01/24/24 Update: Now that all the talks have been uploaded to YouTube, I’ve added links to highlighted talks in each section below!
A few weeks ago, I flew to Melbourne to speak at Write The Docs Australia. I enjoyed meeting fellow documentarians on the other side of the world, gave my first-ever main stage conference talk, and had some very Aussie adventures along the way. 🦘🐨🐧
This post is only about my experience as an attendee; I’ll be doing a follow-up post about what it was like to speak at this conference. Stay tuned for that to come out soon!
Wait, what’s Write The Docs?
For those unfamiliar, Write The Docs is a professional community for everyone who cares about documentation. This can be programmers, tech writers, developer advocates, customer support, marketers, and anyone else who wants people to have great experiences with software.
In addition to an active Slack space and a variety of meetups, they host regional conferences, in places like Portland, Prague, India, Australia, and Atlantic (virtual-only, on UTC time). I attended Write The Docs Portland in 2020 and 2021 and had a great time – they’re among the most welcoming and inclusive conferences I’ve ever experienced.
Conference structure
The conference took place over two days, which included:
- Ten 30-minute talks
- One writing and editing workshop
- One discussion panel
- Two sets of three lightning talks ⚡
- One social event
Conferences can be a mentally exhausting fire hose of information. This is why Write The Docs builds lots of breaks in between talks, and encourages folks to step away as needed. This feels human and accommodating.
On day 1, there was 35 minutes of break time, broken up over four breaks, before we even hit lunch. This made the information overload manageable – I appreciated having time to mentally process, update my notes, and chat with other attendees.
Highlighted talks
Though I’d love to give an overview of each and every talk, that would make this post far too long for anyone to want to read. Also, since it’s taken me a while to draft this, my memories have become hazy.
Instead, I’ll highlight my personal standout talks and some things that stood out to me along the way. These talks aren’t online in full yet, though they should be a few weeks from now – Write The Docs will announce this in their newsletter when they’re online.
Advocating for digital accessibility with empathy (Rhiannon Hall)
The morning of day one, Rhiannon opened our hearts and minds to accessibility as a crucial part of product development. Speaking from her professional experiences managing repositories of university information to serve learners with a variety of access needs, she walked us through their inclusive co-design process.
The talk ended with a wealth of practical advice, including a handy QR code linking to a video series where students explain digital accessibility.
I love this talk because it frames accessibility as a fundamental part of development. Many businesses build something first based on an assumption that they can fix accessibility issues later, then when they realize how much time and money it may take to change their product, they deprioritize the work. The way in which Rhiannon’s team centers human needs as part of the initial creation process is something all of us can (and should) learn from.
Full talk recording: Rhiannon Hall – Advocating for digital accessibility with empathy
The evolving landscape of Simplified English for software documentation (Shumin Chen)
In this part-talk-part-workshop, Shumin gave us an interactive overview of Simplified Technical English (STE) a “controlled language” designed to simplify technical docs to be easily translated and applied by English and non-English speakers. It started in the 1980s in the aerospace industry, and has expanded to many other fields. It currently consists of 53 writing rules and a dictionary of around 930 allowed words.
The first part of the talk covered the history, evolution, and practical applications of STE. As we moved into the workshop phase, we were challenged to apply what we had learned to real-life examples in handouts provided by Shumin. It was more difficult than I’d first imagined, and it gave me lots of inspiration on where my docs could do better explaining technical concepts using simpler language.
Learning about STE for the very first time was fascinating – it felt like an evolved, global dialect of English, which is practical in an infinite variety of ways. I really appreciated how interactive and hands-on this workshop was – I walked away having learned so much in such a short time.
Shameless plug for her excellent work: Shumin does these STE trainings for a variety of organizations. If you want to learn more or sign up for a future workshop you can follow her on LinkedIn.
Talk preview: The evolving landscape of Simplified English for software documentation
Positive Learning Environment at Work: Equipping everyone to succeed at writing docs (Yvonne Perkins)
On day two, Yvonne took us through a journey of a fictional engineer, referred to as “Peter”, who is required to write technical documentation as part of his job. This persona prompted us to empathize with the challenges that many engineers have when it comes to writing tech docs – and how we, as writers and editors, can better collaborate with these folks by applying a growth mindset to the experience of co-creating docs together.
The personification of Peter as an archetypal developer struggling with new responsibilities lead to some funny slide moments. (As a digital nomad who has met many of these Peter types on the road, I laughed pretty hard at this one).
