This document describes a case study on using collaborative technical writing techniques. An organization had struggled for years to publish complex technical content to provide customers guidance. They decided to try an agile approach, pulling subject matter experts into a room for a week to write and publish a 200+ page book. In the first 5 months, the book was downloaded over 5,000 times. By the end of 2015, they expect to have 6 guides totaling over 10,000 pages available using this collaborative process. The presenters will discuss how this new model works as technical publications teams are reduced.

1. Collaborative Technical Writing
• Description: “In this session, attendees explore using agile collaborative techniques to capture and document
technical content”
• Type of Session: Case Study
• For almost a decade, customers requested maintenance and operational guidance and after several attempt, the
complexity and scope of the content still prevented successful publication. Additionally priorities focused money,
time and resources on customer’s immediate needs, such as deployment & configuration guides, hardware
manuals and knowledge base articles.
Facing this challenge a year ago, we decided it was time to “think outside the box”. How could we cut the costs
and schedule without impacting technical accuracy, product coverage and a professional look/feel?
Instead of the traditional method ‐ hiring a technical writer, expecting them to ramp up on the technology in a
short time and track down SMEs…, we took a leaf out of product developments playbook. Using agile and
collaborative writing techniques, we pulled SMEs = engineers, product developer and others into a room and in
ONE week we wrote and published a 200+ page book!
In the 5 months since our first guide shipped we’ve had 5,000+ downloads and our second book was downloaded
500 times in the first week. AND, the content is current, deeply technical and accurate. By the end of 2015, we
will have 6 guides (10,000+ pages of quality technical content) available on demand for customers. PLUS we will
have ePubs and Print of Demand through a number of channels.
As the high tech industry slashes technical publications teams, new models are required. This one works!

2. Collaborative Technical Writing
• Presenters:
– Jeanne Lewis, Project Manager,
F5 Networks, Seattle WA
• In the role of Test Manager, Release Manager and Project Manager,
Jeanne’s spent close to 20 years in high tech with industry giants like
Microsoft, F5 and Adobe.
– Adam Hyde, Founder and CEO
Book Sprints, San Francisco, CA
• Adam leads a development team producing an innovative Open
Source platform for the production, processing, peer review, and
publishing of Open Access manuscripts at the Public Library of
Science . Adam, the founder of Book Sprints, regularly presents at a
conferences including events in the Netherlands, Sweden, the USA,
Germany, and the UK.