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Introducing The Content Forge 🔥
AI doesn't fix broken content. It amplifies it. The Content Forge helps you build AI-friendly content operations that actually work. Find out where to start.
Category: AI-friendly, Content Operations, Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Future of work, Global content, Localisation, Localization, The Content Forge
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Terminology Governance Skills Empower Technical
Post 4 in our series on terminology skills for modern technical communicators Every terminology initiative starts with the same problem and ends with one of two outcomes. In the first, the termbase is built, integrated into the workflow, and used. Translation costs fall. Consistency improves. The technical communicator who led the work can point to…
Category: Career development, Classification, Content Management, Content Operations, Digital Communications, Global content, Localisation, Localization, Skills, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Terminology, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Termbase Skills Empower Technical Communicators
Post 9 in our series on localization skills for modern technical communicators Your translation vendor sends you a quality report. The same product feature appears under six different labels across your documentation. The translators resolved the inconsistency independently, producing six different translations. The cost is more than the retranslation bill: it’s the next release, and…
Category: Accessibility, Classification, Content Operations, Global content, Localisation, Localization, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Structured Content, Technical Communication, Terminology, Usability
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Terminology Management Skills Empower Technical
Post 8 in our series on localization skills for modern technical communicators Does your organization have terminology management, or does it have a glossary? The answer matters more than it might seem. A glossary is a document. It lives somewhere: a shared drive, a wiki page, a PDF attached to the style guide. It lists…
Category: Career development, Classification, Content Management, Content Operations, Digital Communications, Global content, Localisation, Localization, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Technical Communication, Upskilling
What’s Next in Our Localization Strand: A Deep Dive into
A note from the series editors If you've been following the localization strand from the beginning, you’ve now covered a significant stretch of territory. You understand the difference between translation and localization, why your writing habits shape translation costs, how controlled language disciplines your source, how files move through engineering pipelines, how translation management systems…
Category: Accessibility, Classification, Content Management, Content Operations, Localisation, Localization, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Structured Content, Terminology
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Translation Memory Skills Empower Technical
Post 7 in our series on localization skills for modern technical communicators Every time a translator in Tokyo, Sao Paulo, or Warsaw opens a file you wrote, something happens before they read a single word. The translation memory system checks whether it has seen that sentence before. If it has, the system offers the previous…
Category: Career development, Content Management, Content Operations, Localisation, Localization, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Technical Communication
Unlocking New Career Paths: How File Formats and Localization Engineering
Post 6 in our series on localization skills for modern technical communicators You've written the content. You've applied controlled language, maintained your terminology, and structured your sentences for translation efficiency. Now comes the moment that many technical communicators never see: the content leaves your authoring environment and enters the localization pipeline. What happens next depends…
Category: Accessibility, Career development, Content Management, Content Operations, Content Strategy, Global content, Localisation, Localization, Skills, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Translation Management System Skills Empower
Post 5 in our series on localization skills for modern technical communicators If you've ever watched a documentation release fall apart because a translator was working from last month's source file, a reviewer couldn't find the approved terminology, and nobody was sure which vendor had which package, you already understand the problem that a Translation…
Category: Accessibility, Career development, Content Management, Content Operations, Global content, Localisation, Localization, Skills, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Structured Content, Technical Communication, Terminology, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Controlled Language and STE Skills
Post 4 in our series on localization skills for modern technical communicators
Category: Accessibility, Career development, Classification, Content Management, Global content, Localisation, Localization, Skills, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Structured Content, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Writing for Translation Skills Empower
Post 3 in our series on localization skills for modern technical communicators Every sentence you write is a brief to a translator. You may never meet them, never speak with them, and never see the language they work in. But the decisions you make at the keyboard, how long your sentences run, whether you reach…
Category: Career development, Classification, Content Operations, Content Strategy, Global content, Localisation, Skills, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Technical Communication, Terminology
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Localization Skills Empower Technical Communicators
Post 2 in our series on localization skills for modern technical communicators, where we discuss the difference between translation and localization
Category: Accessibility, Career development, Content Operations, Content Strategy, Localisation, Localization, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Technical Communication, Terminology
Unlocking New Career Paths: A New Series on Localization Skills
An introduction to Firehead's new blog series on localization skills for modern technical communicators
Category: Business News, Career development, Classification, Content Management, Content Operations, Content Strategy, Firehead.net News, Localization, Plain language, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Structured Content, Technical Communication, Terminology
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Knowledge Organisation System Skills Empower
Number 12 in our series on KOS skills for modern technical communicators This is our summary post of the Knowledge Organisation Systems series. You've spent eleven posts building something quietly remarkable. You understand controlled vocabularies and taxonomy design. You know how ontologies structure meaning, how SKOS governs terminology, and how semantic search turns well-formed knowledge…
Category: Content Management, Content Operations, Digital Communications, Information Architecture, Knowledge Management, Knowledge organization system, Semantic tech, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Technical Communication, Terminology, Upskilling
Calling Teachers: It’s Time for TechComm Bootcamp!
Are you interested in exploring a different, but parallel, career that allows you to build on your wonderful knowledge and skills at training and teaching? Have you ever considered being a technical writer? Entering the field of technical communication allows you to build on all of that wonderful skill and knowledge you already have in…
Category: Bootcamp, Career development, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Technical Communication
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Semantic Search Skills Empower Technical
Number 11 in our series on KOS skills for modern technical communicators You've built the vocabulary. You've encoded the hierarchy. You've aligned your terms, tagged your labels, and wired your ConceptScheme into the content pipeline. The knowledge infrastructure is solid. Now someone searches for "why won't my account let me in" and your perfectly governed…
Category: Classification, Content Management, Content Operations, Digital Communications, Information Architecture, Knowledge Management, Knowledge organization system, Semantic tech, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Upskilling
Calling Software Developers: It’s Time for TechComm Bootcamp!
Hello Visitor! Are you an engineer, a programmer? Have you been working in your profession for 15, 20, maybe even 25 years? You're good, you're skilled, you're knowledgeable, but you're starting to feel burned out? The incredible intensive pace, having to constantly learn new material and trying to keep up with younger coders who are…
Category: Bootcamp, Career development, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How SKOS Skills Empower Technical Communicators
Number 10 in our series on KOS skills for modern technical communicators If your documentation keeps tripping over inconsistent terms, mismatched labels, and terminology that drifts differently across languages and product lines, you already understand the problem SKOS was built to solve. If you've been doing vocabulary governance with spreadsheets, style guides, and sheer persistence,…
Category: Career development, Classification, Content Management, Content Operations, Digital Communications, Knowledge Management, Knowledge organization system, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Technical Communication
Unlocking New Career Paths: How SHACL Skills Empower Technical Communicators
Part 8 in our Knowledge Organisation Systems Skills series If you've ever been the person who catches the missing safety warning before a manual goes to print, or the one who notices that twelve product pages are missing the "Last Updated" field, then you already understand the need for SHACL. You've been doing the work…
Category: Career development, Content Management, Digital Communications, Knowledge Management, Knowledge organization system, Skills, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Structured Content, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How SPARQL Skills Empower Technical Communicators
Part 8 of the Knowledge Organisation Systems Chain in our Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series If you've ever spent a rainy Tuesday afternoon manually auditing a spreadsheet of 500 topics to find out which ones mention "Safety Protocol" but lack a "Version 2.0" metadata tag, then you already understand the need for SPARQL. You've…
Category: Career development, Content Operations, Digital Communications, DITA, Knowledge Management, Knowledge organization system, Semantic tech, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Technical Communication
Unlocking New Career Paths: How URI Skills Empower Technical Communicators
Part 6 of the Knowledge Organisation Systems Chain in our Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series Today, we find ourselves at a vital junction in the KOS ladder. Before we delve into the technical details of stable identifiers, I wanted to capture the essence of the URI, the "connective tissue" of the semantic web, in…
Category: Accessibility, Career development, Classification, Content Management, Content Operations, Digital Communications, Knowledge Management, Knowledge organization system, Skills, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Structured Content, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Why does AI want to know what’s in your sandwich?
Jerry Bartlett of Content Pro Tech Ltd poses a classification question that brings semantics home in this guest blog post. Enjoy! Is a hotdog a sandwich? And what the answer got to do with AI or technical communication? My answer is "No". Or perhaps, "No, of course a hotdog isn't a sandwich!" Nor is a…
Category: Classification, Firehead.net News, Guest Blogger, Semantic tech, Technical Communication
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Semantic Services* Empower Technical Communicators
Part 5 of the Knowledge Organisation Systems Chain in our Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series *This is the term I’m using for the time being, while the rest is under discussion in the community (see previous post). From Meaning to Services: Search, Recommendations, QA, and Assistants As usual, I’ll start with a short verse…
Category: Career development, Content Operations, Digital Communications, Future of work, Knowledge organization system, Semantic tech, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Happy 2026! And a Question
I hope your long winter’s nap was enjoyable and your festivities brought you close to family and loved ones this season. .I hope you’re happy to be back at it—at least a little—in 2026. All of us here at Firehead wish you the best for the coming year. I think it holds a lot of…
Category: Future of work, Knowledge Management, Knowledge organization system, Question, Semantic tech, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Technical Communication, Terminology
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Knowledge Graphs Empower Technical Communicators
Part 4 of the Knowledge Organisation Systems Chain in our Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series In the KOS ladder—raw data → structured data → vocabularies/taxonomies → ontologies → knowledge graphs → semantically‑enabled services, we’re stepping from the ontology (the blueprint of meaning and rules) to the knowledge graph (the populated, queryable network that adds…
Category: Career development, Classification, Content Operations, Digital Communications, Future of work, Information Architecture, Knowledge Management, Knowledge organization system, Skills, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Structured Content, Technical Communication
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Ontologies Empower Technical Communicators
Part 3 of the Knowledge Organisation Systems Chain in our Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series Knowledge Organisation System (KOS) is an umbrella term for the tools and frameworks used to structure and manage information so it can be found, related, and reused. The larger KOS journey goes through the following transformations: raw data →…
Category: Career development, Classification, Content Management, Content Operations, Digital Communications, Future of work, Information Architecture, Knowledge Management, Knowledge organization system, Semantic tech, Skills, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Structured Content, Technical Communication
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Controlled Vocabularies and Taxonomies Empower
Part 2 of the Knowledge Organisation Systems Chain in our Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series This is the second post in our KOS series. Step two transforms structured data into shared language (controlled vocabularies) and navigable hierarchy (taxonomies), so teams label things the same way and users can actually find them. Structure isn’t the…
Category: Career development, Classification, Content Operations, Digital Communications, Information Architecture, Knowledge Management, Knowledge organization system, Professional Development and Training, Semantic tech, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Technical Communication
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Knowledge Organisation Systems (KOS) Empower
Part 1 of the Knowledge Organisation Systems chain in our Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series : Raw data to structured data Let's kick off our series about the Knowledge Organisation Systems chain with the first step that makes the rest possible: the transition from raw data to structured data. But before we get practical,…
Category: Career development, Classification, Knowledge Management, Knowledge organization system, Professional Development and Training, Structured Content, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Making Authentication and Authorisation Clear – and why it matters!
In this guest blog post, Ben Woelk, author of our new Cybersecurity for Communicators course, discusses two foundational cybersecurity concepts—authentication and authorisation, and how you can simplify their complexity. As communicators and technical communicators, you play a key role in translating complex organisational processes into actionable, understandable information. This role is critical in cybersecurity. Authentication:…
Category: Accessibility, Cybersecurity, Digital Communications, Firehead instructors, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Science Communication Skills Empower Technical
Number 27 in our series on skills for modern technical communicators Let me introduce this week's topic with a little poem, as has become my habit for our Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series: From lab bench to public sphere,Making complex concepts clear,Where science meets storytelling art,We bridge the mind and heart.- CJ Walker The…
Category: Career development, Professional Development and Training, Science Communication, Technical Communication, Upskilling, UX
Fighting Misinformation: The Role of Science Communicators
Anne Malinda, author of Firehead's new Science Communication Fundamentals course, explains the dangers of misinformation in communication about science in this guest blog post. Scroll through your social media feed for a few minutes, and you’ll probably see it: a video with half-truths about vaccines or food health and safety, a post misrepresenting climate science,…
Category: Accessibility, Plain language, Professional Development and Training, Science Communication, Technical Communication
Find out more about our Firehead instructors and courses: Anne
Find out more about our Firehead instructors and courses: Anne Malinda's Science Communication Fundamentals course
Category: Career development, Course info, Digital Communications, Firehead instructors, Professional Development and Training, Science Communication, Technical Communication, Usability, Writing
Why Science Communication Matters
The Firehead Training Academy is pleased to announce we've just released a new course: Science Communication Fundamentals by Anne Malinda. You might be wondering what science communication has to do with our mission here at Firehead? I admit this is a new area within our larger digital communication learning framework. Read on. Anne, who has…
Category: Career development, Course info, Digital Communications, Guest Blogger, Plain language, Professional Development and Training, Science Communication, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Data Transforms into Knowledge
Number 27 in our Skills for Modern Technical Communication series: Knowledge Management Foundations In this post, I describe the process by which modern technical communicators transform raw data into knowledge or insight. These stages follow each other into knowledge management. But first, I want to capture the essence of knowledge organisation with a rather romantic…
Category: Career development, Content Management, Content Operations, Content Strategy, Future of work, Information Architecture, Knowledge Management, Semantic tech, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Structured Content, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Semantic Triples Empower Technical Communicators
Number 26 in our series on skills for modern technical communicators To whom it may concern: I never claimed I would take these posts in a linear or even logical order in this series - I’m writing about skills for modern technical communicators as they come up, and will continue writing long after an unclassified…
Category: Career development, Classification, Digital Communications, Professional Development and Training, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Structured Content, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How RDF Skills Empower Technical Communicators
Number 25 in our series on skills for modern technical communicators Imagine a global manufacturing company struggling to connect product specifications, maintenance procedures, and customer support documentation across multiple languages and systems. Their technical writers spend countless hours manually tracking relationships between components, procedures, and troubleshooting guides. Then they implemented RDF (Resource Description Framework) to…
Category: Career development, Classification, Knowledge Management, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Technical Communication, Tools and Analytics
Unlocking New Career Paths: How OWL Skills Can Empower Technical
Number 24 in our series on skills for modern technical communicators Imagine a pharmaceutical company struggling with millions of documents spread across multiple systems - clinical trials, research papers, drug interactions, patient data, and regulatory compliance documents. Their technical writers spent countless hours manually connecting related information and ensuring consistency. Then they implemented OWL (Web…
Category: Career development, Classification, Digital Communications, Knowledge Management, Market Trends, Semantic tech, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Technical Communication
Unlocking New Career Paths: How SQL Skills Can Empower Technical
Number 23 in our series on skills for modern technical communicators The transformation of technical documentation from static files to dynamic, database-driven content inspired me to reflect on how SQL creates pathways through our information. And here’s my poem on the matter: Through databases our content flows,As SQL helps our knowledge grow,In tables deep with…
Category: Career development, Digital Communications, Knowledge Management, Professional Development and Training, Semantic tech, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Technical Communication, Tools and Analytics
Unlocking New Career Paths: How The Semantic Layer Can Empower
Number 22 in our series on skills for modern technical communicators Modern documentation does a lot more than just explain systems - it's becoming the bridge between raw data and business insight. As organisations struggle to make sense of their expanding data, technical communicators have a new opportunity to shape how information flows between technical…
Category: Career development, Knowledge Management, Professional Development and Training, Semantic tech, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Semantic Tagging Can Empower Technical
Number 21 in our series on skills for modern technical communicators Your documentation is not just being read by humans anymore - it's training AI models, powering chatbots, and feeding machine learning systems that will shape the future of technical communication. But these AI systems are only as good as the metadata they can understand.…
Category: Career development, Digital Communications, DITA, Knowledge Management, Professional Development and Training, Semantic tech, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Structured Content, Technical Communication, Upskilling
TechComm Bootcamp is starting 1 September!
