ISTC news
TCUK2026 News
TCUK26 will take place online on Wednesday 11th November.
It will start at 1pm with the ISTC AGM which is for ISTC members only.
The UKTC Awards ceremony will then take place at 1.30pm where the results will be announced.
Finally we hope to have 1 or 2 invited speakers giving presentations.
The link to register is – https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/vCll-x1nShmfS7rOEudj4w
We look forward to seeing you there.
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.
Website volunteer team
Website updates
We have struggled a bit this month as half of our volunteer team were given that “lovely” cold that seems to be doing the rounds.
The remainder of the team ploughed on as best as they could. We are looking at approximately 20-25 pages that will have updated/revised content available within the next month.
The three Indexes on the website have all been brought up to date with the contents from the Volume 2 of Communicator 2026.
Want to lend a hand?
If you’d like to help the ISTC improve its website and collaborate with other ISTC members in the process, send an email to istc@istc.org.uk.
We’re a friendly team and there’s no pressure to volunteer a particular number of hours, you can help out as and when your availability allows.
IJTC news
September newsletter
The newsletter was sent out on the 19th September and it contained the first six articles (from a series of 18!) covering localisation by CJ Walker.
The articles were:
- Localization skills for Technical Communicators
- How Localization Skills Empower Technical Communicators
- How Writing for Translation Skills Empower Technical Communicators
- How Controlled Language and STE Skills Empower Technical Communicators
- How Translation Management System Skills Empower Technical Communicators
- How File Formats and Localization Engineering Skills Empower Technical Communicators
The IJTC website is here.
You must be a member of the ISTC to log in to the IJTC. You will have been added to the website when you joined the ISTC.
We want your articles!
Here are the rules:
- It doesn’t have to be of an epic length. We’re not expecting you to craft x-thousand words to fill a page.
- There’s nothing stopping you from sending in multiple small articles for a series, along the lines of our series from Jean Rollinson and CJ Walker.
- It has to be relevant to the technical communicators who are part of ISTC – as well as our Australian and New Zealand colleagues.
- If you would like to submit your “day in the life”, they are also welcome.
- It must not be generated using AI. You can, however, write about AI tools used within the tech comms field.
Take a look at the other articles already on the website and see if your subject would fit in.
When you’re ready to get your article(s) published, send it to editor@ijtc.net.
ISTC Community
ISTC Slack
The details of where to find our Slack channel can be found on the Members’ Portal page when you log onto the ISTC Website.
Before joining please remember:
This is a professional space, and all areas, including any private messages, may be reviewed by the ISTC and are subject to the ISTC’s Code of Professional Practice.
We look forward to seeing you in there.
Area groups
If you wish to start your own Area Group, contact istc@istc.org.uk.
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 meetup is Wednesday 21st October. Here’s a photo taken from the group’s September meet-up.
From L-R: Ian, Jacqueline, Vladimir and Thomas.
ISTC Meets
This is our monthly series of online live presentations and discussions from industry experts across the Technical Communication spectrum.
For full details of all of our previous speakers, and for all future ISTC Meets, please visit our website.
Details of what our October edition of ISTC Meets will be covering will be emailed to all members of the mailing list after this issue of InfoPlus has been sent out.
Contact the ISTC directly, istc@istc.org.uk, to be added to the ISTC Meets mailing list.
Talking heads wanted!
Do you want to give a 30 minute talk on any aspects of tech comms (via Zoom)? Get in touch with ISTC Meets.
Social media
We recently pared back our social media areas to make them easier to manage and post to. Our FB pages for ISTC and TCUK will remain for the time being whilst they are archived, then they will be removed permanently.
Community forums
The forums are available to all members once logged into the ISTC website.
AI news & apps
Not a great month …
September has not been a great month for positive coverage of all things AI. So much so that I’ve pensioned off the AI Tools section for this issue.
- King Charles III warned tech executives of the ‘existential dangers’ of artificial intelligence falling into the wrong hands at a summit at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, Scotland in September.
He stated that AI risks developing “darker capacities—perhaps even to take life” if used in “potentially catastrophic ways.” - Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith recently said he supported the idea of a kill switch for AI. Speaking at a panel at the United Nations General Assembly.
He said: “The people who create the model should have the ability to turn it off. The cloud infrastructure providers like us should have it. The people who put in place the controls around AI agents should be able to turn them off. And I don’t think it’s a bad thing if we have a regulation that requires that.” - Reach plc, The publisher of the Mirror and Express newspapers, is cutting a further 220 editorial jobs as it adapts to a dramatic fall in online traffic while readers increasingly turn to summaries generated by artificial intelligence.
