The STC Conference in a Nutshell

By Kimberly Hiland, Treasurer

Seattle is a lovely place for a conference. Especially if the conference provides an umbrella.

Coffee, crepes, and just enough rain to keep things green accompanied the 52nd Annual STC Conference in Seattle, WA, May 8 - 11, 2005. Over these four days I had a wonderful opportunity to learn about the field and meet a lot of other technical writers from around the world.

The following information is a summary of the sessions that I attended and found useful. Session handouts are available on the STC Web site and readers can contact me directly for more detailed information at kimberly.hiland@gmail.com

Sunday STC Leadership Keynote and Sessions

Sunday was Community Leadership Day, the STC-focused day of transformation, idea sharing, finance discussion, and leadership. Rob Ziegler's Leadership Day keynote treated the STC leaders in attendance to mountain climbing as a metaphor for leadership. The following points came out of an engaging story of a dangerous hobby.

Be positive: Embrace your challenges and approach your task with exuberance.
Develop a team culture and develop connections between your team members; you rely on each other for your survival.
Motivate your support people who won't necessarily get the glory; most members of a mountain climbing team never reach the summit, but they are absolutely essential.
Celebrate your successes, but don't spend too much time celebrating or you're courting disaster.
Share leadership: One person's flaw is another's specialty, so let go of an area that isn't your strength.
Beer is important.
Do not be a slave to a schedule. Take the big picture into account, know when to cut bait and when to move forward.
Silence: Teach more through being and doing things the right way than by taking action rashly.

I had the opportunity to speak with Rob afterward. He got started by creating his own opportunities, studying several books on leadership, observing, and looking within himself.

At the leadership progressions afterward, I sat at tables with other STC leaders discussing community finances and the shifting financial structure. We ended up most of the time discussing the role of STC International in the financial business of the local communities. I developed a somewhat better understanding of what STC International is trying to accomplish, as well as what is coming down the road for the communities (both geographical [chapters] and virtual [SIGs]).

The afternoon breakout session on rechartering explained the process of rechartering and how the effort is progressing. The general consensus was that it helps communities define themselves and their mission, what they can do to attract new members, how to tap the knowledge of community leaders, and planning. It appeared to be of more help to communities whose membership had dwindled or become less active.

The other breakout session on zero-based budgeting described what might be considered financial rechartering. The process, originally developed in 1973, is intended to determine if the organization is meeting the needs of its members. The idea is to make the organization think about what it spends, rather than just allocating an amount for a general purpose. Some attendees considered it too micromanaged.

For more information on Zero-Based Budgeting you can look up the original text book Zero-Based Budgeting for Practical Management by Peter A Phyrr, originally published in 1973.

The speaker was Paul Sinasohn, and you can contact him at sinasohn@gmail.com or through his website, http://www.geocities.com/~sinasohn.

Monday Speakers and Opening Keynote

Most conference attendees started showing up Monday morning as we trickled in for the opening speakers. Andrea Ames, the outgoing STC president, presented an award for excellence in technical communication to the 911 Commission for their report.

Patrick Whitney's keynote discussed the expanding global economy and the changing consumer markets. He showed examples of communities in the third world integrating into the global economy and becoming consumers. Ultimately this provides growth and strengthens companies.

Sessions

Living Digital: Increasing Your Value with a Professional Archive

The idea of a professional archive is to store useful information and also be able to recall it when needed. Matthew Dennis, the speaker, mentioned several strategies for retaining information.

Though he mentioned strategies such as a notebook or a really long Word document, he focused more time on digital solutions and the knowledge management concepts behind them.

The following are some of the methods that individuals or larger organizations can use to warehouse information:

File-based system: Store documents on a PC and use a search tool (such as Google Desktop Search, Yahoo, or Copernic) to access them
Hosted blogs
Premium blogs
Content management systems
Personal content management systems

Each method had a number of pros and cons, depending on the needs of the individual or organization implementing them.

For more information on data warehousing, you can read Getting Things Done by David Allen. You can also see CreativeTechWriter.com and StevenBerlinJohnson.com.

The speaker was Matthew Dennis, and you can contact him at mgdennis@gmail.com.

Independent Consulting and Contracting SIG/Virtual Community Progression

A must for anyone even thinking about going into business for themselves, the Independent Consulting and Contracting SIG/virtual community presented a progression of topics. Linda Gallagher led an excellent group of topics for newbies and experienced independents.

