STC is listening – how do you think we should resolve our financial crisis?
STC needs your help – now! We have a financial crisis, not unlike the crisis that faces many associations like our own, but that is not a comforting fact. We need your input, thoughts, reflections to help STC resolve its situation one way or another.
People are already blogging about this issue.
- Tom Johnson wrote about Lifelines to the STC
- Sarah O’Keefe asks Whither STC
- M. K. Anderson writes In Which I Comment on the STC Issue
- David Farbey writes Does STC deserve to survive?
As you can see from the titles alone, this is a serious discussion. Some might even ask why do we need to solve this financial crisis? This is a time for societal (or personal) soul-searching. What are your thoughts on the topic?
What’s this about?
Last week, Cindy Currie, STC President, sent out a message to all STC members asking for input to help resolve the financial crisis that the Society is facing. The Society really does need your input now! If you are an STC member and have not received this mail, request a copy through a comment in the blog, the contact page, or a mail on the SIG discussion list.
You are strongly encouraged to read the background information available to STC members on the STC site. A login is required.
Please submit any suggestions that you have to stc@stc.org. Please use “STC Crisis Suggestions” as your subject line on emails sent to stc@stc.org.
For those who use Twitter, tag your tweets with #stcorg when discussing STC’s current situation to submit quick ideas. @stceusig will tweet news as it pops up.
Share your ideas here or on the blogs listed here. Perhaps a European point-of-view is needed on this topic. Who knows? We’ll never know if you keep your great ideas to yourself! Remember, your ideas are really needed at stc@stc.org – they are waiting for input from all STC members. Together, we can make a difference.
STC Europe SIG Online Community
We’re delighted to announce the launch of a brand new online community for the STC Europe SIG. If you are a SIG member you should have received an email invitation. (If you are a SIG member and you haven’t received an invitation, please get in touch with me.)
You will be able to use the new network for discussions, blogs, groups, and much more.
Accessibility Conference cancelled
Unfortunately, the STC UK and Ireland chapter has been forced to cancel their planned conference on Accessibility, which was mentioned in an earlier posting.
The UK and Ireland Chapter hope to hold this event at some future date.
Accessibility in Technical Communication and the Workplace – conference in Cambridge, UK, 13-14 June
Come to Cambridge the weekend of June 13 and 14 for a conference that addresses an important skill set for technical communicators: accessibility. This skill set may be just what you need to tackle an important market sector – your colleagues and customers with disabilities. This conference looks at issues specifically related to hearing and vision. For example, how do we make our communications usable by people with hearing and sight difficulties, and how do we work with colleagues and customers who have hearing and sight difficulties?
The Society for Technical Communication UK and Ireland chapter is hosting this event in Cambridge, UK, at the Moller Conference Centre.
Prices are lowered at this event to help out with the “credit crunch”: only £150 for two days for members of the STC UK and I chapter. Pricing details are on the booking site.
Speaker Lineup
A variety of top speakers on different aspects of accessibility has been assembled at this conference; topics include designing for all, learning about signing, meeting the needs of Deaf people, and what’s happening in the world of standards and accessibility. The latest news from the conference is the addition of Richard Hodgkinson to the great line-up of speakers. He’ll join us to speak about “ICT Accessibility… Where are we?”
Who else is speaking?
- Katie Grant , Raincharm, will discuss “designing for all” and what “accessibility and inclusion” mean, in addition to holding a communications clinic where people can bring in samples of their work that they wish to make more accessible.
- Pauline Sadler will teach you how to finger spell, as well as give you some very basic training in signing. Pauline will look at how style must change when you converting written text to signing.
- David Spicer, Aeroflex, will talk about how loss in different frequency areas affects the comprehension of speech. David looks at the effects of room acoustics and the use of background music/sounds in audio/visual on the presentation of information. He also discusses the different needs of hearing impaired people who become deaf and those that are born deaf.
- Pam Spicer, Norfolk Deaf Association, will speak about the NDA’s Listen Here bus that visits remote rural communities providing services to clients and the role the NDA web site has in publicity and outreach for the service.
- Leonie Watson, Nomensa, will discuss website design. People with disabilities access the web in different ways, depending on their task, location, experience and ability. Leonie will help you discover the access technologies people use, the challenges they present, and what you can do to your website to help people with disabilities make the most of the information you provide.