- The final extract from the same panel at the United Nations, both OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei spoke separately to the council but both pleaded with world leaders to come together to help manage the threats posted by rapid AI developments and capabilities.
Rogue AI agents only the tip of the problem!
OpenAI and Anthropic are investigating tens of thousands of cases of AI misbehaving. A report from Axios referenced that multiple companies are dealing with thousands of security incidents.
The episodes include bypassing guardrails, creating message boards, escaping sandboxes, website hijacking, self-prompting or seeking to bypass monitors, sources said.
New AI Documentary
The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist (trailer) is a documentary by an expectant father (director Daniel Roher) as he investigates the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, interviewing top tech leaders and experts to understand the future his child will inherit.
It is now available on UK streaming sites such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.
The Hugging Face Incident
And finally, to end this cheery column, here’s a report from the Black Hat USA 2026 event about the above and it goes into the real nitty gritty behind the incident.
Free AI Stuff
Gov.UK courses (all free!)
Choose from the recommended courses to build your foundational AI skills.
Click here to see the available courses
4500 Free AI Prompts
Last month I found 500 free (mostly) image generators. I’ve upped the ante this month by finding a similar site, but with an extra 4000 prompts included.
Technical Writer HQ Infographic
Our thanks go to Technical Writer HQ for the above infographic. We will be including one in every issue of InfoPlus for the remainder of this year.
Upcoming events
There are multiple in-person and/or online-only conferences coming up this year. If you think we’ve missed any out, please get in touch via newsletter.editor@istc.org.uk, or send me a message via the ISTC Slack channel.
Title: Lavacon 2026
Date: October 25th-28th
Online/In-Person: Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Website: https://www.lavacon.org/
LavaCon is a gathering place for Content Strategists, Documentation Managers, and other content professionals willing to share their best practices and lesson learned—what worked, and what didn’t.
Our Mission: To help organisations reduce costs, increase revenue, and improve the Customer Experience through better content.
Title: Converge 2026
Date: October 22nd, 2026
In-Person: Sage 2, The Glasshouse, Newcastle (UK)
Website: https://converge.zeroheight.com/
Converge is zeroheight’s annual Design System conference, now in its 5th year. This time, we’re heading north to Newcastle!
Converge is for people doing the work of design systems, from starting out to scaling.
We’re coming together to share the messy realities, learn from each other, and move forward as a community.
Title: Service Design Global Conference
Date: 28th to 30th October 2026
In-Person: RheinMain Congress Center, Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 1, 65185 Wiesbaden, Germany
Website: https://www.servicedesignglobalconference.com/
The theme for this year’s event is “Beyond Boundaries: Enabling Solutions that Shape Tomorrow” and it explores how organisations across the public and private sectors, and the communities they serve, can move past today’s limits to shape more resilient, meaningful futures through service design.
As organisations face structural, cultural, technological, and environmental boundaries, progress increasingly depends on new ways of working, collaborating, and making sense of complexity across disciplines.
Accredited 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.
Training Courses
Armada
The Technical Authoring Training Programme by Armada is run over 5 days.
You can attend in-person at our dedicated training facilities at Bristol, Bromsgrove, Manchester or Reading, or participate live online.
The next course dates are:
- Online – 23rd–27th November, 2026
- Reading: Classroom-based – 23rd–27th November, 2026
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.
- Using Generative AI in Technical Writing
48 modules, 40+ exercises, and personal feedback from working experts. Self-paced accredited course. - Technical Writer – Induction Course
An affordable way to master the skills of technical writing, with assessments and a certificate.
TCTrainNet
There are two accredited courses available from TCTrainNet:
- TCTrainNet Professional
Aimed at beginners and career changers. Intakes 20th April and 22nd June 2026. - TCTrainNet Expert
Aimed at experienced technical writers. Intakes 20th April and 12th October 2026.
Firehead
Firehead offer a number of accredited courses. They are supplied in a format of videos, PDFs, eBooks and assessments.
Important
Attending an ISTC Accredited course does not automatically make you an ISTC Member. Becoming an ISTC member is separate from attending an accredited course and requires applying separately. If the training course has wet your whistle, then come and join us.
About InfoPlus
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Back page
Nothing this month as all I’m seeing is tumbleweed wandering through the Back Page mailbox – mainly because it only exists in my imagination, but you get my drift.
Do you have any funny items that could go in here? If so, see the other column for details of where to send them.
Can you do any better?
If so, you can send them to newsletter.editor@istc.org.uk, or send me a message via the ISTC Slack channel, by 19th October 2026.