B&P: How long have you worked with Front Runner, and how did the relationship start?

Arnis: I first met up with Front Runner in 2001, when I was helping out with a FrameMaker-to-Acrobat course presented by Shlomo Perets. Around then I also did some consulting for them with some of their clients. Last year they offered me the opportunity to put together the FM template course and I've been at it ever since.

B&P: How did you get into training?

Arnis: I first started by working with Shlomo Perets in 2001 when he was looking for trainers to help with his FM-to-Acrobat Advanced training course. As a FrameMaker sysop for Adobe on Compuserve, and subsequently their own User-to-User Forums, I felt that moving from online helping and tutoring with FrameMaker to classroom training be a natural transition.

However, I quickly realized how different these environments were, so I took the Langevin train-the-trainer courses, eventually achieving their Level 3 Training & Development diploma.

B&P: What do you most enjoy about training?

Arnis: I most enjoy seeing that light-bulb moment when someone finally "gets" a feature or issue that they've been struggling with. I also enjoy seeing the various ways FrameMaker is used in different organizations and the challenges that the users at different skill levels have.

B&P: Who would benefit from learning to use Adobe FrameMaker, and why?

Arnis: Probably everybody involved in technical writing. FrameMaker is much more stable and powerful in many areas than Microsoft Word, which every organization has. For long documentation, there really is no tool out there yet that is comparable from FrameMaker.

For publishing, though, FrameMaker is not quite as agile and sophisticated as tools like InDesign and Quark, but for sheer volume and throughput in the fastest time, FrameMaker's pagination engine can't be beat - it's like comparing a sports car (inDesign) to an 18-wheeler (FrameMaker).

B&P: What's the biggest challenge people face when learning Adobe FrameMaker?

Arnis: In many cases it seems to be that people expect FrameMaker to work like Word or their publishing tool of choice. FrameMaker works differently - it evolved from the Unix environment, and the interface for the Windows version is quite dated. New users have to adjust their mindset to the way it works and park pre-conceived notions at the door.

B&P: How can people get the most from FrameMaker training?

Arnis: Before the course, tell the trainer about the issues that you are having with FrameMaker (if you're already using it), what your workflow is like and what your deliverables are.
During the course, ask questions and bring samples of your work that show the issues you're facing. After the course, practice, practice, practice - and don't forget to take advantage of the follow-up support plan with your course.

B&P: Do you have any suggestions for how someone can effectively describe or demonstrate their proficiency with FrameMaker in their resume or portfolio?

Arnis: The best way is to pass Adobe's certification exam.

B&P: Look into your crystal ball and tell us what you see in the future for Adobe FrameMaker.

Arnis: The future looks positive for FrameMaker. For many years it languished in Adobe's stable, but is now receiving lots of attention. The recent release of the Adobe Technical Communication Suite includes a special version of FrameMaker that links directly with RoboHelp, Captivate and Acrobat 3D; this shows where things are heading.

B&P: Do you have any stories about interesting things that have happened to you as a trainer?

Arnis: In my first training session, helping Shlomo Perets run his course, one of the participants sitting next to me started having a reaction to some medication. We had to call EMS (emergency medical services) to help her while trying to minimize classroom disruption.

The next training class I had was on 9/11 - 'nuff said. It was a rocky start to classroom teaching, but Im glad that I stuck with it.

B&P: Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.