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Subject: FYI: Some notes from the CMS/DITA conference on recruiting


Hi all --

I had opportunity to chat with numerous attendees and presenters at the CMS/DITA North America conference in Seattle two weeks ago. Typically I describe some DITA TC, DITA Help SC, and DITA TechComm SC activities AND then ask people whether:

- they are interested in the activities of those groups or
- they could see themselves getting involved in some way. 

Their responses differed, as you might imagine, but there were some common themes. Of those folks who said that they are interested in the activities of these OASIS groups, they noted three impediments to getting involved:

1. Membership cost: Most companies are NOT members of OASIS, so the 
   burden ($cost) of joining falls to individuals. If there were ways
   for people to participate or to support OASIS DITA activities without 
   requiring individual membership, they would be quite interested. 

2. Technical acumen/breadth: Many people know a lot about DITA, at 
   least as it pertains to their company implementations. The leap
   from feeling confident about talking about their DITA individual
   DITA implementations to talking about ALL OF DITA seems to be
   significant. Perceptions about getting involved only to look
   unprepared or inadequate are present. Not so much intimidated
   as inadequate. 

   That said, people seemed more than willing to participate in 
   some type of forum or effort focused on their sharing what they
   have learned. Support group stuff at some level.

3. TC/Adoption confusion: I did not probe much here, but I
   observed that there seemed to be a general lack of 
   awareness about the different roles of the DITA TC and 
   the DITA Adoption TC. Suggesting to people that they 
   look at Adoption if the TC seemed a bit overwhelming
   didn't seem to resonate. It seemed that OASIS appeared
   as one biggish gate versus several different doors and 
   entry points.

A few thoughts.


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