East Bay Chapter Monthly Meeting

Thursday, September 5, 2002

Ron Person, best-selling author and one of Microsoft's first 12 independent consultants for F1000 Office Automation, will be the featured speaker at our September meeting.

Person has authored 28 technical books—including four best sellers—with more than three million copies of his books in print. His books have been translated into 18 languages. He founded the best-selling series "Using Windows…," "Using Excel…," and "Using Word…" published by Que, an imprint of Macmillan. Ron was one of the first trade book authors to apply principles developed in cognitive psychology to the writing of technical trade books. The computer book industry has adopted many of the principles he pioneered in 1986.

Person will discuss the several key elements of successful communication in an Internet or Intranet environment, including:

• When corporate marketing knocks—don't answer
• What eye-tracking research reveals about how readers read on the Web
• Why we need to write honestly in a world of shared content
• Why you should examine your direct mail—then toss it
• How two one-hundred-year-old math algorithms define how we should write for the web today

Ron Person Consulting is devoted to helping clients define, create, and implement eLearning and support strategies that measurably impact business. Prior to opening his consultancy Ron was CEO and Chief Architect of Expert Notes, a community of best practices that connected users, experts and content via the Web and wireless devices. The computer book industry has adopted many of the principles he pioneered in 1986.

In addition to writing, Ron built one of the first consulting and training practices focused on automating business practices with Microsoft Office. He also developed and delivered train-the-trainer courses for F1000 corporations and for the University of California, Berkeley extension. Ron has an MS in physics and an MBA with highest honors.

ron@ronperson.com or (707) 494-3967.