Philly: Tech Comm Style
I’ve spent the first part of this week here in Philly at the Technical Communication Summit. I am exhausted, inspired, and excited about the future of the STC and the people that I met there. This is my first year as an official member of the Program Advisory Committee, and the second year being involved with the daily running of the conference. While there are some speedbumps and some slight irritations, I think it is a great conference and a must for anyone serious about Technical Communications of any flavor.
For me, a few things have stood out as truly memorable:
- The Pub Crawl. Last night, I put together a slightly spur-of-the-moment Pub Crawl as an unofficial networking outing. We had an amazing 53 people who attended and I think every one of them had a lot of fun. I know that lasting friendships were made and I for one have a new pool of experts and innovators to draw from and be inspired by.
- The friendliness of the people of Philadelphia. I don’t know what I expected, but everyone I have met from here…be they bartender, department manager, or hotel concierge, has been exceedingly nice and helpful.
- I have always said that when a Technical Communicator becomes comfortable in their job, they stop caring about being innovative or bettering themselves professionally. From what I have heard, there are many people out there ready to shake off the cobwebs and get back in touch with the cutting edge.
Tomorrow is the last day and I am ready to go home. I love the people I met here, but I really miss my family. I also just found out today that I am leading a special session right before lunch. If my suspicions are correct, the room may be packed.
I am really nervous.
Filed under: Society for Technical Communication, Do the Job, Just me