As Richard Truscott, incoming president for the chapter, notes,
[this is] a top class event giving you practical information you can use. We have quality speakers that help you gain a competitive edge for your products and services. This is a quality training and lecture programme that is useful and insightful as well as affordable. Including workshops on website design, accessibility standards in the USA and EU.
Registration and Hotel Information
Find full details of the conference on the STC UK and Ireland Chapters web site or at the Design to Read Web site.
Why not head straight to the booking site at http://accessibilitytechcomms.eventbrite.com/ and book your spot at the conference today? There are generous discounts for members of STC and affiliated organisations. The price includes all material, notes, breaks and meals.
Accommodation is not included in the above prices. Rooms can be booked directly with the Møller centre. The Møller Centre offers high-quality hotel-style rooms with wireless and wired Internet access, and (astonishingly for Cambridge) ample free parking. The rooms cost £87 per night plus VAT. Book (and pay) directly with the Centre by contacting Mignon Bout at the Centre on +44 (0) 1223 465501 or mignon.bout @ chu.cam.ac.uk.
If you want a room, book *really quickly* – as of 18th May, there were only 9 rooms left.
A social event and a gala dinner are also planned for this major event.
See you in Cambridge!
PS
How important is this market sector with people with disabilities? The US Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy just posted an article in the May issue of “Business Sense” that says that people with disabilities are the third largest market section in the US.
What’s the third largest market segment in the United States? The answer might surprise you. It’s not a particular ethnicity, gender or age group. It’s people with disabilities. The size of this population—54 million strong—surpasses Hispanics, African Americans and Asian Americans, as well as Generation X and teens. Add in their families, friends and associates, and you get a trillion dollars in purchasing power.
Read the full article in the May 2009 issue of Business Sense. Please share if you have similar statistics for Europe. A trillion dollars or its equivalent in Euros is a nice market to have!
STC TransAlpine Chapter 10th Anniversary Conference – 8-10 June
Claudia Basso from TAC reminds us:
The STC TransAlpine Chapter (TAC) is holding its annual conference – and 10th anniversary celebration in Vienna, 8-10 June 2009. Updated information about workshops, conference topics, speakers, directions, prices are now available.
Do not miss the opportunity to join this memorable event which features world-known speakers, like Tom Johnson and Ellis Pratt! Register now, places are limited!
Looking forward to seeing you in Vienna!
The TAC Board
– CJ Walker – President
– Claudia Basso – Vice President
– Janette Lynch – Treasurer
– Dian Kjaergaard – Secretary
From Batteries to Blogging: HFI Workshop, London, 23 April
Human Factors International announces their next workshop in London called From Batteries to Blogging: A user experience-based technology journey into today’s mobile phones.
Lively, round-table discussions will focus on:
- High level technology
- Input hardware
- User experience
- Applications and websites
The workshop will be moderated by Scott Weiss, CUA and Executive Director at HFI in London. He is well known for his passion for the mobile user experience, his first book, “Handheld Usability”, and related blog.
Who should attend?
- Product marketers seeking a fast overview of mobile phone components and the inter-relationships between providers
- Marketers from a classical marketing background looking to enter the mobile market or brush up their existing knowledge of the sector
- User experience professionals new to mobile seeking a solid technology grounding
The workshop will be held 23 April from 9 – 16 at 16 Albemarle Street, London W1S 4HW.
Cost is £375 plus VAT per delegate. A 10% discount is available when three or more people from one company attend.
To register for the workshop, contact Tomasz Kuskowski:
Phone: +44 (0)207 290 3430
Email: europe@humanfactors.com
E-Access 09: Technology for All conference and exhibit, London, 23 April
This week in London, E-Access Bulletin’s fifth annual conference and exhibition on access to the internet, IT, and other technologies by people with disabilities is taking place. April 23, to be exact.
E-Access ‘09: Technology For All is about access to all technologies by people with disabilities. As Dan Jellinek, Conference Chair, writes,
If you design your services to be usable by all, it has been shown to improve service take-up and recruitment and retention of staff. In an ageing population, and in tough economic times, ensuring all your service users and staff can use your internal IT systems and your websites and external services is more vital than ever.