Technical communication is an exciting and challenging career that offers unlimited opportunity for professional development. But to succeed, it's not enough to learn a desktop publishing or Help authoring tool—you need to master the analysis process. This is a thinking person's dream career! Come join Leah Guren as she offers her time-tested TechComm Bootcamp on…
Category: Course info, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Semantic Skills Empower Technical Communicators
Number 21 in our series on skills for modern technical communicators The power of semantic technology is a transformative force for the future of technical communication if we embrace it. We need to embrace it. While trying to navigate this, I came up with a poem to express the potential for meaning in machine processing…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Career development, Classification, Knowledge Management, Semantic tech, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Technical Communication
Unlocking New Career Paths: How RAG Skills Can Empower Technical
Number 20 in our series on skills for modern technical communicators Remember when technical documentation was just about writing clear instructions? Those days are disappearing as artificial intelligence transforms our profession. This week, we're exploring a technology that's becoming a key skill for modern technical communicators: Retrieval-Augmented Generation, or RAG. Let me introduce RAG with…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Career development, Digital Communications, Knowledge Management, Market Trends, Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series, Structured Content, Technical Communication
Unlocking New Career Paths: How LLM Skills Can Empower Technical
Mastering AI's New Langauge Number 19 in our skills for modern technical communicators series In a world where artificial intelligence is turning content creation upside down, technical communicators stand at a crossroads. While some see Large Language Models (LLMs) as disruptive forces, others recognise them as powerful allies in crafting clearer, more effective documentation. At…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Career development, Digital Communications, Future of work, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Digital Twins Can Empower Technical
Number 18 in our Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series Imagine documenting a city that exists in two places at once: one built of concrete and steel, the other of data and algorithms. As a technical communicator, you're tasked with explaining how these parallel worlds interact, how changes in one affect the other, and how…
Category: Career development, Digital Communications, Digital Twins, Future of work, Market Trends, Skills, Tools and Analytics, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Machine Rhetoric Skills Can Empower
Number 17 in our series on skills for modern technical communicators Let me introduce this week's topic with a little poem, as has become my habit for our skills for modern technical communicators series: Where silicon meets the written word,Where binary truths become transferred,In patterns both human and machine,We bridge the spaces in between.CJ Walker,…
Category: Accessibility, Classification, Content Operations, Future of work, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Structured Content, Technical Communication, Upskilling, Usability
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Classical Rhetoric Skills Can Empower
Number 16 in our series on skills for modern technical communicators Let me introduce this week’s topic with a little poem, as has become my habit for these posts: In circuits of logic and streams of code,Ancient wisdom guides the modern road;Where Aristotle's arts meet AI's reign,Through rhetoric, we make the complex plain. Now, a…
Category: Content Models, Digital Communications, Information Architecture, Skills, Structured Content, Technical Communication, Writing
University of Strasbourg Accessibility and Usability in Technical Communication Symposium
Addressing Access and Accessibility Through Usability and Design: Ideas and Approaches for Web Communication, Technical Communication and Localization From April 24–25, I attended the University of Strasbourg’s annual Symposium on Accessibility and Usability in Technical Communication. I participated in various pre-symposium meetings on April 23 as well, particularly because of my long-standing role managing instructor…
Category: Accessibility, Conferences, Localisation, Technical Communication, Usability
Unlocking New Career Paths: How UX Writing Skills Can Empower
Let's start our blog post with a little poem about how technical communicators can benefit from UX writing skills: From docs to dialog,they bridge the divide,Where user experience and content collide.Tech writers who master UX's artMake products more human, and that's just the start.CJ Walker and AI Pals UX writing has emerged as an important…
Category: Accessibility, Career development, Content Design, Content Strategy, Plain language, Professional Development and Training, Usability, UX, Writing
Unlocking New Career Paths: How The Digital Content Lifecycle Can
Number 14 in our Skills for Modern Technical Communication series: Digital Content Workflows Stage 7: Maintenance and Optimisation Before we delve into the technical details, I'd like to capture the essence of maintenance and optimisation with a little poem: Through data's lens we watch and learn,As metrics guide each page's turn,Content evolves with measured pace,Keeping…
Category: Content Management, Content Operations, Digital Content Lifecycle, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How The Digital Content Lifecycle Can
Number 13 in our Skills for Modern Technical Communication series: Digital Content Workflows Stage 6: Content Measurement and Analysis Before we delve into the technical details of content measurement and analysis, I’d like to capture the essence of this step in the digital content lifecycle with a little poem I wrote. I’d like to think…
Category: Content Operations, Course info, Digital Content Lifecycle, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Technical Communication
Unlocking New Career Paths: How The Digital Content Lifecycle Can
Number 12 in our Skills for Modern Technical Communication series Stage 5: Publication and Delivery Before we delve into the technical details, I'd like to capture the essence of publication and delivery in the digital content lifecycle with a little poem: Picture this: Your meticulously crafted content is ready to make its grand entrance. But…
Category: Career development, Content Management, Content Operations, Digital Content Lifecycle, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How The Digital Content Lifecycle Can
Number 11 in our Skills for Modern Technical Communication series Stage 4: Content Management and Organisation Before we dive into the world of content management and organisation, let me share a little poem I wrote that captures what I think is the essence of this stage in the digital content lifecycle: In digital vaults of…
Category: Career development, Classification, Content Management, Content Operations, Digital Content Lifecycle, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Structured Content, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Digital Content Lifecycle Skills Can
Number 10 in our Skills for Modern Technical Communication series Stage 3: Review and Validation Before we dive into the technical details, let's consider what makes review and validation so important in today's content landscape. Here's a little thought, in rhyme, to frame our discussion with a light-hearted start: Quality isn't just caught, it's carefully…
Category: Career development, Content Operations, Digital Communications, Digital Content Lifecycle, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How The Digital Content Lifecycle Can
Stage 2: Creation and Writing Number 9 in our Skills for Modern Technical Communication series Before we delve into the technical details, I’d like to capture the essence of creation and writing in the digital content lifecycle in verse with a little poem I wrote (with help) to introduce this topic. I’d like to think…
Category: Career development, Content Management, Content Operations, Digital Communications, Digital Content Lifecycle, Professional Development and Training, Structured Content, Upskilling, Writing
Unlocking New Career Paths: How The Digital Content Lifecycle Can
Stage 1: Planning and Strategy Number 8 in our Skills for Modern Technical Communication series: Digital Content Workflows - Stage 1: Planning and Strategy Before we delve into the technical details, I’d like to capture the essence of planning and strategy in the digital content lifecycle in verse with a little poem I wrote to…
Category: Career development, Content Operations, Content Strategy, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How The Digital Content Lifecycle Can
Number 7 in our Skills for Modern Technical Communication series: Digital Content Lifecycle Before we dive into the technical details, let's capture the essence of digital content workflows in verse with a little poem I wrote to set the mood: From planning's spark to content's birth,Through reviews that prove its worth,Published wide and measured true,Till…
Category: Career development, Content Management, Content Operations, Digital Communications, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Firehead Resource Kit: Getting Started in Content Design
Have you ever wondered where to even start learning content design principles, let alone applying them? Since our blog post on content design skills, we’ve had lots of questions asking just that. Vinish Garg, Firehead's Introduction to Content Design course author, has generously responded with this post—a superlist meant for all of you starting out…
Category: Content Design, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Unlocking Career Paths: How Digital Content Workflow Skills Can Empower
Number 6 in our Skills for Modern Technical Communication series: Digital Content Workflows Before we dive into the technical details, let's capture the essence of digital content workflows in verse with a little poem I wrote to set the mood: Through systems and stages, content flows free,From draft to publish, like streams to the sea.Each…
Category: Career development, Content Operations, Digital Communications, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Technical Communication
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Content Operations Skills Can Empower
Number 5 in our Skills for Modern Technical Communication series: Content Operations Before we dive into the technical details, I'd like to capture the essence content operations in verse with a little poem I wrote: In workflows deep and systems bright,Where content flows from day to night,Through strategies and tools we weave,The stories users will…
Category: Career development, Content Operations, Content Strategy, Course info, Digital Communications, Future of work, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Technical Communication, Upskilling
The Future is Inclusive: Transforming TechComm Through Accessible Design
In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, effective communication is more than just conveying information—it's about ensuring that everyone can access and understand that information, regardless of their abilities. As professionals in the field of technical communication, it's our responsibility to design content that is both accessible and inclusive. Why Accessible and Inclusive Design Matters Creating…
Category: Accessibility, Content Design, Technical Communication, Upskilling, Usability, Writing
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Content Strategy Skills can Empower
Number 4 in our Skills for Modern Technical Communication series: Content Strategy Before we dive into the technical details, I'd like to capture the essence of content strategy in verse with a little poem I wrote: Content strategy, oh what a sight!Planning and mapping till late at night,Connecting the dots with skillful grace,Making content find…
Category: Career development, Content Strategy, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Content Design Skills can Empower
Skill Number 3 in our Skills for Modern Technical Communicators series Content design, as a skill, is not new, of course. The way it’s defined, and what niche it holds in the wider content world might be, though. I still get many technical authors asking me what the difference is between content design and technical…
Category: Career development, Content Design, Course info, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Technical Communication
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Modern Technical Communication Skills Can
The New Technical Communicator: From Documentation Writer to AI-Human Bridge Skill Number 2 in our series: Modern Technical Communication "The technical communication field is evolving faster than ever," says Dr. James Kim of MongoDB. "The winners will be those who start preparing now." This second post in our series is a little different than the…
Category: Career development, Future of work, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Upskilling in Technical Communication
Happy New Year 2025 to all you! We here at Firehead hope your year is filled with success and satisfaction in your career journey. If you are a digital communicator, you are privileged to be in one of the most dynamic fields imaginable. Never has the global economy been so dependent on, or watched so…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Career development, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Upskilling
Unlocking New Career Paths: How Content Skills Can Empower Technical
AI is revolutionising digital communication, and the Firehead team has been brainstorming ways for technical communicators to upskill and lead the change. The professional landscape is transforming rapidly, and playing catch-up is no longer an option. One way to do this is by picking up tricks from neighbours in the field. We’re starting 2025 with…
Category: Skills, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Looking at the ‘Future Present’ – How Will AI Manifest
Advances in AI haven’t plateaued or stalled, so we aren’t confronted with a ‘what next’ scenario. The only question is: ‘How soon?’ And in the words of one speculative fiction author (William Gibson), ‘the future is here now – it’s just very evenly distributed.’ AI will eventually percolate into every business function and filter into…
Category: Firehead.net News, Market Trends
How to Keep Tech Teams Onboard Through the AI Transformation
Part 5 in a series of 5 In this five-part series, Firehead takes a look at the impacts that AI transformation is having on technical communication teams – what the trends are, and how they effect technical communicators' jobs Use AI to augment your existing processes Of course AI can augment your already familiar processes…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Market Trends, Technical Communication
Skills-based Hiring Trends and Technical Communication, part 5
Part 5 of 5 In this five-part series, Firehead takes a look at the new skills-based hiring trend – what it is, why it’s gaining ground, and how it effects technical communication. Specify your IT Skills and Name your Proficiencies Tech is driving the future of the digital content workforce in many ways, and tech…
Category: Career development, Future of work, Market Trends, Skills-based hiring, Technical Communication
How to Keep Tech Teams Onboard Through the AI Transformation
Part 4 in a series of 5 In this five-part series, Firehead takes a look at the impacts that AI transformation is having on technical communication teams – what the trends are, and how they effect technical communicators' jobs Here’s a goofy idea that might just work: Paint Your Office with Art! Businesses have been…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Technical Communication
Skills-based Hiring Trends and Technical Communication, part 4
Part 4 of 5 In this five-part series, Firehead takes a look at the new skills-based hiring trend – what it is, why it’s gaining ground, and how it effects technical communication. Generational Challenges in Technical Communication Training Staff development and retention are fundamental to successful organisations. Where do employers spend most money and effort?…
Category: Future of work, Market Trends, Recruitment, Skills-based hiring, Technical Communication
How to Keep Tech Teams Onboard Through the AI Transformation
Part 3 in a series of 5 In this five-part series, Firehead takes a look at the impacts that AI transformation is having on technical communication teams – what the trends are, and how they effect technical communicators' jobs Fit Tech Teams into the Right Environment The workplace has changed irrevocably since the Covid pandemic,…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Digital Communications, Future of work, Market Trends, Technical Communication
Semantic Technology and its Place in Technical Communication
‘You might think of the goal of semantic technologies as separating the signal from the noise.’ Around 80% of publicly exchangeable data from chatbots, social media, customer surveys, online reviews and uploaded documents remains unstructured; this represents the ‘noise’. So, data engineers and scientists resort to semantic technologies to turn this amorphous data into more…
Category: Firehead.net News, Semantic tech
Upskilling Updates: Semantic Technology
Intelligent Foresight, Insight and Hindsight: The Companies Leading and Lagging Behind the AI Upskilling Movement After absorbing this, anyone in the technical communication industry would be forgiven for assuming that upskilling is now an essential component of corporate culture or at least de rigueur for the AI-driven digital transformation. Yet the statistics are surprising when…
Category: Career development, Future of work, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, Semantic tech, Skills-based hiring, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Skills-based Hiring Trends and Technical Communication, part 3
Part 3 of 5 In this five-part series, Firehead takes a look at the new skills-based hiring trend – what it is, why it’s gaining ground, and how it effects technical communication. Remote Work Trends and Technical Communication Whilst remote work unlocks a global talent pool, workforce definitions have blurred. You’ve probably already heard a…
Category: Career development, Future of work, Market Trends, Recruitment, Skills-based hiring, Technical Communication
How to Keep Tech Teams Onboard Through the AI Transformation
Part 2 in a series of five In this five-part series, Firehead takes a look at the impacts that AI transformation is having on technical communication teams – what the trends are, and how they effect technical communicators' jobs Employers Must Offer Continual Training and Career Development Programmes to Counter Employee Disengagement We learned a…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Digital Communications, Future of work, Market Trends, Market Trends, Technical Communication
How Will Quantum Computing Affect Digital Communication?
