Training or conference?

Subject: Training or conference?
From: Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2005 08:54:27 -0500


Deborah McNally wondered: <<My boss has offered to pay for me to go to a conference or a training course to advance my skills as a technical writer. Does anyone have a suggestion for the best course or conference?>>

That's a sign of a good boss, imho, and one well worth cultivating in future. <g>

The "best" conference is the one that helps you solve the most problems or that gives you the most new ideas that relate to your job. Make a list of the problems you're having at your workplace, the things that frustrate you, and the things you'd like to do better, then arrange them in order of priority. Now take a look at all the various available conferences* and put a checkmark beside each of your problems that one or more presentations at the conference addresses. The conference with the most checkmarks at the top of your list wins.

* If you're an STC member, or know someone who is, pick up a copy of their Intercom magazine; the last few pages list upcoming conferences from a wide variety of organizations, and that's a great place to start looking for conferences.

STC's annual conference (http://stc.org/52ndConf/) probably has the largest attendance of any in the world, so if talking to many other people about your work is a priority, it's a great choice. (That's arguably my favorite part of the conference.) It's also a good value for the money compared with the cost of other conferences--though the conference hotels are usually too expensive for my taste and I look elsewhere--and it offers a wide range of topics.

The downside for this wide range is a dilution of the focus; the coverage of any given topic tends to be shallower, and there tend to be fewer "expert-level" sessions. I enjoy the conference greatly, but have to say that it tends to be most effective as a training opportunity for techwhirlers earlier in their career. (As writing and editing stem manager this year, I tried to bump up the number of advanced topics, but we can only present what the speakers who volunteer are prepared to talk about.)

<<We are currently using RoboHelp 5X for our writing projects.>>

The conference that used to be called WinWriters (now WritersUA, http://www.writersua.com/) is a well-respected conference that will give you a much more focused and intensive training of Robo and other online help ("user assistance", hence the new name) types of topics. You can't beat this kind of conference for intensive training, but it's pricey and I personally prefer a less narrowly focused conference. As a generalist, I tend to burn out when all topics are overly narrowly circumscribed.

<<I'm located in New Hampshire if that helps narrow down the choices.>>

Well, you could come hear my talk next week in Nashua <g>. Details on how to get there: http://www.stc-nne.org/meetings.htm

Looks like this STC chapter is a happening place, with lots of good talks. Thus, they're a good place to visit regularly between conferences for networking and education.

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Geoff Hart ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca
(try geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com if you don't get a reply)
www.geoff-hart.com
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References:
Training or Conference: From: Deborah McNally

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