24/03/22
NORDIC TechKomm Stockholm, March 9–10, 2022: Writing for Human and Machine
Katharina Willer
After many online and hybrid events, we were happy to have this year's NORDIC TechKomm back on site in Stockholm. The location was Helio Kungsholmen, a well-known event location and coworking space. Several presentations on topics such as UX, standards, intelligent content, and digital product communication were presented by international speakers.
First Conference Day: Expert Presentations, Panel Discussion and Networking Dinner
On the first conference day, the presentations and workshops covered and discussed subjects around intelligent content, the machinery directive, digital product communication and intelligent information. Iliana Kostova, for example, spoke in her tutorial about how to create the best content for user interfaces and debated whether you can apply a general logic for determining the right place for user assistance. Another presentation was held on Knowledge Graphs in technical communication: Karsten Schrempp gave his audience insights into the use of Knowledge Graphs and their importance and versatility, which is a promising topic for the future of technical communication. At the end of the last day, there was a panel discussion in which Maiken Blok, Björn Nord and Michael Fritz, among others, presented their opinions on the future of technical communication.
The networking dinner was a great way to end the first day of the conference. Over good food in a pleasant atmosphere, the participants, speakers, and sponsors had the chance to network with new contacts and have interesting conversations. Also, the Swedish Fika (coffee breaks) and the lunch break provided great opportunities to network and talk about the newly gained impressions during the day.
Second Conference Day: Enjoying being on site again – workshops and interactive sessions
The second conference day started with two workshops: Wouter Maagdenberg explained how to get started with turning tech docs into how-to videos. Participants learned how video automation creates consistent videos in various languages and that offering video instead of print can reduce the carbon footprint. Martin Zimmermann talked in his workshop about process plants and the machinery directive, as well as their legal basis, and gave expert advice on how they can be decoupled in a useful way.
After a long lunch break, during which the participants were able to exchange new ideas and get some fresh air, the event continued with presentations and interactive sessions. In the presentation “First comes metadata, then comes content”, Ulrike Parson and Achim Steinacker addressed the question of “How to make metadata control your CCMS”. During the interactive sessions in the afternoon, the participants discussed current topics such as Video Documentation, How do I future-proof my content, and Meta Data and Content Management.
The conference offered not only the chance to gain new knowledge on current topics but also the opportunity to make new contacts and maintain existing ones in person after a long time. The participants, speakers, and sponsors, as well as all of us from the Stuttgart office, were happy to be able to organize and attend an on-site conference again. It was exciting – see you at the next NORDIC TechKomm in Copenhagen, September 21–22, 2022!