The STC held its annual international Summit conference in Denver, Colorado on May 4-8. This year, the Summit marked its highest attendance in almost a decade, with more than 700 participants.
Joel Basart, an STC member for over 20 years, and currently STC Canada West Coast President, attended the Summit, his twelfth time. On June 19 he presented a webinar that highlighted the educational sessions, opportunities, and tips to get the most out of attending a Summit.
What is the STC Summit?
The Summit https://summit.stc.org is a premier technical communications conference for technical education and networking, an opportunity to learn, network, and connect with technical communicators from around the world. This year it began with 11 full and half day pre-conference workshops through the weekend, followed by an opening keynote and welcome reception on Sunday evening.
Monday and Tuesday included over 90 educational sessions presented in 45-minute blocks, followed by an Honors event on Tuesday to recognize STC award winners. A closing session on Wednesday discussed the current and future state of our profession.
The sessions are categorized into areas called “tracks”:
- Content design and delivery
- Tools and technologies
- Training development and delivery
- Project management, leadership, and career development
Sessions are geared to different audience experience levels (foundation, practitioner, and expert) so you can find the ones that are most suited to you.
Highlights
Highlights included understanding the impact of customer experience, DITA technology, e-learning, visuals, interactive design, and delivery techniques to keep technical communication current. Popular topics: gamification (task-based and educational games); the use of A/R (augmented reality) and V/R (virtual reality) in areas other than video games; and customer experience. User interface (UI)and user experience (UX) are hot topics and many larger companies are focusing on the customer experience as much as they do on the product.
You can also network and mingle with people from Fortune 500 companies, such as Google, IBM, Disney, and Cisco. One of the top highlights for Joel was a 5-hour Adobe workshop.
If you go
Watch for early-bird registration rates in October or November. The rates go up closer to the Summit. Book your hotel room early and check out special rates provided to STC members attending the Summit. Member rates are available starting in November.
Check the schedule before you go and select at least two sessions for each block. Popular sessions fill up quickly, so be ready with a second or third choice.
Arrive at the Summit early to check out pre-conference workshops, such as a free half-day Adobe workshop. Also, look for STC-hosted activities such as networking receptions, social events, and local sightseeing. Bring business cards!
Visit the Exhibit Hall at least once a day to see product demos and “tech talks” from various vendors.
Try to experience the club rooms if you can; they offer food, a private area to relax, and usually an amazing view of the host city.
Mingle whenever possible – during refreshment breaks, between sessions, at networking events. Talk to the speakers after their presentations if you have a question or comment for them.
Don’t forget to attend the closing Plenary session. This year, three technical communication giants discussed the state of the profession, the impact we have made, and how we can more effectively influence across platforms.
Next year, the 2020 Summit will take place in Bellevue, Washington. Check https://summit.stc.org for updates. Hope to see you there!
