Archived Webinars

If you missed our webinars, you can view the recordings in our archive.

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The Things No One Ever Tells You: Turning Content into a Strategic Asset

Speakers: Alan Miller of Simply Consulting, Simply Limited and Bill Burns of Vasont Systems

Getting content on the corporate and commercial agenda can often feel like an insurmountable challenge. And once it’s on the agenda, you must deliver. The task feels complex and fraught with risk, and success seems a distant hope rather than a guaranteed outcome.

Join this webinar and hear our guest speaker Alan Miller, Managing Director of Simply Consulting, Simply Limited, give sound practical advice for making sense of the opportunity, seeking the right expertise and managing the change to ensure content becomes a strategic asset that can drive the future ambitions of your organization.

Standards for Standards Organizations

Speakers: Dr. JoAnn Hackos of Comtech Services, Inc and Bill Burns of Vasont Systems

Standards development has long been plagued by the problems of developing content in desktop publishing applications. Structure is difficult to maintain. Formatting can be a nightmare. And, reviews using MSWord or PDFs make it difficult for reviewers to share comments and resolutions.

Structured authoring using the OASIS DITA XML-based standards and a good content management system can help standards development organizations (SDOs) streamline their processes. DITA provides for structured authoring and enables pushbutton formatting. Content chunks can easily be reused among more than one project, ensuring consistency. And maps make it possible for multiple authors to develop content independently.

Content Management Systems store individual topics, supporting version control and history. Reviews are done by groups, not individuals. And, final output is easily produced in PDF and HTML, providing for responsive design on multiple devices.

Introduction to XML

Speakers: Bill Burns of Vasont Systems

This webinar provides an overview of XML for beginners. Technical communicators rely on XML to provide a standard format for developing, translating, and publishing content. When structured using the XML standard, content is easily interchangeable among different editing tools. XML allows you to more easily publish to multiple channels. This webinar will discuss the following points:

What is XML?
Why should you use XML?
A basic overview of the XML standard
Where you can learn more about XML

Personalized Content: The right content, at the right time, and on the right device

Speakers: Ann Rockley of The Rockley Group, Suzanne Mescan of Vasont Systems, and Andrew Douglas of Ingeniux

$An Introduction to Component Content Management Systems (CCMS)t\$

An Introduction to Component Content Management
Systems (CCMS)

Speakers: Bill Burns of Vasont Systems

Component Content Management Systems (CCMS) have dramatically changed the way writers and editors develop and deliver content. These systems provide a better way to find, share, and reuse content for global and remote writing teams. CCMSs not only manage content; they also manage the processes that surround the content, providing thorough tracking and automation. In this webinar, you will learn:

Concepts of component content management
A basic overview of how a CCMS works
Where you can learn more about a CCMS

Dynamic Delivery: Personalized Content for Customers

Speakers: Ann Rockley of The Rockley Group, Suzanne Mescan of Vasont Systems, and Andrew Douglas of Ingeniux

Most organizations have multiple types of customers and many audiences. The standard way to deliver content is to provide all the content a customer needs and let them determine what makes sense for them. But in today’s fast-paced environment few are willing to wade through the volumes of content; be it content marketing, product content, or self-serve troubleshooting. And even if they are motivated to search for the content; they may never find the right content. It is a whole lot easier to ask somebody for the information they need and that’s costly and time consuming for them and you.

We’ve been talking about giving our customers personalized content for a number of years, and while it was possible, it was hard to do. Dynamic content delivery is now a reality with dynamic delivery engines on the front-end and intelligent content on the back-end.

Building Enterprise Content Collaboration

Speakers: Dr. JoAnn Hackos of Comtech Services, Inc. and Suzanne Mescan of Vasont Systems

Your customers are confused and unhappy. When they look for information on your corporate website, they cannot find what they need. The website has product marketing content, service and support content, technical documentation, and is organized in a dozen different ways. You have no content strategy and your customers’ Total Information Experience leaves a lot to be desired.