The first topic was a frank "Are You Ready?" The group discussed some of the things that aspiring independents need to consider. Do you have the right personality type? Are you willing to do everything that it takes? What kind of options do you have? Be honest with yourself.

The next topic was "Contracting with Professional Services Companies." The group listened to a company representative describe the company, the differences between contracting directly, the types of projects that they deal with, what companies are looking for in a contractor, and what types of questions writers should ask before they work with a professional services company.

The final table discussed "Professional Portfolios: Showcasing Your Technical Communication Skills." In addition to building the standard portfolio of books and papers, we learned more general concepts about portfolio-building and putting a portfolio in alternative formats for different audiences. The most important concept was to make your portfolio bring the customer back to you. Never give them a copy; make a sample book just for them that gives them enough information to be interested and come back to you for more.

For more information on the Consulting and Independent Contracting Special Interest Group, see http://www.stcsig.org/cic/index.html.

The moderator was Linda Gallagher, and you can contact her at lindag@techcomplus.com.

Usability in the Field: Strategies for Successful Field Research

Field studies can provide a fascinating look into the way that users actually think. Unlike usability studies in a lab, field studies go into the user's native environment to study what they actually do, rather than what they say they do. The session presented some of the challenges and benefits of field usability compared to lab usability studies.

STC Global Seminar

This special session focused on STC International and growth in non-US members. Historically, STC has been US-focused, even though its mission is to be a global voice for technical communication and act as a global organization. The discussion focused on increasing value for all members.

The three areas of focus are:

Strategic plan for growth
Localized dues structure
Partnerships and alliances with other organizations that complement STC

For more information on STC Global, see http://www.stc-global.org

Dealing with Conflict

Avoiding, competing, collaborating, accommodating, and compromising were the focus of the Tuesday session on managing conflict. Intended for the workplace but applicable to the rest of life, this session used the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Theory to analyze conflict styles. Conflict is normal and can be an opportunity, since groups that do not experience it can get stale and be ineffective. It also requires at least two parties. Highly successful groups deal in an honest and open manner and have a high tolerance for conflict. Perception is reality.

For more information on analyzing conflict, search for the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Theory. You can also read The Skilled Facilitator by Roger Schwartz, as well as read about Chris Argyris' theory that people in organizations say one thing and do another.

I'm Not a Technical Writer!

Technical writers aren't always labeled as such. This session discussed analyzing what you can do beyond technical writing, including marketing skills, design skills, interpretation, and persuasion. It was very useful for people who want to apply their skills getting in to, or getting out of, the specific technical writing field. Analyze what you really do, what interests you, and what motivates you, rather than your job title.

For more information, read Awakening the Heroes Within by Carol S. Pearson and What Color is your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles. You can also read the March 2005 Intercom article "How Do You Position Yourself?" by Andrea Ames.

Componentized Information Architecture

This is the story of a major company (IBM) who re-built their information architecture into a component-based system. They wanted to reuse information without rewriting, as well as deliver documentation from the user's perspective rather than the developer's perspective. They faced challenges from their writers as well as from the logistics of supporting software components.

For more information, search for DITA, or the Darwin Information Archetype Architecture.

Job Task Analysis: "Stickie Bingo" for Better Course Design

Intended for technical writers, course designers, and managers, this method helps you analyze a task in a concrete, visual manner. It also functions as a brainstorming method and can help delegate duties in a team. Essentially, the audience divided into groups and the groups analyzed sample tasks. We created sample guide contents using multi-colored stickie notes on large pieces of paper.

Designing Your Own Professional Web Site

Though some of the presentation details were out of date, the ideas behind planning a Web site still apply. Planning the message, developing a design, and implementing the design are part of the process; the other part is knowing what questions to ask.

For example:

What do I need to learn?
What do I already know?
Where am I stuck?

For more information about Web site design, read The Non-Designer's Design Book by Robin Williams.

The speakers were Susan C. Becker and M. Gwaltney Mountford, and you can contact them at scbecker@codewords.com and mgm@mountfordgroup.commgm@mountfordgroup.com

Wednesday Closing Keynote

Bill Gribbons delivered the closing keynote on Usability and User Experience. The director of the Human Factors program at Bentley College, he described the progression of design and usability over time and the ideas behind it. Staples is one example of a company transformed by applied usability and user experience. Staples differentiates itself not by what it has but by how easy it is to get what you need. He also discussed designing for low-literacy users and the gains in usability for users across the board.

For more information read The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz.

The speaker was William Gribbons and he can be contacted at wgribbons@bentley.edu.