- By Michele Marques, Lead Information Developer, ITSM

Wow, what a week for conferences! Yesterday I dropped by the BMC virtual conference, and earlier this week I attended Lavacon.

BMC Virtual Conference: Simplify & Automate IT

The BMC virtual conference was a really cool way to check out information on a variety of IT topics without leaving my desk. I watched the presentation on The Future of IT Management. Then I dropped by the Dell booth in the exhibit hall, to see what they had to say about their experiences with BMC Remedy IT Service Management.

I didn't get into any conversations, but I scrolled through the conversations in the networking lounge and in some of the exhibit booths. People were talking about BMC products and everyone was excited about the virtual conference.

Although the conference took place on October 29, you can still drop by. You can view any of the presentations on demand, pick up literature from the exhibit hall, and see what people were talking about

Lavacon

Lavacon is a professional development conference for senior, lead, and management technical communicators - and for the past few years has been paired with a regional Project Management Institute conference. It's a great conference that includes sessions and workshops that I wouldn't get at other technical communications conferences.

Sessions that I attended included:

• Introduction to Strategic Planning by Alexandra Piacenza - There's only so much that she could cover in this brief session. Planning for innovation was especially interesting.
• Creativity session and Leadership workshop by Lisa DiTullio - Interesting ideas about promoting creativity. Lots of discussion about the difference between Management and Leadership.
• Zen and the Art of Managing Up by Emma Hamer - How many times do you run around in a tizzy, because your boss has an urgent request for information, and you have to figure out how to get the information? Emma had some great suggestions for ways to be proactive that can prevent these sort of disruptions.
• Strategies for Coping with User-Generated Content by Sarah O'Keefe - Sarah opened with the video United Breaks Guitars as the ultimate in user-generated content that a company wouldn't want and then moved on to talk about strategies to involve users in a positive way in your community.
• Influencing without Authority by Andrea Ames - Andrea has achieved a high level of influence that extends beyond technical communication.
• Critical Thinking Skills for Conflict Resolution by Bonni Graham - We played a conflict role-playing game that helped show how personal biases and personal goals affect how people act in conflict. I'm not sure yet whether this knowledge will help me deal with conflict. I was really bad at picking up on people's hidden agendas.
• Management Challenges with DITA by Jim Smith and Vivian Aschwandan - Whether you're a manager or a writer, some of the biggest challenges with DITA are knowing "what is a topic" and dealing with what they called "stealth topics" (such as tasks hidden in concepts).
• DITA 1.2 and the DITA Open Toolkit by Robert Andersonand Leigh White - Although this workshop was fraught with hardware challenges, I'm now eagerly awaiting some of the new features of DITA 1.2, especially the conref extensions.

- By Michele Marques, Lead Information Developer, ITSM

Today I just read the news that BMC Software has been awarded the first official ITIL® software certification. How cool is that?

OK, if you're reading my blog because you're a technical communicator, maybe you're wondering why I'm so excited.

ITIL stands for IT Information Library®, and consists of a set of guidelines about good practices for IT departments. Used by thousands of organizations around the world, ITIL has become the de facto standard for IT best practices. I heard about ITIL before joining BMC, and since I joined have become ITIL Foundation certified (like most others).

When I first started working at BMC Software, I wrote documentation about BMC Remedy Service Desk. Even though I now write about other tools and products within BMC Remedy IT Service Management Suite, I'll always think fondly of BMC Remedy Service Desk.

What does all that have to do with the new certification? This ITIL certification is specifically: BMC Remedy Service Desk 7.0.3 Gold Level Process Compliance for Incident and Problem Management.

For many years I've heard the debate over whether to include printed manuals with the products. It seems like the move to PDF, online help, wikis, and blogs must finally be making a dent in how much we print, because one of the printer manufacturers is running a big ad compaign in an attempt to get people to print more.

What sort of documentation do you get with the iPod?

Recently, I finally got an iPod. Of course, as a writer, I find myself paying attention to how they provide documentation, and it gives me some ideas for documentation minimalism. Even with their simple design, Apple includes a small printed manual. More of a mini-brochure with just a few basics to get started.

You have to go online to get a more complete manual. But what a great idea! Besides not wasting paper on printing (I didn't print my copy), I have the latest version.

But even if you don't look at the manual, some of the less obvious features are displayed on the iPod where you need it. For example, a note in the Contact section provides instructions on how to load contacts if you don't synchronize with outlook. Or when I accidentally created an on-the-go play list, an additional on-the-go play list appeared and included a note explaining the feature.

What does this mean for documenting larger products?

The iPod is a simple consumer device. Although it's a great device, it supports only limited functionality (not that I necessarily want it to do more). Does the iPod's documentation offer any suggestions to how to improve the documentation experience for products that offer greater functionality, such as BMC Remedy Service Desk?

To me, it seems like there are a few lessons that can be learned:

• In the box, include printed materials only to cover the bare minimum of what people need to know to get started. This highlights what is needed to get started, and doesn't overwhelm people with information that they need only later.
• Make the bulk of the manuals available on-line (although electronic copy included with the product distribution media might also work).
  
• Provide help where they need it. Does this mean context-sensitive help? Field-level help? Help panels embedded in the product at key points? I'm not sure.

What about you?

How do you like to receive your product information? Do you have any examples of what works for you? and what doesn't? Leave a comment - I'd love to read your thoughts.