Introduction

Facile.it’s Technical Writing team attended the Write the Docs Prague 2021 conference which was held from 3rd to 5th October 2021. While the conference was usually held in the capital of the Czech Republic, for the second year in a row it was held remotely due to Covid-19 restrictions. In this article we will provide a quick overview of the event.

What is Write the Docs Prague

Write the Docs Prague is the annual European conference organized by the Write the Docs community. There are usually 3 annual conferences organized by the community: Write the Docs Portland, Prague, and Australia & India. This year due to organizational difficulties the Australia & India event was cancelled and partially incorporated into the Prague conference. These conferences allow all people involved in documentation (of any kind and in any field, but especially in tech field) to meet, exchange ideas, and keep up to date on the latest themes. These events are attended by tech writers, developers, support specialists, UX/UI designers, and many others. Therefore, to be inclusive and for simplicity’s sake, organizers like to talk about “Documentarians”.

How is the conference organized

Write the Docs Prague conference lasts 3 days and it is organized as follows:

• Day 1: The “writing day”. After a welcome and introduction to the event by the organizers, participants can submit their proposals for organizing writing sprints and/or can sign up to join a sprint. Writing sprints are managed independently by those who participate and there is no constraint related to the issues to be addressed.
• Day 2: The main event begins. This day also opens with an introduction by the organizers, intended for those who did not participate in the “writing day”. During this day, the conference and unconference events take place in parallel. The conference talks have been previously evaluated and selected by the organizers, while the unconference events are organized and managed independently by the participants with the supervision of moderators. Each conference talk is followed by a Q&A session moderated by some of the organizers. Moreover, during the morning any participant can apply to speak during the Lighting talks session that takes place right after the lunch break. Applications are evaluated and selected by the team of organizers. The Lighting talks session lasts about 30 minutes and consists of very short talks of 5 minutes each during which the selected participants present ideas, tell about their experiences and case studies, raise doubts and questions, and much more. After the Lighting talks, the day continues with conferences and unconferences and ends with a social event.
• Day 3: The main event continues and ends. During the morning the Job fair and the conference talks take place in parallel. At the Job fair, all event sponsors are present and every attendee has free access their booths (whether physical or virtual). After the lunch break a second session of Lighting talks takes place and it is followed, in parallel, by the conference and unconference events. The day ends with the closing speech and thanks from the organizing team.

Some numbers

Here are some numbers related to the 2021 edition:

• Around 300 attendees
• 13 conference talks
• 13 Q&A sessions
• 15 unconference tables
• 8 lighting talks
• 7 main sponsors

Why we recommend all documentarians to attend

This was the first year that we of Facile.it’s Technical Writing attended the conference, and we have already became advocates of WTD Prague. We recommend to all fellow documentarians to attend Write the Docs Prague (or the other conferences organized by the Write the Docs community) for the following reasons:

• The theme of documentation is approached from many different perspectives: technical, human, creative, professional, etc.
• The conference is attended by colleagues from all over Europe (and beyond), so it’s a great way to get out of your comfort zone and find out what’s going on out there.
• There are many opportunities to make new acquaintances and expand your network of contacts.
• The topics that are covered are very innovative and in step with the needs of the market.
• The documentation sector needs to expand, and a critical mass needs to be created to generate innovation.

Buying tickets

Our tickets for attending the conference were purchased thanks to the budget for professional training made available by Facile.it, so we bought Corporate tickets that cost €150 per person.

However, Write the Docs offers discounted tickets for freelancers, non-profit organizations, students, and unemployed people. Moreover, if you don’t belong to any of these categories, you can apply for a grant program. So don’t worry, access to the conference is very democratic and everyone is welcome!

We suggest buying tickets a bit in advance, especially if the next editions will be held in person again. Furthermore, if you are applying for a grant program, make sure you are aware of the application deadline, which is usually about 2 months before the event.

In case you missed it

You can find the talks, the following Q&A sessions, and the lighting talks from the 2021 edition here on YouTube. Enjoy them and…we hope to see you next year!