Quick Guide to Navigating STC Summit 2013

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I thought I would re-share my quick guide from last year and update it for the STC 2013 Summit. After attending five STC Conferences, I provide here some hints to maximize your conference experience. Enjoy!

Technology

Sessions

STC Summit Keynote

STC 2012 Summit Keynote

  • Spend 20-30 minutes planning which sessions you will attend. Use the Lanyrd Conference Website to help you decide!
  • Select primary and secondary sessions for each hour, some session material may be available for preview on SlideShare.
  • Determine within the first 5-10 minutes if a session excites you; if not, go to your secondary session.
  • Ask questions at the end of the session.
  • Complete post-session speaker evaluation(s). This year, there are QR codes to scan with your smart phone  to complete your surveys. If you don’t have a phone with QR code reading capabilities, visit the STC 2013 Survey Monkey Survey site.
  • Look for presentation slides after the sessions from presenters on SlideShare.

Networking

  • Spend about $30 for business cards from VistaPrint if you have none. Remember to pack them.
  • Hand out business cards to anyone you meet.
  • Write a note on the back of each person’s business card to remind you how you met them.
  • Bring paper and electronic copies of your résumé. This may result in a job opportunity after the conference.

Break Times

  • Offer and/or accept invitations to dine with attendees. We don’t bite.
  • Visit the vendor floor, STC Central, and the bookstore
  • Attend evening events with attendees.
  • Share your professional experiences.

After the Conference

  • Continue networking via Twitter, LinkedIn, and e-mail.
  • Look for an e-mail during the summer announcing when Conference@Click is available.
  • Read the conference proceedings.
  • Plan for next year, and convince your company to pay for it!
  • Look for a for Call for Speakers via e-mail; maybe you can present next year.
  • Keep up with current trends—check STC Notebook, Intercom, TechWhirl, and TechComm.

 

It’s your conference experience; make the most of it!

If you want to hang out during the conference, find me by sending me a message via Twitter: @RogerRenteria. I also will be co-presenting at Leadership Day and presenting during the Professional Development Progressions.

Reflections from the LavaCon Workshop

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I had a great time at the LavaCon Workshop on Unified Content Strategy in New Orleans. Thank you, Jack Molisani, for putting together the best of the best speakers together for this workshop. I deeply enjoy LavaCon because the conference and workshops are just the right size with a mix amazing professionals in the fields of technical communication, management, and marketing. Also, going to New Orleans was quite fun!

New Orleans Market at Night

New Orleans Market at Night

Here’s my reflection on attending LavaCon.

Learn from others

What fascinates me the most is learning how other people work with others and to hear their experiences. At a conference, I may hear a few case studies, yet at a workshop, there is more to learn beyond case studies. For example, I really enjoyed the three exercises that built upon team work, management, and communication–each integral aspects of Content Strategy.

Actively participate

Actively Participating at LavaCon

Actively Participating at LavaCon

Some technical writers are shy. One of my best and trusted colleagues is shy. I know I fall into the realm of being shy and social and it depends on the situation and who I’m with. For the most part, I actively listen and learn from what others say. I noticed that even adding a comment and engaging with the speaker was definitely worth it. Since the workshop has a hands-on element, if you participate–you will get more out of it than you first realize.

Ask questions

There was never a shortage of questions. I wish I asked more questions during the sessions. Part of being extremely new to the field is that I haven’t encountered the A-Z list of scenarios at the workplace. In addition, I have experienced some interesting workplace dynamics which I’ve learned how to manage and recover from. At the next conference, I will make it a priority to ask more questions in the future.

Keep an open mind

The reason why we attend workshops is to learn. Because we come from a variety of different backgrounds, such as marketing, management, computer science, writing, editing, and communication, we have different interpretations for how we understand Content Strategy. Each interpretation of Content Strategy may differ from one another, but we can add them together to build a better definition. I definitely have expanded my definition of Content Strategy after the last two conferences.

Build your network

Connect online with LavaCon attendees

Connect online with LavaCon attendees

Lastly, I will hit the networking game on Twitter and LinkedIn and to connect with everyone I met. I love how we have common interests and the social channels are available to professionally network. After LavaCon, I’m always happy to expand my network and include wonderful professionals which I will later meet at other conferences throughout the year. The advantage of connecting professionally with colleagues is you will open up new career opportunities for the future.

 

Later this month, I will write another post about the LavaCon Workshop group activities and what I observed. In the meantime, see more about what happened at LavaCon, check out the #LavaCon Twitter Feed and Andrea Ames’ SlideShare Slides. Also, learn more about the LavaCon 2013 Conference  and I look forward to seeing you in Portland, OR in October.

Snopes and Google Are Your BFFs to Fight Zombie Hoaxes

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Did you ever hear about how the U.S. Mint was changing their coins? What about getting severely sick because of dirty soda can? Worried that Facebook will force you to pay a subscription to use? Even a wild and outlandish story caught a U.S. Senator off-guard.

Russian Coca-Cola

Let’s find out how fast we can make a hoax that Russian Coca-Cola will replace American Coke in 2014… 

Don’t worry, your coins will stay the same. Soda cans are clean and safe. Facebook is still free. Also, smart U.S. Senators use Google or some kind of search engine.

But why are these hoaxes spreading around like wildfire on the Internet? These stories used to be in the form of chain emails and that was definitely annoying. Now I see these same hoaxes crop up on my Facebook feed. Why are these hoax zombies coming back? I wish I could answer that question.

I read a lot online and when I think something looks like a chain email or hoax post, it most likely is. At that point, I Google keywords + snopes. Usually I find Snopes at the top of the search results and find out it was indeed a hoax. If not, it could be a made up story from elsewhere like America’s Finest News Source: The Onion  Unbelievable, right?

Love

Your friends will love you forever if you don’t post hoaxes online. Surely, Philadelphia will appreciate the zombie-free zone too.

Lately, I have gone on a bit of a crusade to break these chain mails and chain posts and prove people should search for them online. I kindly reply or post a link to a website proving its a hoax or something made up.

Please, avoid posting hoax material on social networks. You will be forever thank yourself and be thanked by countless friends who really don’t care for hoaxes. Great Facebook friends should stop other friends who continue this perpetual madness. Also, by not posting this junk online makes you a better contributor to the social media scene. We don’t want to see zombie hoaxes out in the wild any more.

What are your thoughts? Comment below!