I’m excited to announce our Q1 Devil Mountain Views, published on March 20. Meanwhile, here’s a quick summary of what’s been going on at our dinner programs.

Our February and March programs were entertaining and practical! In February, we heard Jane Wilson speak about Creating User Documentation in an Agile World and, in March, Bruce Poropot talked about Minimalist Writing for Maximum Communication.

Whether or not you’ve worked in an Agile environment, Jane’s presentation offered food for thought. Where does the technical writer fit in the world of scrum masters, product owners, and team members? How do you link your documentation to the software user story? At Jane’s company, they remind people that doc writers support multiple teams. (Does this happen where you work?) Finally, Jane recommends writers be involved in all ceremonies, such as planning, stand-ups, and retrospectives. Even for non-Agile environments, being involved in the day-to-day work is good advice.

* public domain

Bruce began with fascinating examples of minimalism in art, music, poetry, and fiction. He also spoke of the Nuremberg Funnel as a metaphor for fast knowledge transfer. One way to transfer knowledge quickly is to use fewer words. Bruce provided many examples, and his talk invigorated my writing. In fact, weeks later, I find myself eliminating “word fat” and removing things the audience already knows in order to streamline my own writing.

Read more about a fun summer activity and recaps of all three 2017 programs are available on the individual event pages. It’s almost as good as being there.

And I hope you’ll be able to join us for one of our upcoming (first Thursday) programs!

— Gale Naylor

* By Unknown – Website: http://gv-eningen.blogspot.com/2011/02/nurnberger-trichter-werbevignette-von.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14998520