Technical Writers of India (TWIN) is the single largest community of India-based technical communicators, editors, and language professionals. TWIN offers a professional discussion forum with 4000+ subscribers, a vibrant Facebook community of 5000+ technical communicators, an active LinkedIn group of 2000+ members, and an interactive portal with 8000+ registered members. TWIN is a cooperation partner of tekom (www.tekom.de), Europe's largest association of technical communicators and translators. In cooperation with tekom, TWIN organizes the tcworld India conference, which is India's largest international conference for professional technical communicators and language professionals. TWIN is run by volunteers.

When it was first conceived in 1998, nobody had the faintest clue that Technical Writers of India (TWIN) would grow to its present stature so quickly. Several factors played a role in this evolution, not the least of which is the nearly sudden explosion of awareness about technical communication in India. The TWIN website reflects this evolution as it was one of the pioneers of the profession and continues to remain an important resource for all aspiring and experienced Indian technical communicators. In a natural metamorphosis, TWIN grew from being a mailing list and a static website to an interactive community portal.

In its present shape, the TWIN portal is an ongoing effort to help the community while growing into an even stronger silo of knowledge. Knowledge shared is knowledge gained. The portal believes in throwing its gates open to anyone interested to take part in its offerings. Among its functions are creating blogs, sharing tips and insights, participating in polls, joining discussion forums, seeing upcoming events and seminars as well as joining the mailing list.

TWIN’s exponential growth is a testimony to the maturity and development of the technical writing industry in India. The organization’s activities are managed by volunteers, so it encourages India-based writers to develop and enhance leadership skills and get recognized in this competitive, growing industry. TWIN’s leadership team comprises seasoned professionals from the Indian technical communication industry, and their vision is to create an international platform for Indian technical communicators to interact with their global counterparts.

TWIN actively engages with universities, engineering associations, and educational institutions to improve the quality of professional communication in India. TWIN volunteers visit colleges/universities and conduct workshops on technical communication for students. Such workshops are either free or nominally priced. If you wish to organize a technical communication workshop for your association members, students, or community, get in touch with the TWIN leadership team. You can send a message to Akash Dubey (akashjd@yahoo.com).

TWIN offers a technical communication training program called Technical Communication Professional (TCP) for aspiring technical writers. The course curriculum was designed by experts in the technical communication industry. In fact, students are trained by the same experts. TWIN has tied up with Institution of Engineers, India (which is one of the largest government-recognized engineering institutes) to conduct this course. TCP certificate is issued jointly by TWIN and IE(I). The goal of this training program is to create awareness about technical writing in India and to make the technical communication training affordable for aspiring technical writers.

TWIN also conducted training programs for Christ University in Bangalore. The course is a value-add program for English and Communication students, and it is a compulsory paper in the Bachelors in Computer Applications (BCA) program. This academic collaboration started in 2007, and it has been very successful so far.

During recession times, TWIN came up with an extraordinary initiative to connect jobseekers (mainly writers affected by the economic downturn) to documentation service providers to explore the possibilities of subcontracting or engaging the writers to work on short-term projects. These are just some of the many initiatives TWIN has led; there are many more to follow.

“Learning never exhausts the mind,” said Leonardo da Vinci. tcworld India—an international learning platform for Indian technical communicators and language professionals—is back! Technical Writers of India (TWIN) and Gesellschaft für Technische Kommunikation – tekom Deutschland e.V. (the German professional association for Technical Communicators) are pleased to announce their sixth annual tcworld India conference, which will be held on February 25–26, 2016 in Bangalore.

Keynote by Sarah Maddox

Do not miss the keynote presentation “The future *is* technical communication” by Sarah Maddox, a renowned technical writer, blogger, and author of the novel “Things Unseen”. She works with Google, Australia.

Sarah will talk about how communication—which is increasingly becoming super-fast, super-widespread—makes rapid technological advancement possible, and how communication is a major contributor to the technical revolution, which causes so much “how do I” angst.

Benefits for participants

What will the 2016 conference bring?

We are expecting over 300 technical communicators, documentation managers, technical editors, and language professionals from across India to participate in the tcworld India 2016 conference. In addition, several international leaders and leading lights from Europe, USA, Australia, and India are expected to participate in this conference to share their insights into emerging trends, technologies, and best practices in the field of technical communication.

Our conference presenters

Look forward to new information on important topics such as API documentation, internet of things, cloud computing, mobile documentation, translation/localization, latest trends, best practices, documentation standards, and project management. There will be presentations, expert panel discussions, and focused workshops.

Technical topics

The 2016 conference addresses many important technical topics, including video documentation, API documentation, and content requirements for mobile documentation, and so on. The special track for documentation managers and directors focuses on topics related to content strategy, information management, and career paths. The translation track will focus on translation services in India, quality standards, machine translation, terminology management, and much more! Translation/Localization Topics Because of the huge success of the Translation/Localization track in the previous years, the tcworld India conference will include the Translation/Localization track in 2016 too. This special track will involve industry leaders from around the world. They will share information on the translation services in India, quality standards, machine translation, terminology management, and much more.

tcworld India organizing team is looking forward to meet you!