The Journey from Unstructured Authoring to Structured Content and a CCMS

Speakers: Joan Taggart of Welch Allyn and Suzanne Mescan of Vasont Systems

How to Manage Change When Moving to a Component Content Management Strategy

Speakers: Dr. JoAnn Hackos of Comtech Services and Suzanne Mescan of Vasont Systems

You are intent on a successful move to a component content management strategy, but you know you have hard work ahead. You have people to train in new methods of developing modular content. They need to learn the OASIS DITA standard or other XML standards. They need experience with a host of new tools to write, store, and publish content. They need to understand how to plan for reuse and develop content for multiple devices.

Isn’t it obvious? You need a process for managing all this change. Some of your people are excited and looking forward to the challenge. Others are waiting for positive early results. Some are laggards, perfectly happy with their traditional ways of working and busily predicting failure. It’s like herding cats.

Best Practices in Microsoft Word to Create the Best Content for CCMS Migration

Speakers: Bernard Aschwanden of Publishing Smarter and Suzanne Mescan of Vasont Systems

Finding Flexibility in a Rigid World: A Case Study featuring Medtronic

Speakers: Nicole Zepper of Medtronic Neuromodulation and Suzanne Mescan of Vasont Systems

Sprinkle the Pixie Dust: How to Sell Your Content Management Initiative Internally

Speakers: Dr. JoAnn Hackos of ComTech Services and Suzanne Mescan of Vasont Systems

You’ve recognized that your content development and publishing processes are in need of an overhaul, but getting a content management strategy approved and funded by your management team can be a tough job. In this webinar sponsored by Data Conversion Laboratory, Dr. JoAnn Hackos of Comtech Services and Suzanne Mescan of Vasont Systems will explain how you can “sprinkle the pixie dust” around your organization to move your content management strategy forward. They will explain how to:

Find a champion for your cause
Navigate your way through the approval process in your organization
Align your content strategy with your organization’s goals
Develop a proposal for a content management strategy
Build the estimated return on investment for your proposal

Managing the Changing Roles of Writers When Moving to a Structured Authoring and CM Strategy

Speakers: Suzanne Mescan of Vasont Systems

Winning on the Web: Content Just The Way They Like It

Speakers: Suzanne Mescan of Vasont Systems and Christopher Ward of Webworks

Measuring Metrics of a Component Content Management System

Speakers: Ann Rockley of The Rockley Group and Vasont Systems

In this complimentary webinar, guest speaker Ann Rockley of The Rockley Group will talk in depth about how you can measure the benefits of using a component content management system (CCMS) and what metrics can be used to take those measurements.

How Merck Advanced Their Global Content Collaboration

Speakers: Michael DeFerrari and Dr. Robert Porter of Merck & Co., Suzanne Mescan of Vasont Systems

Since 1899, Merck & Co. has been publishing medical information for physicians, pharmacists, veterinarians, and people interested in medical care who did not have a medical degree. Today, these publications, known as The Merck Manuals, require hundreds of writers from around the world to contribute and revise content on an ongoing basis. With such a large and dispersed team, Merck experienced many challenges in the technologies needed to coordinate and maintain publishing schedules as well as in the varied technical skill levels of team members. Join this webinar, hosted by Vasont Systems and Syncro Soft/oXygen XML Editor, to hear how Merck has advanced their content management and collaboration processes with this global team to overcome these challenges.

Evangelizing a Content Management System in Your Organization

Speakers: Ann Rockley of The Rockley Group and Suzanne Mescan of Vasont Systems

Whether you are shopping for a CMS or you already own one, it’s beneficial to get as many groups involved in your content strategy as you can to improve your corporate branding and customer loyalty. It will also help you in getting and keeping a budget for the CMS. This webinar, hosted by Vasont Systems featuring guest speaker Ann Rockley of The Rockley Group, will provide strategies for spreading its use throughout your organization to achieve an overall corporate content strategy. Get the answers to these questions:

Why evangelize content management?
How do you identify other departments or divisions that might benefit from the CMS?
How do you build a content sharing strategy with other departments?
How can you measure the benefits? What metrics can be used?

Gaining Value From Global Content Using A CCMS

Speakers: Brent Murphy of Hewlett-Packard and Suzanne Mescan of Vasont Systems

Structured Authoring: Getting from Point A to Point B

Speakers: Jacquie Samuels of Publishing Smarter, Suzanne Mescan of Vasont Systems, and Maxwell Hoffman of Adobe