fellow writers very open and willing to
share their experiences and knowledge.”
Deb Ward, NY Metro chapter
Program Designer, Training
and Performance Systems
ADP
“I give the Philly membership a lot of
credit for the time and effort spent to pull
this conference together. The topics were
very current and everyone was so friendly.
As a visiting member from NY Metro
chapter, I felt right at home. In the past I've
found this to be a worthwhile and
professionally rejuvenating experience. I
was not disappointed this time!”
Jeff Van Arsdale, NY Metro chapter
Manager, Technical Publications
Computer Associates International, Inc.
“I was very impressed by the action-
oriented proactive approach the
Philadelphia Metro Chapter takes in
enabling its members to stay current on
trends and the future direction of the
technical communications field. The
information and strategies presented at the
session “Communicating Effectively with
Subject Matter Experts and Managers” was
particularly timely for my current project
challenges. I have seen positive results from
incorporating several of the suggestions
from the session.”
Kim Bogden, NY Metro chapter
Technical Writer
Computer Associates International, Inc.
After attending the conference at Penn
State University in Great Valley,
Pennsylvania, I am inspired to learn
about information architecture, partici-
pate in chapter activities and help plan
future successes, and look at change with
open eyes. ■
Closing Thoughts from the
Conference Manager
by Sheila Marshall
The Second Annual STC-PMC annual
conference was mid-March. From all ac-
counts it was a huge success: we had
interesting sessions, a nice crowd of
people for networking, and an environ-
ment conducive to learning. It was so
nice, in fact, the chapter recently received
a PaceSetter's award for our achievement.
Nice, huh?
So with that high-impact start, where
is this article going? Well, it's twofold
actually: a glimpse behind the scenes of
the conference and a chance to create an
even more successful event next year!
Let's start with the hustle and bustle
that occurred behind the curtain… It all
began in July 2003, when I started
searching for a speaker who could deliver
a keynote address of interest. I hit upon

5. June/July/August 2004 5 NEWS & VIEWS
Riding the Bus to the STC Conference!
June 20–25. The 2004 Institute in
Technical Communication (ITC) will be
held at Horry-Georgetown Technical
College in Myrtle Beach, SC. ITC is
sponsored by the Two-Year College
English Association, Southeast
Region, of the National Council of
Teachers of English (TYCA NCTE). For
more information, contact Mike
Williams at
michael.williams@hgtc.edu.
July 1–3. The Research and Training
Institute of the East Aegean (INEAG,
Samos Island, Greece) and the
University College of the Fraser Valley
(British Columbia) will hold the Fifth
International Conference on
Information Communication
Technologies in Education on Samos
Island, Greece. The conference will
provide an overview of current
thinking and practices in applications
of technology to education. For more
information, contact INEAG at
icicte@ineag.gr or visit the Website
www.ineag.gr/icicte.
July 23–24. The annual conference
of Tri-XML, the XML interest group
for the Research Triangle Park, NC
area, at the Sheraton Imperial in RTP.
An optional “Tools of the Trade Show”
(vendor showcase) is scheduled for
July 22. For more information, contact
Kay Ethier at kethier@travelthepath
.com or visit the Website at
www.trixml.org.
July 25–27. STC Region 8 Conference
at the University of California, Davis.
For more information, contact Eric
Butow at ceo@butow.net or visit the
Website at
www.stcregion8conference.org.
September 20–24. The Human
Factors and Ergonomics Society
(HFES) will hold its 48th
annual
meeting at the Sheraton New Orleans
Hotel. For more information, contact
HFES at info@hfes.org or visit the
Website at www.hfes.org.
STC and Related Events
Around the World
STC Briefings
Upcoming STC Phone
Seminars
Seminar Costs: $99 USD (STC Members)
$149 USD (non-members)
For more information about these seminars and to enroll in any of them, go to the STC
seminar Website at http://stc.webex.com/.
June 23, 2004
1:00 pm–2:30 pm EDT
Are You Ready for Content Management
and Structured Authoring: Managing the
Change
JoAnn Hackos
July 21, 2004
1:00 pm–2:30 pm EDT
Seven Ideas for Sprucing Up Help Saul Carliner
August 4, 2004
1:00 pm–2:30 pm EDT
Practical Strategies for Developing Online
Courses
Ann-Marie Grissino
August 18, 2004
1:00 pm–2:30 pm EDT
Chapter 1: Writing Effective Introductions
and Overviews
Leah Guren
September 15, 2004
1:00 pm–2:30 pm EDT
Cascading Style Sheets: Learning
the Basics (Part I)
Char James-Tanny
September 29, 2004
1:00 pm–2:30 pm EDT
Cascading Style Sheets: Creating Layouts
without Tables (Part II)
Char James-Tanny

6. NEWS & VIEWS 6 June/July/August 2004
Member Spotlight
Zsolt Olah—Blending Technical
Communication and Creativity
Jill Cassidy Rolette
egszentségtelení-
thetelenségeskedései
tekért. No, I did not
just sneeze while
typing this (well, ac-
tually I DID, but
that has nothing to
do with this ar-
ticle…), but rather that word is actually a
part of the Hungarian vocabulary, the
country which STC-PMC member and
newsletter “Master Puzzler,” Zsolt Olah,
calls his first home.
To be honest, I was a
bit daunted when our
newsletter editor, Lori
Corbett, suggested I
“spotlight” our newest
contributor. I knew before
our first “virtual” meeting
that Zsolt was a unique
and interesting member. I
had no idea how accurate
that initial impression
would prove to be! It is my
pleasure to introduce
Zsolt, officially, to our chapter.
