Writing & Communication Track at the Summit

By David Caruso (@dccd)

If you think a track called “Writing and Communication” is just a miscellaneous catch-all where the STC Summit Program Committee offloaded all those sessions that just didn’t fit anywhere else, you would be wrong. Much consideration went into this track as a serious way to not only explore the roots of what practitioners do in the field day in and day out, but also to delve into topics that many have expressed interest in and which STC is uniquely qualified to present.

Take for example Richard Hamilton’s session, Self-Publishing for Print and eBook Distribution, where a supremely qualified expert with years of experience in guiding authors along the path to publication shares his insights on what it takes to get your content into book form and ready for sale and consumption by your audience. In an effort to break down the silo walls that separate tech comm and tech support, Rick Lippincott presents Frenemies: Tech Comm and Tech Support Working Together. Or consider that form of communication many haven’t carefully looked at in quite some time: email. In her workshop, Producing Professional Emails to Get Answers!, Marilyn Woelk delivers best practices which have proven successful.

Translation and localization have grown into industries of their own, but still have core relevance to professional technical communicators. This topic is explored in several sessions in this track: Laura Dent examines the process of localizing a single-sourcing system in Single-Sourcing and Localization: Maximizing Content Across Languages; David Rumsey looks at standard processes involved with Internationalized Texts: Writing for Translation and Globalization; and John Collins reconciles the seeming conflict that casual tone has with content destined for translation in Building Quality Experiences for Users in any Language.

In the “only at STC Summit” category we find Meet the Editors, a session which introduces you to the editors of STC’s publications: Liz Pohland, of Intercom, and Sam Dragga, of Technical Communication. If you have ever considered writing for either publication, then this session will provide everything you need to know to get started. If you are a fan of these periodicals, bring your questions (and your coffee) to this early session!

If you are an experienced tech comm professional looking to help make the Certified Professional Technical Communicator (CPTC) program more robust, then don’t miss TC Body of Knowledge, Certification and Content Contribution where the moderators will solicit specific content for the TC BOK to support the CPTC Foundation.

Please also consider attending the Writing Progression, which includes brief table-top talks on topics like Risk Communication, Minimalist Writing Principles, and Creativity.

The 2016 Summit also has one session block devoted to the wildly popular lightning talk format, a fast and fun way to hear six speakers deliver a pithy presentation in just five minutes! Just take a look at this session page for the titles and descriptions; however like lightning, these sessions cannot be contained – this session must be experienced LIVE!

Don’t forget to check the full schedule for additional topics and speakers. See you in Anaheim! #stc16