By Jane Wilson
We are excited to offer a wide range of programming at the STC Summit 2023 – with a special focus on learning “how to” – how to improve your content, how to meet your career goals, how to gain new skills.
Check out and download the full 2023 Summit schedule.
Here are a few topics that will be covered from multiple angles at this year’s conference:
Many companies are investing in making their products, content, and marketing more inclusive. If you want to learn how to prioritize inclusion, you should attend our closing keynote, presented by The Content Wrangler himself, Scott Abel. He’ll be speaking on “Inclusive Language: Survey Findings and Best Practices for Content Strategy.” Shawneda Crout will be leading a session on “How to Make your Writing More Inclusive,” and, if editing is your focus, Jonathan Arnett will be speaking on alternative style guides in “Inclusive Technical Editing.” Finally, we could all benefit from Christine Christensen’s session on “How to Run an Inclusive Meeting.”
Accessibility is also a must when creating content for a diverse audience. Laura Palmer can get you started in her preconference workshop on “Accessibility Audits: Learn How to Make a Case for Accessibility.” Accessibility is also a key factor to consider when adding visual content, as Tyler Breedlove will explain in “Ensuring Usability and Accessibility When Adding Images to Technical Documentation.” Philip Gallagher and Marci Gallagher remind us that you can’t forget audio content in their session on “Making Access First: How to Make Aural Information Accessible in Technical Communication.”
Would you like to learn more about how data and metrics can help you “Make the Business Case for Documentation”? Caity Cronkhite’s session can get you started. The preconference workshop on “How to Prove Your Value” presented by Ben Woelk and Jennifer Goode offers a more in-depth look at how we track productivity. Vladimir Petrov will walk you through the steps to create a tool to track doc bug metrics in his session on “How to Create a Doc Feedback SLA Tracker,” and Carl DeBeer’s session will teach you “How to Use Data to Inform Your Decisions.”
Finally, what about soft skills and career planning? Our opening keynote, Andrew Lawless, will share “The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals,” and STC legend Judy-Glick Smith will teach you about “Using Flow to Craft a Life of Excellence in Tech Comm” at the Honors event. Both Susan Kelley (“Building Your Brand as a Woman in Tech”) and Rachana Chitre (“I am My Own Brand”) will help you iron out how you want to present your professional self. If you’re looking to improve team dynamics, Anisi Rouleau and Abby Brunn will explain “How to Create the ‘Write’ Culture.”
Personally, I have always returned from the STC Summit with a notebook full of ideas on how I can improve my work, my processes, and my career – this year, I am excited about the possibilities before the sessions have even started!
Are you enticed by these session descriptions or by any of the other session descriptions in the schedule? Don't wait until the last minute to register for the Summit! And book your discounted hotel room rate before rates go back up! Find all the information on the 2023 STC Summit website.