In September, the Quantum Technology International Conference, QTech 2024, will be held in Berlin, with an introduction that reads: “The growing ability to manipulate quantum systems is paving the way for a second quantum revolution, and a number of initiatives worldwide have been formed to foster quantum technologies…” You can find out more about the…
Category: Firehead.net News
Policing with Paradata: The Qualitative Interpretation of Metadata and its
If you are coming to grips with the new terminologies and disciplines of the AI-driven world like ‘semantic annotation’, ‘natural language processing’ (NLP), and ‘retrieval-augmented generation’ (RAG), you might consider putting the simpler and prosaic ‘paradata’ above them all in the hierarchy of significance to generative AI and large language models (LLMs). In its simplest…
Category: Digital Communications, Future of work, Market Trends, Paradata, Skills, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Skills-based Hiring Trends and Technical Communication, part 2
Part 2 of 5 The Top Five Most-in-Demand Technical Skills in 2023 In this five-part series, Firehead takes a look at the new skills-based hiring trend – what it is, why it’s gaining ground, and how it effects technical communication. Skills-based hiring is particularly important for IT recruitment, as it’s a key industry. There’s nowhere…
Category: Career development, Future of work, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, Skills-based hiring, Technical Communication
How to Keep Tech Teams Onboard Through the AI Transformation
Part 1 in a series of 5 In this five-part series, Firehead takes a look at the impacts that AI transformation is having on technical communication teams – what the trends are, and how they effect technical communicators' jobs. Engagement with Tech Teams is Crucial to a continued Employer-Employee Relationship A Gallup State-of-the-World Workplace Report…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Digital Communications, Future of work, Market Trends, Market Trends, Technical Communication
Be ‘Agile and Adaptable’: The Digital Skillset Mantra for Employers
In the perfect world, medium-sized and large corporations would already be retraining their entire employee base, technical and beyond, to ensure they have a skilled workforce able to cope with the digital transformation. The hard truth is that change is coming too fast. Smaller operations and start-ups can react and upskill faster and will continue…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Career development, Future of work, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Skills-based Hiring Trends and Technical Communication, part 1
Part 1 of 5 In this five-part series, Firehead takes a look at the new skills-based hiring trend – what it is, why it’s gaining ground, and how it effects technical communication. Degree or Skills? Organisations are changing how they choose candidates based on their potential for growth and their ability to adapt to different…
Category: Career development, Future of work, Market Trends, Skills-based hiring, Technical Communication
Taxonomies, Ontologies, and Semantics in the Technical Communicator’s World of
It’s tempting to predict that advances in AI will alleviate the task of taxonomy design and the meticulous planning behind content terminology, the crucial task of identifying, storing, and managing data and content. After all, DeepL, with its $2 billion backing and the neurally networked Google Translate with its 1 billion installations have all but…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Classification, Content Management, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Future of work, Information Architecture, Keywording, Market Trends, Market Trends, Plain language, Professional Development and Training, Structured Content, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Delving into the Pros and Cons of Frontier AI, part
Part 5 in a series of 5 In this five-part series, Firehead takes a look Frontier AI and the impact it is having on technical communicators’ roles and the future labour market for digital communication The Flip Side of Automation Anxiety:an Explosion in Frontier AI Jobs Under the heading ‘Critical Uncertainties’ in the UK Gov…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Future of work, Market Trends, Market Trends, Technical Communication
How Content Design Skills Empower Technical Communicators
Our Introduction to Content Design course author, Vinish Garg, shares his thoughts on the differences and similarities between content design and technical communication, and gives his advice on what skills technical communicators can learn to advance their careers into the wider area of content design. What is technical communication? Technical communication is the practice of…
Category: Content Design, Guest Blogger, Technical Communication, Upskilling
Find out more about our Firehead instructors: Yves Pierrot
At Firehead, we’re extremely proud of the exceptional quality authors we’ve gathered in our training academy. They are top names and thought leaders in their fields. Yves Pierrot is our Usability Techniques Applied to Technical Communication course author. He's a recognised expert in the study of user expertise and its application to Technical Communication or…
Category: Course info, Firehead instructors, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Technical Communication, Upskilling, Usability, UX
Delving into the Pros and Cons of Frontier AI, part
Part 4 in a series of 5 In this five-part series, Firehead takes a look Frontier AI and the impact it is having on technical communicators’ roles and the future labour market for digital communication Trustworthy AI needs Trustworthy Digital Communicators and Content Creators “As the field evolves, we must remain dynamic, learning to collaborate…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Future of work, Market Trends, Market Trends, Technical Communication
Hyper-Innovation: Bridging the Gap Between Corporate Legacy Systems and New
Did you expect, when starting your career path in technical communication that you would need to be a ‘polymath’ and become adept in a wide range of supporting roles? Well, if you didn't, it’s time to get with the programme and be part of the hyper-innovation movement to avoid being overwhelmed by AI and underwhelmed…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Career development, Future of work, Market Trends, Productivity, Skills-based hiring, Upskilling
Delving into the Pros and Cons of Frontier AI, part
Part 3 in a series of 5 In this five-part series, Firehead takes a look Frontier AI and the impact it is having on technical communicators’ roles and the future labour market for digital communication The Advent of the Digital Communication Banker? The Times (of London) reports that the Bank of England is examining the…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Digital Communications, Future of work, Market Trends, Market Trends, Technical Communication
Where Does Content Design Sit in the Wider World of
The short answer is: ‘Everywhere!' Here is a definition extracted from an excellent article on Shorthand.com on this new but fast-proliferating discipline, which highlights its wide-ranging application: “Content design combines many different functions, including research, copywriting, graphic and product design, UX and information architecture, detailed analytics and user journey mapping and publishing software, to create…
Category: Content Design, Course info, Digital Communications, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Upskilling
Delving into the Pros and Cons of Frontier AI, part
Part 2 in a series of 5 In this five-part series, Firehead takes a look Frontier AI and the impact it is having on technical communicators’ roles and the future labour market for digital communication Is Automation Anxiety Rational? I so hear often from digital and technical communicators about how they’re closely watching developments in…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Digital Communications, Future of work, Market Trends, Technical Communication
Educational Insights for Optimal AI Prompt Management in Technical Communication
At Firehead, we’re extremely proud of the exceptional quality authors we’ve gathered in our training centre. They are top names and thought leaders in their fields. Dr. Lance Cummings is our Structuring Prompts for Technical Communicators and Content Developers course author. He's a recognised expert in creating generative AI prompt operations, and an associate professor…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Career development, Content Design, Course info, Firehead instructors, Productivity, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Technical Communication
Delving into the Pros and Cons of Frontier AI, part
Part 1 in a series of 5 In this five-part series, Firehead takes a look Frontier AI and the impact it is having on technical communicators’ roles and the future labour market for digital communication What does Frontier AI mean for technical communication’s future? Many businesses, observers of commerce and technology commentators, alongside recruitment and…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Digital Communications, Future of work, Market Trends, Market Trends, Technical Communication
Is the Dawn of the Contractor the Dusk of the
Seventy-five percent of technical companies are reporting talent gaps, a skills shortage worsened by poor staff retention rates. Research by The Linux Foundation concluded that almost a third of new hires depart within six months of being onboarded. A Harvard Business Review survey of 230 organisations found that only 13% of employers can attract and retain the…
Category: Business News, Career development, Future of work, Online learning, Productivity, Professional Development and Training
Working Successfully in a Second Language
When you stepped into your current position, how many different jobs were you taking on? Did you have any idea? Firehead author Chris Morgan, give an overview of communication responsibilities many second-language speakers, and introverts, can deal with on the job that are often not on the job description. The job, on paper at least,…
Category: Accessibility, Career development, Firehead instructors, Presentations, Productivity, Professional Development and Training, Skills
Unleash Your Writing Potential!
Firehead is thrilled to introduce the second installment of our three-part series on modern technical communication – Writing and Design for Modern Technical Communication. Whether you're a seasoned writer or just starting your journey, this course is designed to elevate your skills and empower you to create impactful and effective technical content. What to Expect…
Category: Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication, Writing
Find out more about our Firehead instructors and courses: Ray
At Firehead, we’re extremely proud of the exceptional quality authors we’ve gathered in our training centre. They are top names and thought leaders in their fields. Ray Gallon is our Traceability, responsibility, and ethics in the AI era course author. He's already been with us for a while as our successful Specifications course author. Why…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Course info, Ethics, Firehead instructors, Future of work, Leadership, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Elevate Your Technical Communication: Embracing Visuals and Writing Strategies
Building on the success of our first course, Modern Technical Communication Basics, we're excited to delve into another crucial aspect of modern communication. In our latest course, Writing and Design for Modern Technical Communication, we'll explore the power of visuals and collaborative writing, essential elements that will further enhance your technical communication skills. In this…
Category: Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication, Writing
Find out more about our Firehead course instructor: Chris Morgan
At Firehead, we’re extremely proud of the exceptional quality authors we’ve gathered in our training centre. They are top names and thought leaders in their fields. Chris Morgan has created a Firehead new exclusive course: Presenting in English with Equal Impact. It's a video and Zoom one-on-one course exclusive to the Firehead Training Academy for…
Category: Content Strategy, Firehead instructors, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Boye & Company Digital Leadership Conference Notes
I attended the Boye & Company Digital Leadership conference in Aarhus Denmark this 7-9 November. I attended two years ago, when I gave a presentation on managing the noise in your content and met so many fascinating and future-thinking leaders in our industry, that of course I wanted to come back! This year, I attended…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Conferences, Content Design, Content Management, Content Operations, Digital Communications, Information Architecture, Leadership, Technical Communication
Give your next English presentation a fair trial
Chris Morgan is our Presenting in English with Equal Impact course author. He's an internationally recognised expert in language coaching for professionals who give presentations in English as their second language. He's also passionate about showing data-backed reasons to build your confidence (and calm your nerves!). Here, he shares some of his thoughts on xx.…
Category: Career development, Conferences, Firehead instructors, Guest Blogger, Presentations, Professional Development and Training
Turning Imposter Syndrome to Empowerment: A Journey of Self-Discovery
Ann Rockley, the author of our Unlock your success course, explains what imposter syndrome is and offers some concrete steps for dealing with it and even empower you! We've all been there - that nagging feeling of doubt, the fear of being exposed as a fraud, the belief that our achievements are merely a result…
Category: Career development, Course info, Firehead instructors, Leadership, Professional Development and Training
Find out more about our Firehead course instructor: Ann Rockley
At Firehead, we’re extremely proud of the exceptional quality authors we’ve gathered in our training centre. They are top names and thought leaders in their fields. Ann Rockley is our Unlock Your Success course author. It’s a video and Zoom one-on-one course exclusive to the Firehead Training Academy for professionals in the content to set…
Category: Firehead.net News
Technical Communication and Training for the Fourth and Fifth Industrial
Part 4 of 4 The case for Online Learning Modules and Resources There is a growing case for taking training out the office and boardroom to online screen learning. Large corporates with a national chain of offices, international businesses, companies that rely on outsourcing and on contractors, as well as remote team leaders, simply cannot…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Career development, Future of work, Online learning, Professional Development and Training
Technical Communication and Training for the Fourth and Fifth Industrial
Part 3 of 4 Learning Programmes and Using Online Training Resources Engaging learner programmes are fundamental to closing company skill gaps, boosting employee productivity, and retaining a workforce, whether employees, freelancers, or contractors. This learning culture will need to be as flexible and adaptive as the workforce itself, engaging with new training, tactics, and initiatives.…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Future of work, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Technical Communication and Training for the Fourth and Fifth Industrial
Part 2 of 4 Training for Content Design, Strategy, and Technical Specifications Klaus Schwab’s World Economic Forum report concluded: ‘Like the revolutions that preceded it, 4IR has the potential to raise global income levels and improve the quality of life for the global population. To date, those who have gained the most from it have…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Content Design, Content Strategy, Future of work, Professional Development and Training, Specifications, Technical Communication
Find out more about our Firehead course instructor: Hilary Marsh
At Firehead, we’re extremely proud of the exceptional quality authors we’ve gathered in our training centre. They are top names and thought leaders in their fields. Hilary Marsh is our Content strategy overview course author. She's an internationally recognised expert in creating content strategies for professional associations, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and corporate intranets, and…
Category: Content Strategy, Course info, Firehead instructors, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Unleashing your potential: Understanding the cognitive, affective and conative aspects
Ann Rockley is the author of our newest course on the Firehead Training Academy: Unlock your success, which is all about learning your strengths and how to use them in your content career. In this guest blog post, Ann explains the three aspects of the human mind you can learn to harness to achieve higher…
Category: Career development, Course info, Firehead instructors, Leadership, Market Trends, Productivity, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Technical Communication and Training for the Fourth and Fifth Industrial
Part 1 of 4 The Fourth Industrial Revolution speeds up Back in January 2016, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, delivered what became a seminal forecast on global change. He opened with: ‘We stand on the brink of a technical revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we think, work…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Plain language, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Unlock Your Potential with Modern Technical Communication!
