STC India's 6th Annual Conference

By Susan Alexander

The closing months of each year see frantic activity at the India chapter. December for us is synonymous with our annual conference. This is when technical communicators from all over India gather to learn the latest industry trends, network with peers, and widen their perspective on the technical communication profession.

What's New?

Every year, the India Chapter STC attempts to conduct a conference that is better than that of the previous year. This year’s Conference Committee has invested significant thought and effort into organizing a conference that meets the diverse needs of our participants. Taking into account the varying experience levels and interests of participants, the committee has designed an agenda with parallel tracks, in which the participants can choose which presentation or workshop they should attend.

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Who Presents?

The annual conference provides a forum for the entire spectrum of the technical communication community. Upcoming technical communicators are provided a platform where they can hone their presentation skills. Middle level and experienced professionals impart the knowledge and ideas they have gained over the years.

Your Takeaways

Attending a presentation is unlikely to make you an expert in the topic addressed. What you do gain is an overview of how a tool, method, or concept is used so that you could later explore these areas to examine how best they can be applied within your working environment. The presentations that dwell on managerial aspects are the result of observations and scenarios examined over several years. The findings seem self-evident, but applying them would give you a good insight on how to build a successful career.

What Else is Planned?

Apart from the main conference activities, the conference will have an Employment Booth, where job seekers can post their resumes and companies can post their job openings.

For those who might think the conference could be serious and staid, the conference committee does have several strategies in mind to lighten the atmosphere. What these are, I cannot divulge…

Venue and Dates

The 2004 India Chapter conference will be held from December 2 to 4 in Chennai at Hotel Taj Connemara. There are four pre-conference workshops scheduled for December 2. This will be followed by two days of regular presentations, conference workshops, and presentations by experts. Our keynote speaker this year is Jim Romano, the STC Region 6 Director-Sponsor. Jim runs his own company, Prisma Corporation, and specializes on issues related to globalization and localization.

This year’s conference promises to be a professionally rewarding as well as personally enjoyable experience. I hope to meet you there!

STC India would like to thank our conference sponsors for supporting this event and the technical communication community in India.

Platinum Sponsor: Citec Information India Pvt. Ltd.

Gold Sponsors: Computer Associates, TIBCO Software Inc.

Silver Sponsors: Infosys, Oracle Corporation

Log on to http://www.stc-india.org/conferences/2004/home.htm and register for the conference today.

(Susan Alexander is the President of the STC India chapter)

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