Dawn Stevens is president and owner of Comtech Services, a full-service technical communication consulting firm specializing in content strategy, technical communication, and information management. With nearly 40 years of experience in the industry, Dawn has developed deep expertise in evaluating and implementing Component Content Management Systems (CCMS) to support structured authoring and content reuse. At Comtech, Dawn has guided dozens of organizations in assessing their content needs, defining CCMS requirements, and selecting the right tools to enhance efficiency and scalability. She has worked with companies across various industries to develop content models, metadata strategies, and workflows that maximize the benefits of structured content management. She is passionate about helping organizations make informed decisions that align their content strategy with business objectives.
What to Expect When You’re Expecting (a CCMS)
Selecting a Component Content Management System (CCMS) is a critical decision that impacts content creation, management, and delivery for years to come. With numerous options available, organizations must assess their unique requirements to ensure they choose a system that aligns with their workflows, content strategy, and business goals. However, many organizations come into the process unprepared and with unrealistic expectations. This session will define key criteria to include in a requirements document, focusing on the key differentiators between CCMS options and on common wishlist items that can lead to disappointment. Attendees will learn what they can reasonably expect and not expect from a tool and how to navigate vendor selection with confidence.
In this session, attendees will learn:
- Eighteen criteria to include in a CCMS requirements specification
- Six common, but unreasonable, wishlist items to set aside
- Key differentiators to examine when comparing CCMS options
- Evaluation and prioritization strategies for making a final selection
The Role of Structured Content and DITA in Agentic AI & RAG
Panel Discussion Featuring:
Dawn Stevens, President, Comtech Services (moderator)
Alvin Reyes, Customer Engagement Manager, RWS
Noz Urbina, Omnichannel Strategist, Urbina Consulting
Colleen Jones, President, Content Science
Rob Hanna, CEO and Co-founder, Precision Content
Lief Erickson, Principal Content Strategist, Intuitive Stack
Spotlight: How the Component Content Alliance (CCA) is Shaping the Future of AI-driven Content
The Component Content Alliance (CCA) unites industry leaders to explore how structured content, DITA, and metadata enable Agentic AI and next-gen Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). Unlike traditional RAG, Agentic RAG allows AI agents to make decisions, interact with data, and generate more contextually accurate responses. To be business-ready, AI needs structured, reusable, and semantically rich content.
Why Attend?
- Learn how structured content improves AI-driven retrieval.
- Discover how DITA and metadata enhance GenAI performance.
- Avoid AI hallucinations and improve trust in AI-generated content.
- See how structured content cuts localization costs and accelerates publishing.
- Hear from CCA experts on the best practices and pitfalls.
If you work in AI, content strategy, or localization this session will provide actionable insights on making your content AI-ready.e.
In this panel discussion attendees will learn:
- How structured content fuels AI – The impact of metadata, tagging, and information architecture on retrieval accuracy.
- DITA & AI: A perfect match? – Why component-based content (DITA) enhances AI-driven applications.
- AI & enterprise content ops – Challenges and strategies for scaling structured content with AI.
- Real-world implementations – Case studies on AI-driven automation and content workflows.
