Notes from 52nd International STC Conference
Seattle, Washington, May 8-12, 2005

Dan Voss
Communications Department
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Orlando, Florida
Lockheed Martin Corporation

This site contains notes taken from the technical sessions at the 52nd Annual International Conference of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) in Seattle, Washington, May 8-12, 2005. Below is a hot-linked table of contents of the sessions for which notes are provided. Additional links to other sites and materials are provided within the notes from the various sessions. Links to these sites are expected to be valid at least until September 1, 2005. In some cases, handouts are available only in hard-copy form. To get copies of such materials contact Dan Voss via e-mail.

The presenters of several of the sessions covered below published one or more articles on the conference Proceedings, which are available in hard copy and, in some cases, electronic format. To get copies of these papers, you can contact Dan Voss via e-mail.

To view files of presentations from the conference and other related materials, check out the Conference Web site.

Keynote Address

• "Creating Economic and User Value", Patrick Whitney.

Web Technology

• "Effective Intranet Site Development with SharePoint Services", Robert Ballinger, Sakson and Taylor.
• "Introduction to Metadata and RDF," Neal E. Perlin, Hyper/Word Services.

Metrics

• "The New Six Sigma", Jen Linton and Dr. JoAnn Hackos, ComTech Services, Inc.

Diversity and Intercultural Relations

• "Developing Global English Writing Skills", Sue Kocher, SAS Institute, Inc.

Graphic Archiving

• "Building a Database of Graphic Files Using Microsoft Access", Richard B. Lowe, Thomson Scientific.

Interdisciplinary Nature of Technical Communication

• "Same Methods, Different Disciplines", Maureen Hogg, Ball Aerospace, and Dan Voss, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.

Accessibility and Disabilities

• "Quantum Leaps", Maureen Hogg and Kathy Lopez, Ball Aerospace. Demonstration of assistive technologies to overcome blindness and deafness. The presenter, Maureen Hogg, who has been blind and deaf since age 15, demonstrated how she has used assistive technologies to overcome her disabilities, earn a B.A. degree in history, and go on to a successful career as a technical communicator. Kathy Lopez is her electronic publishing colleague and real-time interpreter.
• "Secondary Disabilities: The Vicious Circle (How One Impairment Can Cause Another", Dan Voss, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control; Ria Voss, clinical psychologist and medical social worker; and Lori Gillen, technical writer, McKesson Health Solutions. Panel presentation by AccessAbility SIG progression entitled “Making Products—and the World—More Accessible.” Other subjects included visual impairment, deafness, mobility restrictions, a dual disability (blindness and deafness), emotional disabilities, and attention deficit disorder (ADD).

Outreach and Community Service (Orlando STC Chapter and the University of Central Florida)

• "Bridging the Gap Between Industry and Academe", Dan Voss, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control; Dr. Gail Lippincott, RGL Solutions; Bonnie Spivey, MasTec, Inc.; and Jen Selix, UCF and Universal Studios. Two presentations: "The Orlando Chapter-University of Central Florida Partnership: A Win-Win-Win Scenario!", Lippincott and Selix; and "A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Successful Mentoring Relationship that Piloted a Successful Mentoring Program," Spivey and Voss.

Closing Address

• "User Experience Design: Gutenberg to the Boardroom", William Gribbons

Comments or suggestions regarding the 52nd International STC Conference notes? Please e-mail Dan Voss at daniel.w.voss@lmco.com.