STC 2013 Leadership Day Progressions (Photo: Rick Lippincott)

For those who were unable to make it to either Leadership Day or the Professional Development progressions at the STC 60th Annual Summit, you missed out! Not to worry, you can find my slides and handouts on my SlideShare page.

Leadership Day: Social Media, Websites, Wikis, and Email

Related material for websites: Evolution of a Website Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

Professional Development Progression: Carpe Opportunitas! Seize the “Professional Development” Opportunity.

Leadership Day was awesome!

I really enjoyed presenting this year, it was a lot of fun. I especially liked working with Viqui Dill on the Leadership Day progression. If you are a STC community leader and need help with websites, such as WordPress, I can assist you with setting up the basics to get you started. If you know of anyone who needs help with a basic WordPress site, I can assist with my professional services as well. I highly recommend spending the extra $20 to attend Leadership Day if you are a leader of a community. You definitely get your money’s worth in coffee, tea, and valuable knowledge that you can take home to improve your group!

More coverage of STC Leadership Day on Lanyrd.

For more coverage of STC, check out

• STC Summit via TechCommGeekMom’s blog,
  
• STC Europe SIG’s Wrap-Up,
• and Rick Lippincott’s STC 2013 Photos on Flickr 

I look forward to seeing everyone soon, whether it will be later this year at LavaCon or STC 2014 in Phoenix.

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Technology

• Sign up for Twitter and follow #stc13, @stc_org, and @stc_summit
• Don’t know about Twitter? Don’t worry! I wrote an extremely useful guide to help you!
• Join the Society for Technical Communication group on LinkedIn.
• Install a Twitter app on your smart phone/tablet/laptop such as TweetDeck or Hootsuite
• Follow the discussion online with the Cover It Live STC Summit Page.
• Friend people and participate in Twitter/session discussions.
• Sign up for STC’s Lanyrd Conference Tool
• More Social Media Info for STC: http://summit.stc.org/networking/social-media/

Sessions

STC 2012 Summit Keynote

• Spend 20-30 minutes planning which sessions you will attend. Use the Lanyrd Conference Website to help you decide!
• Select primary and secondary sessions for each hour, some session material may be available for preview on SlideShare.
• Determine within the first 5-10 minutes if a session excites you; if not, go to your secondary session.
• Ask questions at the end of the session.
• Complete post-session speaker evaluation(s). This year, there are QR codes to scan with your smart phone  to complete your surveys. If you don’t have a phone with QR code reading capabilities, visit the STC 2013 Survey Monkey Survey site.
• Look for presentation slides after the sessions from presenters on SlideShare.

Networking

• Spend about $30 for business cards from VistaPrint if you have none. Remember to pack them.
• Hand out business cards to anyone you meet.
• Write a note on the back of each person’s business card to remind you how you met them.
• Bring paper and electronic copies of your résumé. This may result in a job opportunity after the conference.

Break Times

• Offer and/or accept invitations to dine with attendees. We don’t bite.
• Visit the vendor floor, STC Central, and the bookstore
• Attend evening events with attendees.
• Share your professional experiences.

After the Conference

• Continue networking via Twitter, LinkedIn, and e-mail.
• Look for an e-mail during the summer announcing when Conference@Click is available.
• Read the conference proceedings.
• Plan for next year, and convince your company to pay for it!
• Look for a for Call for Speakers via e-mail; maybe you can present next year.
• Keep up with current trends—check STC Notebook, Intercom, TechWhirl, and TechComm.

It’s your conference experience; make the most of it!

If you want to hang out during the conference, find me by sending me a message via Twitter: @RogerRenteria. I also will be co-presenting at Leadership Day and presenting during the Professional Development Progressions.

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New Orleans Market at Night

Here’s my reflection on attending LavaCon.

Learn from others

What fascinates me the most is learning how other people work with others and to hear their experiences. At a conference, I may hear a few case studies, yet at a workshop, there is more to learn beyond case studies. For example, I really enjoyed the three exercises that built upon team work, management, and communication–each integral aspects of Content Strategy.

Actively participate

Actively Participating at LavaCon

Some technical writers are shy. One of my best and trusted colleagues is shy. I know I fall into the realm of being shy and social and it depends on the situation and who I’m with. For the most part, I actively listen and learn from what others say. I noticed that even adding a comment and engaging with the speaker was definitely worth it. Since the workshop has a hands-on element, if you participate–you will get more out of it than you first realize.

