A First Timer's Summit: It'll be "Gone With The Wind" Fabulous!

Danielle Villegas, also known as TechCommGeekMom, is attending the STC Summit for the first time this year, so we’ve asked her to blog about her expectations and excitement approaching the Summit, plus her experiences at the Summit. This is the sixth post of her series.

It's a little more than a week before the Summit, and I'm not sure if I'm excited, anxious, nervous, or all of the above! It's been such a build-up over the last few months, that while I've been given lots of advice and have done my research, I still don't know what to expect. I think the anticipation is starting to build! As I start to plan which layers of clothes and devices to bring, as well as making sure I have my registration packet and other sundries, the last part that I haven't planned out is how to spend any free time I have. Atlanta is a major city, after all, and we'll be in the heart of the city at the Summit location.  I've been advised not to overload myself on education sessions too much and to use some free time to hang out, so I might as well take advantage of it!

I'm already planning to come in a day early, and hopefully meet up with a friend of mine who is an Atlanta native that night for dinner. I also happen to know that Larry the Cable Guy and Bill Engvall are playing together in town on Saturday, 4 May. For the sports fans, there's a Braves-Mets baseball game the afternoon of 5 May. Since I won't have a car, finding places by hiking it on foot or using the MARTA (Atlanta's subway system) seem like the best idea, and fortunately, due to the Summit's central location, that shouldn't be a problem. Looking at a map, I've seen that there are a lot of tourist attractions within walking distance. Centennial Park, the Georgia Aquarium, and the World of Coca-Cola are close by—within walking distance. I've heard that the World of Coca-Cola has different sodas that can be sampled from around the world, and include flavors not found in the United States at all! That sounds like a fun adventure. There are also many restaurants, shops, and malls nearby too, all within walking distance or easily accessible from the MARTA.

The other thing that I plan to do is take advantage of one of the programs that will be happening pre-conference. I plan to be at Adobe Day on the morning of 5 May. I was at the Adobe Day event at LavaCon last fall, and that was spectacular. I know that Adobe has a great lineup for this STC Summit event, including Charles Corfield, the father of Framemaker. That's a free event too! I'll be helping Adobe tweet and blog the event, so I am looking forward to that.  STC also has some pre-conference events going on as well. Check the official Summit website for more information.

So, as you can see, there's lots to do even before all the Summit activities even get started! I'm sure the shopping, restaurants, and other tourist attractions will be popular breaks even during the Summit as well.

This is my last blog post for STC's Notebook before the trip. I'll definitely be making notes, taking photos, Facebooking, tweeting, and writing my way through the Summit! I look forward to reporting to you about my experience once I am there as well as afterwards with my reflections.  See y'all there, and see you on social media!

Danielle M. Villegas writes the blog TechCommGeekMom.com. She graduated with her MSPTC degree from NJIT in 2012, and is currently a Web publishing consultant for BASF North America and an instructor for World Learning teaching Business and Technical Writing.

One Reply to “A First Timer's Summit: It'll be "Gone With The Wind" Fabulous!”

Leave a Reply