Content Convergence & Integration 2008 Blog Posts

Findability presentation slides now available

Lise Kreps — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:21:52 GMT

The slides for my presentation "Content Findability in a Portable Content World" are now available on SlideShare at
http://www.slideshare.net/tag/cci2008
or via my profile page at
http://www.slideshare.net/LiseKreps

They're also available via my own website at
http://www.relevantinfoservices.com/findability.html
or by the old-fashioned method of emailing me.

Sorry for the delay -- I've been wrangling with some technical difficulties on SlideShare (breaking my links, deleting my presentation, and not finding me in their Search).

Thanks to everyone who attended for being such a great audience!

Lise

Tourism writing community emerges

Rahel Anne Bailie — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:45:59 GMT

Just noticed that a tourism writing community has sprung up at http://thecontentwrangler.ning.com/group/tourism for people wanting to explore tourism writing and content management. The description is:

This group is for authors of tourism/travel content and content/community managers of tourism sites and other digital marketing and social media tools.

It's free to join, and open to managers of tourism content anywhere in the world. I imagine it will be an interesting place.

Photos and slides

Rahel Anne Bailie — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:12:19 GMT

I've uploaded some conference photos to flickr - as I've tagged them with cci2008, they should be available through the gossip tab soon. Unfortunately, by day 3, my brain had gone a bit mushy and I hadn't brought my camera with me - there were some great photo opps to be had, and I was kicking myself for missing them.

Side note: Salim Ismail's keynote is on www.slideshare.net, but not tagged with the conference tag. You can find it by searching on his name.

Slideshare Discoveries

Joe Gollner — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:08:29 GMT

Just a quick note to let people know that I have posted my slides on Slideshare although, as has been noted, the discovery services provided by Slideshare seem a little random.

My slides have been dutifully tagged with cci2008, plus other more or less useful descriptors, but they do not seem to come up when expected.

The pathway that will work however is:
http://www.slideshare.net/jgollner

Enjoy and I invite all would-be commentators to "lay-on" (recalling MacBeth's "Lay-on MacDuff").

Joe

Not so secret admirer ...

Ms Emma Hamer — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:06:01 GMT

With all the goings on during the conference, I guess I 'forgot' to mention to Rahel, that Jack Molisani, of ProSpring Staffing and the LavaCon conference (November 6-8, in Honolulu, Hawaii) sent us a beautiful floral arrangement, wishing us a successful conference, with regrets for not being able to attend himself.

It was only today, when I told Rahel about the thank you note I sent to Jack, that she realized that the 'secret admirer' was not so secret after all ...

Theresa Putkey Breaks Down Silos

Amanda Galtman — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:36:15 GMT

Theresa Putkey, a consultant, presented a case study in breaking down silos to achieve cross-departmental cooperation.

A key incentive for cooperation was that the problems had reached a critical stage. The company had not had any full-time writers for a few years, information was hard-to-find or outdated, and the company was not well-positioned to drive users to rely on self-service information instead of calling or emailing.

Here are some of the ways various players interacted with this project:

* The support manager recognized the role that quality documentation played in efficient support services, and embraced a plan for a new integrated support/help system. His buy-in was important for the visibility of the project.

* The support and doc teams worked together to figure out the knowledge base process. Extra flexibility and understanding were required on Putkey's part to reassure support staff when information moved around and old habits for finding it needed to change.

* R&D staff attended a presentation about the project's scope, benefits, and impact to them. People were curious because something fresh was happening in a stagnant department.

* Various people outside the doc department saw an overview of the deliverables and the reuse of content via the high-level information model.

* The graphic designer helped mock up the new support/help system so it would be both attractive and usable.

Other interesting points from this talk:

* When evaluating tools, the particular context mattered. The right tool in this context (Flare) might not be right for another company with different needs.

* Accommodating the needs of the support team was important because they relied on doc to do their jobs well.

* Everyone wanted a change, and their enthusiasm and excitement helped the project go as well as it did.

Mystery Fruit Garnish: ID Revealed

Emma Lauder — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 15:56:20 GMT

OK, ok, this is not exactly conference related, but it came up in enough convos that worthy of a note.

