Blog - Posts tagged australia-2018

Highlights and thanks from the Australian conference

2018-12-03T00:00:00Z

We had our first Write the Docs Australia conference in Melbourne on 15-16 Nov. While we had the Write the Docs Day in 2017, this was our first proper conference that went for 2 days and was packed with presentations, workshops, lightning talks and unconference sessions. Here’s a quick recap of the 2 days.

Conference recap

At over 100 people, our first conference was a great start to what should now become a regular event on the Write the Docs conference calendar. We had a mix of main stage and lightning talks, unconference sessions, workshops and a social event. We received a lot of positive feedback on all of these and look forward to carry them to future events. We also had some interesting feedback on some things we might improve for next time.

The main stage presentations had a good blend of topics across documentation, user experience, customer support, content strategy, coding and style guides.
The unconference sessions and the lightning talks was well received and prompted people to think, collaborate and talk about documentation in a more unstructured way. It also allowed people to discuss topics that were not covered fully or partially throughout the conference.
We received a mixed response to the workshops and this can be an area we can look at improving next year.

Overall, we were so excited to see our first conference come together and see our awesome community gather under one roof.

Conference venue

What better place to hold a documentation conference than a library! We had 2 rooms overlooking the sensational Port Phillip Bay right at the top floor of a public library. When the audience was not soaking in the documentation goodness, they were more than happy to stretch their legs and have a stroll through the library amidst tons of books.

Food and Drinks

In the spirit of the community sharing nature of Write the Docs events, we decided to use social enterprises for our catering. Our food (check out the photos to see the amazing spread!) was catered for by Streat, who are tackling youth homelessness and disadvantage their way. When it came to beverages, we were ably supported by Wheelly Good Coffee, who have programs to improve the social and economic capabilities of some of Australia’s most high risk young people.

Videos and photos

Videos of all the talks are now available on our Youtube channel. Thanks to Darren Chan Photography (also one of our regular documentarians) for doing such a great job with the videos and photos from the conference. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss any future content!

We also have photos from the event available on Flickr You are welcome to use them for non-commercial purposes, as per our Creative Commons License.

Audience feedback

We sent out a survey to our attendees and these are some of the initial reactions:

80% of attendees found the conference relevant and helpful to their jobs

95% of attendees were satisfied with the session content

A few comments from the conference:

“Being part of the WTD community provides me access to a large, diverse group of very talented people.”

“I loved how diverse they all were. They were all great.”

“They were all great. A high bar set for next year.”

“I enjoyed the unconference sessions a lot as they were a good opportunity to take an active role, rather than a passive role.”

“Excellent event, well organised and structured, and highly enjoyable.”

“Great fun and social. Glad I attended. You created a safe / community space.”

Code of Conduct transparency report

As with any Write the Docs event, this conference was covered by our community Code of Conduct. We aim to be as transparent with CoC incidents and enforcement as we can.

To ensure that our CoC was visible and accessible, we took a number of specific steps:

Every participant agreed to the Code of Conduct in advance.
The CoC, or a summary, was included on the conference website, conference booklet, and in posters around the conference venue.
The CoC was repeatedly mentioned in announcements on the stage.
We specifically stressed that the CoC applies to all conference spaces including the social event, and therefore attendees should drink responsibly.
We encouraged all attendees to report any incident, even if they were not sure whether it was a violation.

None of our organizers were approached about any CoC concerns at this event. We know that this is, in part, a reflection of the thoughtful and inclusive community that we’re so lucky to have.

That being said, we’re also very conscious of the fact that just because nothing was reported doesn’t mean nothing happened. If there was any personal conduct or other aspect of the conference experience that did not meet the expectations of behavior set out in the CoC, please email us at australia@writethedocs.org.

Thanks again

We’re so grateful to our speakers, sponsors, volunteers, and attendees for making this conference possible. We hope to see you back next year – or even sooner at one of our other local events!

Announcing speakers and talks

2018-08-19T00:00:00Z

G’day folks!

We’re excited to announce that we’ve finalised our list of speakers and talks for the event! The selection process was tough as we had a strong batch of submissions. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to send us a pitch – we literally wouldn’t have an event without you!

We also have some info about ticket purchasing (now’s the time!), trip planning (Melbourne beckons!), opportunities to volunteer and of course our generous sponsors (want to join them?). Read on for more details!

Speakers and talks

This year, we hope to bring a wide range of voices to the Write the Docs stage. Because the role of “documentarian” looks so different to each of us, we aim for a line-up that spans a good mix of practical, philosophical, and technical topics – with the odd whimsical one thrown in for good measure. We’re really excited about the presentations we’ve got this year – we hope you are too!

Lana Brindley – Facebook, Dynamite, Uber, Bombs, and You

Mike Hamilton – Responsive Content - Presenting Your information On Any Device

Kristine Sihto – The Art of Consistency - Creating an inhouse style guide

Abhay Chokshi – UX writing - Let your product speak

Alexandra Perkins – Making Yourself Redundant on Day One - Internal documentation to teach the next hire what you’ve learned

Sarah Maddox – Workshop - Tech Writing 101

Matthew Borden – Good Code, Bad Code & Code Review

Nicola Nye – The subtle art of interrogation

Daniel Stevens – Creating experiences with information!

Laura Bailey – Backseat Content Strategy

Mathew Patterson – Power up your support team to create better documentation

Sara Marek – Workshop - Let’s create a Style Guide!

