communication department

Volume XIX Number 6

Events

Improvements for Annual Conference

Get ready for something completely different.

STC’s board of directors has approved a number of significant changes to the annual conference that promise to make it a more valuable experience for technical communicators.

Among the changes that will take effect for next year’s Technical Communication Summit in Minneapolis, Minnesota, are the introduction of two new presentation formats (case studies and research reports); the addition of pre-conference workshops (post-conference workshops have been discontinued); and newly designed tracks, formerly known as “stems.” The new tracks are:

• Designing and Assessing User Experiences
• Developing and Delivering Content
• Producing and Publishing Information
• Managing People, Projects and Business
• Developing Your Skills and Promoting Your Profession
• Applying Research and Theory to Practice

The Society leadership is hopeful that these changes will broaden the appeal of the conference and help make it the premiere educational event for technical communicators around the world.

STC’s 54th Annual Conference in Minneapolis will be held May 13–16, 2007. A call for proposals will be posted to the STC Web site in July. Anyone interested in presenting at the conference must submit a proposal online by September 1, 2006. Please check the STC Web site for more information and updates.

Society Events

July 12, 2006
Leah Guren will present an STC Web-telephone seminar, “Adding Panache to Your Procedures,” from 1 to 2:30 PM Eastern Time. The seminar covers all aspects of writing effective, powerful procedures. For more information or to register for the seminar, please visit stc.webex.com.

July 26, 2006
Melanie Doulton and Makarand Pandit will host an STC Web-telephone seminar, “Working in Global Teams,” from 1 to 2:30 PM Eastern Time. For more information or to register for the seminar, please visit stc.webex.com.

August 23, 2006
Leah Guren will hold an STC Web-telephone seminar, “It Might Be GUI, but It Doesn’t Have to Be Messy!,” from 1 to 2:30 PM Eastern Time. Participants will learn the basics of clean, graphical user-interface design. For more information or to register for the seminar, please visit stc.webex.com.

September 13, 2006
Austin Skaggs and Christine Granger will present an STC Web-telephone seminar, “Visible: The New Valuable,” from 1 to 2:30 PM Eastern Time. The seminar will focus on how documentation departments can show their value by becoming more visible within their organizations. For more information or to register, please visit stc.webex.com.

September 27, 2006
Kevin A. Siegel will host an STC Web-telephone seminar, “Creating Interactive CBTs with Captivate—in Half the Time,” from 1 to 2:30 PM Eastern Time. Participants will learn how to maximize the potential of Macromedia Captivate, a powerful tool for creating software simulations, and how to create “hybrid” CBTs (Computer Based Training) that will cut development time by 50 percent. For more information or to register for the seminar, please visit stc.webex.com.

October 11, 2006
Nathaniel Lim will present an STC Web-telephone seminar, “Designing Business Forms: A No Nonsense Approach,” from 1 to 2:30 PM Eastern Time. Participants will learn about the basic designs of hardcopy forms, common design pitfalls, use of white space, placement of instructions, and logical flow. For more information or to register for the seminar, please visit stc.webex.com.

October 13–14, 2006
STC’s Region 2 Conference, Making Cents of Making Sense: The Business of Technical Writing, will be held in London, England. The audience for the conference includes anyone involved in the business or production of technical documentation, including writers, editors, documentation managers, translators, technical illustrators, and publishers. For more information, please visit www.stcuk.org/R2conf.

October 25, 2006
Holly Harkness will host an STC Web-telephone seminar, “Ten Ways to Increase Your Value as a Technical Communicator,” from 1 to 2:30 PM Eastern Time. The seminar will focus on how technical communicators can market their versatility and talent in the services they provide. Contract technical communicators will also learn how to beef up their resumes and increase their chances of remaining with a company after their original project is completed. For more information or to register for the seminar, please visit stc.webex.com.

November 2–5, 2006
The Lone Star Chapter Community STC will host STC’s 2006 Region 5 Conference, 50 Facets of Technical Communication, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Addison, Texas. For more information, please visit www.region5conf.com.

November 8, 2006
Whitney Quesenbery will host an STC Web-telephone seminar, “Choosing the Right Usability Technique (To Answer the Right Question),” from 1 to 2:30 PM Eastern Time. This seminar will review options for usability evaluations and examine how they can be used most effectively in the situation at hand. For more information or to register for the seminar, please visit stc.webex.com.

November 22, 2006
Robert Dianetti will host an STC Web-telephone seminar, “Selling Technical Communication Services — Both Inside and Outside Your Organization,” from 1 to 2:30 PM Eastern Time. Participants will learn how to identify their company’s needs to create more business and how to market themselves effectively to build their career. For more information or to register for the seminar, please visit stc.webex.com.

December 6, 2006
Maggie Haenel will present an STC Web-telephone seminar, “Creating Training that Sticks,” from 1 to 2:30 PM Eastern Time. The seminar will focus on how adults learn and what makes them remember information. For more information or to register for the seminar, please visit stc.webex.com.

Send announcements of your community or regional events to the Tieline editor.