On many of the fine meal platters dished up, there appeared a cute little fruit. It was orange, about the size of a cherry, and surrounded by 2 papery leaves. New to me, new to many.

After some in depth research (aka asking the Wall Centre staff) it has been revealed to be a Cape Gooseberry. Apparently native to Peru (thank you Wikipedia).

Super tasty. Good with a sharp cheese. Will be on the look out for them.

Vendor Demos: High Entertainment Value

Emma Lauder — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 15:01:49 GMT

Just slept for a ridiculous amount of the night (and day). Think my brain needed some time to chill after all the info that got poured in after the conference. Will be adding blogs from all the notes I took over the next while so do keep checking back.

Sat in on the vendor demos yesterday for Quark, Morello and The Level. Wish a bigger group had been there, but the lovely salmon lunch was hard to resist I'm sure.

Vendors each gave great little snapshots into their capabilities. Much as some sessions were labeled as 'debates', this is where some of the real action happened. Not that any tridents were thrown (a la Anchorman), but I really enjoyed seeing vendors in the same room doing essentially side by side comparisons. Cannot get that experience in spite of the details on CMS Matrix.

Really like the look and feel, and drag and drop features in Morello. Made me feel that even a non-programmer such as myself could work with that tool and quickly reorganize and structure any page. And The Level's recently updated demo, public site, and 5.0 release are excellent. Big props to them for getting a Google case study published too.

Quark isn't exactly in the CMS world, but I've only heard much love for the product from mates. Looks like a great way to create beautiful docs and re-use content for the docs. At the end of Paul Brown's demo, I had to ask one question. And, side note, I asked because my pals Arlen Tees (The Level) and Simon West (Spring Advertising) had both gone on about this...so I asked...the Quark alien? Well, seems I asked the most commonly asked question! Do I get a prize? Paul shared that the Quark alien is an easter egg that was put into Quark by one of the original product engineers. He was at the office on a Saturday with his son who drew the alien, and for fun, they put it in there. Paul showed it to the group who all got a kick out of it.

Many thanks to Jeff Sinclair, Paul Brown and the Morello crew for showing us their wares.

Finding the presentations for CCI 2008

Ms Emma Hamer — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:35:02 GMT

The presentations are being uploaded by the speakers, but the search on Slideshare.net is a bit tricky ... Here's where they all end up, and this should make it easier to find the presentations you missed attending.

http://www.slideshare.net/tag/cci2008

Summary of "Strategic Content Publishing

Salim Ismailsalim — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 14:34:12 GMT

Content is being seen as a cost center (or at best cost-recovery)...

Audience poll: is content strategic in your org? (answer is very much 'yes')

Interesting question: "is content driving revenue in your org?.. if not, how can it be that strategic??!"

How to measure content inside an org? Great example given of someone who turned off a revenue earning photo and everyone screamed... : )

Big discussion now ensues about what exactly do we mean by "Strategic Content Publishing"
1 - the content is used for revenue
2 - the content is leveraged for strategic purposes
3 - the content should be structured so that it *can* be used strategically

Examples of strategic content:
- product documentation
- process information

Whoa. At this point, we've run out of time. But a fabulous discussion that we could spend a day on... !

Salim Ismail delivers fast-paced, interactive session on XML publishing

Rahel Anne Bailie — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:03:24 GMT

Who better than Salim Ismail to talk about the XML landscape? Or perhaps it's the XML community? He speaks about the up-and-coming players, has-beens, and hot shots the way we talk about the main street of our local town.

I would like to recap his presentation here but frankly, he talks way faster than I can write, and the concepts flying fast and furious.

He starts from the transition from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. In the old world, you had a model where user fills in forms, the site stores data, and users search the site (ebay, AutoTrader, etc.). In the new world, the user fills out the form (publish), the data is syndicated, and the users get updates (simplyhired, upcoming, confabb, etc.) In the old world paradigm, they keep the data in a walled garden. In the new world, you're, getting your information published out.

The end point is the key drivers of value, which can be concentrated into XML, syndication, low latency, and great user experience.

Finding ways to use these key drivers to build applications to access available data, the power of XML publishing can harness the power of the hidden Web, estimated to be 400 to 500 times larger than what is currently visible to search engines.