Jessica Parsons – Workshop - Static Site Generators, What, Why and How

Head over to the Speakers page to see the full abstracts. We hope there’s something there for everyone to enjoy, and also something that will broaden your horizons a bit.

Tickets

We have had the tickets on sale for a couple of months now, but if you were holding off until you saw the talks, delay no further! If you don’t have your ticket yet, now’s a great time to snap one up. If you’re planning to come, don’t leave it to the last minute.

Buy your tickets here!

Planning your trip

In the next few weeks, we’ll be announcing more details about the conference events, including the full schedule, workshops and the official social event on Thursday evening.

In the meantime, check out the Visit Melbourne page on the conference website for some resources on transport, where to stay, where to eat, etc. You can also pop into the #wtd-conferences channel on Slack to ask questions!

Volunteers

We sent out a call for volunteers a couple of weeks back. If you are interested in volunteering for this event, we have a few roles still available.

Head over to Call for Volunteers page for more information.

Thanks to our sponsors

We are so grateful to have our sponsors help in bringing these events to life every year. Thanks sincerely to the following companies for supporting the Write the Docs community:

Want to lend a hand? Head over to our sponsorship prospectus for details on how your company can get involved! We have several types of sponsorship available, and can customise your sponsorship to suit your flexibility.

And that’s the latest on the Australian conference. We hope you’re all getting as excited as we are! Stay tuned for more details.

The Write the Docs Australia Team

Call for Volunteers

2018-08-08T00:00:00Z

Each year we are blessed with an amazing team of volunteers who help with the variety of on-site operations, and the conference wouldn’t be such a success without them!

Volunteering at our events only requires a few hours per day. It’s a great way to meet the community, learn about how to run an event, and you get a free ticket to the conference!

We need volunteers for the following roles:

Explore Melbourne coordinator
Welcome Wagon coordinators
Speaker coordinator
Technical support
Swag coordinator
Speaker gifts coordinator
Greeter at the front desk

For details of what each role requires, look at the Event Roles page.

If you’re interested, please complete the volunteer form. We will be accepting volunteer applications until 3 - 4 weeks before the conference, if there are still open roles by then. You can expect to hear back from us from September 1st onward.

We only have a few openings for volunteers, and we will prioritize those who will be attending for the first time, also those who might not be able to attend otherwise. Unfortunately we cannot help with travel costs for volunteers, so please make sure that you are able to travel to the conference before applying for a role.

Announcing Details of Workshop: Tech Writing 101

2018-07-15T00:00:00Z

We’re delighted to announce the details of a Tech Writing 101 workshop as part of the Write the Docs Australia 2018 conference!

Operations manuals, design docs, code comments, email messages, post mortems… writing things down for others is an unavoidable part of the life of an engineer, a UX designer, a product manager, and, of course, a tech writer.

The workshop leads you through a series of pair-work exercises to improve the clarity, readability, and effectiveness of your writing. You’ll learn from an experienced Google technical writer and from each other.

By the end of the session you’ll also think differently about toothbrushes.

Before attending the workshop, you need to do a small amount of pre-reading (~30 minutes reading about basic technical writing concepts): https://lisafc.github.io/tw101-reading/

During the workshop, you’ll apply the principles you’ve read in the prework. We’ve found this method of learning is highly effective. And it’s just plain fun. The workshop has been run at SREcon in Europe 2017 and at SREcon in the US in 2018, where it was very well received. People said they came away with useful skills and cleaner teeth.

Join us

Find the workshop details at Workshop: Tech Writing 101.

We hope you’ll join us in Melbourne, Australia for the conference and for this exciting workshop, where you’ll learn something new about toothbrushes or at least how to write about them.

Announcing Australia Website, CFP, and Ticket Sales

2018-05-29T00:00:00Z

Welcome to the official kick-off of Write the Docs Australia 2018! It’s shaping up to be another wonderful year full of great conversations and interesting talks.

Today we are launching our website, call for proposals, and ticket sales.

Website

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As per our tradition of website optimization, this year’s website is even more friendly and lively! We’ve included (hopefully) all the information you need to plan your visit to Australia, such as venue location and a schedule overview.

As with all things on the web, there are likely to be a few lingering bugs with the design. Feel free to reach out to us by replying to this email, or emailing us at australia@writethedocs.org if you see any issues!

Tickets

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Ticket prices and descriptions are available on our Tickets page. Last year we had 50 attendees, and this year, we are planning to host 100-120 attendees across 2 days in a new location.

We believe that everyone who cares about this topic has a place at our event, and we keep ticket prices low so that it is accessible to the widest range of people possible. However, if you can’t afford these prices and still wish to attend, please email us at australia@writethedocs.org, and we can work on getting you reduced price tickets or volunteer options.

As with the previous years, we have tiered pricing to make it fair for everyone. Please buy the ticket that best fits your situation. Tickets are on sale now.

Call for proposals

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Every year, Write the Docs invites people from all across our community to come up on stage to share their insights and experience. Whether you’ve been writing documentation for decades or you’ve just started, we want to hear from you!

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The Call for Proposals page now has all the information that you need to prepare and submit your proposal.

Speaking at Write the Docs is a fantastic way to share your ideas with our inspiring community of documentarians. If there is something you’d really like to see a talk on this year, submit a proposal on it, or refer someone else who would be good!

The Call for Proposals will be open until Midnight AEST, 20th July 2018.

Conclusion

We hope you will join us in Melbourne, Australia for the first full Australian Write the Docs conference. Whether as a speaker or attendee, you can bet it will be another delightful year!