(Melbourne): Desktop processing, CHM files, and CDs: Tech writing like it's 2005

Note: We have a new venue for this event (Builder Studio, AWS Australia Melbourne)

Schedule:
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5.15pm - 5.45pm: Sign in and network/Food and drinks
5.45pm - 5.50pm: Welcome
5.50pm - 6.20pm: Talk (Desktop processing, CHM files, and CDs: Tech writing like it's 2005) and Q&A
6.20pm - 6.45pm: Networking/Other announcements
6.45pm - Event closes

Talk abstract
(This is a shortened version of an upcoming talk at ASTC Parramatta 2025 in Oct)

Remember when technical writers lived in perpetual fear of the blue screen of death erasing three days of work? When "version control" meant emailing Word documents with increasingly creative filenames like "UserGuide_FINAL_v2_REALLY_FINAL_updated.doc"? This talk takes you back to 2005, when technical writing was equal parts craft and survival skill.

This nostalgic journey will cover:
a. Misplaced tags and reformatting nightmares
b. Delicate dance of managing conditional text that would mysteriously disappear during PDF generation
c. Herculean efforts required to generate help files that displayed correctly across the browser landscape
d. Backup strategies that bordered on paranoia, including the daily ritual of copying work files to storage devices
e. Logistics of managing review comments scribbled in margins and on sticky notes

Seasoned writers will rediscover appreciation for today's collaborative tools, while newer professionals will gain perspective on the ingenuity and resilience that built the foundation of modern documentation practices.

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Speaker: Swapnil Ogale

Swapnil has consulted at, and worked with multiple organisations for the last 20 years, setting up documentation teams, process, workflows and tool-chains. This includes strategising content needs, setting up information architecture, and facilitating user research for documentation sites.

Currently at Amazon Web Services (AWS) Australia, he works with internal teams and external customers to create robust technical documentation across tools and solutions.

Image courtesy: HelpSmith on Google images