By Adrienne Tange and Melody Brumis | Members
Go West, young man and woman, and discover gold in the hills of Sacramento, CA! Attend the Technical Communication Summit 2011, held 15–18 May at the Sacramento Convention Center. The Convention Center is located across the street from the two official conference hotels, the Hyatt Regency and Sheraton Grand, and is just 15 minutes from the Sacramento International Airport.
Sacramento serves as the “Gateway to the Gold Country” and provides an interesting backdrop to the conference. Learn about California's state capital, history, and how it grew and prospered when James Marshall discovered gold at nearby Colma.
To welcome you and help plan your free time, we spoke with a California native and Sacramento STC member, Amy Andrew.
How long have you been a Sacramento STC member? Why did you join? What do you like about the chapter?
Three years ago I had never heard of technical communication, but I got a random opportunity to work on a policies and procedures project at work, and I jumped at the chance. I had the great pleasure of being placed under the guidance of Mark Hanigan, STC Fellow and former STC president, and took to the field like a fish to water. I could not have found a better professional fit for myself if I had tried (and believe me, I had been trying).
Mark suggested I join STC and so I eventually did. He talked about how much he got from STC, and honestly, I was skeptical, but I have a great deal of respect for Mark, so off went my dues check. And you know what? He was so right. He's always right.
I've been a member for two years now and the time I've put in has repaid itself ten-fold. The Sacramento Chapter helped me stay connected to the industry while on a six-month maternity leave, and it continues to give me a competitive advantage at work. And personally, our chapter may be small (and growing!), but the people are so wonderful. There are a lot of opportunities to get involved, and I'm honored to be Secretary of our chapter.
How long have you lived in Sacramento? Are you a native?
I have lived in Sacramento (the suburbs actually) since I was two years old, so yes, I'd say I'm a native. You'd be hard-pressed to pry me out of California or out of the Sacramento area. I just love it. It's an amazing place to grow up and now that I have a daughter of my own, I realize that even more.
What's your favorite thing about Sacramento? If you were describing your town, what would you say?
One of my favorite things about Sacramento is the variety of activities we have access to, both right here in Sacramento and within a two-hour drive.
If you want culture, we have the Sacramento Orchestra, Music Circus, Sacramento Ballet, Sacramento Opera, Crocker Art Museum, Second Saturday Art Walk downtown, and a host of other small theaters. While I don't think Sacramento is particularly well known for its culture, we do have a bit of everything!
Crocker Art Museum
If you want history, we have plenty of that. Sacramento has a really interesting Gold Rush history. In fact, Sutter's Fort is smack-dab in the middle of downtown. We also have the California State Railroad Museum and Old Sacramento, which is one of my personal favorites. Old Sacramento is a great place to bum around for an afternoon, stop in for a drink at Fanny Ann's Saloon, and then have dinner at one of the great restaurants in the area.
If you're an outdoorsy person, there are water activities on Folsom Lake, Lake Natoma, and the American and Sacramento Rivers. We also have really great jogging and bike trails along the rivers. I spent every weekend and many summer weeks on the rivers for almost 10 years of my childhood, so this is especially important to me.
I really enjoy wine tasting, and Sacramento is one of the most amazing locations for that. Every wino has obviously heard of Napa (and it is within driving distance), but we also have our very own local wine country. Did you know our climate here is well suited to growing grapes (at least certain varietals—heavy reds like Barbera, Cabernet Franc, and Syrah)? The Amador Wine Country is within about a 45-minute drive and has some really great wine. That is my idea of an afternoon well spent!
So Sacramento can stand on its own two feet, but if you want to drive just two hours away, you have everything at your finger-tips: Lake Tahoe and world-renowned skiing, San Francisco and great sourdough bread (I'm sure it is known for a few other things, too), Monterey and its amazing coastal wildlife, and so much more.
Old Town Sacramento
What are your favorite restaurants? Why?
If you like sushi, you can't go wrong with Mikuni—they are known throughout the Sacramento area as “the” place for great, fresh sushi. They have teriyaki chicken/beef and some other non-sushi items, so you can easily take a group there and find something for everyone. Mikuni is actually the reason I started eating sushi! Streets of London is a local pub where you can get a bite, but most people go there to hang out and have a beer, maybe play some darts. It's very relaxed and casual. Some of my favorite places are in Old Town—Rio City Café is my favorite, and Joe's Crab Shack is fun, too.
What sports event would you recommend?
If you like baseball, the River Cats, our minor-league team, is just across the river from Old Town. My family and I usually go to a game or two every year. It's really fun! The stadium is very nice and you can get great seats for relatively cheap, compared to professional sports. We also have the Kings, and a new football team (success yet to be determined!), the Mountain Lions.
Get more insight on the hidden, golden veins of Sacramento in future issues of Intercom, local STC newsletter articles, and the new Summit Blog, http://summit.stc.org/category/summit-news. See this article on Intercom Online (http://intercom.stc.org) for links to many of the attractions discussed.
For more information, contact Adrienne Tange at atange@wtsolutions.biz and Melody Brumis at mbrumis@wtsolutions.biz. They are your Chief Entertainment Officers for this year's STC conference. Adrienne and Melody both served as president for the East Bay STC Chapter. They also partner in a successful, small business called Write on Time Solutions (www.wtsolutions.biz).
