tekom Romania 15th Anniversary Conference

Technical Communication as enabler for business, development and education

Location: “Dimitrie Popovici Hall”, Faculty of Letters, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Time: 09:00 – 18:30

Number of attendees: Around 60 people, both technical writers, academia and students

Speakers and presentations

Welcome by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Renata Georgescu, Assoc. Prof. Dr.  Voichița Alexandra Ghenghea (tekom Romania Delegate) and Susanne Lohmüller (tekom Europe Community Management)

Key takeaways:

• The Department of Applied Modern Languages (LMA) is proud to be hosting such an event and its students are the living proof of the department’s efforts to maximize their employability on the labour market;
• tekom Romania is part of tekom Europe and is celebrating 15 years since being founded at the University Politehnica of Bucharest (October 2009).  Initially it used to be a student group but in the years that followed many academics and professionals from the industry joined, as the enthusiasm of the founding years was great. Usually tekom.ro is organizing 3-4 events a year (both onsite and online). There have been a few ups and downs over the years, but the interest in technical communication in Romania and the need for specialists in the domain have not diminished to this day and tekom.ro tries to meet these imperatives;
• tekom.eu in general and tekom.ro in particular are also striving to bring academia and industry together and are involved for many years in different projects with the goal of implementating at European level BA and MA-programs in Technical Communication at European level;  
• tekom.ro is always looking out for new members, as it believes that a strong community of practice is the foundation of lasting professional relations.

Content built for humans and AI – a comparison (Melania DUMA, Senior Technical Writer @RWS and Sonia PAVLENKO, Technical Writer @Ascom)

Key takeways:

• A lot of the rules used for writing for the AI are the rules that technical writers have been employing constantly when writing technical content
• The human mind can make sense of most unclear situations where AI struggles
• To make AI work, content has to have an extra layer of disambiguation rules and procedures
• AI can not yet replace humans as content writers

The docs-as-code approach at Snyk (Andreea LUCA, Technical Writer @Snyk and Veronica CERNEA, Technical Writer @Snyk)Key takeaways:

• The “docs-as-code” is a very useful case study on how to approach user documentation in an IT company.
• User-facing documents accompany product-based features, development, and build infrastructures, which require similar levels of planning, management, and support as any other product.

Classification of AI Tools for Technical Writing (Monica CHIŞ, Freelancer Software IT Consultant and Trainer)

Key takeaways:

• There is a dedicated AI tool for each part of the technical writing process
• Experimenting allows you to choose which tools best fit your needs
• AI tools require specific sets of skills

The Art of Impact: Presentation Form vs. Effects (Andreea PELEA, Technical Writer @Ascom)

Key takeaways:

• Impactful presentations do not just happen
• Preparation does not simply mean putting content together
• Taking into account your audience trumps the way your presentation is structured
• You are the presentation

You are using videos in your documentation, right? Right?!?! (Radu BĂZĂVAN, Technical Trainer @Ascom)

Key takeaways:

• Video has a greater impact when compared to text
• Do’s and don’t’s, advantages and disadvantages of using video in your documentation
• The future could be video-only…

How to effectively communicate technical content – a hands-on tutorial with (Rodica BUGA, Senior Technical Writer @VIAVI Solutions)

Key takeaways:

• A checklist of techniques for writing tasks in an easier manner
• Examples with step-by-step instructions etc.

Implementing Proven Standards and Game-Changing Strategies in Technical Writing Education: The Istanbul 29 Mayıs University Case (Işın ÖNER, Prof. Dr. @İstanbul 29 Mayıs University)

Key takeaways:

• Case study of the Istanbul 29 Mayıs University: combining traditional best practices with cutting-edge methods in order to modernize technical writing programs
• Examples of technical writing tasks students at different levels need to complete

Applied Modern Languages as Language for Market Access: Building the Bridge between Academia and Translation Industry (Andreea SĂRMAȘIU, Asist. Dr. @ Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca)

Key takeaways:

• Case study of the Department of Applied Modern Languages in Cluj (DLMA): enhances collaboration between academia and translation industry by aligning academic expertise with industry needs, developing specialized translation/interpretation programs and specialized translation workshops, and using different and innovative translation tools and methodologies.
• DLMA trains students for their future, offering them the skills needed for the labour market

Developing study programs for Technical Communication:

Academic Competence Framework for Technical Communication -TecCOMFrame Project (Erasmus+)  (Voichiţa Alexandra GHENGHEA, Assoc. Prof. Dr. @Department of Communication in Modern Languages, Faculty of Engineering in Foreign Languages (FILS), National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest; and Sissi CLOSS, Professor of Information and Media Technology @Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences)

   Key takeaways:

• Case study of the ERASMUS+ Project, “Academic Competence Framework for Technical Communication” (TecCOMFrame), initiated in 2015 by tekom Europe along with eight universities from different European countries, among them the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences and the University Politehnica of Bucharest.
• The project emphasis: 1.) development of a common competence framework for skills and qualifications and 2.) prototype curricula and training modules based on this framework which is international in its scope and has the potential of becoming a European-wide standard.

Master of Communication and Media, a new Master program at Pwani University (Kenya) (Sissi CLOSS, Professor of Information and Media Technology @Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences)

       Key takeaways:

• Case study of the DAAD project Master’s program in “Communication and Media” MCM (2022 – 2025):  Its aim to establish a Master’s program in at the Kenyan Pwani University based on the successful Master’s program in “Communication and Media Management” (KMM) at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences.
• Presentation of challenges and suitable solutions.

Thoughts from the audience

1. The event was a pleasant learning experience for both students and Technical Communicators.
2. The general vibe was relaxed. Snacks during breaks and lunch gave people an opportunity to share their challenges in an informal setting.
3. The presentations were interesting, diverse, and completed each other (eight professionals and four academics).
4. Technical Writing is an option worth considering for the students, and is a field still filled with challenges for professionals!

Special thanks go to our hosts: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Renata Georgescu and Asist. Dr. Andreea Sărmașiu from the Department of Applied Modern Languages (Faculty of Letters, Babeş-Bolyai University) who contributed a lot to the success of this important tekom Romania event.

Big gratitude to our sponsor: Rebel.Dot