Shadi Abou-Zahra, of the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), will speak about version 2.0 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), published in December 2008.
Prices are
- £195 +VAT for public sector delegates
- £295 +VAT for private sector
- £165 + VAT for small charities and non-profits (turnover less than £150k a year)
For more information and to register, visit http://www.headstar-events.com/eaccess09/.
This may be an appropriate event for warming up to attending an STC event about accessibility and technical communication coming in June!
There’s still time to register for the STC conference!
The 2009 STC Technical Summit in Atlanta, Georgia is less than 3 weeks away. You can still get the Early Bird Rates, and the conference hotel, the Hyatt Regency, has reduced their hotel rates. Why not register today?
For planning your trip, read the conference accessibility information; it benefits everyone, not just those with special needs. The host chapter in Atlanta has dedicated a special section of their site for information about their city.
Meet with other Europe SIG members (or wannabe SIG members!) at the networking lunch on Monday, the business meeting Tuesday morning (with refreshments!), or the Monday evening community event sponsored by the host chapter. Or at any of the many sessions and social events throughout the conference.
All you have to do at the conference is enjoy, learn, share, network…!
See you in Atlanta May 3-6. (Or from May 2 if you attend the pre-conference workshops.)
PS Remember to read the information for international attendees if you are not a US citizen.
Localization World comes to Berlin 8-10 June
Paul Roberts, Marketing Coordinator at The Localization Institute Inc. in Madison, Wisconsin, shares this conference news with us.
This year Localization World will be held in Berlin, Germany (8-10 June), and we have some new additions that we are very excited about. We usually offer only localization/translation tracks, but for the first time we are leveraging our global business contacts and are offering two new tracks – Global Business Best Practices and Global Website Management. Visit www.localizationworld.com for more information.
STC Atlanta Conference – Important Practical News
As STC members know, the STC Technical Summit for 2009 takes place in Atlanta, Georgia May 3-6. We have several updates about that conference, and we begin with the most important news for some potential attendees.
Members Can Split Conference Payment
All STC members in good standing may choose to spread their registration payment by paying half with their registration form and half onsite. The exceptions are who are encouraged to volunteer and retired members who have a special rate.
How does this work?
– Download the conference registration form (.pdf) Payments are manually processed by staff and cannot be completed by the applicant online.
– Make two equal payments, half paid with your registration and half to be paid onsite. (This potentially spreads your payment over two different credit card cycles.)
– Pay by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, or American Express). Checks cannot be accepted for split payments.
– E-mail (or fax +1-703-522-2075) the registration form to Julia O’Connor.
International Attendees
STC conference planners offer general information about visas for entering the United States.
Be sure to read the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Web site for information about allowed items in baggage and carryons, traveling with a disability, acceptable luggage locks, and more.
Room Sharing at the Conference
Is the expense of a hotel causing concern? Why not try sharing a room to cut down on total conference expenses. A room-sharing forum is posted to the STC Forum. The forum is at http://stcforum.org/viewtopic.php?id=1659
Post your arrival and departure dates to the forum, and identify appropriate roommates and negotiate details off-line.
Choosing the conference hotel, the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, supports the Summit and the Society. Single and double accommodations are available for $174 plus 15% tax, through April 15.
Rent a Scooter
STC has made arrangements for scooter rental with Scootaround again. You can save the bother of transporting your own wheelchair or scooter to the conference by renting one in Atlanta. Although the conference is being held in the hotel chosen for the conference, it may still be an effort for some people to get around the sessions, even with the help of a cane. Scootaround may be just what they need. Scootaround details are in the Accessibility section of the STC conference site.
Join us on LinkedIn
We hope to see you at the conference in Atlanta, 3-6 May 2009. Please let us know if you will be attending or presenting by adding your name to the LinkedIn Events calendar entry at
http://events.linkedin.com/STC-Tech-Comm-Summit/pub/37684
What to Do in Atlanta
When you’ve planned your trip to the conference, your next step may be wondering what else you can do in Atlanta. The STC Atlanta chapter, host chapter for this year’s conference, offers tips on what to see in Atlanta, where to eat, and places to visit.