By Samantha Munroe | Student Member
I approached the 2013 Summit in Atlanta, GA, from the perspective of both a first-time attendee and a technical writing professional in the midst of a significant career switch—from the practice of law to technical writing and editing.
I wouldn’t have attended the Summit at all had it not been for Cherie Woodward, president of my local STC chapter (Sacramento Metro). Cherie tipped me off that student volunteers were being recruited to work at the Summit as room monitors (assisting the speakers with A/V issues if any occurred, taking a headcount, etc.). As a student in the technical writing program at American River College, I was selected to volunteer—saving myself hundreds of dollars on registration fees in the process.
The real joy of attending the Summit was the ability to mingle with so many really funny, interesting, and experienced tech writers. The overwhelming majority of people were just pleased to meet you, excited to bring others into the fold, and comfortable providing new technical writers with advice about how to develop their careers.
While working as a room monitor, I sat in on some fantastic presentations! Speakers from around the world had assembled in Atlanta for four short days, and they tackled the entire spectrum of communication issues—like content strategy, CSS development, explaining complex concepts to end users via multimedia presentations, and managing the impact of social media on corporate documentation. No single person could have possibly taken it all in. Fortunately, all of the presentations were recorded for future viewing, so I can watch the sessions that I couldn’t attend.
Better yet, I connected with SIG members from across the United States and around the world. Attending the annual meetings for the Policy & Procedure, Europe, and International Tech Comm SIGs helped me learn more about emerging trends in technical communication.
So, what did I learn about technical communication? Over the course of four extremely busy days, I soaked up a lot of great advice. The core messages were simple:
Good technical writers can make modern life simpler. Keynote speaker David Pogue, the New York Times’ technology columnist, publishes witty reviews of consumer electronics. But underneath his slightly silly façade lurks a consumer advocate with a message for all STC members: he’s worried that users can’t find streamlined, understandable user documentation. People need help navigating our increasingly connected homes and workplaces, and clear, concise documentation will help everyone get more out of their technology—from software suites to high-tech “connected” refrigerators to medical equipment.
Policy and procedure writing is an area of tech writing desperately seeking additional talent. At the P&P SIG meeting, Dawnell Claessen informed attendees that the number of companies looking for “policy and procedure” writers on Indeed.com has always outstripped the number of qualified candidates. The need for sharp, savvy writers will only increase going forward.
Everyone underestimates the value of policy and procedure writing—until they need it. During the Writing & Editing Progression, Emily Kowal discussed why helping client companies outline how their values and priorities guide their employees’ conduct can eliminate confusion, increase efficiency, and translate into greater client satisfaction.
Technical writing is international, whether we’re aware of it or not. Issues of localization and translation will become increasingly critical to tech writers as our written work is accessed by end users worldwide. At the Communication & Translation Progression, Kirsty Taylor highlighted some of the issues inherent in translating concepts or terms of art from one culture’s lexicon to another, and offered smart suggestions for how to help translators switch your work effortlessly from one language to another.
Thank you, Atlanta, for a lovely trip—and thanks to STC for an amazing opportunity!