Zsolt moved to the United States in
1999 and got married. While his wife
holds a research position at the University
of Delaware, Zsolt worked as a technical
writer for Unica Corporation in Boston,
MA. His education is extensive and
impressive and includes a B.S./M.S. in
Information Technology from “one of the
most prestigious colleges in Hungary.”
He also holds a certificate in IT teaching
as well as an M.A. in English teaching.
Did I mention that Zsolt is still quite a
young man? Such credentials seem that
they would belong to a gentleman twice
his age!
Zsolt was drawn to the field of
technical communication because of its
appeal to both sides of the brain, “the
analytical left and the creative right.” He
feels that it “provides an excellent
combination of in-depth analytical skills
as well as provides a source for
tremendous creative energy. This
combination of brain-work and a steep
learning curve allow [him] to not only
understand complex technical
information, but also to transfer that
knowledge for people with different levels
of understanding.” He has been
particularly inspired by Henriette Anne's
book Writing on Both Sides of the Brain
(I've already ordered a copy!), a work
aimed at creative writers, but with
significant material for
technical communicators.
Zsolt has, at the very
least, always been a
multi-tasker. While
studying English at the
university, he was also
running the computer lab
and providing computer
support. While he
worked for the U.S. Peace
Corps as a language
trainer, he began creating
crossword puzzles. The
puzzles have pushed Zsolt's creative
buttons, and provided him with
challenging mental exercise. Since Zsolt's
mind and imagination never take a break,
he has also started writing movie scripts.
He finished his first feature movie script
last year. While he says it's not going to
win any Academy Awards, it did provide
a great experience and a tremendous
amount of learning. As a result, his
second script made it into the semi-finals
of the Anything but Hollywood contest.
(When are the auditions?)
While at Unica, one of Zsolt's projects
required that he work in different tools
(Framemaker and RoboHelp) for
different documentation outputs. As he
reorganized and copied/pasted, he found
himself wishing for a language that would
separate document form from document
content. Zsolt spent the last two years in
Hungary, working to establish a start-up
We extend a warm welcome to
chapter members who are joining STC
for the first time, rejoining, or have
transferred from another chapter.
New Members
❏ Ellyn Adler
❏ Robert Angeroth
❏ Taneisha Blyden
❏ Kristen Deiter
❏ Christine Dobos
❏ Marteki Dodoo
❏ Michael Drust
❏ Patricia Gage
❏ Alyse S. Halpin
❏ Robin Hausmann
❏ Marita Hurst
❏ Brian D. Keefer
❏ Christopher Laing
❏ Marisa A. Lenci
❏ Nadia M. Moro
❏ William T. Van Oroen
❏ Susann Philbrook
❏ Jennifer M. Radich
❏ Kim Reeder
❏ Gordon T. Rodger
❏ David J. Ruth
❏ Brian D. Schulman
❏ Sheryl L. Slopey
❏ Samantha E. Swanson
❏ Cheryl L. Venit
❏ Mike Walsh
❏ David E. Yelenchic
❏ Ellen Zohil
The total number of members as of
May 1 is 356.
Senior Members
Congratulations to the following
members who have achieved senior
status.
❏ Susan J. Camuso
❏ Deborah DePorter
❏ Richard Feldesman
❏ Patricia Gage
❏ Lois A. Harwood
❏ Jason D. Langkamer-Smit
❏ Julia Webber
Membership Update
(Continued on page 15)

7. June/July/August 2004 7 NEWS & VIEWS
The tour will have two pickup
locations: one at the Philadelphia
Visitor’s Center, 8th and Race
Streets, and one at the Plymouth
Meeting Mall, (Germantown
Pike–West/Plymouth Rd; Exit 20
PA Turnpike or Exit 331B on
I-476) where people can park
their cars.
9:00 am
Pick up at Plymouth Meeting
Mall.*
10:00 am
Pick up at Philadelphia Visitor's
Center, 8th and Race St.).
10:00 am–12:00 pm
Mural Tour (Center City
Highlights)
12:00 pm–12:15 pm
Return to Philadelphia Visitor's
Center.
1:00 pm
The suburban group leaves at the
conclusion of the tour (no lunch
break).
Center City participants can
get together for an optional
group lunch after the tour.
1:30 pm
Arrive at Plymouth Meeting
Mall. (Leaving the city immedi-
ately after the tour.)
Mural Tour Itinerary:
*
Suburban travelers must
return on the shuttle to
Plymouth.
Information Design in Philadelphia
Exploring: A Trolley Tour of
Center City's Murals
by Gloria Reisman
f you've ever strolled
around Center City, you
can't miss the color-coded
street map signs strategi-
cally located to help you
find your way around
town. These signs are part
of the largest pedestrian
Wayfinding system in North America,
Walk!Philadelphia, with over 2,200 sign
and map faces designed by Philadelphia-
based Joel Katz Design company.
As professional information designers,
it's often helpful if not inspiring to
explore what others are doing in the areas
of information
design and
graphic design.
Last spring,
STC-PMC
invited Amy
Gendler of Joel
Katz Design to
present on
Wayfinding,
information design for people navigating
in buildings, cities and public spaces.
As an extension of our look at
information design in Philadephia, we
invite STC members, friends and families
to explore a selection of Philadelphia's
exterior building murals on a Trolley
Tour of Center City. Murals not only
enhance an area visually, they have the
effect of bringing a community together.
Robin Eisenberg, STC member and
mural tour docent, will lead the two-hour
trolley tour and share insights on the
murals and their transformative powers.
