[Important notes: You could win a door prize of a Madpak Suite or an Adobe TCS 4 package! This is a Saturday morning workshop that starts at 8:00 AM sharp with a mid-morning brunch. Please arrive by 7:45 AM to give you time to register and set up your laptop. Absolutely no Flare experience is required to attend this workshop. A week ahead of time, please follow the download and installation instructions shown below.]

Take a step into the future by attending OCSTC's mobile documentation and applications introductory workshop, given by online help and mobile expert Neil Perlin. This half-day workshop will show you step-by-step how to create mobile documentation and web applications. It's not as hard as you might think, and in fact, you may already have many of the required skills--this workshop will help you put those skills to work!

Why mobile? Technical communicators found in the 1990s that it was a tremendous career advantage to know how to create online help and websites. In this decade, the hot field seems to be shaping up to be mobile. Knowing how to work with and publish to mobile devices will offer the same career advantage going into the future that help and the web did 20 years ago.

Neil will use MadCap Flare 8 to show you how to output ebooks, web apps, mobile-optimized web apps, and HTML5 (the precursor to hybrid apps). Madcap has generously donated a full Madpak Suite as a door prize!

Mike Hamilton of Madcap will spend a few minutes during brunch to tell us about MadCap's impressive tools, and will be there to answer your questions.

RoboHelp users won't be left out! Neil will discuss and demonstrate the new mobile features in the very new RoboHelp 10, including new ebook formats and its mobile centerpiece, multiscreen HTML5 output for devices ranging from iPhones to tablets to ebook readers and more. Adobe has generously donated a full TCS 4 package as a door prize!

And no matter what tool you favor, the principles that you'll learn will expand your career horizon. Neil will provide sample files and step-by-step handouts for Flare and a features list for RoboHelp. That way, you need not fear falling behind in the workshop and you can practice at home.

IMPORTANT: Neil will start at 8:00 AM sharp. Brunch will be served mid-morning with a snack around noon. To take full advantage of Neil's interactive workshop, install the 30-day trial version of Madcap Flare from www.madcapsoftware.com/downloads/.

Please do the following during the week BEFORE you come to the presentation because of the time it will take to install the software, and because Internet service at the hotel is not guaranteed:

1. Download the "Flare Installation Instructions" file shown above. Follow the instructions to install Flare 8.
2. Click on and download the Flare project file "OCSTC.flprjzip" shown under the hotel address on this page. Put it into a folder on your computer that you create especially for this workshop (see the instructions PDF).

8:00-9:45 Workshop (1 hr 45 min)
9:45-10:15 Brunch, meeting announcements, Mike Hamilton (30 min)
10:15 -noon Workshop (1 hr 45 min)
Noon-12:10 Break (10 min)
12:15-1:15 RoboHelp demo (1 hr)
1:15-1:30 Door prizes

Total actual workshop time: 4 hr 30 min

About Neil:

Neil Perlin has 33 years of experience in technical communication, with 27 in training, consulting, and development for various types of online formats and tools including WinHelp, HTML Help, CE Help, JavaHelp, RoboHelp, ForeHelp, Flare, and many now known only in legend. Much of that work involved assisting companies determine their tool and methodology needs and integrate their new tools and methodologies into their culture; that experience provides the basis for this presentation.

Neil is a columnist and frequent speaker for the STC and other professional groups, a member of the STC's Boston chapter, the creator and manager of the Beyond the Bleeding Edge stem at the STC's annual conference, and an STC Fellow.

Neil is Madcap Certified for Flare and Mimic, Adobe Certified for RoboHelp, and Viziapps certified.

He can be reached at:
nperlin at nperlin.cnc.net
and
www.hyperword.com