Re: STC Philadelphia conference sessions

[John Hedtke <john -at- hedtke -dot- com>]

(In the last few minutes before lunch is over, let me respond.)

Sorry, I didn't make it clear that I was speaking for myself... 
although you can well imagine that it's the Board's official position 
that the Conference is a Good Thing.  :)

I've coughed up for my STC membership, expenses, conferences, travel 
expenses, hotels, meeting fees, and so on, out of my own pocket for 
the last 22 years with the exception of the last 3 years, when 
because I was on the Board, I got half of my conference membership 
and most of my basic travel and hotel expenses paid for.  (There was 
a change just recently and Board members FINALLY got their conference 
membership waived; prior to that we still had to pay for it even 
though we never saw it and worked through the whole thing.)

My motivations for attending have been different every year.  The 
first few years, I went to get involved outside the Puget Sound area 
and meet people from elsewhere in the US and the world.  Other 
reasons I have gone have included at various times and in multiple 
combinations:
* to pick up skills I needed
* to get STC speaking gigs
* to network
* to do research for magazine articles and books
* to make contact with software developers and service vendors
* to present sessions
* to find work
* to garner contacts and resources for my local chapter
* to receive professional awards
* to work with the Nominating Committee (which I was a member of for 
a couple years)
* to introduce my fiance to people and to show her the people I work 
with (oh, she had things to say about tech writers! :)  )
* to go to the place the conference was in
* to perform the latest silly song at the Jam Session

And always, always, always to see old friends and to meet as many new 
people as I can.

Apart from being required to go this year because I'm still on the 
Board for a little while longer, I'm looking to pick up a lot of info 
about DITA, CMS, and a number of similar topics.  I'll also enjoy 
hearing the keynote speaker, Howard Rheingold, because apart from 
being a really interesting speaker, he and I went to Reed College a 
few years apart and knew a number of the same people.  And I'm going 
to be very pleased to be in Philly because my oldest stepdaughter 
(the very-nearly Ph.D.) and her partner (the tenure-track 
Ph.D.--"Good, good, you married a doctor!") live there and I get to 
see them while I'm in the neighborhood.  I'll also be seeing my boss 
there, who I don't get to see regularly because we work about 1000 
miles apart.

Them's the top dozen or so reasons that *I* go and have gone to STC 
conferences.  YMMV.

And it's 1:00pm, so I need to get back to work.  Talk to y'all later. :)

John


At 12:43 PM 5/21/2008, Guy K. Haas wrote:
>OK, John.  Take off your Board hat, and just lay out for us what is so
>valuable about the STC Summit/AnnualConference that you are willing to pay
>out of your own pocket for it.
>
>How does contractor-vs-staff color this?
>
>How does presenter-vs-attender?
>
>How does rookie-vs-senior?
>
>How does gregarious-vs-introvert?
>
>--Guy K. Haas
>   Software Exegete in Silicon Valley

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or 
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007 
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.