The Boston Chapter hosts several workshops every year to allow members a hands-on and an in-depth look at specific topic of interest in technical communication. Workshop are always Saturday mornings and provide a unique opportunity to learn and network with your peers.

Upcoming Workshops

• Gutenberg in the Next Millennium -- The Evolution of the "Book" and What It Means to You (April, 1999)
• Staying Well at Work (May, 1999)

The Next Workshop

Neil Perlin (HyperWord Services) has created a brand-new workshop for us on Saturday April 10. "What," he asks, "will become of the 'book' in the next twenty, fifty, one hundred years?" From the Focus pages of the Boston Globe to the futuristic articles in avant-garde industry journals, to the way-out dreams on start-up Web sites, everyone's beginning to wonder the same thing.

And many Technical Communicators are wondering what it will mean for them - writers, editors, layout specialists, illustrators, information designers, and trainers - as we prepare technical information for delivery on these new platforms. Also, documentation managers would like to know what changes might be needed in planning and preparing IT staff members.

To answer some of these questions (and perhaps to raise some new ones), for our April workshop, Neil has arranged a few demonstrations of some possible next-generation "books." Scheduled demonstrations include these devices:

• Electronic paper - This vendor envisions a pad of electronic "screens." You can enter data, tear off a screen, fold it up and put it in your pocket, or perhaps hand it to someone else to view. Spare pads will be available at the office products store.
  
  
• Hand-held devices like the Palm® III connected organizer and Microsoft's CE platform. Among other documents, we'll have a sample of an electronic Command Quick Reference card for you to critique.

  (Door prize: One Palm III organizer.)

• Wearable computers (tentative) - A worker on a production line can use a headset to "look up" a set of instructions for a difficult task by blinking and viewing the steps in something like a hologram.

After we get a chance to play with the demo devices, in the second half of the workshop, Neil will tell us his thoughts on what it all means to us, including information about these aspects of our work:

• Technical specifications for many of the devices
  
  
• Tools that we may need to learn so that we can create information and deliver it on these new platforms
  
  
• Some of the possible implications for society

Time and Place

Cost and Registration

The fee includes coffee in the morning and lunch.

Registration

To register, send check or money order (payable to Boston Chapter, STC) to:
Mel Topf
26 Astral Ave
Providence, RI 02906-3422

Please include with your check:

• Your name
• Workshop date or dates
• Phone number (so that we can notify you of cancellation, for instance, in case of severe weather)

Directions

From Route 128/I-95 North or South

1. Take the exit for Route 20 West.
2. Follow Route 20 West until the first set of traffic lights.
3. Turn left onto School Street. The Weston Public Library is on the right, about .5 mile from Route 20.