jtchew@csa2.lbl.gov (JOSEPH T CHEW) (09/12/90)
Dear Colleagues: As program committee chair for the 1992 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference, I'm beginning to solicit ideas for the program and put out feelers for potential speakers. Historically and by reputation, the IPCC is mainly for technical writers, a substantial number of whom are, of course, in the computer industry. However, we get some interested scientists and engineers, as well as "techie" journalists, managers, public relations folk, and so forth, and the theme is going to be the interdisciplinary nature and impact of the communication profession. Therefore I'm casting my net a bit more widely than usual, and am attempting to reach management and engineering in addition to the documentation community. Papers should be relevant to communication, preferably about computers or other aspects of science or technology, though you can interpret this rather broadly. Just to start your imagination, here are some possible topics. * The Profession. The borderlands between technical writing and engineering, including the writer/engineer relationship, the writer's role in user- interface design, and the engineer as author. * Documentation. Virtually any topic, but emphasize novel ideas or analyze existing approaches with unaccustomed rigor. Possibilities include sparse- text or graphic manuals; the respective roles of paper and online infor- mation in the context of the whole system; usability testing of documen- tation and of systems themselves; and the uses and misuses of hypermedia. * Customer support, especially technical and financial effectiveness of novel approaches. * Computer-industry public relations. Timing, content, and rhetorical strategies for information release; policies on media access; and the trade-journal article as a PR tool. A case history in the PR handling of a particular event or problem might make an interesting talk. * Journalism, either in the trade press or the mass media. Analyses of journalistic coverage of current issues, including the "Japanese threat" and look-and-feel litigation, would be compelling topics. Other possibilities include the problems of explaining computer and other high-tech issues to the general public; fairness issues in the trade press; and tactics for audience analysis. Of course there are many other possibilities. Rather than feeling constrained to what I have listed, feel encouraged to expand on it. Since abstracts aren't due for a year and a half yet, there is still plenty of time to pick an interesting topic and begin work. If this jibes with some research you are beginning or continuing, let's talk. Further steps in the process probably won't be too interesting to the network at large, so use E-mail or phone me at (415) 486-5374. The conference will be a three-day affair, probably in Santa Fe, at some suitably picturesque time in September or October. Figure on half-hour papers, one-hour panels, and the possibility of longer hands-on workshops and tutorials. Poster presentation is also an option. Thank you for your consideration. Bring me your novel ideas and fresh perspectives and we'll see what we can do for the general benefit of all who attend. --Joe JTCHEW@lbl.gov Feel free to post this message elsewhere in hard or soft format