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

Christy: I first started working with Front Runner in 2000. I was a George Brown student taking the technical writing program, including the FrameMaker course at Front Runner. It sounds geeky, but I loved FrameMaker right away, and asked Front Runner for a job.

B&P: How did you get into training?

Christy: After I spent some time using FrameMaker to write manuals and create templates, Front Runner asked if I would be interested in teaching.

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

Christy: Helping people. The best part is when someone in a class tells me that they used to struggle with something in FrameMaker or technical writing, and that it now makes sense to them.

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

Christy: Anyone tasked with writing technical documents in FrameMaker, and technical writers who want to develop their own templates or learn best practices for authoring.

In my opinion, nothing beats FrameMaker for technical manuals. It makes working with large document sets easier, automating much of the work associated with chapter files, cross-references, multi-level numbering, footnotes, headers and footers, and reuse. FrameMaker 8's integrated Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) feature makes working with Extensible Markup Language (XML) a smart choice even for small companies and lone writers.

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

Christy: I think people are used to ad hoc formatting in Word, so many of them don't find FrameMaker intuitive at first.

B&P: What do you suggest for getting past this challenge?

Christy: I'm biased (of course!), but I find it really helps people to take training. Once they understand the workings and advantages of a FrameMaker template, they can take a new approach.

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

Christy: If they happen to have tried using FrameMaker on their own before the course, they can bring questions or files to the class to get help with. After the course, it's important to practice so they don't forget all the good stuff they learned. If they don't yet have their own software to work with, they can download a trial copy from the Adobe site.

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

Christy: Mention the training courses you've taken and your specific skills with the software, whether it be template application, template creation, or structured authoring. If you feel comfortable with structured FrameMaker, you might consider taking the exam to become an Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) in FrameMaker.

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

Christy: Hopefully the version of RoboHelp that integrates with FrameMaker for true single-sourcing will make a comeback.

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

Christy: I had a student who was transitioning from a technical support role into technical writing, so she decided to take the two-day technical writing foundations course. It turned out that her father is also a technical writer, so they've been swapping notes.

B&P: Thank you for talking to us.