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Subject:Re: Why should I go to a conference? From:"M. Dannenberg" <midannen -at- SI -dot- BOSCH -dot- DE> Date:Wed, 15 Oct 1997 10:41:58 +0200
Anne Chenette schrieb:
> Please, if you have a minute to help...
>
> I just started a new job (today), and I noticed an upcoming
> technical conference in the area I will be documenting.
>
> I would like to go because the technical presentations (plus
> a day-long tutorial) would help me get up to speed quickly. (I'm
> moderately technical, but I've been out of the field for a while.)
> My boss is a good guy, and he thinks this sounds reasonable, but
> the cost is an issue. So he needs a little help justifying why
> a technical conference makes sense for a technical writer.
>
> Me, I've got mental writers' block, and the best I can do is this:
> "I'll learn a lot, and absorb a lot of good vocabulary. And maybe
> I'll meet some of my future readers. All of this will help me write
> faster." But I think this sounds too simplistic.
>
> Got any suggestions for fancier words to help push this idea?
Try to tie it to your work more specifically. Don't say "I want to go to
the conference because I'll learn a lot" but rather "this particular
presentation is relevant for me because it covers this specific area of
my job". Might be a bit tough on your first day, but there are always a
couple of no-brainers like "Oh, we definitely have to evaluate XML as a
basis for multi-platform content delivery". Now, if you manage to toss
the word "synergy" into that last sentence, you're practically on your
way.
Conferences are pretty much the only way to keep up to date in our
field, at least as far as new technologies for information delivery are
concerned. By the time this kind of information is available in the form
of books or training courses, it's usually old hat.
Good luck,
Mike
--
Mike Dannenberg
ETAS GmbH & Co.KG
midannen -at- si -dot- bosch -dot- de
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