Presented by Noz Urbina at Documentation and Training West, May 6-9, 2008 in Vancouver, BC This presentation is for team leaders, information managers, tech communicators and product managers who care about maximizing efficiency and return on investment in the information-heavy parts of their product cycle. We will discuss current developments in the field of Technical Communications and how the role of the Technical Communicator has been rapidly and fundamentally evolving. The world is becoming more and more tech-savvy by the picosecond. More savvy means more demanding, and an organization’s ability to balance internal and external management of supporting technical information while delivering quality technical communication products has gone from being a burdensome nuisance, to a central and strategic must for market competitiveness. This presentation takes a low-tech, cross-industry look at why strategies are changing and how organizations are adapting to these challenges. Best practices for approach, organizing teams, planning for change, DITA/XML, and departmental integration will all be addressed.