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A Few Ways to Make the Next STC Summit Better, #stc10

Tom Johnson — Tue, 11 May 2010 14:28:17 +0000

Last week I attended the STC Summit in Dallas, as did about 700+ other people. Overall I thought the conference was as good as it has been for the last several years. Others said the conference was even better than past years. There’s a lot that is definitely working well with these conferences. Below are five things I felt went well at the STC Summit and five ways to make the next STC Summit even better.

What Went Well at the Summit

Here is my list of what I thought worked well.

+ Workshops were well-attended.

I had a dozen people in my WordPress workshop on Sunday. Overall I believe the workshops were well-attended and successful, especially compared to last year. Last year my workshop was canceled due to lack of attendees. I’m not sure how many other workshops were canceled last year, but the conference organizers reduced prices and changed time slots for workshops this year, and as a result, attendance boosted.

+ Sessions were recorded.

I skipped a couple of sessions at the conference — one because I was preparing for my presentation. And another because I was tired from lack of sleep. Other times I found myself in sessions wishing I were in other sessions. It’s comforting to know that in six weeks I’ll be able to go back and listen to those sessions I missed. As I filled out evaluations and looked at all the sessions, I realized how many intriguing-sounding sessions I missed throughout the conference. Knowing I can access recordings of these sessions makes me feel both relieved and motivated to keep learning from the Summit.

From a presenter’s perspective, the recording process was practically invisible. I didn’t have to use any software (they intercepted the video feed), and I could run my presentation from my own computer, which was nice because I used PowerPoint 2010. It was also convenient to have the tech guy on site during my session to handle any technical problems if they arose.

+ Tweetup was excellent

Robert Armstrong organized a tweetup on Monday night that I thought went extremely well. Apparently some attendees were upset about a beer keg that contained Bud Light rather than draft beer, but since I don’t drink, I only learned about this later. I liked the informal venue of the tweetup and the casual conversations I had with about a dozen people that night. Here’s a photo someone took from the balcony of Croc and Rock, where we held the tweetup.

Monday night Tweetup at Croc and Rock. I'm at the bottom right, talking to Kirsty Taylor from Australia.

+ Lots of time between sessions

Between every session we had about a half an hour of time to interact with others, browse the expo, get a snack, or check twitter (in wifi zones). I especially enjoyed this padding of time because it allowed me to interview people for videocasts. I do value the time to interact with conference attendees during these breaks. When sessions have only 10 or 15 minute breaks before the next session, there isn’t enough time to do that. Thirty minutes, on the other hand, is perfect.

+ The idea of taking a topic for the BoK

One of the bulletin boards promoting the STC Body of Knowledge initiative had topics that people could take and write articles about. Although this bulletin board was a little vague and poorly positioned, theoretically the idea was brilliant. About 80 people took topics and promised to write STC Body of Knowledge articles. I support the Body of Knowledge initiative, and even though I don’t plan to write articles for it (yet), I thought this was a good strategy for collecting content and increasing visibility.

What Could Be Better

Here’s my list of how to improve the Summit for next year.

- Kill the teleprompters

During the opening session on Sunday afternoon, the STC president and executive director welcomed the members and provided various remarks that they read from a teleprompter. I’m sure teleprompters could work well in some scenarios and with more training, but too often the result is a speaker reading a script to an audience. Everyone I asked at the conference said they disliked the teleprompter effect. It feels a bit fake and stilted. No speaker who used the teleprompters said anything sophisticated enough to warrant the use of teleprompter technology. (I really can’t see Mike Hughes reading from a teleprompter next year. It’s just not his style.) Speakers would be better off without teleprompters next year.

- Cut the length of presentations in half

One of the conference organizers I spoke with said the sessions were all set to 75 minutes in length for two reasons: (a) 75 minutes is enough time to dive deeply into a topic and allow enough discussion to be worthwhile, and (b) making all presentations 75 minutes long makes it easier to schedule the sessions.

Maybe it’s my reduced attention span that times out after a half hour, but after 30 minutes, I’ve gotten most of what I will get out of a presentation. The rest is just endurance. Also, my purpose in going to a session isn’t to dive deeply into a topic. It’s to be introduced to a new idea. It’s like walking into Costco on Saturday and trying 15 different food samples. That’s the purpose of a conference, in my opinion. You try foods you would otherwise never buy. And it opens you up to new thoughts.

