Notes from 56th International STC Conference
Atlanta, Georgia, May 2-5, 2009

   

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 56th Annual International Conference of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) in Atlanta, Georgia, May 2-5, 2009. 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, 2009.

The presenters of several of the sessions covered below published one or more articles in 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. Not only are materials from the most recent international conference available online, materials are also available back to the 45th international conference in the extensive electronic archives that run from 1998 to 2008.

Opening Session

• "Unleashing Opportunities through Accessibility", Shawn Henry, technology guru.

Keynote Address

• "The Power of Simplicity", David Pogue, technology guru.

Web 2.0, New Social Media

• "Revealing Design Treasures from the Amazon", Jared Spool.
• "Designing for the Conversation — Social Media and User Experience Design", Erich Grandeo, Roundarch.
• "Social Networking: Improving Effectiveness and Demonstrating Strategic Value", Lori Fisher, IBM, and Jenny Redfern, Sun Microsystems.
• "The Benefits and Pitfalls of Social Networking Sites", Greg Koch and Roger Renteria.
• "Climbing the Levels of Collaboration", Anne Gentle, Just Write Click.

Other Topics

• "Humanizing Technical Communication Visually: How Human Forms Add Value to Pictures", Charlie Kostelnick, Iowa State University.
• "Using STC to Build a Bridge Between Industry and Academe", Dan Voss, presentation in Academic SIG progression, "Potpourri I and II," based on a Leadership Day presentation by Bonnie Spivey, Jen Selix, Gail Lippincott, and Dan Voss at the 52nd STC Conference in 2005.
• "A Delicate Balance: Using Value Analysis to Help Identify and Resolve Ethical Conflicts in Technical Communication", tabletop presentation within Management SIG progression, "Best Practices in Management," based on a workshop by Rachel Eichen and Dan Voss at the 55th STC International Conference in 2008.

Leadership Day Sessions

• "The Economy: Strategic Issues Facing the Society and Communities: Background, Feedback, and Ideas You Can Use", Mark Clifford, STC president; Cindy Currie, STC 1st vice president; Mike Hughes, STC 2nd vice president; Larry Kunz, manager, STC Strategic Planning Committee; and W.C. Wiese, STC treasurer.
• "Financial and Leadership Issues", W.C. Wiese, STC Treasurer; Susan Burton, STC executive director; Jackie Henson, STC counsel.
• "SIG Manager: Administrator or Leader?", Jane Smith, Instructional Design SIG manager; Karen Mardahl, AccessAbility SIG manager; Dan Voss, past AccessAbility SIG manager.
• "Leadership Day Tidbits", A random collection of observations, insights, and inspiration from multiple sources.
• "Reorganize, Revamp, Revitalize, and Stay Relevant: How STC Toronto Survives Tough Times", Bernard Aschwanden, president, STC Toronto Chapter.

Comments or suggestions regarding the 56th International STC Conference notes? Please e-mail Dan Voss at daniel.w.voss@lmco.com.