A Student Perspective on Summit 2012

By Samantha Gale | Student Member

My journey to the 2012 Summit began this past January. I was in the second semester of my junior year at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, where we unfortunately do not have a student chapter of STC. In fact, I never would have known about the Society’s existence if it weren’t for my senior seminar class, taught by Dr. Pam Estes Brewer, a longtime STC member. As a class project, we researched topics related to technical communication and wrote articles for the Technical Communication Body of Knowledge (BOK). The assignment was presented to us on the first day of class with the option of becoming STC student members. Not really knowing what I was getting myself into, I signed up.

However, I soon began receiving emails about a conference in Chicago. These emails excited me, telling me how I could go learn more about technical communication and connect with other technical communicators and buy books about technical communication and technical communication–related software and—Holy cow, this thing costs more than I can afford. That’s where the allure stopped for me and, as I am learning, for just about every other student member of STC in the country. The reality is that very few college students, if any, have the money to drop on a conference in another part of the country, no matter what it’s for. I stopped reading the emails, but I still wished that I could magically attend the conference for free. Surely, if I could just get my registration fees waived, I could road trip to Chicago and stay with my friend in the city and get up every morning and ride the train to the Hyatt and learn so much. And I would probably be hired right on the spot by someone like Adobe or American Express, because, hey, this is my dream, right? But I knew that it was a pipe dream, so I tried to push it to the back of my mind.

I soon learned that I was not alone in this thought. My classmate, business partner, friend, and roommate, Addy Haseltine, was equally as enthralled by the idea of being able to mingle with professionals and learn more about topics of interest. We discussed it at great length several times, only to remember and remind each other that there was no way on earth either of us could ever afford to go to Summit.

Enter Rhyne Armstrong. Rhyne spoke to our class virtually in March, and he mentioned at the end of his presentation that student members could volunteer at Summit and—wait for it—have their registration fees waived. This was it! This was the exact opportunity that Addy and I had been looking for. We sent our résumés to Rhyne the next day, and within a week we were booking our flights and researching hotel costs. We even took the research we had been conducting for our BOK article, turned it into a poster, and entered it into the Summit student poster competition.

From that point on, it was made very clear that Addy and I belonged at Summit. We were accepted as finalists in the poster competition, and because we would be presenting, we received small travel grants from our university’s Office of Student Research. We found two more people, one from our class and one from Iowa, to split our room with. We even got the English Department at Appalachian to pay for tickets to the Honors Banquet because Dr. Brewer was being recognized. If not for these stepping stones, we may not have been able to overcome the huge financial obstacle that Summit presents. In fact, most student members don’t attend for the simple reason that they cannot afford it. We were just really lucky. Fast-forward through finals and a grueling week of summer break full of anticipation and humidity, and we finally arrived in Chicago.

Sunday morning, we arrived early at the Hyatt to work registration. We were quickly oriented to the science of stuffing welcome bags and handing out lanyards. We worked registration all the way up until the Welcome Reception. Some people were wonderful and some were less than pleasant, but the former vastly outnumbered the latter and we could tell that we were in for an awesome experience. However, it wasn’t until the next day that we really started to make friends. Free from the confines of the registration desk, we went to different sessions that interested us, including the progression on technical communication education, where we got to discuss our contributions to the BOK.

One of the most important things I learned about on Monday was starting a student chapter. We attended the student lunch, where we met students from all over the country, including Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, and even New Mexico. Some of them were volunteers, and some weren’t. The main difference between them and us, I learned, was that most of them had a student chapter at their schools or at another school in the same city. When asked why we didn’t simply start a chapter, our reply was, “Well, we have a small program, and it would be tough to generate interest.” But it got me thinking, how do I know that? Have I gone to all of the professional writing classes at ASU and asked them, “Would you be interested in STC?” No. Have I talked to any of the professors about it? No. Is there some rule saying I can’t try? No. The possibility has been stuck in my head ever since.

Later that day, Addy and I won the poster competition. We received a small cash prize and a whole lot of handshakes from some important people. That night, Rhyne took a bunch of the students out for karaoke at a Korean bar called Angry Station, which was an experience, but it also gave us time to get to know some of the other students. I met Eric Johnson, president of the STC chapter at Michigan Tech. We sang “Oops I Did It Again,” and he told me I was a crazy person for not considering starting a chapter. Then there was David Wood, who, along with two of his colleagues, had just started a chapter at New Mexico Tech. They had some killer pipes and some great points about interest being generated by the presence of a club, not necessarily the idea. We were all able to kick back and have fun, and we swapped ideas and theories about technical communication and the future of STC in the process.

As the week went on, we realized that connecting with people in a fun yet professionally focused way was really the point of Summit. The sessions were great, don’t get me wrong. I went to a fantastic educational session on Web fonts by Michael Opsteegh that completely changed the way I look at the presentation of my Web content and introduced me to some great new resources. I laughed my head off at the Lightning Talks, and I may have actually learned something in the process. The exhibitors were informative and excited to introduce me to their products. The selection of reading material was fantastic. However, what I feel and what many of the other students agree on is that, while the educational merit of the conference is more than sufficient, the networking opportunities are the real attraction.

By the end of Summit, I was exhausted. Addy and I had spent every night talking to professionals and students alike until well into the morning, yet we wanted to be up for the early sessions each day. It was all well worth the energy it took. I went into the conference excited and overwhelmed, and I came out more educated and better prepared for my future, if for no other reason than the fact that I met people who are excited to see me succeed. While the Summit could have had a few more activities geared toward students, I loved that I was able to mix right in with the practitioners, and they were thrilled to not only meet me but also help me grow as a writer.

What I learned from my experience is that Summit is worth the money and time necessary to get there because of the connections that are made for both educational and networking purposes. I also learned that helping other students find STC is not as hard as I thought it would be. As I head into my senior year of college and work on developing my consulting business with Addy, I know that I am well-equipped with the knowledge, tools, and drive necessary to succeed. I also know that if I ever find myself in need of anything, I have an entire network of people who want to help me, and I owe that assurance entirely to the 2012 Summit and the people I met there. Needless to say, I’ll see you in Atlanta!