Registration for the 2011 Summit opened on 1 December, and with only 100 Really Early Bird slots available, space filled up quickly. We got in touch with the very first registrant, Tony Chung, and asked him a few questions. Thanks to Tony for answering our questions, and we look forward to seeing everyone in Sacramento! To register yourself (and the Early Bird rate of $895 is still $100 less than the regular Advance rate and $400 less than the Walk-in rate), click the big blue button to the right!
You were the first person to sign up for the STC Summit—you even signed up before the button went up after finding the event listing. Why the rush to sign up?
After Erin McKean was announced as as keynote speaker for Summit 2010 in Dallas, I kicked myself for missing the pre-registration boat.
Fortunately the Canada West Coast chapter awarded a ticket to one lucky member, and that winner was me. I promised myself that I would jump on the pre-registration bandwagon for 2011, and when I saw that only 100 tickets were available, I had to act fast. When the button hadn’t appeared on the conference website before I left for work on registration day, I took a chance that I could register through my STC account, and c’est voila! I’m on my way to Sacramento!
What’s the lure of the Summit to you? What makes it a “must attend”?
During the whirlwind experience of last year where I took a two-day certificate course on the weekend, and attended just about the entire Summit program, I met a lot of people, bought a lot of books, collected a lot of free stuff, and gained a better understanding of how the TechComm field is big and still growing.
I’d like to attend other conferences if I could afford to. But as they tend to specialize and limit their focus in scope, I feel the best value for generalists like me is the broad program of the Summit. I complained to Rachel Houghton that Summit 2010 offered too many interesting talks in competing time slots, and she took it as a compliment for the Programs team. (I agree, that does speak very well for Summit programming.)
I learned a lot of techniques and processes from the presentations that I am still not sure if I can assimilate into my current work. Most require a complete overhaul in my workplace before we’d recognize any benefit. But at least I have options, and a vision for the end goal. And when I get stuck, I have the business cards of people who can help me.
How many Summits have you attended in the past? What memories do you have of them?
I have been to only one Summit, and that was in Dallas. I would have liked to have attended Summit 2005 in Seattle, as I was just transitioning from web and database development into technical communication. Local TechCommers told me about STC and the Summit only a week before the Summit, which didn’t give me enough time to prepare.
Summit 2010 was my first experience attending Progression Sessions: the generalist’s dream. Out of seven topics in a general interest area, pick three. This year, I hope we figure out a way to record them. I’m sure most presenters own an iPod or a small video camera.
Besides the variety of training sessions, I remember most the opportunities to mix and mingle. The vendor-sponsored karaoke and tweetups were really fun, and the food at the final luncheon was top-notch. I have a hard time communicating the greatest benefit of the Summit in ways that those outside of TechComm could understand. I posted a blog entry where I explain:
“We desire to grow in our chosen careers and take on new challenges that we can’t speak about with those back home…No, the stories we can share are the ones that others will find in common. After all, we are the masters at knowing our audience. We don’t reveal more to those who don’t understand what we do, because we know that 80 percent of them won’t pick up on more than 20 percent of what we talk about. I’ll bet I may have lost you on that last sentence.”
The people make the Summit, and everyone I met IRL brought a positive professionalism that made it an enjoyable experience. I enjoyed the chance to catch up with friends I’d met at other conferences, and those who I knew only through the Internet. I even found a use for Twitter to connect with people I didn’t know before, or rather, they found me (@techcom). What are you looking forward to most of all in Sacramento? I used to know someone in Sacramento who sent my family a box of almond samples when she returned home, but we lost touch. I really don’t know what to expect. I missed the jam session in Seattle. Fortunately, there’s been talk of us music types hosting a jam session, similar to what might have happened in Seattle. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know. Thanks again to Tony for his time!