The August 2, 2004 event on marketing writing was given to a packed
audience - some people took turns standing throughout the event!
Marketing writing is an increasingly popular topic that many of us
need to know something about sooner or later. Over 40 people met at
the lovely facilities of ExperTeam
near Ra'anana. While the refreshments were quite tasty - what drew us
were the quality presentations of Mike Druttman and Sarah Yarkoni.
The demand for this topic led our Content Committee to search for a
venue in the North of Israel. The reprise of this event was held on
December 1, 2004, hosted by Biosense
Webster (Israel). Over 20 people enjoyed their new meeting room
facility and great refreshments. Mike and Sarah were also presented
with sports shirts and hats from Biosense Webster. Employees who attended
the event were as enthusiastic about the topic as the rest of us.
Mike and Sarah shared the same materials that were given at our August
event (to a packed audience) at the the lovely facilities of ExperTeam
near Ra'anana.
Mike spoke about some of the differences between technical and marketing
writing. He gave us great ideas on how to look at brochures, presentations
and web sites. He explained the AIDA concept of marketing writing:
A = Catch Attention by choosing a point of conflict
I & D = Follow up by arousing Interest and Desire.
A = Complete your message by asking readers to take Action.
While a presentation can never be the same as a live lecture, check
out Mike's
presentation to get a taste of what you missed.
Mike Druttman is a specialist in marketing communications, English copywriting
and website marketing. Mike runs seminars and workshops for English
copywriting and website marketing.
Sarah gave a lively hands-on approach to marketing writing. Through
various exercises and thought provoking discussions, we learned about
potential pitfalls of writing in English while living in a non-English
speaking country. She also provided us with helpful references to help
us in our search for exactly the right word. Check out Sarah's
presentation.
Sarah also provided us with a list of resources that many of us had
never heard of before. They are provided here so that you can also use
them:
- The BBI Dictionary of English Word Combinations -
John Benjamins Publishing - ISBN 1556195214
- The Word Finder - J. Rodale - ISBN 0878571388
- The Synonym Finder - J. Rodale - ISBN 0446370290
- The Macmillan Visual Dictionary - ISBN 0025281607
- The Word Menu - Random House Webster - ISBN 0375700838
- Random House Unabridged Dictionary (on CD-ROM)
- OED on CD-ROM
In addition to her work as a professional translator
in the business, hi-tech and academic fields, Sarah has been involved
in public relations, marketing and marketing communications. She also
does editing and copywriting. Sarah has a BA in German Literature
and International Relations from the University of Wisconsin at Madison,
is a graduate of the Department of Translation at Bar-Ilan University,
and is currently completing her MA in translation theory. Sarah Yarkoni
is the Chair of the Israel Translators Association (ITA)
