I am not sure how many Connecticut Chapter members went to the STC annual shindig over in Minneapolis. None of the board went, I’m pretty sure. And, Minneapolis is a fair commute.
But, with the very next annual conference being a short(er) ride to Philly, I was wondering what people brought back from this year’s conference, what the ROI is, what worked well that would serve as a basis for justifying the commute next June?
- So, was it well organized?
- Were the sessions useful, and why and which?
- What new things are you going to try now?
- What impressed you particularly as a reason to attend?
- Et al.
I look forward to your replies and the discussion!
STC-CT Webmaster
Whitney
1 response so far ↓
hharkness // June 5, 2007 at 10:48 pm
There were some negative comments about the value of the STC conferences (and STC in general) on the TechCommPros listserve. I get a lot out of the conferences. Here’s my list of why you should take the time and make the trip:
1. Opportunities to network: You will meet people from all over the world. Some of them work for companies with business units in your town, who might be hiring people like you. Or you may move to their town and need a job. Or you might need some advice, assistance, etc. These are your peers. We can help each other in many ways, especially if we’ve met in person.
2. Education: Some senior STCers are cynical and think they’ve seen it all — can’t teach ‘em anything new, no sir. Actually, you can learn something new in almost every session, and if you put some thought into the sessions you attend, you’ll learn something valuable, too. This year the speakers were some of the leading lights in our field. I read Karen Shriver’s book, Dynamics in Document Design six years ago and I finally got to hear her speak this year. That alone was worth it for me.
3. Seeing the big picture: The conference is a good place to see which way the wind is blowing. What are the new buzz words, job titles, technologies? Attend Neil Perlin’s Bleeding Edge sessions to see what the Next Big Thing is. Attend the annual panel on trends in the industry, you’ll come away with interesting insights.
4. Benchmarking: How do you measure up to everyone else? When I attended my first conference, I assumed everyone there was much more knowledgeable than I was. After talking to other attendees and hearing some of their questions in the sessions, I realized that I wasn’t such a newbie after all. In fact, I decided my own experience was worth sharing and wrote a proposal for the following conference.
5. Visiting the Exhibition Hall: In recent years a big majority of the vendors have been localization companies. But this year, we had a broader scope. (Still some room for improvement, however. See my blog post on this.)
Breakpoint Books provides a great selection of titles relevant to our work. I spend two or three hours browsing there every year. Vendors give demos of their products and you can get a preview of what’s coming.
6. Travel: You probably wouldn’t chose to vacation in Philly, but while you are there, do some touristy things. It’s one of the country’s oldest cities, chock full of historical sites, great food, a premier art museum, and a bunch of other stuff I’ll tell you about after I’ve been there.
Attending a conference is a chance to see a new city and broaden your horizons.
Leave a Comment