InfoPlus June 2025

ISTC News
ISTC Community
A bit of AI … poking and prodding
Upcoming events
Training courses
About InfoPlus
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ISTC News

TCUK25 – Save The Date!

TCUK25 will be live, and in-person, at Radisson Blue, East Midlands Airport on 24th and 25th November. Keep an eye on the TCUK web page for updates.

Call for proposals opens from June 3rd! We welcome both new and experienced speakers, and we encourage diversity. We are performing blind reviews to give everyone a fair assessment. Please help us spread the word!

Potential speakers can find inspiration in a list of topics that have been requested by ISTC members and previous participants. This will be posted along with the call for proposals on the TCUK web page.

Note: If you’re a member, you can post topic requests in our forum, and we will update the list of topics as suggestions come in.

UK Technical Communication Awards

Entries are now open for 2025 through the ISTC website. Please check here for details. Then fill out the entry form to nominate yourself, your team or someone else. If you need any help with your online submission, contact us at istc@istc.org.uk.

We are keeping the established guidelines. The Awards are open to any individual or team, whether employed, self-employed, contracting, volunteering, permanent, temporary, full-time, or part-time. We continue to encourage entries of all types, from traditional documentation to those demonstrating technical innovation and look forward to receiving yours.

Improving Access, Building Skills: Help Shape What Comes Next

In May, the volunteer website strategy group continued to make steady progress on both the existing website and the upcoming redesign.

As part of the redesign work, we’ve been focusing on the specification phase, using user stories, user story mapping, and the Diátaxis framework to define content types and clarify user needs. This stage is now drawing to a close, and we’re preparing to move into the next phase.
In June, we’ll begin work on the structural planning stage, shaping the information architecture and content model for the new site. Alongside this, and with TCUK 2025 planning well underway, we’re exploring ways to help members access conference information more easily. One idea we’re considering is to offer venue details in audio format, available to stream or download from the website.

If you think you would personally benefit from this format, or if you have professional experience with accessibility considerations, we’d very much value your input – please contact us at istc@istc.org.uk.

We’re also planning to review our earlier content inventory work in light of the user personas we’ve developed. This will help us refine the content already on the site and identify where new material is needed to support different user needs.
One area of ongoing improvement is the Communicator section. We’re continuing to enhance the structure and provide more detailed information for each issue, making it easier for members to browse and explore past editions.
Meanwhile, we’ve started preparing new content to help members discover the full range of ISTC benefits, aiming to make it quicker and easier to see what’s available and how to access it.

If you’re looking to connect with other professionals, build experience in UX, content strategy, or collaborative projects, and strengthen your portfolio, CV, or CPD, we’d love to welcome you to the website team.

To get involved or find out more, email istc@istc.org.uk.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

With our TCUK announcement, here’s a trip down memory lane for our older members. Twenty-five years ago there was an ISTC event, but it was called Forum 2000 back then.

The event was held between the 12th and 14th of June 2000 and was hosted at the Commonwealth Institute in Kensington, London. We had technical communicators visiting from around the world.

This was the postcard sent out to potential companies and individual visitors.

The back of the postcard needed to be completed and then it was sent back to ISTC in order to register your attendance (or not) and whether your company wanted to exhibit there. Who needed email 25 years ago!

Unfortunately, I can’t include the back of this particular one, as it’s got personal details on it, but it is nice to see that the company in question is still going. Even if they declined to attend … harrumph!

IJTC Update

There are now 10 articles available from Jean Rollinson’s back catalogue of handy editing tips from her columns in Communicator. A full list of them were included in the May Newsletter, and there are a few more that need to be added, but they will appear in the June newsletter.

Other authors are also submitting some articles, so the next couple of months will be chock-full.

If you have anything that you would like to publish then get in touch with me via the editor@ijtc.net address.

Advertise in InfoPlus

Get your company or products noticed in the TechComms community! We are offering new opportunities for advertising in our monthly InfoPlus newsletter.

These adverts are banners to be positioned as you choose. Placement examples are included in this PDF, which also contains all the necessary steps and costs involved to place an advert in future editions of InfoPlus.

If you would like to advertise with us please contact Chantel Sankey – istc@istc.org.uk.

ISTC Community

Become more involved in the professional community through the ISTC Area Groups, join us online at one of our monthly ISTC Meets events, and find us on social media (links below). Members (once logged in) also have access to the ISTC Discussion Forums.

Area Groups

If you wish to start your own Area Group, contact istc@istc.org.uk.

Eastern England Group

This is a new group for the Eastern England area and it’s being run by Andy Smith.

Email Andy on easternengland@istc.org.uk for a meeting link.

The Eastern England group are online only, meeting on Zoom. The regular day and time for each monthly meeting will be the second Tuesday of each month and it will start at 19:30.

There is no agenda nor speakers and the group is currently working out what sort of group to be. Come along and you can help steer them in the right direction.

Geographically, they cover the east of England from East Anglia to Northumberland but welcome people from far and wide. Members and non-members of the ISTC are welcome.