Are you a natural problem solver with a flair for communication? Do you enjoy translating complex concepts into clear and concise content? If so, we have the perfect opportunity for you! Introducing our brand-new, Fundamentals of Modern Technical Communication course designed to kickstart your journey into the world of technical writing and design. In this…
Category: Digital Communications, Future of work, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Calling all ambitious learners!
Are you seeking a career that combines creativity with technical expertise? Look no further! Our newly-launched Fundamentals of Modern Technical Communication course is your gateway to unleashing your full potential as a technical communicator. Presented by two established experts in the fields of technical communication and education: Ben Woelk and Jennifer Goode, Phd, you'll…
Category: Career development, Course info, Future of work, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication, Writing
Find out more about our Firehead instructors: Jennifer Goode and
At Firehead, we’re extremely proud of the exceptional quality authors we’ve gathered in our training centre. They are top names and thought leaders in their fields. Ben Woelk and Jennifer Goode are our Fundamentals of modern technical communication course authors. Both are internationally recognised experts in technical communication and teaching - they're both professors…
Category: Course info, Firehead instructors, Future of work, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Technical Communication, Writing
What you will and won’t get from a content strategy
Our content strategy overview course author, Hilary Marsh, explains what you can and cannot expect from taking a content strategy course. In our new Content Strategy Overview course, you will get a solid introduction to the parts and pieces of what go into creating a smart, sustainable content strategy. You will learn what all the…
Category: Content Strategy, Course info, Professional Development and Training, Usability
What’s so modern about technical communication?
We’ve called our new series of courses on the Firehead Academy Fundamentals of modern technical communication. What makes it modern? How do we differentiate our approach from other technical communication courses? Let’s look at how we practice technical communication in 2023. What has changed? What has stayed the same? I remember discussing ideas about the…
Category: Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, Skills, Technical Communication, Usability
The four benefits of a content strategy
Our content strategy overview course author, Hilary Marsh, explains why and how a content strategy is so important to integrate into your organization's business processes. If you plan, create, manage, and share content in a strategic way, your audience will better be able to find it, understand it, and use it. And the more they…
Category: Content Strategy, Course info, Professional Development and Training, Usability
Content design in action
Watch our Content Design course author, Vinish Garg, talk about how content design is a central pillar of making your content relevant for your user. If you want to know more about how you can get started in content design and create the most usable content for your customers, check out our Introduction to Content…
Category: Content Design, Professional Development and Training, Usability, Writing
It’s time to start something with you again
What's up? Hi. This post is coming directly from CJ, Firehead Founder and Principal. We started the Firehead blog back in 2008 and it’s been a journey. Fiona Cullinan, blogstar extraordinaire came onto the scene just when content strategy was starting to become A Thing. (In fact, we met at the first-ever content strategy conference,…
Category: Firehead.net News
How content design enables design
Our Content Design course author, Vinish Garg, explains why and how content design is so important to integrate in the wider product design process. We often see that if product teams start with the design and then plan for the content at a later stage, their products struggle for different reasons. For example: they might…
Category: Content Design, Professional Development and Training, Writing
How content design helps product teams
Content designers use their product content skills to design and build digital products. Content design is a practice of using the right words to design the message in the customer journey. They work with designers and engineers to design the content architecture and the interactions in the digital products. Content designers plan the user research…
Category: Content Design, Professional Development and Training
That’ll never happen: Impossible Documentation by Dr Tony Self
Watch our DITA concepts course author Dr Tony Self talk about how techniques and technologies like DITA can help us re-imagine documentation. https://firehead.net/wp-content/uploads/impossible1-1.mp4#t=2 If you want to know more about DITA, have a look at our new course! download our free guide to DITA Find out top tips and strategies to structure your content better. Download…
Category: DITA, Single Sourcing, Structured Content, Technical Communication
Find out more about our Firehead course instructor: Dr. Tony
At Firehead, we’re extremely proud of the exceptional quality authors we’ve gathered in our training centre. They are top names and thought leaders in their fields. Tony Self is our DITA concepts course author. Tony is an internationally recognised expert in structured authoring and DITA. He’s been a technical writer since the 1980s. Along the…
Category: DITA
Can you explain that again from the beginning? What is
Our DITA course author, Tony Self shares some of his thoughts. Part 1 I overheard a conversation at a conference, when someone had asked another what DITA was. The answer included the words XML, transformation, validation, language, schema, and the phrase “it’s all very simple”. With that, the questioner looked blank, and without speaking, moved…
Category: Content Strategy, DITA, Writing
Reflections on Writing Short Descriptions
Our DITA concepts course author, Tony Self, shares his thoughts. A major challenge in DITA One of the most difficult tasks when working in DITA is writing short descriptions or abstracts. French philosopher Blaise Pascal is credited with the line, “I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time”, and…
Category: DITA, Single Sourcing, Structured Content, Technical Communication
You’ve Got to be Kidding Me!
Some musings on plain language by Deborah Bosley, Firehead’s own plain language course instructor. I was sitting in my ophthalmologist's office getting my eyes checked. She asked, “How well do you see when your eyes are in a superior position”? I have to admit I occasionally respond sarcastically, so I said, “If my eyes were…
Category: Accessibility, Content Design, Plain language, Professional Development and Training
Transparency or clarity?
Some musings on plain language by Deborah Bosley, Firehead’s own plain language instructor I have to admit that every time I hear a corporation or government agency or, come on, anyone talk about “transparency”, my B.S. radar starts buzzing. You can be “transparent” but in a way that no one understands what you’re saying or…
Category: Plain language
What is Plain Language and Why Should You Care?
Some musings on plain language by Deborah Bosley, Firehead’s own plain language course instructor.Think about the last time you received an email with dense paragraphs, or agreed to Terms and Conditions that you didn’t read so you could go to a website, or tried to understand your mobile bill? Or a dozen other situations in…
Category: Plain language
Is digital content a level playing field?
By Clemency Wright, of Clemency Wright Consulting, the UK’s leading provider of keywording services and consultancy. Advances in technology have meant we no longer rely on analogue search methods such as index cards. We’ve cultivated new ways of searching using digitised metadata in the form of taxonomies and ontologies, and we are implementing artificial intelligence…
Category: Accessibility, Keywording
How to create a Keywording strategy
A guest post by Clemency Wright, of Clemency Wright Consulting, the UK’s leading provider of keywording services and consultancy. Keywords play a huge part in business operations. Storing, organising and managing assets within a digital system relies on metadata, including keywords, to optimise access to content. If customers can’t find content, they can’t use it.…
Category: Classification, Content Management, Search
How To Make Search Better With Keywords
A guest post by Clemency Wright, of Clemency Wright Consulting, the UK’s leading provider of keywording services and consultancy. We use keywords all the time when searching for content, but have you ever really considered how keywords work and what happens behind the scenes? If you are a content manager, or you are responsible for uploading content…
Category: Classification, Content Management, Search
Lessons Learned on an Introvert’s Journey to Leadership
This post is based on an article previously published on October 17, 2016 in the EDUCAUSE Review: The Professional Commons Blog and on benwoelk.com. Many of us might agree that Western society lauds extroverted leaders and their accomplishments. However, introverts make great contributions and can be effective leaders too. As IT professionals, many of you…
Category: Introvert, Leadership
Improvisation and Introversion
The idea of an introvert being comfortable with improvisation seems counter-intuitive. How could an introvert possibly be comfortable in an environment where we’re required to verbalise and participate without adequate preparation? Alan Alda, in his book If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?: My Adventures in the Art and Science…
Category: Introvert, Leadership
Find out more about our Firehead course instructor: Ben Woelk
At Firehead, we’re extremely proud of the high caliber of the authors in our Training Centre. This month, we’re shining the spotlight on Ben Woelk, who’s offering classes in Introverts and Leadership and Cybersecurity for Technical Communicators. Here’s a little bit about Ben Ben Woelk, CISSP, CPTC, is Governance, Awareness, and Training Manager in the…
Category: Course info, Cybersecurity, Professional Development and Training
Learning to speak cybersecurity
The job market for cybersecurity is hot, hot, hot! There are estimated to be up to 3 million cybersecurity jobs worldwide and the need is growing. Techcomms will play an important role for users in understanding and using cybersecurity applications. One of the barriers to entry to writing about cybersecurity is its specialised vocabulary. Do…
Category: Content Strategy, Cybersecurity
Getting into Cybersecurity as a Technical Communicator
It’s hard to check the news without hearing something about cybersecurity. Learning cybersecurity best practices has become fundamental in daily life and in our roles as technical communicators. Estimates of unfilled job openings in cybersecurity range from 2.5-3.5 million worldwide. As a technical communicator, what are my options for getting a job in this field?…
Category: Cybersecurity, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Project analysis for technical communicators
As our workplaces become increasingly global, we need to be aware of global issues and how to design documents appropriately for global audiences. Because every technical communication project supports readers, project analysis is a critical technical communication skill. At Firehead, we identify nine core competencies for technical communicators: Project planning Project analysis Content development Organisational…
Category: Technical Communication
The hidden skills of technical communicators
Technical communication is one of the most adaptive, agile disciplines today in that it is both a profession and a skill set. If you search the Internet for the skills needed to be a technical communicator, you’ll see a common theme: writing, editing, audience analysis, and research. This is no surprise: these skills are key…
Category: Technical Communication
Find out more about our Firehead course instructor: Rahel Bailie
At Firehead, we’re extremely proud of the exceptional quality authors we’ve gathered in our training centre. They are top names and thought leaders in their fields. Rahel Bailie is our first contributor (just like she was on our blog) with her course “Content operations on a shoestring,” a standard reference here at Firehead. About Rahel…
Category: Content Operations, Course info, Professional Development and Training
Firehead is presenting at soap! conference in 2022!
conference in 2022! We’re so glad to be back. We’ve got a lot of reflecting to do after the disruption we all experienced. Were we, technical publications professionals and our organisations, prepared for the upheaval of the pandemic? Are we smarter today after the experience? How did Covid affect our work and the tools, processes…
Category: Conferences
How to see content operations in terms of content job
Firehead interviewed our author Rahel Bailie, the Mother of Content Operations, on her winding career definition in moving from techcomm to content management to content strategy to content operations. I say “winding path” because so much was developing along in parallel about content needs whilst she was progressing her career. Maybe the world was only…
Category: Content Operations, Content Strategy
What is content ops, anyway?
The content world is ever progressing. As content strategy grows into a mature discipline, there’s an important and growing connection between content strategy and operations - Content operations (ContentOps). Operationalising your organisation’s content assets is a much-needed development for professionals across the content spectrum. Why? You can turn a content strategy into an operational modelAs any…
Category: Content Operations, Content Strategy
Find out more about our Firehead course instructor: Ray Gallon
At Firehead, we’re extremely proud of the high caliber of the authors in our Training Centre. This month, we’re shining the spotlight on Ray Gallon, whose “Specifications on a shoestring” course is one of the first in our offer, and a great success.We interviewed Ray about the courseWhy is this course important?This course is specifically…
Category: Classification
Agile software development equals no specs, right?
Many people imagine that in Agile we don’t use specifications – but the truth is, Agile needs them as much as any other development process. It’s just that Agile specifications take a different form, and are written in a very different way. Agile is a mindset, not a fixed methodology Agile, in fact, is not…
Category: Course info, Specifications
Why have I been handed this specification?