Ask questions

There was never a shortage of questions. I wish I asked more questions during the sessions. Part of being extremely new to the field is that I haven’t encountered the A-Z list of scenarios at the workplace. In addition, I have experienced some interesting workplace dynamics which I’ve learned how to manage and recover from. At the next conference, I will make it a priority to ask more questions in the future.

Keep an open mind

The reason why we attend workshops is to learn. Because we come from a variety of different backgrounds, such as marketing, management, computer science, writing, editing, and communication, we have different interpretations for how we understand Content Strategy. Each interpretation of Content Strategy may differ from one another, but we can add them together to build a better definition. I definitely have expanded my definition of Content Strategy after the last two conferences.

Build your network

Connect online with LavaCon attendees

Lastly, I will hit the networking game on Twitter and LinkedIn and to connect with everyone I met. I love how we have common interests and the social channels are available to professionally network. After LavaCon, I’m always happy to expand my network and include wonderful professionals which I will later meet at other conferences throughout the year. The advantage of connecting professionally with colleagues is you will open up new career opportunities for the future.

Later this month, I will write another post about the LavaCon Workshop group activities and what I observed. In the meantime, see more about what happened at LavaCon, check out the #LavaCon Twitter Feed and Andrea Ames’ SlideShare Slides. Also, learn more about the LavaCon 2013 Conference  and I look forward to seeing you in Portland, OR in October.

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Let’s find out how fast we can make a hoax that Russian Coca-Cola will replace American Coke in 2014… 

Don’t worry, your coins will stay the same. Soda cans are clean and safe. Facebook is still free. Also, smart U.S. Senators use Google or some kind of search engine.

But why are these hoaxes spreading around like wildfire on the Internet? These stories used to be in the form of chain emails and that was definitely annoying. Now I see these same hoaxes crop up on my Facebook feed. Why are these hoax zombies coming back? I wish I could answer that question.

I read a lot online and when I think something looks like a chain email or hoax post, it most likely is. At that point, I Google keywords + snopes. Usually I find Snopes at the top of the search results and find out it was indeed a hoax. If not, it could be a made up story from elsewhere like America’s Finest News Source: The Onion  Unbelievable, right?

Your friends will love you forever if you don’t post hoaxes online. Surely, Philadelphia will appreciate the zombie-free zone too.

Lately, I have gone on a bit of a crusade to break these chain mails and chain posts and prove people should search for them online. I kindly reply or post a link to a website proving its a hoax or something made up.

Please, avoid posting hoax material on social networks. You will be forever thank yourself and be thanked by countless friends who really don’t care for hoaxes. Great Facebook friends should stop other friends who continue this perpetual madness. Also, by not posting this junk online makes you a better contributor to the social media scene. We don’t want to see zombie hoaxes out in the wild any more.

What are your thoughts? Comment below!

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It’s great to see colleagues use LinkedIn to network professionally, yet a profile picture would help.

How am I supposed to verify that the person I’m connecting with professionally is really who they say they are? I can’t…

One way to make sure you can be easily identified on LinkedIn is to add your profile picture. Your photo does not have to be snazzy, but it can be casual to professional looking. Realistically, a photo is better than nothing! However, avoid LinkedIn profile photos that detract recruiters and colleagues–remember this isn’t college, Facebook, or…gasp…MySpace.

Don’t be shy…

You can have a simple headshot of yourself in a blouse or dress shirt on a plain background for starters. It should reflect your professional personality. For example, I have a good headshot for LinkedIn, Twitter, and my website. It may not look completely professional, but it is a good and consistent photo of me in a casual manner that establishes my brand and anyone can find me easily.

Roger Renteria

Final Thoughts

Using a photo with your LinkedIn and Twitter profiles will make it easy for you to be visible among thousands of other professionals. It also establishes your personality among your colleagues. It is often great practice to have a picture with your profile so colleagues can find with you on LinkedIn. If you need some help,  check out these five tips for a successful LinkedIn profile picture.  Even LinkedIn says that a more complete profile with a picture of yourself can create and reinforce your online brand.

Again, don’t be shy–upload your picture!

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Collaborating on Google Hangouts with friends.

The article delves into what you should look for in an online meeting service, whether you are willing to pay for a service or use the free systems out there. In addition, I provide a comparison matrix of web conference services that you can use to determine which tool is best for your needs.

The post New Article on TechWhirl: Online Collaboration Tools appeared first on Write Techie.

Some notable items to mention which I thought were successful:

• Presenting at LavaCon 2012
• Mobile app and survey/feedback support for LavaCon 2012
• Attending distance learning for Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Dreamweaver
• STC Kachina Chapter Website Redesign
• TechWhirl articles

What was amazing about this year was seizing opportunities when they were available and pushing forward to open up new doors and avenues to succeed in the field of technical communication. To be quite honest, there are a lot of amazing people which I had the opportunity of meeting in Chicago and Portland.

