STC Philadelphia conference sessions?

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

Rob Hudson wondered: <<I was browsing the conference program for the  
STC conference in Philadelphia and noticed a few sessions that might  
be useful. I don't, however, know what to expect in terms of quality  
at the sessions. Is the STC conference generally worth the time and  
money?>>

Depends on your level of expertise and how well the list of topics  
meets your specific needs. I've generally found the conferences more  
useful than not, since there are always some leading lights in our  
field in attendance. And for several years, program committees have  
been cutting back drastically on the number of proposals that are  
accepted and have been specifically inviting expert speakers, with  
the request that they ratchet up the level of difficulty to make  
sessions more attractive to experienced members.

The quality of the speakers, as at any conference, is always  
variable; when I was on the program committee a few years ago, we  
used speaker evaluations from previous conferences (and personal  
experience) to guide our selection, but those data are unavailable  
for new speakers who present a really strong proposal but are  
otherwise unknown quantities. Speakers are asked to describe their  
previous speaking experience as part of the application process, so  
that provides some reassurance, but there are no guarantees.

Like any other "membership" thing, participation is the key: as a  
member of the conference, you get out of the conference exactly as  
much as you put into it. Make time to talk to people and ask  
questions and you'll get far more out of the conference than if you  
sit there like a sponge and passively soak up information without  
engaging with anyone. My experience is that the people at any  
conference are every bit as important as the formal program.


----------------------------------------------------
-- Geoff Hart
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
www.geoff-hart.com
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