If you’re like most technical content developers, you’ve been told more than once to produce a user-facing document with only a specification to guide you. Or maybe you’ve been asked to actually write a specification yourself. What?! What does a specification really mean for technical communicators? Isn’t this an engineer thing?It might be prudent to…
Category: Specifications
Content operations – a starter kit
The term content operations has been around for about 15 years, but it’s really started to take off around 2016. But what does it mean, what skills does it require and how do you get into it? Here’s a quick introduction to help you get started. What is ‘content ops’? Content operations can be defined…
Category: Content Marketing, Content Operations, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Technical Communication, Usability
Free OmnichannelX 2021 tickets for four readers
Firehead is delighted to offer four free conference tickets to OmnichannelX 2021 from 9-11 June. Here is your chance to win a completely free ticket – worth up to 375 euros – to this year’s online conference on all things omnichannel. Visit our raffle page to enter! The draw will be on 15 May 2021. We’d like…
Category: Conferences, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Five tips on technical writing from TCLoc students
Since 2017 Firehead has been a proud industry contributor to the TCLoc (Master in Technical Communication and Localization) course at the University of Strasbourg, France. The course is designed for the international market and combines e-learning with a career-oriented course that aims to help fill the skills gap in the international technical communication market. We really…
Category: Digital Communications, Localisation, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Are you looking for a new content role? Start here…
Many people will be looking for a new job this year. This may be for positive reasons (digital upscaling, new content roles and operations) or negative ones (Covid-19 fallout, redundancy). Either way, as a specialist agency recruiting and training in digital communications, Firehead is here to help. We’re actively looking for talented content professionals in…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Content Strategy, CVs, Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, Recruitment, Technical Communication, Usability
Content trends and predictions 2021
What do the next 12 months hold in the field of digital communications? We round up some content trends and expert predictions, including how the jobs market has changed as a result of Covid-19... No one has a crystal ball right now but let's look ahead at what the next 12 months might hold in…
Category: Content Marketing, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Market Trends, Recruitment, Technical Communication, Usability
2020 you’re muted – 2021 if you can share your
There’s no way to put too fine a point on it: 2020 was a stupid year. I don’t know anyone who wants to repeat it anyway. Who wants to read a year in review post this year? Me neither. It’s been a trying year to say the least, but I think the holiday season gives…
Category: Digital Communications, Firehead.net News
Better remote working? Soft skills are the answer
What are soft skills? Why aren't they included in job descriptions? How can soft skills play into better teamwork and remote communication? How can you manage your new virtual workplace at home and still maintain work-life balance? How do recruiters screen for soft skills? What does the future hold for technical communicators in a more…
Category: Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Market Trends, Technical Communication
10 steps to help pivot your techcomm career
Need a new content challenge? Interested in alternative career paths in your technical communication career? Last month we talked to marketing leader Alyssa Fox (pictured) about her sideways (and upwards) move into marketing from techcomm – a change that was triggered after she started spotting and solving wider content problems in the organisation she was…
Category: Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Guest Blogger, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
When remote working goes wrong
This week we are focusing on how to improve your communication with teams and colleagues if you are now working from home (WFH). We've already looked at what soft skills are and 10 valuable skills for virtual working. Now let's see what happens when remote working goes wrong... Please also join us this Thursday 22 October…
Category: Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Market Trends, Productivity, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
10 valuable soft skills for virtual working
This week we are focusing on how to improve your communication with teams and colleagues if you are now working from home, either some or all of the time. Yesterday we looked at what soft skills are and how they help comms. Next we'll outline the most useful soft skills for helping teams run more smoothly…
Category: Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Market Trends, Productivity, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
What are soft skills?
This week we are focusing on how to improve your communication with teams and colleagues if you are now working from home, either some or all of the time. We'll look at what soft skills are, the most useful ones for helping teams run more smoothly and what happens when remote working goes wrong. And…
Category: Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Market Trends, Productivity, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Chatbot conversation design – my strategies for success
How do you design a chatbot conversation that works for humans? Kaveer Beharee, CEO at Ubiquity AI, says that developing a successful chatbot has less to do with AI or technology and more to do with creating an authentic conversational experience. In his third insight piece on creating better AI chatbots, he outlines his own chatbot…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Technical Communication
Webinar: Soft skills in the virtual workplace
A date for your diaries – and an opportunity to improve your remote teamworking and digital communications! On Thursday 22 October, Firehead's founder will be live on the Content Wrangler's 'Coffee & Content' talking about the importance of soft skills and how they can be a huge help in remote teamwork during the Covid era…
Category: Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Market Trends, Productivity, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Content careers: How I moved from techcomm to marketing
We’ve been writing a lot about the future of technical communication and alternative techcomm career paths this year. A move into marketing is a definite option for technical writers looking for more work opportunities in the field of digital communication. This month we hear from someone who has successfully made this transition via bringing content…
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Guest Blogger, Technical Communication
Are your soft skills up to the virtual workplace?
With remote working going mainstream, how do soft skills – such as listening, attitude, dealing with people, working as a team, meeting etiquette and more – differ when you work from home instead of going to an office? With 30 years of international remote working under her belt, Firehead’s founder CJ Walker shares her best…
Category: Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Market Trends, Productivity, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Conversation design in technical communication
If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to work in France as a technical communicator, then check out this podcast episode with Firehead's Cajun-Swede director CJ Walker, who has lived in France for 23 years. Earlier this year, she joined Ellis Pratt on The Cherryleaf Podcast to talk about the technical writing scene…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Market Trends, Technical Communication
Evaluating what makes a great chatbot – objective and subjective
As the need for automation increases, are chatbots living up to their potential? In his second insight piece on the use of AI chatbots, Kaveer Beharee, CEO at Ubiquity AI looks at how to evaluate chatbots and intelligent conversational agents for commercial use and why communication as much as technical expertise will be key to wider…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Technical Communication
How knowledge graphs can help businesses put their data to
To understand the role of knowledge graphs and how they can be used to benefit a business, we asked Andreas Blumauer if we could repost one of his useful LinkedIn explainer posts. He kindly agreed! Andreas is the founder and CEO of Austrian-based Semantic Web Company, whose core product PoolParty Semantic Suite is the leading…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Content Strategy, Guest Blogger, Information Architecture, Technical Communication
AI and linguistics
For our fourth and final week of the June STC Roundtable on ‘Career transitions in techcomm’, Firehead’s CJ Walker and Kaveer Beharee, who owns and runs a chatbot development company called Ubiquity AI, will be discussing chatbots and chatbot conversation design. Kaveer and CJ work together as linguists in NLP for chatbot conversational design. They…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Firehead.net News, Professional Development and Training, STC, Technical Communication
Job trends: Where is hiring going in the next 10
This Thursday, we invite you to join an online open panel discussion on job trends for the third week of Firehead’s curation of the STC Roundtables on the topic of ‘Career transitions in techcomm’. We will be talking about where we see the future of work and hiring trends going in the next 10 years.…
Category: Market Trends, STC, Technical Communication
The Knowledge Graph Cookbook – free download
For the taxonomists out there, check out this new free information resource: The Knowledge Graph Cookbook. It's a free .pdf download co-authored by leaders in this field, Andreas Blumauer and Helmut Nagy. We’ve read it and we recommend it! The book offers practical ‘recipes’ for building knowledge graphs that help organisations put their data to…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Reading
Plain language course – tried-and-tested online training
Communicating clearly with your customers or simplifying complex information so that others can easily understand is a multifaceted skill – one that content professionals and technical communicators trade in. But often there is a key missing element: the ability to put information into plain English. Which is why we are proud to announce a brand new, flexible,…
Category: Plain language, Professional Development and Training
What can techcommers do with techcomm?
As we announced last week, for the whole month of June, Firehead's CJ Walker will be curating the STC Roundtables on the topic of 'Career transitions in techcomm'. The aim is to gather and share insight that will help technical communicators understand their future career options and how they can apply their skills in the wider…
Category: Professional Development and Training, STC, Technical Communication
Career transitions in techcomm – join STC’s Roundtable
We’re very excited to announce a Firehead takeover of the STC Roundtables this month to help technical communicators understand their future career options and how they can apply their skills in the wider market of digital communications and beyond. The learning sessions start this week! The Covid-19 lockdown has brought it home to many of…
Category: Professional Development and Training, STC, Technical Communication
Chatbots – the missing skill they need to succeed
As the need for automation increases, are chatbots living up to their potential? Not yet but they will, says Kaveer Beharee, CEO at Ubiquity AI, who kicks off a series of insight posts on the use of AI chatbots in our communications. Here he outlines what is holding chatbot technology back and what they need…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Technical Communication
Free OmnichannelX 2020 tickets for two Fireheads
Working in partnership with conference organisers and the support of the OmnichannelX Sponsors, Firehead is delighted to offer two free tickets to the OmnichannelX 2020 Online conference from 9-11 June. OmnichannelX will be held online this year using Zoom.us conference software with ample Q&A discussion time after each session, interactive activities and digital networking sessions built-in to the schedule. The programme…
Category: Conferences, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Technical Communication
Eight predictions for the future of techcomm 2020-2030
While we navigate the impacts of the Covid-19 lockdown, many of us are contemplating what the future will look like afterwards – for the wider economy and our own work prospects. Here, Ray Gallon, author, keynote speaker and co-founder of The Transformation Society, outlines how content and information professions are likely to evolve in the next…
Category: Digital Communications, Technical Communication
Should you include a summary statement on your CV?
Many of us across Europe are currently in coronavirus lockdown, working from home for the foreseeable future and perhaps looking for new work or ways to pass the time. As we mentioned last week, it's a good time to register with Firehead – we're here, we're recruiting and offering career development training courses, and we're here to help…
Category: CVs, Recruitment
Coronavirus is changing the way we work
If you have been working from home for years, what are your tips for others? It’s taken a global public health pandemic to fully effect the remote working revolution. The coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis has changed the way the world works in a matter of a few weeks. Those who can are working from home, while…
Category: Digital Communications, Market Trends, Technical Communication
Coronavirus: technology and communication are more important than ever
The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is changing the way the world works. As experienced digital communicators, we are here to help you navigate the changes, says CJ Walker, Firehead's founder and MD. From hirers to job-seekers, freelancers to permanent staff, multinationals to SMEs – the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is affecting us all. The situation is changing…
Category: Digital Communications, Firehead.net News
AI Now’s warning on harmful artificial intelligence
The AI Now Institute's annual report for 2019 is an eye-opener for some of the risks and impacts of artificial intelligence as its use in enterprise, government and domestic environments grows. Many of the problems are social, cultural, and political rather than primarily technical. Last year, the Institute highlighted AI’s accountability gap, and asked who is responsible…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Market Trends, Technical Communication
Eight steps to better chatbot conversation design
If you’re involved in writing content for chatbots, or are looking to develop your chatbot conversation design skills, we recently spotted this presentation from the PLAIN 2019 conference which has some clear and useful guidance. In her talk, plain language consultant Andrea Othilie Rognan outlines why robots get human interaction so wrong: unlike humans, machines have “no…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Digital Communications, Plain language, Technical Communication
New jobs, partnerships and opportunities in the era of AI
We were busy at Firehead at the end of last year. Most of it was planning for the coming year – and decade. In a field like ours, it’s fun to look forward. 2020 is the year for delving into the hows and whys of the future of our profession in the era of artificial intelligence…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Guest Blogger, Localisation, Market Trends, Recruitment
Firehead’s Big List of 2020 Content and Digital Comms Conferences
Why not boost your career aims and ambitions by booking one of the following content and digital comms conferences in 2020? They offer great opportunities to seek out professional development, networking contacts, and the latest trends and insight in your field. Every year we scout around for the best learning and networking conferences for digital communications…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Augmented reality, Conferences, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Information Architecture, Localisation, Professional Development and Training, STC, Technical Communication, Usability
AI rises up our top 10 most-read posts
The Firehead blog turned 10 years old last year. That’s 10 years of community, knowledge sharing, interviews with smart people, trend watching and adding a recruiter’s eye view of the fast-changing field of digital communications – and posting cool cat pics! To kick off the Firehead blog in 2020, here are our most read posts of last…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Firehead.net News
January offer: €750 bonus if you refer a client to
Until the end of January 2020, anyone who recommends Firehead’s recruitment services to their employer or hiring manager will receive an extra 50% client referral bonus if it results in our placing a candidate. As a thank you – and to get our recruitment services in European digital communications out there – Firehead is giving away an…
Category: Firehead.net News, Recruitment
Adobe Technical Communication Survey 2020 – enter and win!
