Baltimore Conference Impressions

Kim Lindsey, President, NEO STC

The thing that made the biggest impression on me at the STC conference in Baltimore was the accessibililty of the top leaders in our field. People whose names you’d recognize as authors of seminal books and journal articles were simply all over the place, talking freely to anybody and everybody who approached them. I spoke with many Society board members - not just our own Mike and Bob, either!

As incoming chapter president, I kept a sharp eye and ear as to the inner workings and politics of STC. It was interesting to observe who was talking to whom, who took part in Society business meetings and who hung around outside talking in little groups - that kind of thing. The Transformation has inspired some past leaders to move out of the background and make their voices heard again. I see this as a good thing - we can no longer complacently assume that STC will always be the same: living organizations need to adapt and evolve, and we can be part of what drives that process.

Two sessions especially piqued my interest. The first was a panel discussion of STC luminaries (Judy Glick-Smith, Lance Gelein, Bonnie Graham, et al) on the topic, “Learning from Our Mistakes - If I’d Known Then What I Know Now.” Ideas that kept coming up were: Always think of yourself as a consultant and prove your value every day; Keep in touch with the goals and plans of the upper management in your company; Be alert and realistic about the general business climate; Always treat people with respect and you’ll be glad you did; When talking with management, always offer a solution, not a problem.

The second was another panel discussion, this one titled, “The Future of the Web: Reaching ‘Any User.’” The distinguished panel consisted of Karen Schriver, Steve Krug, Whitney Quesenbery, and Ginny Reddish. (Who could ask for better than that?!) Main points were: Clarity will raise all boats (i.e., poor design and content will only make translation and accessibility issues worse); Be aware that there’s a difference between ‘reading to DO’ and ‘reading to KNOW;’ We need to cultivate public intellectuals who will promote our field to outsiders.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to attend the conference and would highly recommend that others attend whenever they can.