Thames Valley Area Group

The Thames Valley local group meeting is at the Bird-in-Hand pub in Knowle Hill, RG10 9UP on the first Tuesday of each month from 7.30pm. All are welcome.

They rarely have a set subject but the conversation always has a strong tech comms flavour. Maybe something from recent news, something that has happened at work, or some new technology to discuss.

London Area Group

The next London Area Group meetup is Wednesday 25th June. This meeting is in person and further details will be posted in the WhatsApp chat for the group nearer the time.

ISTC Meets

ISTC Meets is our monthly series of live online presentations and discussions from industry experts across the Technical Communication spectrum.

June’s ISTC Meets features Vladimir Izmalkov and he will be talking about the Diataxis technical writing methodology. It is scheduled for June 13th 2025 and it starts at 13:00.

To register for this ISTC Meets, please click this Zoom link.

If you contact ISTC directly, istc@istc.org.uk, you can be added to the ISTC Meets mailing list.

For full details of all of our previous speakers, and for all future ISTC Meets, please visit our website.

Note that during July and August, ISTC Meets takes a summer break and it will return in September.

Talking Heads wanted!

If there are people out there willing to give a 30 minute or so talk on their aspects of tech comms (via Zoom), please get in touch with ISTC Meets.

Social Media

Community Forums

The forums are available to all members once you have logged into the ISTC website.

A Request for Back Issues

In ISTC Towers we’ve recently been looking at all of our back issues of our magazine, Communicator – or The Communicator, as it was originally called. Currently we are missing a few scans of our older issues and we’d like to find these gap fillers.

To save repeating this list in every issue of InfoPlus going forward, we’ve added the list of missing issues to the Communicator Archive page.

On May 22nd 2025, we received our very first missing issue. The first issue from 1991 was sent in by Graham Sledge. Many thanks! We’re still missing quite a few but it’s one entry that could be removed from our archive page.

A bit of AI … poking and prodding.

I had fun trying to create a simple logo to use on all of Jean’s articles for IJTC this month, but I got there in the end.

With the initial help of CoPilot, but accompanied by AI’s awful spelling of whatever words I entered. Sometimes it said Jenna, sometimes it missed out the apostrophe in Jean’s surname. It’s not just CoPilot that does this, but AI in general.

Whilst the generation of hands in AI graphics are improving (slowly), text positioning and spelling still have a way to go. I removed the original text abomination and recreated it using a similar Canva layout template, which was exported to a PNG.

The background of the new logo (using Paint.net) was removed, the colours were inverted and then both images were merged into one as they were stored in separate layers. There was a bit of shunting around to get the Canva output to line up with the circle shape. It’s not perfect, but it’ll do.

Considering this was only my third use of Canva and I can see that the curvature of the writing isn’t 100%, but c’est la vie.

The curvature inconsistences bugged me a bit, so I’ve fixed that and the logo used on IJTC is now slightly better. It’s not perfect, just a bit better, so if you read any of Jean’s articles, it will look a slightly different compared to the one above.

Overall, this was a handy suite of tools for a “quick” logo creation and it is a lot cheaper than a Photoshop licence. I’m not sure what the Paint.net equivalents are for Mac and Linux users, but there’s bound to be something out there that can do simple layer merges without you having to install gigabytes of unwanted extras.

Upcoming Events

There are multiple in-person and/or online-only conferences coming up from June onwards. All of their details are below:

Title: Adobe DITAWORLD
Date: June 3rd-5th, 2025
Online/In-Person: Online (100% Free)
Website: https://2025-adobe-dita-world.meetus.adobeevents.com/

Adobe DITAWORLD is a global online event that brings together content professionals to explore the latest advancements in technical communication, content management, and strategy. The conference features expert-led sessions covering best practices in DITA, insights into Adobe’s DITA CCMS, and discussions on optimizing content workflows. Attendees gain valuable knowledge from industry leaders while discovering innovative approaches to managing and delivering content effectively.

Title: RAISE Summit
Date: July 8th-9th, 2025
Online/In-Person: Paris, France
Website: https://www.raisesummit.com/

RAISE Summitt promises an exclusive experience and event designed to disrupt, build, and network across AI applications. This event covers real-world use cases, outlines playbooks for AI success, and connects innovative minds with industry experts. Additionally, the event hosts a Hackathon with over 300 participants to help spark new ideas for GenAI technologies.

Title: NORDIC TechKomm
Date: September 24th-25th, 2025
Online/In-Person: Copenhagen, Denmark
Website: https://dk.nordic-techkomm.com/

Like their event in March, the NORDIC TechKomm Denmark conference is a must-go for technical communication professionals. There, expect to see conferences on the latest industry trends by well-known leaders from around the world. Don’t miss their workshop sessions where attendees share concrete tools and practices for daily work.

