Presentations

Apart from writing this blog, I enjoy giving presentations at tech comm conferences, such as the ones listed below.

If you like my work and want me to contribute to a conference, please let me know by leaving a comment below (which will not be published) or by tweeting @techwriterkai.

Past presentations

Fall 2016
9 November 2016, tcworld conference, Stuttgart, Germany.
4 October 2016, tekom Danmark, Copenhagen, Denmark.
“Implementing the ISO/ IEC 26515 Standard for Agile Software Documentation”

8 Sept 2014
tekom Europe Roadshow, Paris, France.
“From Unstructured Documentation to Structured Topics”

17-21 May 2014 – STC Summit
STC Summit, Phoenix, AZ.
“From Unstructured Documentation to Structured Topics”

13-15 Apr 2014 – MadWorld
MadCap’s MadWorld, San Diego, CA.

• “You’d Better Recognize! Pattern Recognition For Technical Communicators”
• “Addicted to Meaning: Mental Models for Technical Communicators”
• “Dentists recommend MadCap Flare for more smiles than any other HAT!” (lightning talk)

6-8 Nov 2013 – tekom/tcworld
tekom’s tcworld, Wiesbaden, Germany.
“Why you need a tech comm mission statement and how to get one”
Feedback by attendees on a scale from 6 (excellent) to 1 (very poor):

• 5.77: Overall impression of speaker
• 5.04: Contents of presentation
• 5.42: Quality of presentation
• 5.7: Overall evaluation

24-26 September 2013 – TCUK
ISTC’s Technical Communication UK, Bristol.

• “Addicted to Meaning: Mental Models for Technical Communicators”
  Feedback by attendees:
  • “If only @techwriterkai had taught at my university! I might have engaged with semiotics. #tcuk13”
  • “Loved this. Made a potentially complex and abstract topic easy to engage with by including lots of references and humour. More like this please :-)”
  • “Fantastic presentation, great to understand the meaning behind meaning. Will really help explain why the ‘why’ is important to the team I work with.”
  • “Excellent – succinct and to the point.  Length of content and slides well judged.  Structure of talk well planned.”
•  “Bake your own taxonomy” (workshop with Chris Atherton)
  Feedback by attendees:
  • “Running over time here in @finiteattention and @techwriterkai’s taxonomy workshop. Shows how interesting it’s been. Thanks guys! #tcuk13”
  • “Interesting and relevant. Well researched. Kai and Chris make a very good team. Could happily have spent the whole day in the workshop. Please can we have more like this!”
  • “Carefully chosen material. Good, practical sessions, fun, good balance of a bit of theory, group activities and comparing ideas.”
  • “Really well presented, excellent exercises. Interesting outcome with how different groups took different approaches.”

5-8 May 2013 – STC Summit
“Addicted to Meaning: Mental Models for Technical Communicators”
STC Summit, Atlanta, GA.
Tweets by attendees:

• “Really outstanding presentation from @techwriterkai #stc13. HIGHLY recommended.”
• “I think I now sort of understand semiotics! Thanks, @techwriterkai! #stc13”
• “#stc13 @techwriterkai This #techcomm geek is loving the trip into cognitive science principles…”

5 Nov 2012 – tekom Danmark
“Features and Benefits of Task Orientation and Topic-Based Authoring”
Foundation meeting of the tekom Danmark Country Group, Odense, Denmark.

23 Oct 2012 – tekom/tcworld
“Addicted to meaning: How good technical communication is like bad magic tricks”
(The sequel to “Pattern recognition for technical communicators“!)
tekom’s tcworld conference, Wiesbaden, Germany.
Feedback by 62 attendees on a scale from 1 (excellent) to 7 (very poor):

• 1.19: Overall impression of speaker
• 2.13: Contents of presentation
• 1.48: Quality of presentation
• 1.45: Overall evaluation

3 Oct 2012 – TCUK
“Internationalisation as an accessibility issue”
Panel discussion with Ray Gallon and Karen Mardahl.
ISTC’s Technical Communication UK, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Feedback by attendees:

• “Such a huge field! Good to be exposed to this. Thank you!”
• “Interesting, informative. Well led by Kai Weber.”

23 May 2012 – STC Summit
“Pattern recognition for technical communicators”
STC Summit, Chicago.
Feedback by attendees:

• “We can’t really say ‘This is a best practice’ unless we can demonstrate its superiority. Hats off to Kai for handing us the ammo to say WHY we should work this way. Bring him back.”
• “Kai has an engaging speaking style and relates well to tech comm folks, and is interesting in his observations about what he doesn’t know. Good topic!”
• “Droll sense of humor. Difficult to get high concept talks to work and this one worked very well.”
• “Best presentation I attended in this conference. Entertaining and relevant. Thanks so much!”

19 Oct 2011 – tekom/tcworld
“Getting ahead as a lone author”
tekom’s tcworld conference, Wiesbaden, Germany.
Feedback by attendees on a scale from 1 (excellent) to 7 (very poor):

• 1.26: Overall impression of speaker
• 1.97: Contents of presentation
• 1.67: Quality of presentation
• 1.38: Overall evaluation (vs. 2.26: avg. of all speakers)

22 Sep 2011 – TCUK
“Pattern recognition for technical communicators“, together with Chris Atherton.
ISTC’s Technical Communication UK, Oxford.
Feedback by attendees:

• “Brilliant structure, wonderful style, inspirationally relevant, nice visuals. Best presentation this year.”
• “Kai Weber and Chris Atherton were really interesting speakers. The explanation of psychological concepts was clear and engaging, and the examples from the tech pubs world were relevant and well thought-out.”
• “Well presented, interesting, but most of all to the point and something I could take something away from and apply to my own work.”

22 Sep 2010 – TCUK
“Getting ahead as a lone author”
ISTC’s Technical Communication UK, Oxford.
Feedback by attendees:

• “Great input & tips from Kai Weber. Valuable & worthwhile presentation that actually applies to non-lone writers!”
• “A very interesting talk. Thank you for making me feel that I’m not alone with my lone author experience.”
• “Excellent and helpful – well presented.”

Attending conferences

22-23 Jun 2013 – UXcamp Europe, Berlin, Germany.

12-13 Apr 2013 – UXcampCPH, Copenhagen, Denmark.

13-16 Mar 2011 – WritersUA, Long Beach, CA.

17-20 Mar 2009 – DocTrain West (since defunct), Palm Springs, CA.

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