LavaCon Conference on Digital Media and Content Strategies: An Interview with Jack Molisani

October 28, 2011 Blog No Comments

Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler

In this exclusive interview Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler chats with professional recruiter and conference organizer Jack Molisani about the upcoming LavaCon Conference on Digital Media and Content Strategies and why you should attend.

[Note: If you haven't registered already, check the end of this interview for a special discount offer for The Content Wrangler readers.]

TCW: Hi, Jack. Thanks for making time to talk with us today. Tell us a little about yourself and what you do.

JM: I’m the founder of ProSpring Technical Staffing, a staffing agency the specializes in project managers and technical communicators. I also produce The LavaCon Conference on Digital Media and Content Strategies. I’m a Fellow of the Society for Technical Communication and quarterly columnist in Intercom magazine.

TCW: Why did you start LavaCon? Where does the name come from?

The beautiful Islands of Hawaii, Home to the first LavaCon Conference

JM: I was at the Leadership Day at the 2008 Society for Technical Communication (STC) Annual Conference and someone observed that most of the members in the Pacific Rim countries never get to go to their own regional conferences because the events are always held on the mainland. Someone else casually suggested we have a combined Region 7 / Region 8 conference and hold it exactly in the middle in Hawaii.

I raised my hand and said, “I’ll run that one!”

We had The STC Region 7/Region 8 Pan-Pacific conference in the fall of 2000 and It was incredibly successful. Afterwards everyone was saying, “I can’t wait for the next one!” “I can’t wait for next year!”

Well, there was no “next one” so I decided to start my own conference. I held my conference Hawaii, hence the name “LavaCon.”

TCW: Ah, that explains the name! So what makes LavaCon different from other conferences?

JM: Every time I went to other conferences I would hear manager-level attendees wanting more sessions geared towards managers. No other conferences were effectively addressing that audience, so that’s what I created: a conference presented by technical communication managers for technical communication managers. We had out first event in 2003 in Maui. It was quite the hit!

TCW: But your conference isn’t about just tech comm management, is it?

Jack Molisani, Founder ProSpring Technical Staffing and Producer Of LavaCon

JM: Gosh, no! So many people pigeon-hole technical communication into the stereotype of someone literally writing in a box (cubical) on how to do this procedure, how to fill out that screen. There is so much more to tech comm than that!

I’ll give you a great example: Andrea Ames (an STC Past President) works at IBM, and she’s the first person in the history of IBM from an information development background to raise to her level in the company.

When asked what does she do for a living, she replies, “I solve business problems.”

Not “I’m a technical writer.”
Not “I document policies and procedures.”
Not “I write user manuals.”

While she may actually do those things as part of her job, they’re not the way she approaches her job. And certainly that’s not how she self-identifies or defines her corporate mission.

So to answer your question, LavaCon is a conference about how to solve content-related business problems.

How can you better manage projects to save your company money? How can you leverage your department’s assets to generate revenue for your company? THAT’S what my conference is about.

TCW: So where and when is this year’s conference? Are you ever going back to Hawaii?

JM: This year’s conference is November 13–16 in Austin, TX. I will also be doing a “graduate workshop” in Honolulu the last week in April 2012. I haven’t finalized the program for that event yet, but the focus will be on how to measure and maximize staff productivity, calculate the return on investment for new authoring tools and technology, etc. I may call it “The LavaCon Summit on Tech Comm Productivity and ROI.” We’ll see.

TCW: One last question: Doesn’t your conference also focus on digital and social media?

So Says Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler

JM: I think “includes” would be a better verb than “focus.” One of my favorite quotes to come out of last year’s conference was something you said, Scott. “Twitter is not a fax machine. You just don’t send out stuff. You have to engage the audience. You have to listen, not talk.”

To me social engagement is just part of the content development lifecycle. Too many companies are still focusing on the tool, not the content. Sure, social media is an important part of the lifecycle, but you need to have a product before you announce it.

Our job is to help guide the development of meaningful, useful products that help fill a business need and generate revenue for our employers (or customers).

Which I believe is also what you’re going to speaking about at LavaCon next month, yes?

TCW: Absolutely! As a consultant, I’ve spent the last year or so trying to help companies understand that the problems they are trying to solve are not about deliverables (release notes, project plans, DTDs, online help, Facebook pages, etc.) They’re about strategy. They’re about process. They’re about efficiency. They’re about business. Revenue. Expenses. Profit.

At this year’s LavaCon Conference on Digital Media and Content Strategies, I’ll be delivering five sessions, including the opening keynote (Monday, November 14) “The New Communication Paradigm: Smart Content, Social Media and Mobile Devices” which includes a 90-minute discussion with industry thought leaders: Daniel Odio, Thomas Aldous, Joe Gollner and David Ashton. Each of these content professionals comes at solving content challenges from a slightly different angle and I think it’ll make for a fast-paced interview-style program opener. I’ll be fielding questions from the crowd, from Twitter, and, as you might expect, I will have a few questions prepared in advance. The objective is to get attendees to start thinking about the world we actually live in today so they can prepare their content for the future. The panel is made up of extremely smart folks who I will challenge to demonstrate their digital media brilliance. (that ought to scare ‘em)

In my opening remarks that day, I’ll showcase the efforts of a few smart organizations that have focused on optimizing content production process, automating manual tasks, creating exceptional customer experiences and delivering truly engaging content. The organizations that are doing it best are leveraging content standards, the web, mobile interactive, and digital publishing technologies — along with the power of the crowd — to both increase productivity and increase sales.

I’m really looking forward to the event. I’d be remiss if I didn’t also announce that I’ll be presenting a fresh look at my topic du jour, Help 2.0 on Monday just after the opening address, as well a special closing day presentation Wednesday, November 16 (to be announced!).

And for those who will be in town a few days early, I hope you’ll join me Saturday, November 12 in the Annual Community Service Day, (a project for Habitat for Humanity) and later that day a tour of the Texas Advanced Computing Center. That evening I’m very excited to be participating in the LavaCon Iron Chef Cooking Class at Whole Foods Culinary Center.

Hey, I just realized that somehow this interview just became all about me.

JM: Funny how that happens. You didn’t even see it coming. LOL

TCW: Hehhehehe…well, on that note, it looks like we’ve run out of time. I can’t wait to get to Austin for this year’s event. Thanks for inviting me to play such a key role. I really appreciate it. And, I know it’s going to be (as usual) a top-notch event.

JM: Thanks, Scott. Indeed, it’s going to be not only a great educational opportunity, but also a whole lot of fun. Thanks for helping me get the word out. See you in Austin!

Oh, and before I forget, content wranglers can receive $200 off the cost of admission. Just register today and use discount/referral code: TCW.

TCW: Thanks, Jack. That’s a great deal. I’m hopeful many of our readers take advantage of that generous discount. See you soon.

More About Jack Molisani

Jack Molisani has been a project officer in the Space Division of the United States Air Force, a project manager in a multi-million dollar software company and currently is the president of ProSpring Technical Staffing, a technical staffing company specializing in engineers, technical project managers and technical writers.

Jack has a BSE in Computer Engineering from Tulane University in New Orleans, is a Fellow of the Society for Technical Communication, and is a member of the Project Management Institute and the Association of Proposal Management Professionals.

A dynamic and entertaining speaker, Jack has spoken on technical communication, project management and career development to more than 50 organizations and chapters in the US and Europe.

Need a speaker or meeting planner for your event? You can reach Jack at jack@lavacon.org or 866-302-5774, ext 201.