Our friends at Adobe Technical Communication have launched a short survey aimed at technical communicators. It aims to understand the trends shaping the future of content: how content is created, enriched, reviewed, managed, published, reused and analysed. Can you help them out? As a reward for participating, you'll have the chance to win some very nice…
Category: Technical Communication
Rising need for taxonomy skills in future of work
"The future of work means content for the machines, and content for the machines means taxonomies and ontologies for classification," says CJ Walker, founder and managing director of Firehead. “Information is getting classified, organised, structured, retrieved, archived and managed ready for the next wave of knowledge and intelligent content delivery," she adds. "And these skills are…
Category: Conferences, Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Market Trends, Technical Communication
Wishing you a Happy Christmas from Firehead
What a year! 2017 was a full one! December is drawing to a close, and it’s time to start the festivities and spending cozy time with family and friends. As 2017 winds down, we’re looking back on lots of activity. We’ve travelled and participated virtually. We’ve learned and we’ve taught. And we’ve met lots and…
Category: Firehead.net News
Usability and design symposium: call for proposals
Are you a researcher in usability, technical communication or localisation? The University of Strasbourg wants you! It is asking for proposals for its Symposium on Usability and Design, to be held next 3-4 April in Strasbourg, France. But be quick – the deadline is Monday! The symposium is on the theme of ‘Re-thinking Usability and…
Category: Technical Communication, Usability
Interview with an AI Entrepreneur
This month we’re going behind the scenes in the world of artificial intelligence (AI) startups. Welcome to the interview seat, Kaveer Beharee, founder of Ubiquity AI, in Johannesburg, South Africa. His AI startup is an artificial intelligence tech company focusing on natural language processing and natural language understanding in the financial services sector. Here he…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Digital Communications, Guest Blogger, Professional Development and Training
Market trend: connected data and data-driven strategies
Being more than a little data-obsessed, we were very interested to follow Connected Data London earlier this month. Now in its fourth year, Connected Data LDN is a conference for those who use “the relationships, meaning and context in data to achieve great things". Connected data is what happens when you take your data out of different…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Conferences, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Technical Communication
TCUK 2019 conference: key themes and trends in techcomm
Heads up, techcomm pros... our friend and training affiliate, Ellis Pratt of Cherryleaf, has reviewed the recent Technical Communication UK Conference (TCUK 2019) in a 16-minute podcast. Ellis recorded his review following the annual conference, which was held in the UK in September. He outlines three main themes: 1. Docs as code / docs like code…
Category: Conferences, Technical Communication
Useful links for digital communicators (summer 2019 edition)
Digital communicators! Keep abreast of latest thinking in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality, plain language, user experience, metadata, content and techcomm. We read and repost our bookmarks here so you can quickly get up to date with what’s happening in your career area. Welcome to the harvest from our summer crop of…
Category: Reading
Writing for machines and humans – online training
Our first online training for Writing for machines and humans – teaching you how to write for machines driven by artificial intelligence (AI) – begins in less than a month! We are very excited to bring you this timely and relevant training in new ways that users are consuming information and creating their own journeys through advances…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Using sweets to understand taxonomies
A little known fact about Firehead's founder, CJ Walker, is that as well as being a recruiter with a background in techcomm, she is also a trained linguist. CJ will happily talk about taxonomies, ontologies and metadata until the cows (oxen, cattle, bovidae, even-toed ungulates) come home. It's why taxonomy and ontology is a key…
Category: Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Information Architecture, Technical Communication
What can businesses learn from how Buzzfeed organises its content?
"What's the secret to making content people love?" asks BuzzFeed's publisher Dao Nguyen, who specialises in creating viral quizzes, lists and videos for its audience. If you work in more traditional industries – insurance, accountancy, manufacturing, logistics, information delivery or techcomm, let's say – it can be annoying and disheartening to compare your business stats with…
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Technical Communication
Our top 20 summer reads for content pros
The summer holidays are coming and if you're eager for knowledge, this is the perfect time to sit back, relax and catch up with a good book. If you're more of a non-fiction reader, why not choose a book that could help you the rest of the year and perhaps boost your career, too? We…
Category: Reading
Vive la France! Firehead is expanding!
We're proud to announce that Firehead has just opened a brand new regional European office in France to meet the fast-growing demand for technical writing, content strategy and other digital skills in the country. The office is based in Aix-en-Provence (we also have offices in Sweden and the UK). Although the sunny south of France…
Category: Firehead.net News
Six years of digital communications and jobs talk
This June will be Firehead's sixth year of creating, collecting and curating insights about the world of digital communication for our job candidates and hiring clients. For me personally, as Firehead's founder, I've loved watching the field grow. It seems every year there are more new and exciting areas to recruit in. Digital communications is really expanding and…
Category: Firehead.net News
How chatbots, AI and Info 4.0 are driving change at
There are many things to celebrate this week at Firehead. Firstly, this week marks the 10th anniversary of the Firehead blog, which helps support our hiring clients, job candidates and potential employers/contractors through coverage of the field of digital communications, recruitment and training. To celebrate how far we’ve come since we started blogging in the summer of 2009 we…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Market Trends, Products, Professional Development and Training, Recruitment, STC, Technical Communication
Best of 10 years of the Firehead blog
Today the Firehead blog turns 10 years old! It's a big blog birthday and one that comes with some big news for Firehead – to be revealed later this week (later is now!). For 10 years, we have blogged the fast-changing field of digital communications and recruitment across a range of topics such as techcomm,…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Interviews, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, Recruitment, Technical Communication
Share the birthday love, come blog with us!
Want to be our BFF? (That’s Blogging Friend Forever.) To celebrate our first blogging birthday on 16 June, we’re looking for the A-team of guest bloggers to help our candidates negotiate the world of international technical communication, content strategy and related subjects. As a central hub for recruitment in these areas, Firehead has achieved a…
Category: Firehead.net News, Guest Blogger
How to skill up in writing for machines
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in enterprise means that writing for humans increasingly means writing for the machines that deliver the information. AIs – through chatbots, voice-activated assistants such as Siri or Alexa, or other digital communications tech – are delivering information on demand to real people to satisfy different information needs across a range…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Catch up on news from STC Summit 2019
The STC’s annual conference happened earlier this month in Denver, Colorado, and some useful write-ups are starting to emerge for the technical communication community. The STC Summit is celebrating its 66th anniversary in 2019 and the event attracted 750 attendees to both the expo and the 100 educational sessions over two days. Conference tracks included:…
Category: Conferences, STC, Technical Communication
A reading list of the best content strategy books
Not sure how we missed this but leading content strategist Kristina Halvorson – founder of Brain Traffic agency and Confab content strategy conference which we posted on last week – published a useful list of content strategy books last year. The list was crowdsourced on Twitter and includes "content strategy classics, hot-off-the-presses works, and a…
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Reading
Refer a client and receive a financial bonus
Just a quick note to remind our readers that if you recommend Firehead’s recruitment services to a client, you can receive a financial thank-you bonus for supporting us.
Category: Firehead.net News, Recruitment
Confab 2019 – content strategy conference links
It's post-Confab and content strategists across the land are processing the information they received at the annual Confab content strategy conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For four days in April, content strategy was top of the agenda for strategists, UX designers, digital marketers and techcomm professionals. We've pulled out some of the presentations we think will…
Category: Conferences, Content Strategy
Useful links for digital communicators (March/April 2019)
Digital communicators! Keep abreast of latest thinking in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality, plain language, user experience, metadata, content and techcomm. We read and repost our bookmarks here so you can quickly get up to date with what’s happening in your career area. We also post regularly to our Firehead’s Twitter and LinkedIn pages, so please…
Category: Reading
A smart factory needs smart content needs smart workers
Documation 2019, which took place in Paris last month for business information management specialists, devoted a section of its conference programme to Information 4.0 – essentially the information arm of Industry 4.0. Industry 4.0 is an umbrella term for the use in manufacturing of latest technical innovations, such as AI, big data, the Internet of…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Augmented reality, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, Single Sourcing, Technical Communication
Useful links for digital communicators (Jan/Feb 2019)
Catch up with the world of digital communications with these great reads, infographics and videos. Our latest roundup covers industry insight and market trends. We read and repost our bookmarks so you can quickly get up to date with what’s happening in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality, plain language, user experience, metadata,…
Category: Reading
How to quit like a pro
Handing in your notice can be a moment of trepidation – how will your boss take it, what will the fallout be, how do you handle the practicalities, what does your future hold? If you’re ready to leave your job and move on but you want to do it gracefully and on good terms, there…
Category: Recruitment
Interview with a Chatbot Conversation Designer
Our digital communications job insight series returns with a fascinating behind-the-scenes interview with Toni Ressaire. Toni has worked in technical communication and software development for many years, and is now also a trainer and consultant. She was the keynote speaker at the 2018 Technical Communication UK conference, held last September. And her company Info4design provides consulting and…
Category: Digital Communications, Guest Blogger, Professional Development and Training
The Firehead Big List of 2019 Content & Comms Conferences
Every year we scout around for the best learning and networking conferences for digital communications professionals across the breadth of our field: in technical communication, content strategy, content marketing, plain language, copywriting, UX, metadata, AI, Info 4.0, augmented reality and more. We aim for a mix of events taking place on our recruitment homeground of…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Augmented reality, Conferences, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Information Architecture, Localisation, Professional Development and Training, STC, Technical Communication
Improve your writing with these content writing tools
The Internet has revolutionised the ability to tell stories and share information about ourselves, our brands, our products and our services. And the results have been both brilliant – and messy. The discipline of content strategy has risen to help sort and strategise the content. Similarly, new writers and subject matter experts have had to…
Category: Content Marketing, Digital Communications, Productivity, Tools and Analytics
Could techcomm help bridge the accountability gap in AI?
As artificial intelligence continues to move into our everyday lives, Firehead will be focusing this year on the challenges ahead for the workers of the future. What skills will be needed? How is the jobs market changing? What does it mean for those working in the field of digital communications, techcomm and content? Last year…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Technical Communication
January offer: €750 bonus if you refer a client to
Until the end of January 2019, anyone who recommends Firehead’s recruitment services to their employer or hiring manager will receive an extra 50% client referral bonus if it results in our placing a candidate. As a thank you – and to get our recruitment services in European digital communications out there – Firehead is giving away an…
Category: Business News, Recruitment
2018 in review – our year of change and growth
As the year winds down, we’re looking back over an exciting time of growth here at Firehead. Here's our 2018 in review... South Africa! The year started off with a bang thanks to a trip to Cape Town, South Africa with the University of Strasbourg. We accompanied their TCLoc (Technical Communication and Localisation) and CAWEB (Website…
Category: Digital Communications, Firehead.net News
Our most-read posts of 2018 – and a €750 Christmas giveaway!
Every year we look back to see what most interested our readers. Below you'll find our top 5 most read posts of 2018. But first, with Christmas upon us, we wanted to say thanks again for your custom and support. It's been a great year for Firehead as we've been able to significantly expand our…
Category: Firehead.net News, Reading
Firehead expands to meet changing digital communication needs
While Firehead offers excellent traditional recruitment services in the field of digital communications, we also recognise that sometimes you might need something a little more bespoke. We apply our long-standing industry knowledge and tap into our talent network to help our clients resolve all kinds of issues, large or small. Sometimes clients approach us with quite…
Category: Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Products, Recruitment
Useful links for digital communicators (Oct/Nov 2018)
Catch up with the world of digital communications with these great reads, infographics and videos. Our autumn roundup covers industry insight and market trends. We read and repost our bookmarks so you can quickly get up to date with what's happening in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality, plain language, user experience, metadata,…
Category: Reading
Interview with a User Instructions Entrepreneur
If you’re a digital content or techcomm professional stuck in a desk job and dreaming of work freedom, our latest job Q&A may find you drafting your resignation letter by the end. Ferry Vermeulen did exactly that when he quit his location-based work in 2015 to launch an online techcomm company with a team of…
Category: Digital Communications, Guest Blogger, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Digital communications training courses and classes enrolling now
The field of digital communications is always changing and so are the roles we recruit for, so why not take advantage of Firehead's range of digital communications courses and classes? In 2018, Firehead massively expanded its new training arm to complement our bespoke recruitment offering. Through our network of expert tutors and training partners, we now…
Category: Firehead.net News, Professional Development and Training
Useful links for digital communicators (Aug/Sept 2018)
Welcome to our latest set of bookmarks covering industry insight and market trends in the field of digital communications. Our summer roundup roundup includes topics from the worlds of artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality, plain language, user experience, metadata, content and techcomm. We also post regularly to our Firehead’s Twitter and LinkedIn pages, so please do connect with or…
Category: Reading
Machine learning in a world of GDPR and new e-Privacy
We've all taken GDPR on board now, haven't we? Well, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water… Machine learning and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is on the rise in business – see Highlights from Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report 2018 which shows IT spend is small but…
Category: Artificial intelligence
Useful links for digital communicators (June/July 2018)
Here what we've been reading in the last few weeks, covering industry insight and market trends in the field of digital communications. Our June/July roundup includes topics such as: artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality, plain language, user experience, metadata, content and techcomm. We also post regularly to our Firehead’s Twitter and LinkedIn pages, so please do connect with or…
Category: Reading
Where to skill up in machine learning, deep learning, NLP
We at Firehead are always on the lookout for resources our readers can use in their personal career development and skills training. And this month we’ve spotted a doozy that’s completely free on the KDnuggets, a website covering business analytics, big data, data mining, data science and machine learning. Check out 30 Free Resources for Machine…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Professional Development and Training, Reading
Get ready for XR – news from Augmented World Expo 2018
The world of augmented reality is preparing for take-off, if the ninth edition of Augmented World Expo (AWE) is anything to go by. AWE is the world’s largest augmented reality, virtual reality and wearable technology expo, taking place in California each May. A European AWE event will also be happening in Munich, Germany on 18-19 October.…
