#STC12 Day Five - The Road Back Home

Our last day of #STC12 was Wednesday, May 23rd. We are tired, our brains are overloaded, but still we are not ready for the Summit to end. Irony.

My suitcases stand ready. Took a little bit of wrestling, but I got everything in.

Score: Viqui 2 - Luggage 0. I win the wrestling match! 

The closing luncheon gives us all one last chance to hang out with the STC folks.

Alan Hauser, Carolyn Klinger, Mary Saunders, and me

The Strangest Thing at the Summit award goes to the television screens built in to the bathroom mirrors at the Hyatt. So very strange, I just had to grab a photo.

Televisions over the sinks in the Women's Room at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare. Seriously. 

The Take-One-For-The-Team award goes to Lorie Meyer, pictured here with the über talented Rich Maggiani. Lorie will have to tell the story herself, but as I understand it, she sustained a bone break during the Honors Banquet without leaving the field of battle. Go Lorie!   

Lorie Meyer and Rich Maggiani. Lorie is the one with her arm in a sling. 

Love these mobile boarding passes. Very convenient. And good for the environment, too. Kudos, United!

Mobile Boarding Pass screenshot from my iPhone. Looks like I need a charge, too. 

This is the photo I texted home to let the DillMen know I had boarded. We like photos at my house more than reading. My new friend in the seat beside me took this picture. Thanks, Mr. Stranger, man.

I got a window seat.  

Here we are at the gate, waiting to take off from O'Hare. I am sitting close to the tail.

Tarmac at O'Hare 

Very soon, we were underway. This is a shot out the window (I got a window seat, see above) of the John Hancock building and Lake Michigan.

John Hancock Building, as seen from Seat 32A

So as my excellent #STC12 Adventure draws to a close, I look forward to expense reports, jet lag, photo uploading, and being hideously behind at work. It has been all worth it. 

I learned so much. I saw so much. I shared so much. 

And now I look forward to #STC13!

#STC12 Day Four - The Honors Banquet

On Tuesday night of the STC Summit, we have a costume change. We shed our nerdy writer duds and transform ourselves into elegant red carpet stars. The Honors Banquet is a dress up affair and we shine.

See our glamorous photos by Rachel and Rick and a host or others on flickr. We look great when we really try.

And the food looked good, too. I was so taken with the salad and entree, I forgot to photograph them. Here's a picture of the dessert sculpture.

Dessert at the #STC12 Honors Banquet was an assortment of heavenly chocolate somethings. 

Congratulations to the Chicago Chapter for their award. They were the #STC12 event hosts, among other things. I love each and every one of them. Read about our field trip to Second City and you'll know why.

The Chicago STC Chapter receives their award. 

And congratulations to the Washington, DC - Metro Baltimore Chapter on our award. We are a Chapter of Distinction!

The Washington, DC - Metro Baltimore Chapter receives our award for Chapter of Distinction. 

There are kind words about us in the program: For your successful merger of the Washington, DC and Metro Baltimore chapters, your inaugural James Madison University event, and continuing a desades-long tradition of hosting an STC Summit Technical Communicaiton Competition. See?

After the ceremonies, we have time to congratulate the winners. Here we are with Anne Grove, who received her Associate Fellowship tonight.

Left to right: Anne Grove, Carolyn Klinger, Viqui Dill, and Mary Sanders. 

A splendid evening with splendid people, smack in the middle of a splendid event.

Congratulations to all our #STC12 winners and honorees!

#STC12 Day Two - Keynote and Opening

Sunday evening at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare and all the Technical Communicators for miles around gather for the Keynote address from Scott Berkun.

STC President Hillary Hart gives some introductory remarks, welcoming us to Chicago for the #STC12 Summit. We are so excited to be here, the sound of 1600 hands clapping fills the huge ballroom.

Steven Jong takes the stage next. We will hear Steve sing on Monday night at the Rough Drafts open jam. He is upbeat because this has been a banner year at the Society. We are psyched. Maybe a little antsy, ready for a great Summit and a great year.

Scott Berkun takes the podium.

Scott is famous for his book The Myths of Innovation .

These are my favorite slides from the evening. Scott is engaging and relevant. He seems accessable, like he thinks he's one of us and doesn't know he's a techno rockstar. I love him immediately.

You should be poked in the eye for saying "Ideation" according to Scott. Also according to Viqui.

Give a small team authority.

Choose people who resist the status quo.

Preach it, my brother!

Yes, I love me some Scott Berkun. I will love him even more on Monday when he hangs around to participate in one of the Lightening Talks. You gotta love a guy who hangs around to be with the fellow geekstas.

And on a parallel track, the Rough Drafts were gearing up for Monday night's jam. Here's a photo of Betsy Maaks arriving at the Hyatt with a load of guitars for tonight's rehearsal. 

Betsy Maaks, Viqui, and Rich Maggiani with Betsy's guitar laden Jeep Rubicon

Before rehearsal, we drop into the Red Bar at the Hyatt for some dinner. I have sushi for the second night in a row. This is called a "green dragon" and it was really good. Sushi twice in two days? How lucky am I!

Green dragon sushi at the Red Bar at the Hyatt 

At rehearsal, I met my date for the evening. It was love at first sight. 

This beautiful Fender P-Bass was what was in Betsy's jeep 

We rehearsed from the set list.

