4th August - office closed

Cherryleaf's offices will be closed on Friday, 4th August. Ginny, one of our directors, is getting married, and we're all going to the wedding. The wedding is on the next day, in La Coruna, Spain.

We'll be open for business on Monday 7th August, apart from Ginny, who will be back w/c 21 August.

New Article - 15 tips for writing great Help files

We asked the Technical Authors at Cherryleaf for tips on writing Help files. You can get these tips free. Just fill in your details here.

New article - 12 tips for hiring a technical author

We asked the consultants at Cherryleaf for tips on hiring a technical author. You can get these tips free. See here to get a copy of the article.

ISTC Awards

" The ISTC invites you to enter its annual Documentation Awards for 2006. The ISTC Documentation Awards is the annual opportunity in the UK for technical authors and information designers to receive recognition for excellence in the fields of technical and business communication."

"The purpose of the ISTC Documentation Awards is to recognise the value of clear, concise and effective documentation. Whether online or paper-based, the impact of highly effective documentation is felt by industry, commerce, consumers and academia... Members and non-members of the ISTC can enter... The deadline for entry is 1st August 2006...The winners will be presented with their awards after the Gala Dinner of the ISTC Annual Conference in October 2006, held at the Europa Gatwick hotel."

More information, the rules and a simple entry form can be found at http://www.istc.org.uk/pages/awards.php

News from the University of Portsmouth

"I am pleased to announce that the new postgraduate degree in Technical Communication will run from October 2006. With this announcement I would like to ask ISTC members if they would be able to help the Portsmouth teaching team develop a resources bank of technical communication materials by making sample materials available to the team for teaching/learning purposes. If you are able to help with this request in any way please contact the course leader, Ian Kemble"

Cherryleaf can forward Ian's email address on any one that could contribute.

Article: finding a job through networking

If you would like a free copy of our article on finding work through networking, just fill in your details on this Web page.

Self-teach guide on how to find work

Last week we released our first self-teach guide, called "Network to get work". I'm pleased to say it's been well received, with some nice testimonials already.

"This is outstanding, very practical and packed with useful stuff."
Dave Clarke, CEO, NRG Networks.

"It's packed full of useful hints and tips - definitely adds value to those that are serious about getting work through networking."
Christine Clacey, CEO, Transforming Dreams Ltd

"Network to Get Work is clear, concise and relevant to even the most practiced networkers. If you are new to the world of networking it will provide you the guide to get what you want. If you have been networking for a long time, it will help you refocus for better results!"
Mary White

It's a self-teach course for employees who have been laid off, are under the threat of redundancy or are simply looking for a new job. It's also for contractors who want to find more work through networking and need understand the best ways to do this.

In addition to its own Web site, it's also listed in the Cherryleaf shop.

Microsoft opens up on file styles

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5153350.stm

"Microsoft said it started building the software tools in response to requests from government customers..."

"...Before now, Microsoft and the technology world have chosen to go their own ways. The new initiative ends some of this diversity and will make it possible for anyone using programs in the Office software suite to save files in more so-called "open" formats. Specifically, the tools will make it possible to save and work with files using the Open Document format - a specification developed by the open source community as an alternative to the proprietary formats used by large software firms."