Category: Augmented reality, Conferences, Market Trends, Recruitment
From technical writer to content strategist
Many technical communication professionals are expanding their skills to include content strategy. If you are thinking of making the transition to become a content strategist then check out this session from last month’s STC Summit, which was held in Orlando, Florida in May. Below are the slides from Senior Content Strategist at WillowTree Melanie Seibert’s talk on why…
Category: Content Strategy, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
2018 STC Technical Communication Summit news roundup
Last month's STC Summit celebrated a milestone in the field of technical communication – the Society for Technical Communication’s 65th anniversary. The STC is the world’s largest and oldest professional association dedicated to the field of technical communication. So what news from this year's annual conference, which took place last month in Orlando, Florida on…
Category: Conferences, Digital Communications, STC, Technical Communication
Confab 2018: useful content strategy links
If you’re a content strategist or thinking of transitioning into content strategy work then the annual Confab conference in Minneapolis is a key event to get clued into. You can catch up on the recent Confab 2018 event with our roundup of links and recommended reading from the content strategy conference, which took place in May. Slide decks…
Category: Conferences, Content Strategy, Digital Communications
Firehead recruitment expands into digital skills training and consultancy
With the redesign of our website, Firehead is also happy to announce a number of new benefits and offerings for both our hiring clients and job-seeking candidates in the field of digital communications. Firstly, check out the new Firehead masthead, which now shows Recruitment, Training and Consultancy. This shows how we are changing and growing as…
Category: Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, Recruitment
GDPR and your recruitment data
From 25 May 2018, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR came into force. What does that mean for our database of talent working in the field of digital communications? And how does the new rule affect how we, as recruiters in this field, process your data? What is the GDPR? Essentially, the new…
Category: Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Recruitment
2018 digital and content conference calendar
Find your ideal professional development opportunity here in our roundup of 2018 events for digital communications professionals. We've listed all the conferences and expos that may be relevant to your interests over the next couple of months and we'll be adding to this list in the coming weeks. Many of the events listed take place on our…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Augmented reality, Conferences, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Graphic Design, Information Architecture, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, STC, Technical Communication
Information 4.0 – five impacts on technical communication
The technologies of Information 4.0 mark the beginning of the end of technical communication as it has existed since the early 1980s. That won’t happen overnight; many companies still use PDF, which was introduced in 1990, and Microsoft WinHelp, officially replaced by HTML-based help in 1997. But the changes are becoming visible. In this third…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Technical Communication
Information 4.0 – how to approach the content
In our opening post on Information 4.0 – a primer for technical communicators, we looked at how and why Information 4.0 is the next big step in how techcomm professionals will document technical information – and also help machines to document and act on this information. Now guest author and techcomm expert Neil Perlin starts to…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Technical Communication
Information 4.0 – a primer for technical communicators
Information 4.0 represents the next step in how we will document technical information, one in which the process of technical communication can be as high-tech as the subjects that we document. A few decades ago, we documented high-tech subjects in surprisingly low-tech ways, using typewriters and paste-up. That changed when word processing entered technical communication…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Technical Communication
Useful links for digital communicators (Jan 2018)
Welcome to our latest roundup of interesting reads covering industry insight and market trends in the field of digital communications. In our January bookmarks, there are plenty of trends post, plus we highlight some interesting reads in artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality, plain language, user experience, content and techcomm. We also post regularly to our Firehead’s…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Augmented reality, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Graphic Design, Market Trends, Productivity, Reading, Technical Communication, Usability
10 AI white papers to help you adapt to the
Last month we posted information from a new survey on AI from analytics firm SAS on the adoption of artificial intelligence in enterprise. This month we've borrowed its reading list of white papers and added a few extra links of our own to help you navigate the future work landscape and catch up on the…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Market Trends, Reading, Recruitment
Artificial intelligence survey – a recruitment reality check on AI
Everyone may be talking about artificial intelligence (AI) but its adoption is being held back, not because of lack of technology but, in part, because of a shortage of data science skills. This is according to a survey of 100 European organisations by analytics firm, SAS, which asked business leaders how they felt about AI’s…
Category: Artificial intelligence, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Recruitment
TCUK 2017 / Technical Communication UK 2017 presentations
After lots of Firehead announcements in our last post, we're back checking out stories of interest to our readers in techcomm, content strategy and the wider field of digital communications. And we've just spotted that Technical Communication UK, the ISTC annual conference that we attended in September in Nottingham, England, has posted up links to…
Category: Conferences, Single Sourcing, Technical Communication
Firehead relaunches with new offerings for 2018
There are so many new things afoot at Firehead this quarter that we’ve barely had a chance to blog about them, so we thought we’d take a deep breath and let you all know what’s been going on – and what’s about to happen…
Category: Firehead.net News
Useful links for digital communicators (October 2017)
Here is our latest set of interesting reads, videos and other bookmarks from the past month, covering industry insight and market trends in the field of digital communications. In our October roundup, we highlight some interesting reads in artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality, plain language, user experience, content and techcomm. We also post regularly to our Firehead’s…
Category: Augmented reality, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Reading, Technical Communication, Usability
10 CV guidelines – and one rule to rule them all!
In over 10 years of reading CVs every day for Firehead, I’ve seen every kind of presentation known to the application process – and then some. With new technologies and formats coming out all the time, the breadth of possibilities to present your information to a hirer has exploded too: video CVs, interactive CVs, even…
Category: CVs, Recruitment
Learnings from Copywriting Conference 2017
Last week I attended the 2017 Copywriting Conference, hosted by ProCopywriters at The Crystal in London and billed as “One day dedicated to the art and science of copywriting”. For Firehead’s sponsorship of the event, I gave a CV Surgery. Conference attendees brought me their CV works-in-progress and, during 15-minute one-on-one sessions, I gave them…
Category: Conferences, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, CVs, Digital Communications, Professional Development and Training, Recruitment
Useful links for digital communicators (September 2017)
It's back to school month and we've been doing our homework and bookmarking industry insight, professional development and training articles, and other useful links within the field of digital communications. In our September roundup, we highlight the latest reads in artificial intelligence (AI), plain language, content, techcomm, metadata and recruitment. We also post regularly to our Firehead’s…
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, Recruitment, Technical Communication
Interview with a… Training Manager
Many digital content and techcomm professionals think about going into training as they develop and build their careers so we are particularly pleased to hear about what this work entails from Dan Jones, a training manager for a global insurance firm based in Zurich, Switzerland. He reveals how to get started in training, why learning…
Category: Digital Communications, Guest Blogger, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Feeling behind on digital content? You’re not alone…
A six-page snapshot of 2017 content trends was released earlier this year, showing the state of play in digital content development and delivery for those who work in the industry. The survey of 1900 writers, managers, IAs and content strategists asked about their use of tools, processes, content types, customer content expectations and more. The resulting…
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Market Trends, Technical Communication, Tools and Analytics
Useful links for digital communicators (July-August 2017)
Catch up on industry insight, professional development and training articles, and useful links from the field of digital communications via our regular links roundup. We also post regularly to our Firehead’s Twitter and LinkedIn pages, so please do connect with or follow us there. Here’s what we’ve been bookmarking and reading over the past month across the…
Category: Augmented reality, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Market Trends, Productivity, Professional Development and Training, Reading, Recruitment, Technical Communication, Usability
Best of Augmented World Expo 2017 #AWE2017
Content futurists alert! The eighth edition of Augmented World Expo (AWE) – the world’s largest augmented reality, virtual reality and wearable technology expo – took place in Santa Clara, California on 31 May-2 June. Augmented reality hardware and software is still in the early stages relatively speaking but it is improving all the time, and…
Category: Augmented reality, Conferences, Market Trends
Useful links for digital communicators (June 2017)
Catch up on industry insight, professional development and training articles, and useful links from the field of digital communications via our monthly links roundup. We also post regularly to our Firehead’s Twitter and LinkedIn pages, so please do connect with or follow us there. Here's what we've been bookmarking and reading over the past month across…
Category: Augmented reality, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Reading, Recruitment, Usability
Is DITA working for you? DITA Satisfaction Survey 2017 results
Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) has gained widespread adoption in the techcomm field, as both a tool and a standard for structured technical writing. Through semantic tagging and an XML architecture, it facilitates the re-use of content across different outputs and helps thousands of organisations around the world to deliver content more efficiently and cost-effectively.…
Category: Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Products, Professional Development and Training, Single Sourcing, Technical Communication
Catch up on Confab Central 2017
Why not 'confab' vicariously with our wicked list of links from the annual content strategy conference held in the US. Confab Central 2017 took place from 7-9 June in Minneapolis and brought together around 600 content leads, content strategists, brand strategists, heads of content, senior digital writers, chief content officers and other content professionals from…
Category: Conferences, Content Strategy, Professional Development and Training
How and why clients fail with their content commissions
Recently we highlighted earnings and freelance rates in the world of copywriting, according to the 2017 Professional Copywriters’ Network (PCN) survey. But the research also revealed a number of issues on the client side of hiring in copywriters. Among the 500 UK copywriters who responded to the survey, 35% said that only some of their…
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Market Trends, Technical Communication
Learn customer journey mapping – workshops now available
Firehead is now offering workshops in customer journey mapping (CJM) – a very useful skill for content professionals to add to their content toolkit as it helps brands understand how the user experiences and interacts with their content across multiple touch-points and channels. Our CJM training is run as a classroom-based workshop in conjunction with…
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication, Tools and Analytics
Useful links for digital communicators (May 2017)
Here’s our May roundup of industry insight, professional development and training articles, and useful links from the field of digital communications. We also post regularly to our Firehead’s Twitter and LinkedIn pages, so please do connect with or follow us there. Here's what we've been bookmarking and reading over the past month across the fields…
Category: Augmented reality, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Graphic Design, Productivity, Professional Development and Training, Reading, Technical Communication, Usability
How much does copywriting cost? The 2017 survey results…
The 2017 Professional Copywriters’ Network survey was published last month and it reveals pay rates, earnings and a shocking 29% gender pay gap in the profession.Leif Kendall, Director of the Professional Copywriters’ Network, said: “This, our second annual survey, is a snapshot of the copywriting industry in 2017. It attempts to capture the experience of being…
Category: Content Marketing, Market Trends, Market Trends, Recruitment, Technical Communication
10 trends in techcomm and digital content
Spring is in the air and there certainly is a lot going on, both in digital communications and in the world generally. Our love for new technology continues but that brings new considerations to bear, such as cybersecurity and privacy issues. Meanwhile, economic and political uncertainty is affecting businesses everywhere. In this new VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex…
Category: Digital Communications, Market Trends, Technical Communication
Useful links for digital communicators (April 2017)
Catch up on our recommended reads from April, featuring industry insight, professional development and training articles, and useful links from the field of digital communications. We also post regularly to our Firehead’s Twitter and LinkedIn pages, so please do connect with or follow us there. Here's what we've been bookmarking and reading over the past month across the fields of content strategy, tech comm, UX…
Category: Augmented reality, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, Reading, Technical Communication, Usability
Firehead at Documation 2017
[twitter_video id="847034379864027137"] We'd like to congratulate Documation on a great event, held recently in Paris (29-30 March). CJ Walker attended, representing Firehead as an Adobe partner, along with other partner companies (left-right): Ray Gallon, Stefan Gentz and Toni Ressaire. “Documation was a great opportunity to catch up on developing trends in information delivery and what…
Category: Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Products, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Useful links for digital communicators (March 2017)
Here's our March roundup of industry links, professional development and training insights and useful reads from the field of digital communications. We also post regularly to our Firehead’s Twitter and LinkedIn pages, so please do connect with or follow us there. Here's what we've been bookmarking and reading over the past month, from design psychology to content strategy, machine learning to mobile tech comm.
Category: Augmented reality, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Information Architecture, Professional Development and Training, Reading, Technical Communication, Usability
Documation 2017: defining the future of information and Industry 4.0
For those working in information and content strategy, Documation 2017 promises to hold some interesting developments. The event takes place in Paris later this month (29-30 March) and, for the first time, content strategists and information specialists will come together in a coordinated effort to understand, discuss and begin to define the future of information…
Category: Conferences, Content Strategy, Guest Blogger, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Useful links for digital communicators (Feb 2017)
Catch up on our regular roundup of industry links, professional development and training insights, and interesting reads across the spectrum of digital communications. We also post regularly to our Firehead’s Twitter and LinkedIn pages, so please do connect with or follow us there. Here's what we've been reading over the past month, from writing errors to the importance of…
Category: Augmented reality, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Recruitment, Technical Communication, Usability
Content Strategy Applied 2017 in review
We were pleased to see Content Strategy Applied resurrected for 2017 after we attended the first #csapplied conference at eBay back in 2011 and 2012. The event, which focused on case studies and practical applications of content strategy, was founded in 2011 by Lucie Hyde and is now being co-produced with Rahel Anne Bailie. It promised…
Category: Conferences, Content Strategy, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Interview with a… Plain Language Consultant and Content Strategist
This month we welcome Frances Gordon to our job Q&A series with professionals working in digital communications. Together with her business partner, Candice Burt, Frances runs an international content strategy and plain-language business, specialising in financial content including fintech. This is a fast-growing area and one we very much wanted to know more about. Find…
Category: Content Strategy, Professional Development and Training
Useful links for digital communicators (Jan 2017)
Here's our regular roundup of the latest links, professional development and training insights, and digital communications reads that have caught our eye over the past month. We also post regularly to our Firehead’s Twitter and LinkedIn pages, so please do connect with or follow us there.