Robin explains, “As in technical
communications, the process is as
important as the end result in mural
making. Each mural requires the artists to
listen to the interests and needs of the
community in which the mural is located,
and to design a work that reflects their
desires while raising their sights higher,
broadening their understanding, and
providing them with a lasting and
inspiring product. For those of us who
have similar ambitions in technical
documentation, imagine doing this on a
3-story wall, in the middle of the summer,
with a whole community watching!”
Philadelphia’s murals began as an anti-
graffiti program in the 1990s, and
evolved into the nationally recognized
Philadelphia Mural Arts Program
(PMAP). The program’s mission is not
only to create art; PMAP's mission is to
“design and create murals of enduring
value while actively engaging youth in the
process.” Under
the leadership of
Jane Golden,
Director of
PMAP,
Philadelphia has
gained the
distinction of
being the U.S.
city with the
most murals.
Please join us for this special tour and
learn why our tour guide, Robin
Eisenberg and many others believe, “One
mural is a miracle of collaboration,
vision, color, and place; 2,300 murals is a
testament to human occupation and hope
for a peaceful future.”
Registration:
Registration forms and flyers can be
found at www.stcpmc.org.
The cost for the two-hour tour is
$18.25 per person. Seats are limited, so
sign up to reserve your seats early! Bring
your entire family. We must receive your
check by October 1st. Please make checks
payable to: STC-PMC and mail them to
Gary Samartino, c/o Infoventions, 12 W.
Market Street Suite 200, West Chester, PA
19382.
Special thanks to Chelsea Gaillard of
Merck for coordinating this program. ■
October 9, 2004
Saturday,
“One mural is a miracle of
collaboration, vision, color, and
place; 2,300 murals is a
testament to human occupation
and hope for a peaceful future.”

8. NEWS & VIEWS 8 June/July/August 2004
One Technical Communicator’s
Experience with Offshoring
by Wayne Kroger
was pleased when I
found out that our STC
chapter wanted to hold
a panel discussion on
offshoring of jobs at the
March 20th
annual con-
ference. No topic could
be timelier. To say that
this is a hot-button issue is an under-
statement. It affects the type of work
we do, how much we will get paid for
what we do, the duties within our jobs
as technical communicators, and even
whether or not we will be employed in
this field at all.
All of the issues we need to be
mindful of in our employment
situations – continuing education and/
or retraining, working with diverse
audiences, and adapting our work
duties to suit the needs of our
employer, among others – take on a
much bigger significance when
working with an offshoring contractor.
Your employer will be continually
evaluating your ability and skill set
against that of the contractor in search
of the fastest and cheapest means to
complete the task at hand.
How Do I Know About This?
Before I start, I should let you know
where I’m coming from on this issue. I
worked as a technical writer for many
years, and I received my degree way
before the current PC software was
ever conceived. I acquired knowledge
of applications independent of my job,
though I am largely self-taught in the
workplace. I say this because some of
what I say may be self-evident to those
who acquired an extensive knowledge
of software tools prior to beginning
their professional employment.
My employer uses an offshoring
contractor to deliver documentation
for our support services organization. I
work to complete my own
deliverables, of course, but I must also
coordinate the work of the offshoring
contractor.
Issue Context
We are all aware of the impact of
offshoring on our industry, either from
news reports or first hand experience
in our jobs. It is primarily an economic
issue, although there is a political
context to it also. Employers can use
offshoring to eliminate onsite,
permanent jobs in technical writing,
editing, or other documentation-
related functions, or employers can use
offshoring to supplement an in-house
documentation function. As I write
this, I am fortunate to be included in
the latter category, though there was a
time when I thought I’d be in the
former category.
One person might tell you that it is
in the best interest of businesses to do
this because it reduces the cost of a
function that, for many, does not
generate revenue. This person can even
provide information from a
government agency’s Website that will
help employers do this, thus returning
greater shareholder value (or so the
thinking goes). Another person might
criticize “Benedict Arnold CEOs” for
offshoring jobs at a time when
375,000 people exhausted their
unemployment benefits in January
while Congress refused to grant a
13-week benefit extension.
As you have probably guessed by
now, the truth, as usual, is somewhere
in the middle. I think the most
instructive thing to do at this point is
to provide some guidelines to keep in
mind when dealing with offshoring in
your workplace.
Put Aside Resentment
If you are unemployed or were for
any length of time (as I was), it would
be natural to harbor some kind of
dislike for individuals who have either
come from overseas or currently reside
in another country to do work that can
be done very capably by individuals
who already live here. In my
experience, people who receive work
through offshoring understand the
opportunity they have and work as
hard as they can to capitalize on it. If
we received such an opportunity,
wouldn’t we do the same thing? The
opportunity was given to them by the
employer, and in this day and age, we
have very little to say about that.
As we know by now, most
employers look at documentation
professionals as “language police.” I
say this because, individuals doing our
work who are native to offshore
countries (or possibly in this country
on an H1B or TN work visa or
applying for citizenship) might not
have as thorough a command of the
English language as we would like.
This should not be a surprise. Actually,
the same can be said of many
individuals who are native to this
country and, by all accounts, have
received an advanced education.
I’ve always found it best to cut some
slack for individuals who are
struggling to communicate in English,
especially when it is not their primary
language. For that reason (and also if
I’m working under a time crunch), I
may decline to make some minor edits
in order for the project to make a
completion date early in the
development life cycle. If an article
happens to be missing from a sentence,
or if there is improper capitalization, I
may actually let those types of edits
slip and concentrate on whether the
technical subject matter has been
communicated as precisely as possible.