I like this talk because it challenged us to dismantle the “engineers versus writers” mindset that many folks on both sides of the table tend to have – which creates ongoing friction between teams that can last for years. I’ve admittedly been guilty of giving in to this when I’m feeling frustrated with an engineer who doesn’t seem to take writing or editing as seriously as I do.
Yvonne also tied in the importance of fostering a psychological safe environment, the power of acting as a “not team leader”, and the message to always strive to see potential in others, not deficits. This ended up being the talk I took the most notes on because of all the practical soft skill advice shared.
Full talk recording: Yvonne Perkins – Positive Learning Environment at work Equipping everyone to succeed at writing docs
I will survive (weren’t you the one who tried to hurt me with “Goodbye”?) (Lana Brindley (she/her) and Steve Kowalik (he/him))
The final talk of the conference addressed a grim reality that many of us are facing right now: layoffs and the abysmal job market. Though I’ve been summarizing these talks in my own words in the sections above, the official abstract provided for this one is too good not to quote word-for-word.
“Inspired by the disco-classic by Gloria Gaynor, Steve and Lana discuss the various job rejections they’ve experienced over far too many years, with hair-raising stories from friends and colleagues, and examine the reasons why employers treat us like we’d crumble, how you can grow strong, and learn to get along.”
This talk was as fun and refreshingly cathartic as it sounds.
Steve and Lana walked us through very relatable, heartbreaking stories of layoffs from a variety of circumstances and perspectives. The talk was structured as a series of chronological steps throughout the grief process – from when the layoff rumors start, to getting that calendar invite from HR, to going through all the cycles of grief, panic, despair, hope, and finally, joy when you get that job offer of your dreams.
I don’t think I can put into words how much this talk meant to me. Having recently experienced the layoffs at my own org, I held back tears as I frantically took pics and notes, wanting to capture all of the valuable advice to save and share with colleagues. The tone of the talk, with solemn job loss anecdotes layered over the glittery metaphor of Gloria Gaynor’s lyrics, felt like the perfect way to express the multitude of turbulent feelings we all feel at times like these.
The last slide expressed this perfectly with “A disco ball is hundreds of pieces of broken glass put together to make a magical ball of light. You aren’t broken. You are a disco ball.“ 🥹
Full talk recording: Lana Brindley/Steve Kowalik – I will survive (weren’t you the one who tried to hurt me with Goodbye)
Inclusive signage
You’d think a conference for content folks would have inclusive language, yeah? Though not all of the conferences I’ve attended for writers have met that standard, Write The Docs always has always been above-and-beyond inclusive – and Australia was no different.
Upon entrance, I appreciated this sign reminding all of us to be mindful of how we refer to our little gathering of tech folks of all genders and identities. They also had lanyards of different colors to allow folks to indicate if they didn’t want to be photographed, which made it especially easy for me to respect peoples’ boundaries when picking out photos for this blog post.
When I headed for the bathroom, I was delighted to see this mildly sassy sign to encourage folks to maintain an inclusive mindset for all genders.
Though it may seem like a small thing, as a genderqueer attendee and speaker, it made me feel seen and supported as the default setting. In a world where LGBTQ+ people have to continually verify if they will be protected in spaces before they can allow themselves to get comfortable there, this type of thing goes a long way.
Wrap-up
This was the first in-person Write The Docs Australia conference in four years, and you could feel all the heart and energy that the organizers and attendees brought to it. The venue enhanced this energy as well; it was held at the beautiful Library at the Dock, which provided us with lovely views of the Yarra river.
Since it was on the smaller side (it looked to be around 60-80 attendees) we were all in one big room. This added a cozy, classroom-style feeling, which made it easy to start up conversations with folks. I made it my goal to talk to one new person at each break, and got to know a wealth of really lovely people this way.
This includes the organizers themselves, who were so kind as to take me up on my invite to gather with people the evening before the first day. We walked through an area known for it’s vibrant street art scene, and wound down with a delicious dinner at a local popular spot. It was the perfect way to set the welcoming, good-vibes tone that would persist throughout the conference.
In summary, the organization, the talks, the inclusive policies, and the people (attendees and organizers alike) all made this one of the best conference experiences I’ve ever had. Though I’m hesitant to do another 15-hour flight anytime soon, I could definitely see myself returning to Australia to attend this conference again.
I’m planning to do a follow-up post on what it was like for me to give my very first main-stage conference talk at Write The Docs Australia. In the meantime, I’m going to go back to enjoying the Tim Tams I got at the airport while appreciating the cozy winter weather of the northern hemisphere. As you can see, they’re almost gone – all the more reason for me to go back someday.
P.S: I’m working on a part 2 post on what it’s like to speak at a Write The Docs conference. Stay tuned for that to come soon!