Our top four topics for 2024
Did you miss a podcast, blog post, or webinar? We get it–there’s too much content and not enough time, but we’ve got you covered. Here’s a collection of our biggest topics from this year.
Industry insights
Pulse check on AI: December, 2024 (podcast)
In episode 178 of the Content Strategy Experts podcast, Sarah O’Keefe and Christine Cuellar perform a pulse check on the state of AI as of December 2024. They discuss unresolved complex content problems and share key considerations for entering 2025 and beyond.
The truth that we’re finding our way towards appears to be that you can use AI as a tool and it is very, very good at patterns and synthesis and condensing content. And it is very, very bad at creating useful, accurate, net new content. That appears to be the bottom line as we exit 2024.
— Sarah O’Keefe
Bridging technical and marketing content (webinar)
In this episode of our Let’s Talk ContentOps! webinar series, Scriptorium CEO Sarah O’Keefe interviewed special guest Alyssa Fox, Senior VP of Marketing at The CapStreet Group. Discover critical enterprise content strategy insights that Alyssa has gathered throughout her journey from technical writer to marketing executive.
In this webinar, viewers learn:
- The broader picture of enterprise content operations
- Strategies for integrating technical and marketing content
- Best practices for using technical content as a marketing asset
AI, replatforming, and penguins?
The tcworld/tekom conference took place in Stuttgart, Germany, from November 5–7. The event is the largest technical communication conference in the world, typically with 2,500–3,500 attendees.
From stakeholders to stake-holders: Getting business buy-in for content operations
LavaCon 2024 delivered actionable insights, emphasizing that your business case for content operations requires strong alignment with business goals. Successful content modernization hinges on executive support, effective change management, and a wary eye on AI.
Do enterprise content operations exist?
Is it really possible to configure enterprise content—technical, support, learning & training, marketing, and more—to create a seamless experience for your end users? In episode 177 of the Content Strategy Experts podcast, Sarah O’Keefe and Bill Swallow discuss the reality of enterprise content operations: do they truly exist in the current content landscape? What obstacles hold the industry back? How can organizations move forward?
Sarah: You’ve got to get your terminology and your taxonomy in alignment. Most of the industry I am confident in saying have gone with option D, which is give up. “We have silos. Our silos are great. We’re going to be in our silos, and I don’t like those people over in learning content anyway. I don’t like those people in techcomm anyway. They’re weird. They’re focused on the wrong things,” says everybody, and so they’re just not doing it. I think that does a great disservice to the end users, but that’s the reality of where most people are right now.
Bill: Right, because the end user is left holding the bag trying to find information using terminology from one set of content and not finding it in another and just having a completely different experience.
The future of AI: structured content is key (webinar)
In this episode of our Let’s Talk ContentOps! webinar series, industry experts Sarah O’Keefe and Carrie Hane explore the intersection of structured content and artificial intelligence. Discover how structured content improves the reliability and performance of AI systems by increasing accuracy, reducing hallucinations, and supporting efficient content management.
In this webinar, attendees will learn:
- AI’s capabilities and limitations
- How structured content enhances AI abilities in content management, personalization, and distribution
- Best practices for integrating AI and structured content
Enterprise content operations in action at NetApp (podcast)
Are you looking for real-world examples of enterprise content operations in action? Join Sarah O’Keefe and special guest Adam Newton, Senior Director of Globalization, Product Documentation, & Business Process Automation at NetApp for episode 175 of The Content Strategy Experts podcast. Hear insights from NetApp’s journey to enterprise-level publishing, lessons learned from leading-edge GenAI tool development, and more.
We have writers in our authoring environment who are not writers by nature or bias. They’re subject matter experts. And they’re in our system and generating content. That was about joining us in our environment, reap the benefits of multi-language output, reap the benefits of fast updates, reap the benefits of being able to deliver a web-like experience as opposed to a PDF. But what I think we’ve found now is that this is a data project. This generative AI assistant has changed my thinking about what my team does. Yes, on one level, we have a team of writers devoted to producing the docs. But in another way, you can look at it and say, well, we’re a data engine.
— Adam Newton
See Scriptorium in action at these upcoming events!
Whether you want to connect in person or online, you can see Scriptorium at these upcoming conferences and webinars.
Strategies for AI in technical documentation (podcast, English version)
In episode 169 of The Content Strategy Experts podcast, Sarah O’Keefe and special guest Sebastian Göttel of Quanos engage in a captivating conversation on generative AI and its impact on technical documentation. To bring these concepts to life, this English version of the podcast was created with the support of AI transcription and translation tools!
Sarah O’Keefe: So what does AI have to do with poems?
Sebastian Göttel: You often have the impression that AI creates knowledge; that is, creates information out of nothing. And the question is, is that really the case? I think it is quite normal for German scholars to not only look at the text at hand, but also to read between the lines and allow the cultural subtext to flow. From the perspective of scholars of German literature, generative AI actually only interprets or reconstructs information that already exists. Maybe it’s hidden, only implicitly hinted at. But this then becomes visible through the AI.
Strategien für KI in der technischen Dokumentation (podcast, Deutsche version)
Folge 169 ist auf Englisch und Deutsch verfügbar. Da unser Gast Sebastian Göttel sich im deutschsprachigen Raum mit KI beschäftigt, kam die Idee, diesen Podcast auf Deutsch zu erstellen. Die englische Version wurde dann mit KI-Unterstützung zusammengebastelt.
Sarah O’Keefe: Was hat die generative KI mit Gedichtinterpretationen zu tun?