This partly depends on whether the
target audience consists of individuals
who are not attuned to the nuances of
language and care only about the
(Continued on page 9)

9. June/July/August 2004 9 NEWS & VIEWS
process flow diagrams, bullet point
charts, and Executive Summary. I
would however consider improper
syntax, punctuation, or changes from
active to passive voice major edits.
Am I encouraging sloth or bad
writing? No, I’m being practical. If I
show a little latitude with a non-native
author struggling with English early in
the development life cycle, that author
may realize that I was trying to cut
them a bit of a break and help me out
later, maybe by working overtime one
night to perform some simple user
acceptance testing one more time on a
help file that I’d authored.
Understand Skill Set of Contractors
I’ve worked with a variety of
contractors in my career. Some were
particularly skilled at defining business
processes related to documentation,
mapping business needs to functional
requirements, and working directly
with diverse audiences. Others were
plainly on the wrong career path and
should have been doing something
else.
Most individuals I’ve worked with
in an offshoring capacity, however,
have excellent software tool
knowledge and understand the
concepts well enough to use that
knowledge for translating software
functionality into user-based material.
These individuals generally have a
difficult time with the nuances and
idioms of the English language. The
offshoring contractors I’ve worked
with have been willing to impart some
of their knowledge to me as I imparted
some of my knowledge to them in the
process of completing an assignment.
The lesson is to understand what
the offshoring contractor “brings to
the table” to complete a task for which
you are at least partly responsible. If
you look for ways to complement that
person’s experience with your own, it
will help everyone to deliver a product
on time and (hopefully) under budget.
In that event, you should have a solid
working relationship with a reliable
partner for the next assignment.
Know When to Draw the Line
I don’t know about you, but project
planning is not something I enjoy. The
reality is that working with an offshore
vendor requires greater project
planning than working with or
reporting to others in an in-house
relationship. Communicating issues or
performing project-related tasks with
an offshore third party requires a
greater degree of flexibility within your
own schedule and an awareness of
cultural differences. It also requires
that you keep in mind the deadlines for
your own work at all times. Here’s
why: if you’re a sole writer working
with an offshore contractor, you WILL
end up doing leg work for this person
(chasing down subject matter experts,
searching for source data, participating
in conference calls for the contractor’s
project because you’ll own it when the
contractor is finished, etc.). This is not
the fault of the contractor. It is
frequently the fault of individuals who
make little or no effort to share
information that emerges from a
project-related meeting that the
contractor is unable to attend.
It is easy to find yourself slipping on
the deadlines for your own work
because you’re doing leg work for the
contractor. We all know what the
repercussions are when this happens,
so we must continually guard against
it.
Understand the Contractor’s Work
Ethic
At the risk of sounding pejorative,
here is what I mean. Again, based on
my experience, a documentation
professional employed in a full-time,
permanent capacity for an employer is
more inclined to express concerns or
objections over an unreasonable
project deadline, inability to meet with
subject matter experts, difficulty with
obtaining the latest version of a
particular software application related
to documentation, than a contractor.
The employee will speak up
immediately, partly because the
employee will frequently end up
supporting the deliverable from the
contractor and will have to resolve any
fallout that may arise subsequent to
the deliverable’s initial release. I believe
this is the correct thing to do.
Here is something to consider,
though. I’ve spoken with several
contracting individuals over the last
few years, two of whom worked for
offshoring companies. They
emphasized that they were hired to
complete a pre-defined set of tasks in a
limited amount of time (basically
“hired guns”). This means that they
really aren’t able to say no to deadlines
in most cases because they might lose
the contract. Companies capitalize on
this, as well as the obvious saving in
employee benefits and the fact that
they can use offshoring as leverage for
holding down salaries of their
permanent, onsite employees.
In Closing
Some industry analysts who watch
the current migration of IT jobs
offshore wonder if this is a short-term
or long-term trend. Other firms, such
as Gartner and Forrester, embrace it
with what I consider an almost
perverse enthusiasm. Since I am not an
expert in business management (and as
I mentioned earlier, I am not a
politician), I will simply leave these
facts for what they are and allow you
to draw your own conclusions.
I would like to close with this
anecdote. I am currently working with
a highly skilled technical writer who
came to our Princeton office in
December, learned about his project
(including all client requirements, met
with many subject matter experts,
developed a working prototype and
presented it twice to senior
management, incorporating all
suggested changes after the first
presentation. After doing this, he
One Technical Communicator’s Experience with Offshoring
(Continued from page 8)
(Continued on page 10)

10. NEWS & VIEWS 10 June/July/August 2004
Crossword Puzzle
by Zsolt Olah
ACROSS
1 Search engine
6 Songbird or head in the Hood. Not riding but
not red
11 Clothes-protecting garment worn in the
kitchen
12 On the far side of something
13 RE
14 A coat you wouldn’t stick to
15 BN
16 Repetitive oil-producing exercise
19 AR
20 Do it better with cells
23 Slogan: Life’s Good
25 Two sticks
26 Beginning of a month
27 NE
28 Kid’s hated word (backward)
29 “Scrambled” son
30 Bud’s preference in the mouth
32 GUPHM
34 For’s buddy in cycling
35 AMORT
38 CW
39 Session cracker on the hard drive
41 OA
42 Fake telecommunication tool
43 Herb
45 A business give-and-take
46 Head doctor
DOWN
1 Official term for digging in our society’s trash
2 Unassigned bug
3 A gate, where the outcome is having fun if
any of the inputs is high
4 Once upon a time there was the “_”, the bad,
and the ugly
5 Natural logarithm (One would think it’s
naturally “nl”, eh?)
