TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: Conferences in the early 21st Century From:Goober Writer <gooberwriter -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:kcronin -at- daleen -dot- com, TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 28 Aug 2003 08:23:35 -0700 (PDT)
> I've always wondered how people talked their
> employers into forking out
> thousands to send them to seminars about tools
> they're already supposed to
> know how to use.
LOL! Good viewpoint. ;) But, sometimes you gotts start
somewhere.
> I can see being able to pitch an STC conference, or
> some other
> multi-faceted gathering, where the employee could
> conceivably learn about
> new solutions to bring back to the company.
Well, (since you rattled the can...) I can't see why
an employer would send someone to an STC conference
after being informed of the types of sessions being
presented. If an employee came to me and said "I wanna
go to this" and I saw several sessions on the catalog
about job hunting, I'd say no.
> Or I can see subsidizing
> attendance at seminars that deal with the actual
> TECHNOLOGY you're
> documenting. But to spend that much just so you can
> hang out with people
> who use the same word processing software? Hats off
> to you if you can pull
> it off. I'm not saying the conferences are
> worthless, just amazed that
> some can get their bosses to pay for them to attend.
Well, to be fair, the FrameUsers conference (aside
from a few basic sessions) deals with stuff above and
beyond the product manuals, as well as 3rd party
add-on topics. And, this year it's very
structure-heavy, which is a good thing seeing as
there's so little good documentation on structured
authoring in FrameMaker at the moment.
> Like another poster, I gotta pay my own STC dues.
> Out-of-town conference?
> Not bloody likely! Heck, our break room has been out
> of creamer for the
> last two days - I just emailed myself a note at home
> to bring some
> tomorrow. These are hard times... :(
I bring my own anyway (I do the fat-free half and half
thing). ;)
> Keith Cronin
> looking for a semicolon users' conference,
> preferably in Maui
Why stop there? Why not Mars? I hear it's pretty close
right now, so maybe you could get a cheaper flight. LOL!
=====
Goober Writer
(because life is too short to be inept)
"As soon as you hear the phrase "studies show",
immediately put a hand on your wallet and cover your groin."
-- Geoff Hart
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com