If you don't have a handle on these things yet, check out Twitter, Dopplr, Fire Eagle, Tripit, and other applications - many that can be integrated with each other - and play around with them. You never know, they might be useful, even addictive.

Flickr Pix

Emma Lauder — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:22:42 GMT

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ccivan_2008/

For some reason my tags aren't playing ball today, so above is the link to the pix I've been taking so far. Yes, several are of the food and drink but dang, it's good!

If you have Flickr photos to add, please either tag them with "cci2008" or email me (emma.lauder@strategya.ca) and I can add them to the ccivan_2008 Flickr account page. My camera isn't exactly state of the art, so do be encouraged to send your images and I'll be certain you get the credit!

Side note, I'm quickly becoming a huge fan of the hotel staff at the Wall Centre. Everyone from the catering crew, event coordinators, clean up staff and even the guy sweeping up the garden area are friendly and helpful. If I wasn't a local lass I'd be stoked to be staying there.

Amber Swope Brings Documents to Life

Emma Lauder — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:09:43 GMT

Later this afternoon (March 12th) I was able to sit in on Amber Swope's presentation regarding XML and DITA technologies. Amber is a Principal Consultant at Just Systems Inc. Where was Amber a few years back when I was new to the idea of XML? Her concise and clear explanation of this language was awesome, as was her one-minute summary of DITA. I know from some people I sat with, that she really helped to clarify some of these technologies.

Amber suggested that all those interested in further information about how XML and DITA can lead to satisfied customers, improved ROI, the cut-down on publication time and the storage of all content in one place, go to the Just Systems website for a pertinent white paper: DITA Maturity Model.

Given the late hour, I think I will have to get this white paper tomorrow, but I certainly look forward to reading it in detail. Big cheers to Amber!

Torn between the two debates!

Emma Lauder — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:58:01 GMT

This afternoon (March 12) had 2 really appealing debates going on at the same time! With all this modern technology you think I'd have a clone by now, but no dice. Thus I split my time between the debates and have a few notes to share. Please be encouraged to add to my take on all this!

First off, Pavillion D, 'Are we really getting the most from Web 2.0 technologies.' Your host, Todd O'Neill with a panel including Jeff Sinclair (The Level), Rogier Gruys (CTC) and Linda Francis. Admittedly I missed the beginning and end, but caught some good talk in between. One of Todd's more pertinent questions was 'Is control the barrier to adoption' of the new technologies. Rogier suggested that this depended very much upon the company in question, and that small tourism companies may simply lack the time to integrate 2.0 offerings to their sites. Jeff suggested that we all just embrace what's out there basically. In other words, if you don't offer a forum on your own site (which you can control) for audiences to share their thoughts, then it'll just happen elsewhere. And Linda provided the interesting perspective that the issue is in thinking one has to control the new technologies in the first place. She went on to suggest that companies strive to be as open and honest as possible while maintaining value, relevance and usability to the audience. And our charming host Todd added his 2 cents, suggesting that one of the bigger hurdles is that the clients may have a minimal understanding of how simple many of the 2.0 technologies really are - in other words, changes to the amount of moderation to a user feedback tool can be readily moderated or changed quickly and easily.

I had to tear myself away to catch some of the action in Pavillion C: 'Content climate change and the greening of our content'. Rahel Bailie, Trevor Paterson, Berry Braster, James Donato and Kent Taylor made up the well informed panel, and a good sized audience was in attendance.

All parties appeared to agree on the fact that standardizing terminology prior to starting a large technical documentation project was important. As well, Berry really drove home the concept that if companies do not take control of such things now, they will end up in exactly the place they began.

Rahel spoke with authority regarding the importance of implementing systems that could bring about a connected feeling to geographically dispersed teams, in that, unfortunately, too much spur of the moment decision making gets made in the hallway, and not on email or in some official manner. These are happenstances that no software can ever fix, ergo, content needs to be codified and controlled somehow.

Additionally, the panel supported the concepts regarding the importance of content reuse. It appeared to be unanimous that content reuse lowers the probability of mishaps, keeps documents (such as manuals) consistent, and gets pertinent information 'locked down.' Rahel added that the more content is manipulated, the more likely it is that this content will contain inaccuracies.