6 Some surface that reflects
7 OYL
8 Utterance of disapproval
9 Tavern
10 What’s common in neodymium and North
Dakota? (No, not the “least visited state”)
12 “_” Canto: A style of operatic singing
characterized by full, even tones, and a
brilliant display of vocal technique
14 TIR
17 One who makes the clouds cry
18 Bedtime exercise
21 XTA
22 ENT
24 The Free Software Foundation’s favorite large
African antelope
25 Makes a beam smiling with optimism
31 Sweden’s internet address
33 It’s in the pudding eating
34 Ten feet equals fifty this
36 MIY
37 Shedding material
38 Hard currency
39 CHF
40 Odd number
42 River in Italy
43 BH
44 SI
1
G
2
O
3
O
4
G
5
L E
6
R
7
O
8
B
9
I
10
N
11
A P R O N
12
B E Y O N D
13
R E O
14
T E F L O N
15
B N
16
D
17
R I L L
18
S
O
19
A R
20
E
21
X C
22
E L
23
L
24
G
25
I I
26
O C T
27
N E
28
O N
29
S N O
30
T A
31
S T E
32
G U
33
P H M
34
T O E P
Y R
35
A
36
M O R
37
T
38
C W
39
C O
40
O K I E E
41
O A
42
P H O N E Y
43
B A
44
S I L
45
O F F E R
46
S H R I N K
returned to his Mumbai location
in early February to begin
working remotely on the final
product.
A week or so before he left, he
found out that his mother had
become seriously ill. He had a
heavy workload at the time to
complete the suggested changes
to the prototype, getting it ready
for the second presentation. He
did all of his assigned work and
the prototype was ready on time,
to almost universal satisfaction.
The day after the second
presentation, he boarded a plane
for a 20-hour flight back to his
country and province of origin.
He completed his work under
what any of us would consider
extraordinary circumstances. ■
Guidelines: Not your
typical crossword. Some
of the definitions may be
be vague, associative,
even funny. A single
word CAPITALIZED
(e.g., across 32) is your
guide. Use it ‘as is’.
Solution on p. 14
One Technical
Communicator’s
Experience with Offshoring
(Continued from page 9)

11. June/July/August 2004 11 NEWS & VIEWS
management is yet another segment;
however, these systems also have
limited functionality because they
focus solely on managing graphics and
multimedia content.
The segment that is getting a
significant amount of attention today
is enterprise content management.
However, it is really the latest industry
buzzword and has yet to be defined.
Some research analysts view enterprise
content management more as a
strategy than a solution, whereas other
analysts define it as a solution that
encompasses the functionality of Web
content management, document
management, records management,
digital imaging, and digital asset
management.
The segment that best solves the
needs of technical writers is single-
source content management,
sometimes referred to as component-
level content management. This system
stores content in “chunks” and offers
multiple levels of granularity. It is best
suited for organizations that reuse an
abundance of content, whether it is
text, graphics, or multimedia, and
repurpose it to multiple media
channels, such as print, Web or
CD-ROM.
Going back to our earlier example
of producing user manuals for 10
models of digital cameras, if you had a
single-source content management
system in place, you would save a
tremendous amount of time and
eliminate the headache of manually
going back to each document to revise
the instruction. A single-source content
management system would store the
instruction one time in its centralized
repository, allowing it to be easily
reused in each one of the 10 user
manuals. When one instance of the
content is updated—in this example
the instruction—the content
management system would flag the
nine other instances so that you could
make a global change instantaneously
in every manual.
What should you look for in a
content management system?
Technical writers have different
needs than a Website manager or
marketing manager. Most of the
content developed for marketing and
sales collateral or Websites usually
comes from the documentation created
by technical writers. A key benefit of a
single-source content management
system is that it was designed to solve
the challenges of technical writers,
such as managing and reusing content
across a variety of documentation, but
it also solves the issues of managing
and publishing content to the Web or
CD-ROM.
When evaluating content
management vendors, here are some
things that you should ask them to
ensure their system meets your
requirements.
Does the content management
system offer single-source
functionality?
When asking this question, there are
two points you should keep in mind.
First, make sure the content
management system will enable you to
store your content once in a
centralized database and easily create,
manage, and publish that content to
multiple media formats. Second, make
sure that the content management
system will allow you to store your
content in “chunks,” such as
paragraphs, chapters, or sections, so
that you can easily repurpose your
chunks of content across your
documentation, including user
manuals, technical documentation, or
scientific and reference materials.
Does the content management
system integrate with XML editing
and authoring tools?
As a technical writer, you probably
use an XML editing and authoring
tool, such as Arbortext Epic Editor,
Adobe FrameMaker, or BlastRadius
XMetaL. You should look for a
content management system that
seamlessly integrates with these tools.
Some of them even enable technical
writers to work from their favorite
XML authoring and editing tool’s
environment without having to be
trained on the content management
software.
Does the content management
system provide workflow
functionality?
In addition to giving you more
control over your information assets
and empowering you to reuse and
repurpose your content on the fly,
some content management systems can
also improve efficiency and
productivity by automating your
workflow process.
A content management system that
offers workflow functionality will
allow only authorized users to access,
update, edit, and review the content.
The system automates the process
through checkpoints and email
notifications. For example, each
department or user within your
organization is given their task and is
alerted via email when their task is
ready to be performed. The content is
checked out to a user until it is
approved; and at that point, the next
user (or users) in the workflow will
have access to it.
