Re- STC Annual Conference

[Liz Babcock <Liz_Babcock -at- C28B5 -dot- CHINALAKE -dot- NAVY -dot- MIL>]

Mail*Link(r) SMTP               Re: STC Annual Conference

On 8 April, apropos of the STC Annual Conference, Laurie Rubin asked,

<How soon before a program/workshop should I get
<to the door to get a spot inside -- 1/2-hour, hour?

Here's what I answered:

I wish I could tell you that. The answer is that it depends on several things,
such as how well-known the speaker is, how big the room is, and whether the
topic is a hot one. Workshops are a perennial problem for us (conference
planners, that is) because everyone wants to go to workshops, which, by their
very nature, must be limited as to number of participants. Given what Bill
Stolgitis is telling me about the popularity of this conference, I'd recommend
that you consult your program and line up a couple of alternatives to any
workshop session you have picked out to attend.

If I were you, what I'd do is arrive at the door of the next session you want
to go to as soon as you can after the previous session has ended. If you find
a huge crowd there, why not try another session? We will have plenty of
sessions for people to go to, but maybe not always on the topics people have
chosen. Some presenters are mobbed, while others will have hardly anybody
there.

One year when I couldn't find a session to go to, I dropped in on one about
writing test questions, not an area I thought I'd ever want to learn about.
Well, it was a great session, and I made a very good STC friend by going to
it. So I heartily recommend trying for serendipity if you're disappointed in
your selections.

And I'm not surprised you didn't get into any of your workshop or tour
selections. Bill Stolgitis tells me the office has a huge waiting list for
each of these sessions!

See you at the conference!

Liz Babcock
liz_babcock -at- c28b5 -dot- chinalake -dot- navy -dot- mil