Thanks to a great audience question, Rahel was able to go on to encourage the technical writers in the audience to not just think of themselves as part of a documentation department, but as consumer advocates. This way, the content created can be readily reused and re-purposed to different departments within an organization (aka content convergence!)

Bottom line, I need a clone, and encourage others who were able to catch more of both debates to add to my notes.

Speaker Feedback Forms

Emma Lauder — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:27:26 GMT

Just a wee note about the feedback forms that attendees may receive before or during a speaker presentationat the show: We really do value your honest opinion - positive or negative. No show organizers or speakers will plot to send Chuck Norris after you for your comments. So by all means, be encouraged to put your name on the form to be eligible for a book draw. Your notes are nothing to do with the draw, and have nothing to do with who wins a book.

Your comments are really of value for the organizers going forward. We can truly benefit from your feedback for future shows. The feedback is helpful and we only wish that every attendee get the most benefit out of their time with us.

If you would rather not add your name to the feedback sheet - no worries. Please still come and check out the available books (at the registration desk)and feel free to speak to me, Emma Hamer or Rahel Bailie about an alternate way to be eligible for the book of your choice. Skill testing question may be involved!

Big thanks in advance!

A baby girl on the way!

Emma Lauder — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 23:44:59 GMT

Dear James Donato of Refresh Software looked pretty panicked tonight as he fled for the airport. We'll miss having him for the remainder of the event, but wish him and his wife much happiness as their little baby girl has decided to show up earlier than anticipated. At this late hour, we hope James is well on his way home and by his wife's side as they welcome their future content contributor to the world. Best wishes to the Donato family!

And by the way .. the food is fabulous

Ms Emma Hamer — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:46:29 GMT

While everyone knows conferences are not about the food - except the food for thought - if the food served for breakfast and lunch is so-so, or if you're left to figure out where to eat in a strange city, then "The Food" becomes an instant and recurring topic.

Thankfully, here at the Sheraton Wall Centre, which prides itself on having a "made-from-scratch" kitchen, the catering is absolutely wonderful. A full-cooked breakfast, low carb, and choice cold cuts and cheeses every morning at 7 am, and a magnificent lunch buffet, including a carving station, at midday. Endless coffee and tea, and light snacks and fresh fruit for the breaks.

Compliments to the chef(s)!

Critical Mass Highlights their Company Goals

Emma Lauder — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:27:32 GMT

Later this morning, I was again in the Finback meeting room (as opposed to all the other whale themed names) and got to sit in on a talk given by JL Schmidt, Director of Knowledge Management for Critical Mass. I only wish more people had been in attendance as JL presented a very interesting set of ideas that Critical Mass is looking to internally implement over the next few years. If only more companies had such cool ideas (in my opinion).

One of JL's featured points was that "we are all enablers and beneficiaries of knowledge." The idea is that knowledge should serve a purpose, and not just be composed and stashed somewhere. Through JL's leadership, Critical Mass is accepting the fact that knowledge management is critical and hugely valuable to the company and their growth.

Some of the key challenges for JL have included gaining managerial alignment amongst groups (like the VP's for example), eliminating departmental silos and encouraging the sharing of information. JL is also leading the company away from email exchanges, and instead striving for more use of the company wiki and blogs.

Going forward, Critical Mass will endeavor to integrate with social networks such as Facebook for internal staff profiles, and change the mentality that staff should only be measured by their billable hours.

JL and her colleague are choosing to drive the company internally, and by setting a great example, rather than be at the mercy of the clients goals and needs. The quality, freedom and flexibility that Critical Mass is striving for was really impressive, and I hope their example will be followed by other companies.

Jeff Hooker's morning session

Emma Lauder — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:15:43 GMT

I was happy to be room monitor for Jeff Hooker's talk this morning. He gave a funny and insightful talk on internal corporate communications and how organizations should perhaps reconsider structuring their document creation. Jeff suggested that instead of focusing on the end user documents, to start higher up the corporate chain. Start by identifying the key pieces of content or information you know will be reused from the top down, and build from there. The information then trickles down to the end user documents, giving better results than just focusing on end user documents exclusively.

It was great to see a lot of audience interaction and participation during this talk.