Most of the sessions I attended didn’t go deeper as time progressed. Instead they simply covered more ground and became longer. In other words, they moved laterally, not vertically. If you pick the wrong session and unluckily sit near the front, you may be trapped there for the whole 75 minutes. Overall I didn’t feel that I attended that many sessions. I would have much preferred a tour through a landscape of ideas, moving at a faster pace, maybe 30 or 45 minutes in length with each session, rather than 75 minutes.

The shortened time span would also force presenters to get more quickly to the point. I tried to do the same with my videocasts. I knew I only had about 5 minutes, so I jumped straight to the difficult questions I wanted to explore. In contrast, when people have a lot of time, they belabor the point.

- Provide ubiquitous wifi

Someone told me it would have cost about $17,000 or more to have wifi present throughout the conference. I’m not sure how vendors get away with prices like these, or if that’s just the norm and it costs this much to provide bandwidth at a hotel. But as one person I talked with said, I would prefer wifi over fancy ballrooms with chandeliers and elaborate setups (such as the lighted backdrop and big stage at the opening keynote). The irony about hotels is that inexpensive hotels usually give you wifi for free, but expensive hotels restrict wifi and make you pay for access.

I don’t need to stay at the fanciest hotel in Dallas. Perhaps a less expensive venue would allow for more wifi capability? I know the STC has hotels are selected out years in advance, so I doubt this will change much. And inexpensive hotels don’t also have conference-accommodating spaces. Still, I wanted more wifi.

- Remove the “thank-you, thank-you, thank-you” mentality with vendors

During the general welcome speeches and state of the society speeches, there was too much gratitude expressed to the vendors. I believe one slide even said “thank you, thank you, thank you” to the vendors. Or maybe that was to the conference attendees. Either way, I felt there was too much groveling. I think vendors will come to the STC regardless of whether this groveling mentality is present. Attendees will peruse the expo regardless of whether they’re encouraged multiple times to do so.

Some of my colleagues also grew tired of the “We’re still here!!!! applaud loud” mentality as well. It seemed repeated so often that I started to wonder just how close the STC was to complete dissolution.

- Provide more sessions on visual communication and video

There weren’t any sessions on video (except for my session on voiceover, which wasn’t focused much on video). Why is this? It seems like a major gap to me both at the conference and in the technical communication field in general. More technical writers need to be providing video deliverables, and there should be more sessions on video at the conference.

In addition to video, we also need more sessions on visual communication. The one session I attended on visual communication was packed to standing room only, which no doubt points to the interest in that area. In contrast, there were more sessions on wikis and DITA than I cared to count.

———

Overall, as I said in the beginning, the STC Summit in Dallas was a worthwhile conference — as good or better than it was in Atlanta and Philadelphia and Minnesota (the other three I’ve attended). I’m always glad I attend it. The sheer number of people I meet and interact with is socially flooring.

I have one bonus tip that I doubt will ever be implemented, but it’s a novel idea I’ll pass on. You know how at wedding parties the host sometimes passes out disposable cameras and allows the guests to snap photos of everyone? And then the guests hand in the cameras at the end? Wouldn’t it be cool to do the same with pocket camcorders at the Summit? Maybe provide 5 or so Flips that people can borrow for a while and then return full? I bet the results would be interesting. Then again, given the lack of interest in video, the Flip camcorders may collect dust on a poorly positioned and vaguely worded booth.

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Dallas STC Summit Proposals Due Oct 5

Tom Johnson — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:16:43 +0000

If you’re thinking about submitting a proposal to present at the next STC Summit in Dallas, Texas, the deadline is October 5. See the proposal site for details. Presenting is a good idea for a number of reasons. Presenting either gives you a discount or free registration to the conference. It gives you something to focus on during the long winter months. And if you’re passionate about your topic, you raise the quality of the STC Summit.

It’s also fun to be among so many professionals in the field, to see them all gathered together in one bustling, energetic conference center. If you do submit a proposal, my advice is to submit just one presentation, because having to present at multiple sessions can be stressful. This past week I’ve been listening to the archive of recorded podcasts and am amazed at all the informative, helpful sessions I missed.

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Details About the STC Summit Recording — Interview with Lloyd Tucker

Tom Johnson — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:37:55 +0000

The next STC Summit will be entirely recorded and made available for free to all conference registrants.

