The idea that content strategy applies to “our” kind of content – product content, back-end content, technical content, user assistance content – is taking hold. From the list of conferences here, you can see that there are conferences that are aimed squarely at our practice areas, as well as those that cross over between multiple practice areas, and specialize on certain topics.
This is all good news for technical communicators. It provides a career path for those who think strategically about content but were never recognized for that contribution. It provides a way to frame our work to empower us to make the changes we’ve known about for ages. It gives us a seat at the table, further upstream in the design process and further up in the corporate hierarchy.
Your contribution to this SIG is an important part of creating the stories that inspire us, help us move ahead, and demonstrate the ways that we can move forward. Looking forward to hearing from you!
The 2011 STC Summit has put together a Content Strategy Institute – a 4-session series that, together, give participants a rounded and deeper understanding of a field that is deeper than attending a random selection of sessions. This year’s selections:
The 2011 STC Summit runs from May 15-18, 2011 in Sacramento, CA.
The 2010 STC Summit will have a number of content strategy components, including a progression with some of the top names in content strategy. A progression is STC vocabulary for a 75-minute session that holds multiple topic tables, where presenters repeat a 20-minute presentation 3 times. During that time, participants choose 3 topics from the overall complement of topics, and move from table to table during the 75 minutes.
The progression line-up includes:
- Andrea Ames (IBM) – Putting the Strategy into Content: Skills for content strategists
- Alyson Riley (IBM) – Connecting Business Requirements and Content Strategy
- Mollye Barrett (ClearPath) – Content Lifecycle Strategy
- Rachel Lovinger (Razorfish) – The Role of Metadata in Content Strategy
- Colleen Jones (threebrick) – Testing Content: Tips, Tricks, and Takeaways
- Rahel Anne Bailie (Intentional Design) – Developing a Content Strategy for an Enterprise Application: A case study
- Brenda Heuttner (P-N Designs) – Metrics: Practical approaches to measuring the value of content
- Anne Gentle (JustWriteClick) – Shareable, Searchable, Sociable, and Don’t Forget Syndicated
- C C Holland (independent) – Cutting Through the Clutter: Approaching content strategy like a journalist
- Gina Fevrier (Numara) – Detours Along the Strategic Road: Learning from our mistakes
- Janet Swisher and Lisa Dyer (Lombardi) – Getting Stakeholders to Yes
I know what you’re thinking: I have to pick 3 topics? Only 3? Some of the presenters will also have individual presentations, so be sure to cross-reference your program to get the most of your content strategy experience at the conference. See you there?
As of September 2009, Society for Technical Communication has approved our charter for a Special Interest Group about content strategy. We welcome the participation of any STC members who are engaged in content strategy, want to develop the skills to become a content strategist, or simply want to know more about content strategy.
I am your SIG manager, and will be posting links to resources and communities on the Web. I don’t claim to know it all or have all the answers, so your contributions are appreciated. Want to join in the discussion on content strategy? We’re starting a Google group, as it’s easy to keep track of threads and maintain an archive of knowledge. Join now at http://groups.google.com/group/stc-cs/.
Many thanks to Will Sansbury for his kind, speedy, and beautiful implementation of this Web site. I couldn’t have gotten it together without him.