Title: MadWorld
Date: September 29th-October 1st, 2025
Online/In-Person: Denver, Colorado
Website: https://www.madcapsoftware.com/madworld-conferences/madworld-2025/

MadWorld brands itself as THE leading event for content innovators, so don’t miss this opportunity to learn and connect with industry leaders in technical communication and learning & development. This event brings together users of Flare, Central, IXIA CCMS, and Xyleme, as well as other content creation professionals. Attendees will participate in hands-on workshops, breakout sessions, networking, and one-on-one meet-ups with MadCap’s product and support teams.

Title: LavaCon 2025
Date: October 5th-8th, 2025
Online/In-Person: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Website: https://lavacon.org/

LavaCon 2025 focuses on bridging content strategy and operations to reduce costs, drive revenue, and improve customer experiences. It’s a key event for content professionals to share best practices, network, and build lasting relationships.

Title: Write The Docs, Berlin 2025
Date: October 27th-28th, 2025
Online/In-Person: Berlin, Germany
Website: https://www.writethedocs.org/conf/berlin/2025/news/welcome/

We’re excited to announce a new conference: Write the Docs Berlin! This is a hybrid conference, with an in-person event in Berlin, Germany, and a virtual platform.

This will be our first in-person event in Europe since Prague 2019, and we’re excited to add this to our conference lineup once again. The venue will be announced soon.

Our in-person event will have two days of talks, a social event, and an unconference. On the virtual platform, you can follow all talks, participate in the Q&A after, and chat with your fellow attendees.

Training Courses

Accredited courses have been reviewed by a professional panel of experienced ISTC members. A course listed as “ISTC Accredited” means that the panel believes the course meets its stated objectives and is suitable for its intended audience.

Course providers have to apply for renewal of accreditation every 2 years, which helps to ensure the courses reflect current best practice.

Armada

The Armada course (run over 5 days) is available either online or via an in-person classroom-based course. The next dates are:

Reading: Classroom-based & Online – 16th – 20th June 2025
Bristol: Classroom-based – 22nd September – 26th September

There are also classes available at their Birmingham / Bromsgrove, Cardiff, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Nottingham and Sheffield Training Centres. These would need to be arranged upon request.

For further details, see www.armada.co.uk/course/tatp.

Cherryleaf

The Cherryleaf courses are available online and can be booked for single tech comms people or as a group.

Technical Writer – Induction Course: https://cherryleaf.teachable.com/p/technical-writer-induction-course

Using Generative AI in Technical Writing: https://cherryleaf.teachable.com/p/using-generative-ai

ESTON Technical/Commercial Authorship

This course run by ESTON is online-only and is available any time.

Technical/Commercial Authorship Diploma Course ‐ Parts 1 & 2 (EDL2D)

ESTON Simplified English Part 3 (EDL8T)

A discount is offered to ISTC members.

TCTrainNet – tekom Certificate training in Technical Communication

There are two accredited courses available from TCTrain and the dates in 2025 when they are run are:

TCTrain Professional course for beginners and career changers:

June 23rd 2025
September 29th 2025
November 24th 2025

TCTrainNet Professional

TCTrain Expert course for experienced technical writers:

October 20th 2025

TCTrainNet Expert

For ISTC members, TCTrainNet offer a discount of 200 Euros too.

Firehead

Firehead offer a number of accredited courses. They are supplied in a format of videos, PDFs, eBooks and assessments.

Please note that attending an ISTC Accredited course from the trainers above does not automatically make you an ISTC Member. You will still need to apply for ISTC membership afterwards. If the training course has whet your whistle, then come and join us.

About InfoPlus

InfoPlus is your go-to source for staying informed about our profession, featuring news not only from the ISTC but also from across the technical communication community.

This complimentary newsletter is emailed to approximately 1500 individuals.

Subscribe to InfoPlus here, you can unsubscribe at any time from within the email sent out each month.

For advertising enquiries, contact istc@istc.org.uk.

Submitting content

If you have noteworthy information to share with your peers, please send it my way at newsletter.editor@istc.org.uk. We want to ensure that your news reaches as many people as possible.

Published and distributed on the first working day of each month, InfoPlus occasionally experiences slight delays until the first week of the month. Keep this in mind when submitting time-sensitive information.

Please get the information for the July 2025 edition to newsletter.editor@istc.org.uk by Monday 16th June 2025.

About our publishers

InfoPlus, the Monthly Newsletter from the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators (ISTC), is a valuable resource for the largest UK body representing scientific and technical communicators. Whether you are involved in technical writing, technical illustration, or other forms of communicating technical information, ISTC is the professional association dedicated to supporting your career.

Explore the benefits of ISTC membership and find out how to join.

Back Page

And we’re back at an empty back page. The only thing I found that was remotely usuable was a meme about how printers and cats are very similar, but as I didn’t know the exact source of where the meme came from, it couldn’t be used.

Trying to find unique and amusing entries is getting harder each month. For a change, would the members want to see puzzles on a more regular basis, like the wordsearch that was published in last December’s InfoPlus? They don’t have to be based around words found in technical comms, so that would widen the range of puzzles that can be created.

Although, if you have something else, be it funny or a puzzle, or even if it’s more puns, you can send them to newsletter.editor@istc.org.uk by Monday 16th June 2025.

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