At the next STC Summit, May 3-6 in Atlanta, Georgia, the STC will record and distribute every one of the 120+ sessions, making them available to all conference registrants for free and to others at a cost. Because this is the first time the STC has attempted to record the Summit, I asked Lloyd Tucker, STC’s Director of Education and Membership, if he could share some details about the upcoming recording.

Why did the STC decide to record all the sessions this year?

STC has been considering some type of conference recording for the last two years. We have been watching several associations and companies to see how their programs unfolded. We knew that the technology (remember those old cassette tapes?) had improved considerably, but needed to find a company that could provide more than just recording capabilities. The company we are working with has been “capturing” sessions for large conferences and companies like Microsoft for several years.

Capturing sessions is one part of a new conference management program. You may have noticed that the call for proposals for the 2009 conference was new and web-based. The program will also help us manage speakers, rooms, scheduling and all the things that have to get done during a large conference. Another exciting part of the conference management program will be the capability for those registered to use a personal planner in selecting sessions and events to maximize their time at the conference. That planner will aid in the planning for the proper size room, and allow us to directly contact registrants who intend to attend a particular session in case of changes and much more.

Probably the biggest reason for recording the sessions is to be able to expand the exposure to the great content of the sessions by giving individuals the capability to “attend” the conference sessions that they could not physically attend onsite. An attendee can only go to about 12 sessions during the conference even though 120+ are presented. Being able to “attend” the sessions after the fact greatly enhances the value of a conference registration and provides the attendee with a huge volume of educational materials to review.

Won’t the cost be astronomical?

While it is certainly not cheap, the cost is not astronomical. We will be able to include the “recordings” in the price of a conference onsite registration. We also plan to resell the conference package to those who did not attend in person. This price, while not set yet, will likely approximate the cost of a single registration. We expect this income to greatly offset the cost of the original recording.

Technically, how will you pull this off?

The good news is speakers will no longer be required to bring their own laptop. STC will provide laptops and speakers will only need to bring their presentation on a thumb drive. We can make exceptions and use a speaker’s laptop if they have unique applications, or the like, that they need to use.

The laptops will be loaded with a program that will record and synchronize the speaker’s visuals and audio as it is presented. The program does a screen capture of any visual that goes through the projector. So, not only will a PowerPoint slide be captured, but speakers that use the internet or an application will have that captured too. As it happens, our vendor works with Microsoft to use the same process to capture software training sessions as the presenter moves from screen to screen.

What were the conditions that led to this decision — e.g., why now? For example, are people perceiving less and less value from their STC membership?

The TechComm Summit is the crown jewel of STC’s continuing education programs. We are constantly looking for ways to improve content and delivery methods to satisfy our members. One of the comments made most often on evaluation forms is disappointment from not being able to attend all the sessions that are applicable. Even companies that send multiple attendees have expressed that frustration. We’re eager to see if this new capability of capturing the sessions will satisfy those who wish they could have been in all sessions.

Are people perceiving less value from STC membership? We realize that the key to a healthy association is continuous improvement in value and services. There have been several new benefits added to the list this year (exclusive discounts on software, access to the Aberdeen Group research library of best practices, an expanded Salary Survey, and more). This recording capability is but one of the new member benefits that the staff has in development.

What portable media device will best be suited to playing this content?

Of course the primary method of “attending” the sessions will be over the web. However, the system will allow download of PowerPoint slides in a PDF format, as well as the ability to download the audio file for your iPod or MP3 player.

Did you get any resistance to the idea of recording the Summit?

Thus far we have had no resistance. The call for proposals gave the submitters advance notice that this would be happening. All accepted speakers will be contacted with the details of the agreement.

What do you think the results will be?

Well, so far the response has been great. I have had several potential attendees call about the 2009 conference. When told about the ability to “attend” the rest of the sessions, they were extremely excited. I think that the opportunity to get tenfold the education than previously available would be exciting for everyone.

The recordings will be on the STC website several weeks after the conference. So, just as the memory of what you learned at the conference is beginning to fade, you can “re-attend” the sessions most important to you and view the PowerPoint presentation as well. And, of course, you’ll also be able to “attend” all those sessions that you couldn’t the first time around.

We’re still looking for a good name for this product or service. I’d love to hear some ideas from members on what to call it…”Conference-at-a-click”?…”Summit Remix”?…”Summit 2009 Online”?