Sebastian Göttel: Ja, nun, also oft hat man da ja den Eindruck, dass KI das Wissen schöpft, also Informationen aus dem Nichts erschafft. Und da ist die Frage, ist das denn wirklich so? Denn für die Germanisten ist es, glaube ich, schon eher normal, nicht nur den vorliegenden Text anzuschauen, sondern auch zwischen den Zeilen zu lesen, den kulturellen Subtext einfließen zu lassen. Und aus dem Blickwinkel der Germanisten, interpretiert oder rekonstruiert generative KI eigentlich nur Informationen, die schon vorhanden ist. Möglicherweise ist die verborgen, nur implizit angedeutet. Aber die wird durch die KI dann sichtbar.
The challenges of content operations across the enterprise (podcast)
In episode 167 of The Content Strategy Experts Podcast, Sarah O’Keefe, Alan Pringle, and Bill Swallow discuss the difficulties organizations encounter when they try to create a unified content experience for their end users.
AP: Technical content, your tech content or product content, wants to convey knowledge so the user or reader can do whatever thing that they need to do. Learning content is about improving performance. And with your knowledge base content, it’s when, “I need to solve this very specific problem.” So those are the distinctions that I see among those three types.
SO: Okay, and from a customer point of view, what does this mean?
AP: Well, in reality, I don’t think the customers care. They want the information available, and they want it in the formats they want it in. And also, they want the right information so they can either get that thing done, improve their performance, or solve a specific problem.
Managing content with tools beyond your control (webinar)
In this episode of our Let’s talk ContentOps! webinar series, Pam Noreault, Principal Information Architect at Ellucian, and Sarah O’Keefe, CEO of Scriptorium, discuss the dynamics of authoring teams whose tools are controlled by IT or third-party SaaS ecosystems.
Pulse check on AI: May, 2024
In episode 166 of The Content Strategy Experts Podcast, Sarah O’Keefe and Alan Pringle check in on the current state of AI as of May 2024. The landscape is evolving rapidly, so in this episode, they share predictions, cautions, and insights for what to expect in the upcoming months.
We’ve seen this before, right? It’s the gold rush. There’s a new opportunity. There’s a new possibility. There’s a new frontier of business. And typically, the people who make money in the gold rush are the ones selling the picks and shovels and other ancillary services to the “gold rushees.”
— Sarah O’Keefe
Self-service content in the age of AI with Patrick Bosek
In episode 165 of The Content Strategy Experts Podcast, Sarah O’Keefe and guest Patrick Bosek of Heretto discuss how the role of customer self service is evolving in the age of AI.
I think that this comes back to the same thing that it came back to at every technological shift, which is more about being ready with your content than it is about having your content in the perfect format, system, set of technologies, or whatever it may be. The first thing that I think either of us will say, and a lot of people in the industry will tell you, is that you need to structure your content.
— Patrick Bosek
ConVEx 2024: Advice for AI in content operations
At the 2024 ConVEx conference, Scriptorium CEO Sarah O’Keefe was part of a panel of content experts including Dawn Stevens, Val Swisher, and Rob Hanna. The panelists discussed the pros, cons, and cautions of using AI in content creation.
Resources for 3 key trends in content operations
We predicted three content operations trends that will impact businesses in 2024. The resources in this post will help you prepare for these trends, the changing landscape of AI, and more.
Content ops 2024 boom or bust? (webinar)
Scriptorium principals Sarah O’Keefe, Alan Pringle, and Bill Swallow have decades of experience in the content industry. In this webinar, they share their analysis of key content operations trends.
After watching, you’ll learn
- Three key trends in content operations
- The predicted impact of these trends in 2024
- How your organization should adapt
Design thinking & equity in design with guest Dee Lanier (podcast)
In episode 157 of The Content Strategy Experts Podcast, Sarah O’Keefe and special guest Dee Lanier discuss design thinking: what it is, what it isn’t, and obstacles and ideas for equity in design.
“Design thinking is not a model first. It is a mindset that incorporates a strong inquisitiveness. What’s happening here? Who are the people that are being affected by whatever problems that are happening here? And what don’t I know that I need to learn before proposing any solutions? That’s design thinking in a larger understanding.”
— Dee Lanier
Lessons from LavaCon 2023: How AI will impact the future of content
If you didn’t make it to LavaCon 2023 in-person or online, here are the lessons our team shared about the perils and possibilities of AI, the future of content, and more!
Insights from MadWorld 2023—the move from Flare to DITA
Our team enjoyed meeting the passionate people we met during MadWorld 2023. Now that the MadCap Software family has acquired the IXIA CCMS, learn more about what it is, how it adds value to Flare users, and when you may consider transitioning to this powerful tool.
Takeaways from TechLearn 2023
Our team taught and learned so much during TechLearn 2023. Here are some insights from our test kitchen demonstration, the L&D healthcare series, and more!
(Warning: Images of delicious New Orleans food will make you envious.)
Applications of AI for knowledge content with guest Stefan Gentz (podcast)
In episode 152 of The Content Strategy Experts Podcast, Sarah O’Keefe and special guest Stefan Gentz of Adobe discuss what knowledge content is, what impacts AI may have, and best practices for integrating AI in your content operations.
“As a company and as a content producer who’s publishing content, you are responsible for that content and you cannot rely on an agent to produce completely accurate information or information that is always correct.”
— Stefan Gentz
Adapt to evolving content careers with guest Jack Molisani (podcast)
In episode 151 of The Content Strategy Experts Podcast, Bill Swallow and podcast guest, Jack Molisani discuss how content careers have changed through the pandemic, layoffs, quiet quitting, and AI, and what you should do to stay ahead of the curve.
“Rather than applying for a job […] you want companies to come to you and say, ‘Hey, will you come work for us?’ The only way they’re going to do that is if you write articles, if you’re speaking at conferences, and if you position yourself as an expert in your field.”
— Jack Molisani
