March 2006
Report from the Trenches
by Clare Turner, Editor In Chief
The 2005 Region 5 conference co-sponsored by the Phoenix STC Chapter and the Instructional Design and Learning (IDL) SIG co-sponsored the conference was held November 11th and 12th. Over 100 people attended the conference from as far away as
Held in sunny
The theme of the conference was evident from the first day. Jane Smith of the IDL SIG and Karen Zorn from the Phoenix STC Chapter set the tone as co-managers. Dressed in southwestern garb, complete with the requisite cowboy hats, Jane and Karen rounded up the attendees and gently herded them to sessions to learn about resilience, survival and success as technical communicators.
Lucky early arrivals were welcomed Thursday evening to a casual social on the spacious southwestern-style patio at the Dobson Ranch Inn in
Following check-in Friday morning, attendees packed off with their conference goodies, and headed to the Welcome and Keynote Address. The Keynote Speaker, Conrad J. Storad, spoke on the topic of “More than Just the Facts: Making Nonfiction Fun.” Conrad is an award-winning author of children’s books on science and nature. His children’s stories present complex ideas to young readers.
Conrad quickly transported us all back to first grade as he talked about his children’s books and how maintaining a sense of wonder can help us as we craft our technical communications. One of Conrad’s books is about a havelina. Now, there is absolutely nothing cute or adorable about havelinas, but Conrad used hand puppets and a big, stuffed havelina to get all of us involved as he read his story. By the end, we were all happily reduced to six-year-olds wanting story time to go on forever. Conrad reminded us all that non-fiction writing does not have to be dry, formal and boring. Though technically sound and packed with information, Conrad’s stories are wonderfully entertaining (and beautifully illustrated). He reminded us all that no matter what type of writing we do, we’re lucky to be writers.
For the rest of Friday and continuing through Saturday morning, attendees to had their selection of 21 sessions and workshops. As a session monitor, I was able to see how well received the sessions were. The sessions I assisted with were packed, many with standing room only. I had to scurry out after my first session to find more session evaluation forms to ensure everyone got their chance to rate the presentations (and get a ticket for the drawings at lunch on Saturday). Overwhelmingly, the comments were positive. In fact, if there was one complaint it was that there was too much information! All the presenters were well-armed with encyclopedic volumes of information, and usually had to cut off questions in order to move to the next session.
Of all the sessions I monitored, the most heavily attended was given by Mark Hanigan. Besides being a dynamic speaker, Mark spoke on a subject that touched us all – just who are we? His topic, “Riding the Harmonic Convergence of Instructional Design, Training, and Technical Communication”, though sounding like something that belonged in the philosophy department, hit a cord with a large number of conferees. Mark, interactive as always with the audience, stopped frequently to answer questions and take his presentation in related directions. It was like a graduate college course, with the professor and students all discussing the topic, learning from each other and teaching each other. It was the fastest hour and 15 minutes I’ve ever spent!
After a breathless session with Mark Hanigan, lunch was a welcome respite from the high-energy of the conference sessions. Lunch on Friday was a topic-specific networking opportunity. Conferees were able to select tables hosted by an expert on a specific topic. Over a lunch of chicken, pasta and totally decadent chocolate cake, each of us had the opportunity to discuss our chosen topic with other technical communicators. There was just enough time to re-charge before heading back into the sea of sessions scheduled for the afternoon.
The afternoon sessions covered topics from dealing with SMEs (subject matter experts) to a fascinating discussion on the future of “the book.” I was fortunate to sit in on the session conducted by Lance Gelein “Thinking Outside the Book: Making Learning Fun and Engaging”. Lance postulated that the concept of a book (paper with printing hard or soft covers) was out-dated and would shortly be superseded by electronic forms of information. His examples included not only learning, but books used as reference materials for software. It was an interesting presentation and gave us all a lot to think about.
Following all the Friday sessions, the evening started with an informal pre-dinner gathering on the spacious patio, complete with musical entertainment that only technical writers and communicators could appreciate. Almost NoRmL, a collaboration of two technical writers, Rose Wilcox and Larry Sampson, entertained all with their witty tunes based on the trials and tribulations of being a technical writer. Dinner at several local restaurants had been arranged, with volunteer drivers serving as chauffeurs, so following the music and conversation, we were off to dinner.
Saturday was another Chamber-of-Commerce day in the
Finally, I attended a workshop session, “Lessons from the Usability Lab: Products and Documents that Succeed,” presented by Whitney Bates and Amanda Crocker. Whitney and Amanda successfully teamed up to let us all experience first-hand how usability can – and should – be applied to everyday objects. We got to explain how to use can openers, a combination flipper/mixer and other everyday kitchen items.
The conference formally ended with the Saturday luncheon of breads, spreads, meats and some of the best apple pie I’ve ever tasted. The keynote speaker was Dr. Jean-luc Doumont, an STC Intercom contributor and educator from
The luncheon continued with presentations of awards to sponsoring companies and acknowledgements of the many, many volunteers who had spent the months leading up to the conference working to ensure it was a success.
Following the formal conference were three post-conference workshops. The STC leadership offered a free workshop (to paid conference attendees) discussing the aspects of leadership, both in general and within the STC. STC leaders from all levels offered leadership insights based on general and specific experience. Specific presentations were given by: Suzanna Laurent, STC President; Linda Oestreich, STC Second Vice President; Sherry Michaels, Region 5 Director; and Jackie Damrau, Lone Star Community immediate past president and IDL SIG leadership team member.
Two additional technical post-conference workshops were offered: Creating Effective Visual Structures by Jean-luc Doumont, and Delivering Online Learning with Flash 8 by Thomas Toth. Both sessions were well attended and well-received.
This was my first STC conference, having joined STC in the month prior to the conference. As a true newbie, I decided to jump in and volunteer as a way of being more fully immersed in the conference experience. I’m glad I did. I found that being a volunteer let me feel more a part of the entire event, and I got to see first hand both the enormous amount of work that goes into a successful conference as well as the feedback (mostly good) we received from the attendees. I hope all of you will consider volunteering for anything that our chapter may need. It will help you become an active part of the chapter and broaden your experience as a person and as a technical communicator.