Tourism BC embraces personal stories

Tonja Dwyer — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:16:00 GMT

William Bakker from Tourism BC has traveled. His presentation this morning showed real examples of how he has used the internet to research and plan his adventures. From finding a porter in the Himalaya, and skipping the Crystal Palace in Europe, he understands how people more and more often rely on the tales of others to find experiences not listed in the guidebook. Tourism BC encourages travelers to share their positive travel experiences, and for residents of smaller communities to tell the world what's great about their hometown. When this information is available alongside the statistics, and how to get there, travelers have a better idea of what they can expect and are more likely to make the trip.

Tourism BC realizes that it's hard for small tourism agencies to maintain their own sites and draw their own visitors, but there is strength in numbers, so Tourism BC lets small operators converge their content into the Tourism BC site, yet retain ownership by doing this with multiple blogs. Great idea!

Geek supremacy

Rahel Anne Bailie — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 09:24:07 GMT

Joe Gollner's license plate is XML.
Mine is CMPRO 1.

He wins, hands down. I feel like such a punter next to him. :)

Content in the Framework Age

Rahel Anne Bailie — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 09:21:53 GMT

Liz Danzico is young, funky, from New York, studied Design at Carnegie-Mellon. Joe Gollner is on the other side of 40, traditional, from Ottawa, and Oxford-educated. They come at the topic of content from opposite ways, yet they say much the same thing.

Joe started his keynote with the definition of content as follows: "Content is the physical form of human communication. Content populates an ecosystem where people receive, internalize, modify, use, create, and share that content. Content connects everything." I like it.

Warning: The rest of this post is my interpretation - I'm blogging while Joe is talking, so I'm missing wide swaths of the presentation here, and subject to heavy interpretation. That's the price of live blogging.

Since the invent of publishing technologies, the holy grail has been to share information - in other words, content convergence. Until some forward thinkers realized that:
- Naming something (understanding) is different than describing what should be done with it (behaviour)
- Deciding what to do (intention) is different than determining how it should be done (execution)
all of the background of hypertext and linking and other efforts to share content failed because of a lack of common format. It wasn't until SGML, and now XML, came along, that industries found a way to be able to share information.

Things are moving fast now, and we're coming into the content age, where Web 2.0, the participatory Web, the semantic Web, intelligent automation is becoming expected by consumers and leveraged by application developers to enable new frameworks. Lots of the knowledge appliances have simple interfaces but are connected to massive infrastructures. The beauty is distilling complexity into a simple, usable form. And in the end, to circle back, all the processing power in the world will be only as good as the content that exists to be pushed out to the user. If the content is incomplete, outdated, incomprehensible, negative, or otherwise unsuitable, it's not a usable asset.

Joe Gollner steps in as Day 1 plenary speaker

Rahel Anne Bailie — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 08:40:27 GMT

We (Liz Danzico and I) tried every content convergence trick in the book yesterday, but couldn't fix the inefficiencies in the Homeland Security travel program that require her to have her passport on her person while here. And as much as we'd love to keep Liz Danzico captive in Canada forever, she couldn't risk not being let back into her country of birth, so had to return directly to New York from Austin, rather than via Vancouver.

We are very lucky to have Joe Gollner has agreed to fill Liz' shoes - and Joe is lucky that Liz wears flats! Seriously, though, after a long talk with Joe, and knowing that Joe and Liz were having equally long discussions about the topic of the morphing nature of content in a framework age, we're very fortunate to have Joe take over the opening session.

Darren Barefoot demonstrates convergence of disciplines as well as content

Rahel Anne Bailie — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:13:23 GMT

Given that Darren Barefoot is a well-known blogger, marketing communicator, and has just published a book on marketing strategies using social networking media, how does this connect with content convergence strategies?

I remember Darren's return from Ireland, a number of years ago now, when he first demonstrated his knowledge of how to leverage the then less-known aspects of social networking by integrating technical information (his lesser-known background in technical communication came in handy here) with technologies that responded to user need: the social factor. It's many years later, yet many companies are still talking about the "fire and forget" method of brochure-ware marketing, whether that be websites, PDFs, or physical bulletin boards (do business people still actually browse those for business information - well, anybody with any decision-making power?).

