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Subject:RE: Well, I Sure Won't Be in Chicago From:jgarison -at- ide -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 12 Apr 2001 15:59:45 -0400
Agreed - conferences are a LOT of work, involve upfront expenditures that
would stagger you, and offer NO guarantee of success.
To paraphrase PT Barnum - you can please some of the people some of the
time, all of the people none of the time, and none of the people all too
often.
In my experience, almost all conferences are dependent on the presenters to
propose topics. Sure, you can drop a hint here, or get down and beg there,
but ... if you're the conference producer, what you want may not be what you
get.
I agree whole-heartedly with Mary about getting involved in your local STC
conferences. Some of them are outstanding (I was on the InterChange board
for 9 or 10 years) and it is a lot of fun. It's also a ton of work and often
quite frustrating.
But if you don't get involved, don't propose technical presentations (which
most conference producers would give their eye teeth to receive and put on),
don't fill out the comment sheets at the conferences you do attend and voice
your opinions, then keep yer yap shut.
John
John Garison
Documentation Manager
IDe
150 Baker Avenue Extension
Concord, MA 01742
-----Original Message-----
From: MMdeaton [mailto:mmdeaton -at- mmdeaton -dot- com]
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2001 3:32 PM
To: jgarison -at- ide -dot- com; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Subject: Re: Well, I Sure Won't Be in Chicago
SigDoc has very small conferences with very few seminars compared to STC.
The seminars often are more academic. Fewer people seem to come from the
software industry. But there is more discussion on content development.
Influent has a conference coming up in October that looks like it will have
lots of content discussion.
Let me also say, based on my experience, that STC builds conferences around
proposals sent in by its members, as well as by getting member feedback.
People who do not like the quality of presentations need to consider
proposing and giving the kinds of presentations they want to attend. Also
consider your regional STC conference as a place to have more influence on
the presentations. I think it is throwing out the baby with the bathwater to
just complain. And I think Garrison will agree with me that producing a good
conference is a huge effort, and a huge risk for the person putting up the
front money. If I were the Rays I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole.
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