Does the content management
system handle multilingual content?
If you have multilingual
documentation, you should look for a
content management that has full
Unicode support. Unicode is a
universal character encoding system
that allows languages with unique
character sets (such as Chinese or
Korean) to be displayed on screen.
This functionality of a content
management system can help you
manage your multilingual content
because it stores all of your content in
any language in its centralized
repository. The content management
system links the multilingual versions
of the content with the corresponding
Managing Content from a Single Source
(Continued from page 1)
(Continued on page 12)

12. NEWS & VIEWS 12 June/July/August 2004
English version of the content. When a
change is made to the English content,
the system will automatically flag the
same piece of content in the
multilingual versions to show that the
translation needs to be made in the
other languages. This significantly
reduces organizations’ translation
costs because instead of having entire
documents translated over and over
again, they only need to have the
updated chunks of content translated.
Does the content management
system provide an audit trail?
Compliance is becoming a key issue
that most organizations need to
address today, and, often, this trickles
down to the technical documentation
department. A content management
system that provides audit trail
capabilities can help you address these
regulations because it keeps track of
the content that was changed, where it
was changed, when it was changed,
and the person who changed it. Some
systems also track all versions of the
content, allowing you to reinstate
previous versions if necessary. ■
A b o u t t h e A u t h o r
Suzanne Mescan is Vason Systems’ Vice
President of Marketing for its Vasont
software, a content management system for
cross-media publishing that enables
enterprises to create, manage, and publish
content across numerous media channels.
She has more than seventeen years of
experience in the information management
and publishing fields.
Content Management Systems
Types Definition Capabilities
Digital Asset
Management
The system stores digital files, such as
digital photos or multimedia clips, in a
centralized database and allows them to be
archived, searched, and reused.
Manages and repurposes graphics, sound
and multimedia clips; however, it does not
address the management or repurposing of
your text content.
Document
Management
The system centralizes and manages
electronic documents.
Provides file management functionality by
organizing and storing entire documents,
not “chunks” or components of content;
moreover, it does not allow for reuse and
repurposing of the chunks of content.
Enterprise Content
Management
This is an emerging category within content
management that still is not clearly defined.
Some analysts view it as a strategy, not a
solution; however, others state that it
incorporates the functionality of other
content management systems, including
digital asset management, Web content
management, and document management,
as well as document imaging and records
management.
Note: Enterprise content management is an
emerging category with varying definitions
from research analysts and vendors. There
is inconsistency on the market today on
what capabilities an enterprise content
management system should provide.
Single-Source Content
Management
The system stores content as “chunks” one
time in a centralized repository and enables
users to create, manage, and repurpose
their content to multiple media formats,
including print, Web, and CD-ROM.
Empowers organizations that produce and
frequently update volumes of content, such
as technical documentation, user manuals,
and scientific or reference materials, to
easily manage and repurpose chunks of
content across any type of documentation
independent of the media format.
Web Content
Management
The system manages the Web pages of an
organization’s Websites.
Enables organizations to better control and
publish the digital and text content that
exists on their Websites.
Managing Content from a Single Source
(Continued from page 1)

13. June/July/August 2004 13 NEWS & VIEWS
STC-PMC Members at
the Conference!
STC-PMC membership to corporate
community and to the local
universities. We can make a better
effort to inform the employers in our
area what the STC is about, why we
are a good resource for them, and why
STC membership matters for their
employees. We need to improve and
increase our public relations and
marketing effort and promote
everything that the chapter is doing.
“If a man empties his purse into his
head, no man can take it away from
him. An investment in knowledge
always pays the best interest.”
—Benjamin Franklin
Our chapter should establish a
student scholarship program, and
become a better partner for the
educational institutions in our area, a
bridge between the student life and the
professional life.
“Happiness lies in the joy of
achievement and the thrill of creative
effort.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
I would like to see our STC-PMC
Competition expand to more
categories. We should be recognizing
more types of the excellent work that
is done by our hundreds of members.
“Hide not your talents, they for use
were made. What's a sundial in the
shade?”
—Benjamin Franklin
Everything that you or I want to do,
together as a chapter, relies on our
participation in these activities. As
active STC-PMC members, we benefit
through networking opportunities,
social experiences, and various skills
that we can add or practice while we
are achieving something useful for our
professional community.
“It is a shameful thing to be weary of
inquiry when what we search for is
excellent.”
—Cicero
We want to schedule monthly
programs that provide real value to
you, our members, and we want more
members to take advantage of these
great opportunities. I think you’ll be
pleased, and perhaps surprised, by the
roster of programs that we are
planning this year!
“It is not enough to do your best; you
must know what to do, and then do
your best.”
—W. Edwards Deming
I have already discussed partnering
with a neighboring STC chapter for
our annual chapter conference. There
is enthusiasm for this idea, and it could
help us make the STC-PMC Annual
Conference even bigger and better than
it has been. (And it was excellent this
year!) We can also consider
cooperating with other area
organizations in bringing specialized
workshops to our area.
“It is common sense to take a method
and try it; if it fails, admit it frankly
and try another. But above all, try
something.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt
Transformation is coming to STC.