On my personal side, I had a wonderful year from around May to December. I met a lot of awesome friends from the Albuquerque blues community. If you don’t know much about my private life–I love blues dancing and blues/alternative music.

Blues Dance in Albuquerque

As this year is nearly finished, I look forward to 2013 with very positive notes and think the best is still yet to come. If you are reading this, I sincerely hope you had a great 2012 and that your professional development and career advancement continues to surge forward–I definitely know mine is.

The post Look Forward to 2013 appeared first on Write Techie.

STC – Society for Technical Communication

The program was an effort for current STC members to recruit new members to sign up for a STC membership for the remainder of 2012. In return, members can use their paid dues for 2013 membership renewal. Members who referred their colleagues to sign up for the tryout program were entered in a drawing to win a complimentary STC Membership for 2013.

I was happy to hear that Samantha Miranda, a technical communication student from New Mexico Tech, signed up for the STC Tryout Program and added my name for the drawing. Last week, the STC Office randomly selected me for the 2013 membership. As part of STC’s ongoing marketing and outreach strategy, they interviewed Samantha and me about our thoughts on the STC Tryout Program. Read our interview on STC’s Notebook Blog.

Member Get a Member Program

If you were unable to recruit members this year for the STC Tryout Program, current members can receive a $25 credit for each new member they recruit from now until January 15, 2013. Visit the Member Get a Member Program site for details.

STC – Member Get A Member

I highly encourage current members to find a new member to sign up–it only takes a few minutes and you might save on 2013 membership dues.

The post STC Tryout 2012 and Member Get a Member Programs appeared first on Write Techie.

Is it art or technical communication?

In the article, “Resolved: Technical Communication IS Art,” co-written with Wanda Phillips and published by TechWhirl, we argue that technical communication is an art. While these thoughts are, admittedly, positive and forward-thinking, we reinforce the idea that technical communication is a unique and dynamic art with historical and everyday examples.

In contrast to Yehoshua Paul’s article, “Resolved: Technical Communication is NOT art,” from the previous week that our profession is not an art, both Wanda and I share our own opinions that we believe technical communication is an art. While our line of work may not make it to the museum, it still is art.

Will TechComm make it as a display piece?

What was really neat about our article was we originally wrote our pieces separately and had the awesome task of merging it together as one uniform article. The result was a conversation piece between me and Wanda about how we believe TechComm combines together a variety of arts, such as graphics, visual and document design, content strategy, etc.

This article and many more are found at TechWhirl.com.

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It is always a pleasure to meet up with conference attendees and this was the second time attending LavaCon. I have met most of my colleagues from previous STC Summits and it’s awesome that I get to see them twice a year.

Keep Calm and Back Up Slide – Photo by David Caruso

At this conference, I presented during the lightning talk session along with Kit Brown-Hoekstra, Brenda Huettner, and David Caruso. We each presented on a variety of inspirational topics about our field. Usually during a lightning talk, we each speak for 10 minutes with 20 slides that auto-advance every 30 seconds. We had enough time in our session to add a “ninja talk,” which follows the same format, except the presenter does not have access to the slides in advance to prepare for their talk. David Caruso was the lucky presenter to speak about “The Art of the Lightning Talk,” which Rachel Houghton recorded the presentation.

In addition to the conference, I enjoyed Adobe Day as well as the pre-conference workshop session on change management. Many thanks go out to my colleagues who I met at LavaCon. I greatly appreciate the help and advice they provided while socializing with them between sessions.

I also want to thank Jack Molisani, the Executive Director of the LavaCon Conference for opening up new opportunities in the technical communication field. The experience at LavaCon is rather unique due to his awesome conference hotel location choice; amazing food options and entertainment; and fantastic selection of professionals he invites to present during this conference.

Among my adventures in Portland, here are some numbers

• Stayed in Portland for 5 days
• Ate 3 Voodoo Doughnuts (yum!)
• Visited Powell’s City of Books, which contain over 1 million volumes
• Spent $10 to enjoy the Internet access for about 5 hours on Southwest Airlines (you have no idea how awesome internet is on a plane).
• Walked over 10 miles in one day

Be sure to read coverage of LavaCon on TechWhirl Online Magazine for Tech Writers, follow #LavaCon as well as @LavaCon, and attend LavaCon next year!

The post LavaCon 2012 Recap appeared first on Write Techie.