The content publishing world has gotten a lot more complex over the last decade, and without a way to coordinate efforts - to convergence content where appropriate, to integrate content where appropriate, to aggregate, to syndicate, to archive, and otherwise govern your content - you'd spend all your time creating those authentic conversations and no time getting any other work done. To get some work-work balance going, you need to learn and apply techniques that help you devise a strategy that works for you and lets your maintain your sanity. How you do that is to listen to Darren speak at the Content Convergence and Integration conference, and to pick up his book, Getting to First Base, available from http://www.socialmediaready.com/.

The Level brings out full potential for content-rich sites with demanding needs

Rahel Anne Bailie — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:00:59 GMT

The content management industry is not living up to its potential, according to The Level CEO, Jeff Sinclair. Named last year by Business in Vancouver publication as one of the "Top 40 under 40" leaders, he is something of a visionary. As head of a rapidly growing Vancouver-based CMS software company, he has worked closely with some of the world's most demanding customers and gained unique insight into their unmet needs. While his firm has focused on the travel, tourism, retail and technology industries, their customers include some of the top websites in the world, publishing to over 100 locales. Bringing this mix of demanding clients together, he has a vision for the future and will discuss this vision in his presentation at Content Convergence & Integration 2008.

Tourism is a demanding industry, and messages need to be specific, tailored and precisely targeted. Sinclair observes the larger industry situation that the content management industry is has not yet solved: a solution that will allow organizations the localization flexibility they need to create customized messages for local audiences, including enough brand flexibility to increase message impact. He asks the question, "Why hasn't the industry delivered?"

While Sinclair will talk about the future, he runs a company today and says that while the industry has not yet found the Holy Grail, he does admit, in that understated way that Canadian companies have, that The Level offers scalable, flexible easy-to-use solutions today for the travel, tourism, retail and technology industries.

When content-rich organizations need to tailor their content to multiple audiences, they turn to The Level for their enterprise-strength Web content management software. While company websites usually need to manage, and publish, content to multiple channels, or markets, The Level allows its customers to keep focus on content, not on the technology, and this is reflected in the way users interact with their application. The Level, known for its ease of use, hides it power behind a deceptively simple dashboard that is designed for non-technical marketing professionals who want to want to take control of the content on their sites. Marketers can tailor their sites to their audiences - these could be internal audiences or external audiences around the globe - to ensure that the right messages reach the right markets, as fast as possible.

The technical side of The Level makes it attractive to CIOs, as well. Its standards-based, plug-and-play architecture makes it easy to integrate with third-party systems such as e-commerce, retail, or online reservation systems, and the open standards allows it to work with any common database.

The Level continues to build on its considerable reputation, and was named to British Columbia's "Ready to Rocket 25" list of hottest privately-held IT companies this year.

Visit The Level in the exhibition area of the Content Convergence and Integration 2008 conference.

Company website: www.thelevel.com

Michael Fergusson gives Day 3 a jump start with a convergence of culture, commerce, and copyright

Rahel Anne Bailie — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:41:38 GMT

Last time I heard Michael Fergusson speak, it was an intriguing presentation called "Authenticity is the New Black", which was given to a group of marketing communicators. Apt that we have him talking about the convergence of Culture, Commerce, and Copyright, then, as these concepts get more and more complex.

Some ten years ago, when The Cluetrain Manifesto was first published, we learned our first counter-intuitive lesson. We were told not to talk "to" customers, but create a conversation "with" customers. Then, we learned that instead of hording expertise to be able to charge clients for it, we share expertise freely on our blogs, and by doing, we would attract clients. And now, Fergusson helps us ride the third wave: identity. What is our brand worth, and how do we protect it, except to share it? If there's a worth, there's a community around it - where is your community? If you are a technical communicator who thinks you are outside of this discussion, think again. Fergusson includes not just the marketers and managers, but the technical folks in this discussion. It's an enterprise-wide endeavour. Intrigued? Great - don't miss the Day 3 plenary session on how content + technology affect customer relationships.

