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Adobe Day is Back– STC Summit Style! Don’t be Tardy for the Party!

KZ-ATLOne of my favorite indulgences offline is watching reality shows on the US cable channel, Bravo, and one of my favorite shows is the Real Housewives of Atlanta. During a past season, one of  the Housewives, Kim, decided that she was going to be a singing star, and recorded the song, “Tardy for the Party.” It was a minor one-hit-wonder song, but it still sticks with me, just because it’s a fun song, and it makes me think about fun in Atlanta.

So, as I start thinking about the upcoming STC Summit in a month, lo and behold, I receive news about a tech comm celebration. Adobe is having another Adobe Day–this time in the ATL!  Adobe is hosting another one of its fabulous free networking and thought leadership Adobe Day events in Atlanta, GA (USA) on 5th May 2013 (Cinco de Mayo!), from 8:00 AM-1:30PM.

If this Adobe Day is anything like the one that I attended at Lavacon in Portland, OR, then we are in for a treat and a good time! You can access the details for this event and register by accessing the event microsite.

The thing that is really great about these Adobe Day events is that they are free (I can definitely afford that), and the talks presented are not a long-winded infomercial for Adobe products. The talks are about the leading trends going on in tech comm right now.

I was SO glad that I was able to attend the one at Lavacon, because the information I learned at that Adobe Day actually helped me get my job. No, seriously. Because the Adobe Day talks gave me a better understanding of current trends in content and mobile strategies, I was able to speak competently about these topics when I had my interview for the content strategy job I have now. It really helped! That’s how good this event is.

At the Lavacon Adobe Day, I met some of the top movers and shakers in the tech comm industry, and was blown away by all of them. It was an incredible experience for me.  For the STC Summit Adobe Day, the speaker line-up looks fabulous. I met or saw at least half of them at the Lavacon Adobe Day, and they were all creative, smart (and friendly) people who had great information to pass along. I’m looking forward to hearing them speak, as well as meet and listen to some experts I haven’t seen before.

One of the highlights that should be exciting is that the “father” of Framemaker himself, Charles Corfield, is scheduled to speak. How cool is that? I mean, Framemaker is a long-time standard in tech comm software, so to hear about its origins and what he has to say about the tech comm industry now? That’s going to be a treat in itself. And yet, there will be so much more!

It should be a great time! So, don’t be tardy for the party! You don’t even have to be attending the STC Summit to attend Adobe Day. You just have to be sure to register on the event website.  If you are in the greater Atlanta area, and want to attend, or you are attending the STC Summit and can come into town early, it’s definitely worth the trip. I’ll be going for sure! I’ll be blogging and tweeting about the event, so keep your eyes peeled for that as well!

NeNe Leakes
My favorite of the Real Housewives of Atlanta,
Nene Leakes

If you do attend, please make sure to thank the Adobe TCS team members present for such a wonderful opportunity to learn, and then make sure you say hi to me, too. I’ll be the one with the Nene Leakes haircut. 😉

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For Technical Writers, The Future Looks Bright | MindTouch

See on Scoop.itM-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

Danielle M. Villegas‘s insight:

This comes to me via @Nancy_Coppola through LinkedIn. This is good news for all technical communicators and writers! I remember Nancy telling her students three years that things would be picking up in this field–and she was right! There are more job opportunities in tech comm now than when I started my journey into tech comm three years ago. The flexibility and agility of tech comm workers makes us great candidates for many positions. Going forward, the trick will be keeping up with technological trends and making sure that those who are entering the field have a chance to not only be trained on certain software products and practices, but that they have the chance to continue with career development to keep tech comm relevant.

–techcommgeekmom

See on www.mindtouch.com

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A First-Timer’s Summit: Packing Heat—Where’s Rick Steves When You Need Him?

See on Scoop.itM-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

Here’s my fourth entry in the series of “A First Timer’s Summit: Packing Heat–Where’s Rick Steves When You Need Him?” I discuss my thoughts about what to pack for my trip to the 2013 STC Summit–just a little more than a month away now!

See on notebook.stc.org

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10 plus best blog tips: Bloggers, just don’t do it…

See on Scoop.itM-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

Blogging is worth it. I love it, but I write from experience today, meaning that yes, I violated many of my own rules when I started blogging. Still, why do you need to blunder through when so many…

Danielle M. Villegas‘s insight:

@DarinLHammond has written a fantastic article that is a appropriate follow-up to TechCommGeekMom’s Guide to How to Write a Blog Post. As I read it, I found that many of these things are steps that I did on my own, so it’s always great to have your own actions validated. There are even a few I need to follow-up on. This is definitely a must-read to any would-be bloggers.

–techcommgeekmom

See on www.zipminis.com

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STC-PMC Presentation of “How Did You Get That Tech Comm Job?”

Last week, I had the privilege of doing my first professional presentation as a fully-fledged technical communicator. The STC-Philly Metro Chapter (STC-PMC) had its annual STC Mid-Atlantic Technical Conference, and the theme this year was, “Sharpening Your Personal Brand.” Let’s face it–if anyone has figured that out over the past year, that’s been me! The STC-PMC was gracious enough to accept my proposal for this conference, and I truly appreciated the opportunity.

The presentation I made was based on my blog post, “What Did You Do To Get That Tech Comm Job?” that I posted here a few months ago, after I accepted my current position. I added some additional information that I hope will be helpful in this SlideShare presentation. Of course, you miss out on the anecdotal information in the process, but you get the main idea here. When you get to the slide that says, “Mobile Learning Revolution”, go to this page instead. I put the Prezi presentation without the voiceover into these slides, which was based on a social media project I did last year, but this link provides the basic voiceover that I did for that section. The idea was that this is a template for how to become immersed in a particular culture in order to get involved via social media. For me, it was m-learning that I pursued, but my rules apply to any topic. This is just an example.

I was really proud of myself in this respect as well–I presented my entire presentation from my iPad. While other presenters had their laptop computers out, I just connected my iPad to the A/V system in the presentation room using my A/V cable adapter for my iPad, and away I went! It did make it a lot smoother than using my laptop, and definitely lighter! I brought my big 17″ laptop with me, just in case my iPad didn’t work, but I now know I didn’t need it. Hooray! Another victory for mobile! 🙂  Maybe next time, I’ll see if I can present from my iPhone! 😛 I can confidently say that I practice what I preach about using mobile now.

All in all, it was a great experience, and I’d be glad to give the presentation again if someone asked. I met a lot of great people, including many who were Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook names and faces before the conference, as well as people who I hadn’t connected to before.   One thing that helped ease my anxiety in giving my presentation was that the keynote speakers actually touched upon some of the same things as I did–and they’ve been doing this a lot longer than I have! I had to learn things the hard way (on my own). That helped me realize that I’m on the right track, and I’m always happy to share that information with other people.

So, without further ado, please enjoy my slideshow of my presentation below from last week!