This is in the early stages now, and
making progress. We’ll bring you more
information about this transformation
in the coming months. ■
“Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted.” —Groucho Marx
(Continued from page 3)

14. NEWS & VIEWS 14 June/July/August 2004
the perfect solution: Jared Spool, one
of the top user interface gurus in the
country. Excited as any techno-writer
geek, I booked him in a flash and
thought we had the main task all
wrapped up. But as summer turned to
fall, and we started to really talk about
issues at the
leader's
meetings, the
topic of our
conversations
was not about
user interface at
all. Instead, it was about providing
value to members, about the sluggish
(almost nonexistent, in fact) job
market, about so many things that
were not related to software. So I took
a hard look at our keynote speaker—a
speaker whose subject is near and dear
to my tech writer heart—and
regretfully canceled. With suggestions
from fellow PMC leaders in hand, I
eventually settled on Ann Rockley,
who was enthusiastically
recommended by PMC's new
President, Steve Lungren.
From speaker to marketing, our
conference began to take shape. The
call for proposals hit the streets in late
January, with an extended deadline to
make up for the late mailing. We
received some great responses—all
interesting and covering a variety of
topics. We confirmed speakers in
February. But Nad Rosenberg, our
President at the time, wanted more.
Nad wanted to talk about offshoring.
She had been following discussions
about this topic nationally and, with
her usual foresight, knew that it would
be a riveting topic for our conference. I
admit, I wasn't so sure we could pull it
off, both logistically and politically
(face it, this is a volatile topic and we
hadn't taken on such a challenge in my
history with STC). Nevertheless, Nad
convinced me. And so began the great
scramble for panelists who could
provide significant and informative
contributions to the panel.
The scramble continued until two
weeks before the conference, with Nad
and me alternating between confidence
and skepticism that we'd be able to put
it all together in time. As the panelists
signed on, the excitement about this
topic escalated. In the end, the
offshoring panel garnered the most
attendees for any session during the
conference and rated high in attendee
satisfaction.
Meantime, back at conference
central, I enlisted the help of Pamela
Klassen, Lori Corbett, Steve Lungren,
Nad Rosenberg, Jill Cassidy, and
Gloria Reisman, among others, to help
with all the tasks necessary to make
the big day run smoothly and
successfully. In fact, they did most of
the work in this area, thankfully! But I
wasn't sitting back yet. We still had
scheduling to do, email questions to
answer, Websites to update, and more.
And there were last minute speaker
cancellations as well as facility and
catering issues to resolve. The program
itself was prepared by Lois Shank.
And then a personal disaster struck;
I had to drop everything to rush home
for a death in the family. For the
Conference, that meant that everyone
pulled together to pick up the tasks I
could no longer complete. Without the
help of Nad and Lori, especially, this
conference would have flopped. Lori,
who lives and works near me, bore the
brunt of the errand-running and last
minute details. She, as usual, finished
them with her typical efficiency. Nad
had to pick up speaker and vendor
duties and make sure everything went
well at the conference. In typical Nad
style, she did so with grace and ease.
I have only secondhand accounts of
the Conference itself, but I understand
that it was the best one ever, with great
vendors, thought-provoking sessions,
and wonderful companions in
communication. And it's no surprise
because the PMC team works so well
together and truly goes above and
beyond to ensure success. A huge
thanks to all
who worked on
this
Conference—
you are the
reason it was
successful. And
thank you, too, to the participants,
whether you were a speaker, vendor, or
attendee. Good job to all!
Passing the Challenge to You
I bet you thought I forgot about the
second part of this article…ha! Not so
easy to distract me with the glories of
the Conference. And those glories,
both behind the scenes and front and
center, could all be yours next year. I'm
planning to step down as Conference
Chairperson and am searching for
someone who is interested in what this
Conference could be.
A challenge? You betcha! Why not?
It's fun, it's prestigious (in its own
way!), and it's fascinating. There are
volunteers who are willing and ready
to help you, and I'm sure there are all
kinds of ideas just clamoring to take
shape. Why not see what you can do
with it? I dare you! Contact me at
sheilam@mindspring.com if you'd like
to talk about it. ■
Closing Thoughts from the Conference Manager
(Continued from page 4)
Puzzle Solution
1
G
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O
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O
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G
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L E
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R
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O
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B
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I
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N
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A P R O N
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B E Y O N D
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R E O
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T E F L O N
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B N
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D
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R I L L
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S
O
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A R
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E
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X C
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E L
23
L
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G
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I I
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O C T
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N E
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O N
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S N O
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T A
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S T E
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G U
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P H M
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T O E P
Y R
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A
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M O R
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T
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C W
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C O
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O K I E E
41
O A
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P H O N E Y
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B A
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S I L
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O F F E R
46
S H R I N K
“Instead, it was about providing value to members, about
the sluggish (almost nonexistent, in fact) job market,
about so many things that were not related to software.”

15. June/July/August 2004 15 NEWS & VIEWS
office for Kudos Information. It began
with six technical writers and in two
years grew to twenty-five. Zsolt says,
“With some risk of an overstatement, I
can say that we established the
standards of technical communication
in Hungary, where documentation was
always considered the necessary evil.”
There, people will open a box
containing electrical equipment to
make sure the product is inside,
sometimes even plugging it in to see if
it works. “One of the most challenging
tasks at Kudos Hungary was to
introduce e-learning/WBT solutions to
the region. If anybody had e-learning
or WBT, it was about PDF and Word
published online, and users would
print them out anyway.” Zsolt's
responsibilities included pre-sales,
design, development, and eventually,
training. By partnering with Oracle
Hungary (who provided the e-learning
management system, iLearning),
Kudos provided the content and
positioned itself as a content
management company. The market for
content management was wide open,
and as a result Kudos (along with
Oracle and HP) won an “e-learning
tender of Pepsi Americas Group, a
complete e-learning solution in four
countries, including hands-on training
for local participants.” They provided
the content and taught staff how to
create e-learning applications with
Macromedia Authorware using AICC
and SCORM protocol. For more
information visit the following site:
http://www.kudos-idd.com/case_
studies/elearning_implementation_
at_pepsiamericas_central_europe_
group.asp.