Salim Ismail starts Day 2 by giving us a glimpse into the future of XML

Rahel Anne Bailie — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:12:25 GMT

When Salim Ismail starts talking about how Web 2.0 is leading us to Internet 3.0, I see a little of the deer-in-the-headlight looks, the "Hold on, I barely learned about Web 2.0, what do you mean, Internet 3.0?" pain of wondering what else is around the bend. Never fear, Salim is a personable speaker who starts talking in a relaxed and informative way - For example, we think of the internet as being this vast soup of information, but did you know that probably 3/4 of it is not currently accessible, and that the next generation of technology will open up a lot of that to us? - Before you know it, you find yourself not only agreeing with what Salim saying, but you start to see the possibilities of how it's going to work, and how your organization can participate. No matter how small your site, or how large, you come away feeling energized.

A graduate of University of Waterloo, he worked in business restructuring, including tourism and banking, and his first big splash was co-founding PubSub Concepts - the idea behind what we now know as subscription feeds. Since then, Salim has become an angel investor, founding promising start-ups which he nurtures to their full potential. He has done a stint as the Head of The Brickhouse, Yahoo's innovation arm, and recently returned to his love: start-ups. We're fortunate to have him share his knowledge with us, and give us a boost in the arm when we're thinking about ways we can apply this technology in our own work environments.

Liz Danzico kicks off Day 1 with plenary session on Content

Rahel Anne Bailie — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 12:09:22 GMT

A year and a bit ago, I had the good fortune to meet Liz Danzico at CANUX, a Canadian User Experience Workshop held in Banff, Alberta each year. The sentence that introduced her session was: "For all the talk of Web 2.0, there’s been little said about how content fits into the world of AJAX, RSS, social media, and RESTful APIs." Liz talked about Content 2.0 at that workshop, and we had a great chat afterwards about the need to balance content context and portability. It's also the balance of user convenience and user comprehension, the balance between offering too much or too little, overwhelming or confusing. It's the content development dance we all need to learn.

The flip side to this is whether the current brand of writer is prepared to create content in a Web 2.0 world. Some of the more interesting reactions I've had to the conference is that "it sounds too technical - I just pump out articles (or procedures or substitute an information type)." Really? And how much longer can that last? A recruiter says the demand for writers with hyphenated skills sets is growing: IA-writer, Usability-writer, developer-writer, and so on. It's the next-generation demand of what writers saw a decade ago, when a new set of technical publishing tools came on the market. The bar has been raised again - what does it take for writers to meet this one?

Liz Danzico has been working with content frameworks for a long time now, and has an exceptional amount of experience in this area. She's just back from a conference in New Zealand, and I twisted her arm to get her to return to New York from the huge SXSW conference via Vancouver. It's great that she obliged, and will start us out on Content Day by exploring what it means to design in the age of frameworks.

Refresh Software brings a fresh look to content management software

Rahel Anne Bailie — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 10:58:32 GMT

Refresh Software has signed on as a Diamond sponsor of the Content Convergence and Integration conference, a perfect match for software that allows the convergence of component-based content management, document management, and Web content management in a single application. This new publishing paradigm addresses the growing market demand for structured publishing and Web 2.0 solutions that offer systematic content reuse, component content architecture and web publishing capabilities across an enterprise.

Based on close collaboration with customers across many industries and domain experts in the areas of DITA, XML, web publishing and component content management, the company invested in APIs and Web services that ensure the software can drop into any technology infrastructure seamlessly. The result is that within weeks - rather than the months it would take for a last-generation CMS to be integrated - content contributors can be working on the component-based architecture of the Refresh SR2 platform.

Refresh Software has offered unique component-based content and document management solutions for mid-market and Fortune 500 customers since 1996, and has been an early leader in content reuse enabling companies to rapidly deploy high-scale publishing systems based on XML, DITA and Web 2.0 standards. Refresh is the only software product on the marketing with a solution that offers both Web 2.0 and structured, component-based content management.

Website: http://refreshsoftware.com/

Author-it pulls out as Platinum Sponsor

Ms Emma Hamer — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:02:05 GMT

Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts and lack of resources has caused Author-it Software Corporation to reluctantly decide they could not be a sponsor and exhibitor of Content Convergence and Integration 2008. They deeply regret being unable to continue their support of the conference, which they firmly believe tackles important topics, and they wish the organizers and attendees nonetheless a successful and enriching experience.