On June 9, 2025, her birthday, Char James-Tanny passed away. She was an early XML Press author (Learning Author-it) and contributor to The Language of Technical Communication, The Language of Content Strategy, and The Language of Learning.
Char was well-known among tech comm specialists for her broad expertise across the full spectrum of technical communication, content strategy, accessibility, teaching, and more. She was also known for her generosity, wit, and common sense.
Char took a chance on XML Press when she brought her book Learning Author-it to us when we had fewer than five titles in print. I will always be grateful to her not only for taking a chance on us, but for being one of those rare authors who delivered her book on time and ready for production (and I mean print-ready; it was indexed (thanks Sue Heim), edited (thanks Rhonda Bracey), and formatted for print by Char).
On a personal note, like Char, I am a kidney transplant recipient. I received my kidney in late 2019, just before COVID. Char was always available to talk about her experience and answer my many questions. I just looked back in my email and found a whole string of messages answering my questions and telling me what to expect all along the way. That was in addition to our phone calls. She made a daunting experience much more manageable and less scary.
Thanks, Char, I know that I and everyone who ever knew you will miss you.
Noz Urbina: Content Strategy Bootcamp (half-day pre-conference workshop with Joy Herbers)
Sarah Johnson: Content First Design (full-day pre-conference workshop)
Scott Abel: Top Five Ways to Harness the Power of AI Co-Pilots
Alan Porter: Am I The AI Luddite? Questioning the Use of AI in Content Creation
LavaCon is the premier content strategy event of the year. It features in-depth presentations and workshops, ample opportunities for networking, the best speakers, the best food, and unique events (this year there will be comfort dogs and llamas!, storytelling night, a marching band, and karaoke night).
This is the place to be if you are a technical communicator, content strategist, or manager.
You can register to attend in person here or virtually here.
Latest News (The Content Wrangler Content Strategy Book Series,Webinar,XML Press)
Join Alan J Porter, founder and chief of The Content Pool, as he delves into the transformative power of effective storytelling within the realm of content personalization. Discover what makes a story not just good but impactful and how it can be tailored to resonate on a personal level with your audience.
In this engaging session, hosted by Kevin Nichols, executive director at AvenueCX, you’ll learn why storytelling is essential for enhancing personalization strategies, and how you can craft stories that are not only compelling but also cater specifically to the interests and needs of your target demographic. Alan will share actionable insights on best practices in storytelling, alongside common pitfalls to avoid ensuring your content stands out and genuinely connects.
Join Alan and Kevin on May 22, 2025, at 8:00AM Pacific Time. Register at BrightTalk.
In the podcast, Sarah talks about the book, her experience working with major corporations on projects that use content-first design, and her consultancy, contentfirstdesign.com, which offers custom solutions and hands-on workshops dedicated to a content-first approach to design.
Content Strategy Insights has also interviewed XML Press authors Scott Abel, Rahel Anne Bailie, Paula Land, Alan J. Porter, Ann Rockley, and Noz Urbina, as well as nearly everyone of note in the content strategy community.
How often have you seen a proposed web design that looks nice, but is filled with dummy Lorem Ipsum text? You know it looks nice, but even if you know the purpose of the site, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to see how the site will work for its intended users.
Too many projects are designed like this, and too many of them fail to serve their purpose. People don’t come to a web site to look at a pretty web design; they come to solve a problem, buy a product, or complete a transaction.
Content-first design is a process by which research, exploration, and evaluation of content requirements and user needs inform the structure, layout, flow, and visuals for a digital product. It centers design on what end users need and how the site can fulfill that need.
Content-First Design: Moving Content Forward, by Sarah Johnson, gives you a practical approach to building a customer experience that aligns with the needs of both customers and internal stakeholders. It shows you how to set realistic, yet ambitious, goals and how to plan, prototype, test, and iterate in a content-first way.
Whether you’re a solo content designer supporting multiple products, a product manager trying to embed content thinking into your process, or part of a mature content team looking to scale your impact, this book offers clear, actionable guidance that will get you there.
Val Swisher, author of Global Content Strategy: A Primer and The Personalization Paradox, is giving a free webinar on Thursday, December 12, 2024, at 8:00AM PST.
The quality of your content is the most important factor in how well your artificial intelligence (AI) system performs. The phrase “Garbage in, garbage out” has never been more […]
Latest News (Content Strategy,The Content Wrangler Content Strategy Book Series,Webinar)
Kevin Nichols, author of Enterprise Content Strategy: A Project Guide is giving a free webinar on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, 10AM PST on the impact of current trends in personalization, including the impact that artificial intelligence and other technologies are having.
This webinar provides an overview of:
* The developments in personalization during 2024 and […]
Erik Siegel, the author of XProc 3.0 Programmer Reference, has created a website that provides an extensive description of the XProc 3.0 steps. The site provides detailed descriptions, examples, and error codes for the steps. It is a work in progress that now covers about half of the steps, and it is being updated and […]
Latest News (Content Strategy,The Content Wrangler Content Strategy Book Series,Webinar)
On Wednesday August 14, at 10:00PDT, 1:00EDT, Paula Land and Elliott Risch of Enterprise Knowledge will join Scott Abel in a Bright Talk webinar exploring the power of artificial intelligence as a content analysis tool.
Many content strategists are leveraging AI in content creation, yet its potential to revolutionize content audits remains largely untapped. Content […]
LavaCon 2024 will be held October 27-30 in Portland, Oregon. This year, LavaCon features presentations by XML Press authors Scott Abel, Rahel Bailie, Kit Brown-Hoekstra, Alan Porter, Val Swisher, and Noz Urbina, as well as many other top names in content strategy, technical communication, and management.
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“I love the examples you give from both the real world and pop culture” Lee Engfer, editor and writer at Mayo Clinic
“Based on real-life experience, the book is sure to resonate with [corporate communicators] and give them plenty of ideas on how to rethink and hopefully improve their current approach.” Libor Safar, Full review at Multilingual Magazine
Char James-Tanny
On June 9, 2025, her birthday, Char James-Tanny passed away. She was an early XML Press author (Learning Author-it) and contributor to The Language of Technical Communication, The Language of Content Strategy, and The Language of Learning.
Char was well-known among tech comm specialists for her broad expertise across the full spectrum of technical communication, content strategy, accessibility, teaching, and more. She was also known for her generosity, wit, and common sense.
Char took a chance on XML Press when she brought her book Learning Author-it to us when we had fewer than five titles in print. I will always be grateful to her not only for taking a chance on us, but for being one of those rare authors who delivered her book on time and ready for production (and I mean print-ready; it was indexed (thanks Sue Heim), edited (thanks Rhonda Bracey), and formatted for print by Char).
On a personal note, like Char, I am a kidney transplant recipient. I received my kidney in late 2019, just before COVID. Char was always available to talk about her experience and answer my many questions. I just looked back in my email and found a whole string of messages answering my questions and telling me what to expect all along the way. That was in addition to our phone calls. She made a daunting experience much more manageable and less scary.
Thanks, Char, I know that I and everyone who ever knew you will miss you.