Zsolt is also credited with designing
and teaching the first information
design curriculum in Central Europe.
“With the help of Coventry University
(UK) Kudos and the English and
American Studies at the Debrecen
University Hungary, we started the
first information design course in
English in the region.” For more
information visit the following site:
http://www.kudos-idd.com/
case_studies/
information_design_specialisation_at_
debrecen_university.asp.
As if this busy artist, puzzler,
teacher, tech writer has time for
anything else, he became a member of
STC last year. He was introduced to
STC internationally, as his position at
Kudos was found through the STC job
board. He is looking forward to
attending this year's annual conference
in Baltimore, saying that “it's
important to keep up with the trends,
meet others, and recharge…if we
create a knowledge base and network
of people with similar interests we can
make our lives much easier.”
One of my favorite questions for the
STC-PMC member in the “spotlight”
pertains to their vision for technical
communication's future and their
impression of its past. Zsolt did not
disappoint. From his primary school
days, he remembers writing programs
in BASIC on paper, running them in his
head, and debugging them on paper.
This enabled him to maximize his
scheduled time on the one
Commmodore 64 in his school.
Continuing with this theme, hardware
limitations caused him many anxious
hours surrounding his dissertation. He
is happy to see that computers
themselves have become smaller, more
capable, and more reliable.
Zsolt envisions that twenty years
from now technology and society will
live as one, with interface/interactive
designers and technical communicators
part of the creating process together.
Technical communicators could be
working with reusable object modules,
enabling time to focus on content
rather than formatting. He knows that
no matter what direction our field
takes, his “curiosity forced by the
never-ending desire to learn something
new,” topped by a creative flair, will
always keep [him] working on new
projects. No matter what technology
brings, the human factor will always
play a major part in technical
communication.” He imagines single
sourcing will really be single sourcing.
Maybe one intelligent help system (an
AI?) will run under the operating
system and all software would just
plug into their documentation and
help in this one knowledge base.
Once again, I am reminded of how
complex our members are, how many
of us have hidden talents and
capabilities that are not seen at a first
glance. Zsolt is an excellent example of
how the details of a life in technical
communication combine beautifully
with the exuberance of creativity. He is
a chapter treasure, and we hope he will
stay with us for many years, keeping us
entertained and challenged. ■
M AN J I RO
I n t e r n at i o n a l
Internationalization
Localization
Translation
• Technical publications
• Multilingual web sites
• Software applications
Call for a free phone consultation
Phone: 267-972-1034
info@manjirointernational.com
www.manjirointernational.com
Zsolt Olah—Blending Technical Communication and Creativity
(Continued from page 6)

16. Newsletter Address
News & Views
Lori Corbett
834 Westridge Dr.
Phoenixville, PA 19460
stcmember@comcast.net
First Class Mail
NEWS & VIEWS 16 June/July/August 2004
Deadline for next issue: August 15
A Look Inside...
❏ Check out the photos from the STC-PMC's trip to the
51st Annual STC Conference in Baltimore on page 5 and
page 13.
❏ Content management and single sourcing are two of
the hottest topics in technical communication today.
Learn what these topics are all about in Suzanne
Mescan's article on page 1.
❏ Meet out new president, Steven Lungren, in his
premier article as president of our chapter on page 3.
❏ Read several articles about our chapter's fantastic,
successful annual conference this past March, starting
on page 4.
❏ The STC has planned a number of very interesting
Phone Seminars. See the list of upcoming seminars on
page 5.
❏ Meet STC-PMC's puzzle master, Zsolt Olah, in Jill
Cassidy Rolette's member spotlight on page 6.
❏ Looking to do something a little different for fun and
education. Join us as we explore Philadelphia's murals.
See page 7 for details.
❏ Wayne Kroger was unable to attend the Conference in
March, but he has provided us with some interesting
insights about offshoring in his article on page 8.
❏ Test your crossword puzzle skills in Zsolt Olah's latest
presentation on page 10.
Upcoming Meetings
The information in the following table was correct at the time News & Views was published. Be sure to
check the Website (www.stcpmc.org) for details and late-breaking updates to the schedule. For all Thursday
meetings, reservations are due by the Monday before the meeting.
Date Meeting Topic Location
September 23, 2004 Using Personas to Connect With Your Audience by
Whitney Quesenbery
Doubletree Inn,
Plymouth Meeting
October 9, 2004 Philadephia Mural Tour (see article on page 7) Philadelphia, PA
October 21, 2004 XML as a Byproduct of Structured Content presented by
John Hawkins
Holiday Inn,
Cherry Hill, NJ
March 2005 Third Annual Philadelphia Metro Conference Penn State University,
Great Valley, PA
May 8–11, 2005 STC’s 52nd Annual Conference Seattle, Washington
I M P O R T A N T N O T I C E !
Due to rising printing costs, distribution of News & Views needs to change. After this issue, newsletters will be mailed only to
those members who specifically request a printed copy. When the newsletter is posted to the STC-PMC Website, an email blast
will be sent to all members who have email addresses on the STC membership list. To receive a printed letter, please send your
request to Lori Corbett, Managing Editor, at stcmember@comcast.net or to her at 834 Westridge Dr., Phoenixville, PA 19460.