Category: Augmented reality, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, Reading, Recruitment, Technical Communication, Usability
Rapid no-code mobile app development – an introduction
Rapid mobile app development (RMAD) platforms are on the rise, allowing non-programmers to create and build apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android-based smartphones and tablets. The applications for business are wide-ranging and can save on the often significant time and development costs of custom-coding. If rapid DIY app-making still sounds a little scary, then join…
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Market Trends, Products, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication, Tools and Analytics
Ultimate list of 2017 digital and content conferences
Is your perfect learning opportunity here? Our annual roundup of events for digital communications professionals aims to help those who are looking to further their career and professional development in 2017. There are nearly 50 events listed here and many take place on our recruitment homeground of Europe, focusing on all the key areas we recruit in, from…
Category: Conferences, Professional Development and Training
10 gift books for digital communicators for 2017
Need inspiration for your career in 2017? Here's our selection of Christmas gift books to buy for yourself or the digital communications professional in your life. Our top 10 list has been picked with a recruiter's eye on market trends and modern technologies to help you upskill, freshen up your ideas or just get a…
Category: Augmented reality, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Market Trends, Professional Development and Training, Reading, Technical Communication
Firehead contributes to new master’s degree in tech comm and
A brand new online master’s programme in technical communication and localisation is launching at the University of Strasbourg, France in early 2017 – and Firehead is proud to be an industry contributor. The new programme, Master in Technical Communication and Localization – or TCLoc for short – is designed for the international market and is taught in…
Category: Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Localisation, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Learn how to create your own mobile apps – no coding
Ever had a killer idea for an app but come unstuck when it comes to making it actually happen? Then we have just the course for you: a new rapid DIY mobile app development course for non-techies... You can do it without coding! Until recently, mobile app development was a complicated task that called for…
Category: Content Marketing, Digital Communications, Firehead.net News, Products, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Content marketing trends for 2017 #cmworld
One of the biggest content events in the calendar took place earlier this month, with more than 3,500 marketers from 55 countries attending Content Marketing World 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. Here's the skinny in 10 quick links for content marketers, strategists, writers, editors and managers to get up to speed on the latest content marketing trends…
Category: Conferences, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Market Trends
Will robots replace human jobs (and how do you deal
The Future of Work is a particularly hot topic at the moment. It seems as if everyone, from governments to big brands, is producing a report on how automation, digitisation and other technological advances will affect our future workplaces, talent and educational approaches. One panel at this summer’s London Technology Week particularly caught our eye:…
Category: Content Marketing, CVs, Digital Communications, Graphic Design, Market Trends, Recruitment, Technical Communication
Is your work a bitch? Beware moaning about it here!
Six working days – that's how much time employees in the UK spend moaning about their employer each year, according to a recent survey. Recruitment firm RSG commissioned a poll of 2,000 British office workers and discovered just how much all those little grumbles add up. More than 6 in 10 workers spend over an hour…
Category: Digital Communications, Overheard, Productivity, Recruitment
Future-proof your content with our adaptive content workshop
We're proud to launch a new training offer, in conjunction with Urbina Consulting, for marketers, managers, technical communicators, UX specialists and content strategists who want to future-proof and structure their content for use across channels. This latest workshop builds on Firehead’s existing set of technical writing, content strategy and software courses (see the full list…
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication, Usability
The Story of Content documentary review
This week we finally caught up on the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) documentary on the rise of content and content marketing. "Content is the only marketing left" The Story of Content: Rise of the New Marketing is an easy watch, presented by a number of expert 'talking heads' and illustrated with a number of successful content marketing examples, which serves to remind…
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Digital Communications, Market Trends
Interview with a… Chief Technology Officer
This month, our series of behind-the-scenes job interviews looks at the technical side of digital communications. James Weir’s career has taken him from junior software engineer to software architect with Sun Microsystems, and now to CTO of UShareSoft, a software delivery and management company. Find out the best/worst of what a CTO job involves and…
Category: Technical Communication
Four ways plain language writing can boost SEO
Plain language writing – simple words, shorter sentences, cutting out jargon, using everyday language – is most often associated with business, legal, government and technical documents. But its value goes much wider. As well as simplifying content for readers, writing in plain language can be useful for bringing in more and better search engine traffic.…
Category: Content Strategy, Technical Communication
Confab 2016 conference recaps, talks and slides
As promised last week, here is our super-roundup of links from Confab Central, the calendar's biggest content strategy conference. Video presentations Check out the YouTube playlist, featuring a range of talks from Anil Dash to Kristina Halvorson. Confab 2016 video playlist
Category: Conferences, Content Strategy
Interview panic question #4: Why is there a gap on
Practice makes perfect so we continue our series on how to answer tough interview questions with one that requires some forethought: how to explain a break in employment. We've already posted a number of interview tips for the long-term unemployed last year, where we looked at how to explain an employment gap in a pro-active way (and…
Category: CVs, Interviews, Recruitment
Firehead’s CJ Walker elected as new TCEurope president
We are proud to announce that Firehead’s founder and managing director, CJ Walker, has been elected president of TCEurope, Europe’s umbrella organisation for technical communication. CJ Walker was elected at the recent TCEurope Colloquium, held in Porto, in Portugal on 15 April 2016. She will begin her two-year role immediately taking over from the outgoing…
Category: Firehead.net News, Technical Communication
Interview with a… European Technical Account Manager
Providing presales and follow-up support for a company’s technical products requires both a technical background and good communication skills. Someone who has excelled in both is Nolwenn Kerzreho, who has more than 10 years’ tech comm experience as a project manager, technical writer, instructor, presales consultant and conference speaker. Based in France, she explains what…
Category: Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Interview with an… Augmented Reality Consultant
We are pleased to welcome Grégory Maubon to kick off our 2016 series of behind-the-scenes job interviews. Grégory is a consultant in augmented reality; he helps companies understand and adopt the new technology to suit their needs. Find out what the job involves, what skills are required and why you should get some AR experience…
Category: Augmented reality, Professional Development and Training
Firehead launches new FrameMaker course
We’re very excited to announce the launch this week of our new training course on the Adobe® FrameMaker (2015 release). Update: the course has now been updated to Adobe® FrameMaker (2019 release). The two-day introductory course is designed for first-time users of Adobe FrameMaker (2015 release), which is a powerful publishing package that enable users…
Category: Firehead.net News, Products, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
10 reasons to use a specialist recruiter for content job
I'm a recruiter. I'm shameless about it. But when I'm out of my little office, I hear many tales of negative experiences using recruitment or staffing firms in finding a job. Indeed, you'd think that the recruitment agencies stood in the way of a deserving candidate and their rightful job. We seem to get filed…
Category: Digital Communications, Market Trends, Market Trends, Recruitment
Free resources to boost your digital content skills in 2016
Ah January – that beautiful, inspiring, positive month when you are full of fresh ideas and plans, but have no budget to act on them. That's why our opening post this year gathers up our pick of the free resources out there, from ebooks, to white papers to online courses, to help benchmark and boost your professional development…
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Information Architecture, Professional Development and Training, Single Sourcing, Technical Communication, Usability
2016 list of content, comms & web conferences
Welcome to our 2016 calendar of events for digital communications professionals. There are 35-plus conferences listed below, many of which take place on our homeground in Europe, focusing on all the key areas we recruit in: tech comm content strategy and marketing IA and UX augmented reality intranet, CMS, mobile and more. We cover many of the conferences…
Category: Conferences, Professional Development and Training
Turning content into an asset (rather than an expense)
Many brands are creating a content mess by adopting brand ‘storytelling’ as their main content marketing strategy. Danny Chadburn Head of Content at Ayima, looks at where it all went wrong and says that treating your content more like a product would save both brands and consumers a lot of hassle... Here’s a statement you’re unlikely to…
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Guest Blogger, Tools and Analytics
What do you do to follow up after an interview?
One of our Twitter readers, Tina Klein Walsh, asked us a very good question: What do you do to follow up after an interview? I’d like to address that question in this blog post. You should absolutely follow up after the interview to keep yourself front of mind for the potential employer. Your mother was…
Category: Interviews, Recruitment
Six trends set to change your workplace in 2016
We like to think of Firehead as being a modern, innovative employer – we are an agile, remote-first business; we collaborate daily across countries and continents recruiting for our clients in Europe, the USA and beyond; and we hot-desk, stand-up-desk and even stepper-desk while we work. Workplace trends are changing as our work evolves so we've rounded up some…
Category: Market Trends, Recruitment
Interview with a… Customer Support Manager
User assistance across digital channels is a fast-growing field that stretches from video tutorials to social media to email marketing. For our next Q&A, we're moving up the career ladder into management to go behind the scenes of Matt Pierce's job at TechSmith in Lansing, Michigan, USA. Matt started out as an instructional designer and…
Category: Guest Blogger, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Adaptive content – a guide for businesses and content workers
We wanted to know more about adaptive content and how it can be used to boost our clients' bottom line, so earlier this month we asked author, content strategist and adaptive content trainer Noz Urbina of Urbina Consulting for the FAQs. Here is his five-question guide with examples and resources to help you get to grips…
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Guest Blogger, Information Architecture, Localisation, Market Trends, Productivity, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Adaptive content: where can I learn more?
We end our five-part series on adaptive content, with Noz Urbina’s list of training resources, providing useful next steps in learning more about adaptive content. You can catch up on all posts in the series here.
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Guest Blogger, Information Architecture, Localisation, Market Trends, Productivity, Professional Development and Training, Technical Communication
Adaptive content: how is it changing content work?
In the third of our five-part series on adaptive content, Noz Urbina looks at how adaptive content is changing the way content professionals work, the kind of skills needed and where the new generation of content modellers is coming from.
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Guest Blogger, Information Architecture, Localisation, Market Trends, Productivity, Technical Communication
Adaptive content: what is the commercial advantage?
In the third of our five-part series on adaptive content, Noz Urbina asks what is the driver for businesses to invest in adaptive content. Adaptive content in a business context Adaptive content is a type of intelligent content. It has the internal smarts for automatic publishing out to the various devices and channels that modern business…
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Information Architecture, Localisation, Market Trends, Productivity, Technical Communication
Adaptive content: what is a content model?
In the second of our five-part series on adaptive content, Noz Urbina explains content models, and why they are important to adaptive content. Content model – a definition and example Yesterday we looked at what adaptive content is and how it helps both businesses and customers get more from their content. Today we go a little deeper…
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Guest Blogger, Information Architecture, Localisation, Market Trends, Productivity, Technical Communication
What is adaptive content?
In the first of a five-question guide to adaptive content, we ask Noz Urbina, content strategist and founder of Urbina Consulting, to explain adaptive content, and how it creates both efficiencies for businesses and more relevant content for customers. What is adaptive content? Possibly more than you might think at first. Adaptive content is a…
Category: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Guest Blogger, Information Architecture, Localisation, Market Trends, Productivity, Technical Communication
How to effect digital evolution in large organisations
As digital understanding matures, what does this mean for clients who want their organisations to move with the times? We asked Kris Mausser (pictured), enterprise content strategist and co-owner of Kina’ole Inc, how companies can evolve into truly digital businesses to achieve greater efficiencies and reduce risks.
Category: Content Strategy
Content marketing tip list for enterprise marketers
Docurated, a company that provides productivity and document management solutions to business, has collated a set of key tips and practices from industry leaders on the art of content marketing. We're happy to have been included on the list for our interview with enterprise content strategist, Kris Mausser, who talks about content strategy as a larger change…
Category: Content Marketing
Hiring a content marketer – what employers want
We like a good hiring survey here at Firehead and have had this one from content marketing platform Kapost bookmarked for quite a while. If you're a content marketer looking for a new job, its Content Market Hiring Handbook could be useful reading before you apply for a content marketing job or go for a job interview.…
Category: Content Marketing, Market Trends, Recruitment
Why hiring a metadata specialist could future-proof your business
We've just caught up on Rachel Lovinger's 2015 Confab Central presentation: Metadata is a love note to the future. In it, she looks at a number of ways in which metadata benefits the consumers of today and those of the future. It's an essential slide deck for anyone wondering: what is metadata and where it comes from how metadata sorts…
Category: Content Strategy, Market Trends, Technical Communication
How to give a great phone interview – a recruiter’s tips
In digital communications, organisations use a high percentage of contractors or hire people from farther afield than the city limits. A phone interview is an efficient first step to screen job candidates and decide if you're a potential fit for the job. Whether a recruiter has presented you or you've been selected from a direct application, your potential…
Category: Interviews, Recruitment
Interview with a… United Nations Intranet Content Manager
In our latest job Q&A, we head to Geneva, Switzerland, where Alex Faundez works as an intranet content manager for the United Nations (UN). Alex specialises in online communications, primarily content management and content strategy. Here he explains more about what his work involves. Check out more Q&As with digital communication professionals in our other areas of recruitment.
Category: Content Strategy, Professional Development and Training
Three takeaways from Intelligent Conference Conference (ICC)
This week, we’ve been catching up on the conference wisdom from recent content events in our areas of recruitment, such as Intelligent Content (covering content marketing), the IA Summit (information architecture) and TC Europe (tech comm). Here’s our first pick of the insights from Intelligent Content Conference (ICC).
Category: Conferences, Content Marketing
2015 list of content, comms & web conferences
Whether you’re intending to boost your professional development by attending a conference in 2015, or just looking to follow along online, here is our 2015 conference calendar for digital communication professionals. There are 38-plus events listed below, many of which take place on our home ground in Europe, focusing on all the key areas we recruit in:
Category: Conferences, Professional Development and Training
Interview with a… Freelance Content Strategist
Our job Q&A series continues with Elizabeth McGuane, a freelance content strategist based in London. Formerly a journalist, she has become a respected expert in the field of content strategy and regularly speaks at digital and design conferences. She’s worked with organisations both large (DigitasLBi, FleishmanHillard, the British Council) and small (Futuregov, Offset). Read on to discover what life as…
Category: Content Strategy, Professional Development and Training
When is the best time of year to look for
This question formed one our most popular posts on the Firehead blog a few years ago, so I thought we’d revisit it with a slightly longer answer. As a recruiter, I’m often asked when is the best time to ‘put yourself on the market’ when you’re looking for work. This is an honest enough question if you need a…
Category: Market Trends, Market Trends, Recruitment
Interview tips for the long-term unemployed
An estimated 23.815 million men and women across the EU's 28 countries were unemployed in January 2015 (source: European Commission), with long-term unemployment one of the main concerns of policymakers. The most recent EU figures on long-term unemployment (from 2013) show that 5.1% of the labour force had been unemployed for more than one year; and more…
Category: Interviews, Market Trends, Recruitment