Regional Conferences of STC India Chapter

Friends, we have made the beginning! On 26th of March 2005, STC India conducted its first regional conference in the garden city of Bangalore. More than 100 participants attended it and the feedback has been very encouraging. Bangalore has taken the lead and the representatives from other cities will surely be inspired.

When STC India was formed, we had 17 members. I remember the day we held STC India’s first annual conference. The year was 1999 and then too the hosting city was Bangalore.

Today, STC India has more than 115 members! Add to that thousands of professionals who are not yet members. All of us need to network and share our thoughts, problems and solutions.

The annual conference happens only once in a year. We try to hold it in different cities so that the professionals in that city get an opportunity to attend. Thus, it takes two to three years for the conference to be held in the same city again. Till such time, professionals in the city have to rely only on the city meetings.

The registration fees, traveling, and other expenses of the annual conference make it a little expensive to attend. The importance of the annual conference is beyond debate and so is the need of all the related activities like chapter competitions. But then, how do we reach the masses? How do we take the benefits to a whole lot of members who are new to the profession and who may not get sponsorships?

Regional conferences can provide a solution to all these problems. They have numerous advantages.

• They can provide regular opportunities to network.
• They are more affordable. So participants can pay out of their own pockets and attend.
• They can provide a platform for new speakers to learn and practice their presentation skills.
• They are easy to organize as compared to the annual conferences. This gives the volunteers flexibility to take creative risks and experiment with different types of sessions.
• They can be held on limited budgets and sponsorships. This will provide more opportunities to the sponsors.
• They can be arranged at appropriate times so that they do not directly impact the annual conference.

One cannot overlook the danger of the annual conference being overshadowed by the regional conferences. But if the timing is selected properly, this can be avoided. In fact, regional conferences can help improve the overall quality of the sessions and spread of the subjects.

The first regional conference has proved that with focused efforts and limited sponsorships, one-day conferences can be arranged on a budget as low as Rs. 200/- per participant (STC members paid just Rs. 125/-). Participants are willing to listen to even new speakers if the topics are good. Frills like printed stationary, hosted dinner are secondary and can be done away with to reduce the cost.

We thought that the regional conference would only be attended by professionals from Bangalore. But we were proved wrong. The event attracted participants from Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, and Chennai. We even had some members of United Kingdom participate!

Yes, there are a number of things that can be improved. But this first experience has given the volunteers great bit of confidence. I take this opportunity to congratulate Gururaj, Subash, Rithu, and other volunteers who made this conference possible. Well done friends!

I am sure that, like the annual conferences, regional conferences too will become a sustained activity of our chapter.

If things go as planned, we hope to hold at least four regional conferences in India in the current year. And of course there will be the annual conference as usual!

I request all of you to take this opportunity and participate in the regional conferences organized in your region. They are meant for you!

Makarand Pandit, President, STC India Chapter