Just for clarification – there was free internet access in all the public areas of the convention center. Inside the rooms, reception was very spotty.

As for cost at the hotels, Rachel Houghton has a theory that less expensive hotels provide free high-speed internet access and more expensive hotels charge a fee. Several people agreed with her, although we couldn’t fathom why.

@Tom

You made some excellent follow-up suggestions such as “4. Look at the attendance popularity of each session, and do more of those sessions.” Here is where every attendee can help with their feedback when the survey is sent out. Maybe a session is wildly popular, but if no one submits a proposal on that topic next year, there won’t be a session on that topic next year. If you know that so-and-so is a fantastic speaker on the topic of such-and-such, contact that person and encourage them to submit a proposal. The radar of the program advisory committee cannot catch all the potential speakers out there. And let’s all remember to provide constructive feedback on that survey. We love feedback on our own work, so let’s do unto others…

(Must blog my own impressions/experience soon….)

Plus we have the ISTC over here, which seems to be on the up, with a monthly newsletter and excellent magazine (some of the bloggers who have commented here have been featured!). I’d also point out the X-Pubs conference, TICAD and others, and that’s just the UK.

Reading this from afar the idea of a ‘dance’ seems very antiquated. I connected more with people during lunch and over beer after last years X-Pubs conference, the dinner that preceded TICAD was similarly successful.

Like you Tom I get more from personal connections, and real-life learning than theoretical sessions, but love the idea of offering recordings of a conference.

Technical writing is an extremely boring subject; praise is due to anyone and anything that makes it less so (even slightly less so!).

Well done everyone!

- roGER

PS: I doubt you’d get vast numbers of extra writers even if the teleport system was invented and cost 1c per journey. Here in the UK STC numbers are small, and always have been.

roGERs last blog post..The Story of Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Genie of the Lamp

My previous experience with conferences was with journalism conferences in college at the NYTimes and Grady college, where I had my mind blown in every session. So I had high hopes for this conference, I guess. It was a big step down.

The Conference Center apparently charged $100/day for internet access. What’s up with that?

JBronsons last blog post..Are you a sportsman or a punk?

Re creating a conference that both has value to attendees and also value to sponsors, vendors, and bean counters, I am hesitant to jump in here and try to evaluate anything — I’ve never planned a conference and I don’t know the complexities involved. I do know that there is a wide range of audiences involved, from first-timers looking to enter the profession to tenured academics to content management single source enthusiasts to editors. In fact, part of the problem in planning a conference for the STC is that the STC’s umbrella is too wide — by trying to include so many disparate groups, it becomes difficult to create content that appeals the majority of them.

With the vendors, I do have to say that I am put off my Adobe’s sales pitch at the beginning of the conference. Maybe that can be more discreet.

With the “your assessment” comment, I think Alan is pointing out that different people vary in their assessments. Some loved the conference, others disliked it, etc. I readily acknowledge that opinions and experiences vary.

Chris, can you provide some specific suggestions for improving the conference? I’d like to make the discussion as constructive as possible. Remember that Alan is a volunteer and he’s only focused on one specific track of the conference program.

I think Alan Housers comment above was an example of the nail in the coffin that did it for me:

“Being a member of the the STC Program Advisory Committee (and manager of the committee for the 2009 Summit in Atlanta), I must admit that I read your post as “blah blah blah *deserves a B-* blah blah blah”.

**Alan, holy cow, that’s a rude comment. Tom gives some great honest feedback and you pass it off as ‘blah blah blah’. No wonder membership is down and Technical Writers are going the way of the Dodo; you need to learn how to change and be humble.**

“Planning a conference of the size of the STC Summit is a complex activity, driven by many considerations, constraints and compromises. We need to provide value to attendees with a wide range of experiences, needs, and preferences, and we need to keep the sponsors, vendors, and bean counters happy.”

**Apparently Alan can’t see past his own problems. The fact that providing value to attendees and keeping bean counters happy is made in the same breathe shows STC isn’t here just for the writers. You’re lost in the details. It’s time to refocus guys.**

“Having said that, what would the conference committee and the STC Office need to do in Atlanta to improve *your* assessment by at least a letter grade?”

**Man, what an arrogant way to ask for feedback. Thanks Tom for your report and good luck with future projects.

Also, thanks to all those that do make STC a fun place to be, good luck to all of you too.

Chris McQueens last blog post..Scoutle