Rough Drafts jam sets are on slideshare at http://www.slideshare.net/viqui_dill/rough-drafts-stc-2012-jam-sets

Rough drafts stc 2012 jam sets

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#STC12 Day Three - Tutorial Pacing Session

Yikes! It's Monday and Monday is THE BIG DAY! 

I told my boss if he would pay expenses, I would wear my American Woodmark gear at the Summit. So I pull out my shirt and it's wrinkly. Not so wrinkly that I would just wear it as-is if this were any regular day but it's Monday and Monday is THE BIG DAY! Therefore, I show off some of my crazy good domestic skillz, as shown below. 

This an iron. I still remember how to use it.

The presentation (my presentation as part of the Education Progression) is in the same room where we had the Leadership Program yesterday. And just in case I might need reassurance, STC has posted signs outside each door. Looks like I found the right place.

Education Progression, we have found our spot. 

Yesterday at the Education Progression, I ran my battery low and had to plug in. So today, I arrived early to snag a table beside one of the few available outlets in the room.

Power outlet and my handy white extension cord, ready for duty. 

Just as an aside, I have to say that power was a bit of an issue at #STC12. Seems like lots of folks were scouting out a source for electric juice during this Summit. Being an early bird, I had good luck with finding power when I needed it.

The presentation went well for a first timer. Many things I would have done differently but nothing I was ashamed of. Don't forget to submit your Summit Speaker Evaluation. I'm Viqui Dill and the session is called "Tutorial Pacing". http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/STC12sessions

Proceedings on the STC Summit website at http://www.stc.org/images/proceedings/Documents/tutorialpacing.htm 

Slides on slideshare at http://www.slideshare.net/viqui_dill/tutorial-pacing

Tutorial Pacing

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#STC12 Day Two - Leadership Program

A beautiful day in Chicago begins at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Rosemont. To start the day right, I take time to stop and smell the roses.

Roses in Rosemont 

The Leadership Program is way down in the basement of the Hyatt. Luckily, I ran into my fellow Rough Drafts band mates in the hotel lobby. All I had to do to find the right meeting room was act casual and follow the Leaders.

The Rough Drafts at the Leadership Program 

The first thing we did was take over a table. See in the photo how we made our own reserved sign for the table. I'm pretty sure it fooled the authorities because they did not kick us out. Even if they did, we could just say "I'm with the band".

The Rough Draft table, see the sign?  

The opening remarks were given by our outgoing president, Hillary Hart. 

Hillary Hart addresses the group 

followed by energizing words from Nicky Bleiel.

Nicky Bleiel gives a peptalk 

Chapter Honors were announced. We got a sheets full of special stickers for the badges of the members

STC Community of Distinction stickers 

My presentation is entitled "Do You want that Tweeted, Posted, or eMailed?" We begin by taking the Survey. Takes a while but it's a good way to introduce the scope of the Survey.

Marilyn Woelk, Cherie Woodward, and others at our enriching discussion about social media

Ed Marshall adds his experience to the discussion 

Many thanks to the attendees for reading and responding to each and every question.

This nice group of Technical Communicators takes the Survey 

Thanks to everyone for your responses 

After the presentation, we give ourselves a thumbs up. 

Leadership progression was a success, thanks to the great attendees like Marilyn Woelk and Cherie Woodward and STC planners

Take the survey for yourself at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BF59KNK
We would love to hear from you. 

Slides on slideshare at http://www.slideshare.net/viqui_dill/stc-social-mediasurvey

More photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/rjl6955/sets/72157629908903056/ thanks to Richard Lippincott  and http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhoughton/sets/72157629884857834/ thanks to Rachel Houghton.  

STC DC Baltimore Social Media Survey 2011

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#STC12 Day One - The Arrival

Day one begins dark and early, leaving our house at 6:30 am. Big thanks to my son, the fabulous Jim Dill, for chauffeuring the car back home after dropping me off at the Dulles Departures area.

Jim and me at the Dulles Departures area 

Boarding was easy. I didn't get the bodyscan nor a patdown because TSA was getting backed up and they needed to play catch up. It is bad to let you know I'm a little disappointed? Anyway, I got a nice window seat next to two nice, quiet traveling companions on the flight from Dulles to O'Hare. 

View out the window of the plane to O'Hare. I have a window seat.

O'Hare is gorgeous. I loved this artwork over the moving walkway.

Artwork over the moving walkway at O'Hare 

I am always so glad to see my suitcase when it arrives. So of course, I took a picture.

Reunited with my suitcase. I have missed you so. 

Finding the shuttle bus to the Hyatt Regency O'Hare was a little tricky. Next time, I'm told to go downstairs. I followed the directions from the luggage carousel area and went for quite a hike, just like Scott Prentice. Now he tells me.

The tweet stream about finding the shuttle would have been handy. 

So now, I am safely checked in at the Hyatt.

I am safely checked in to this nice room at the Hyatt. 

Here's what I look like from space. 

And I'm rested. And I've blogged (I set a personal goal to blog the conference).

Follow the Society for Communications 2012 Summit on twitter using the hashtag #stc12.

Now let the festivities begin!

The Rough Drafts

Here's a little more about that jam.
http://summit.stc.org/announcing-the-return-of-the-summit-music-jam/

The article in our Tech Comm trade magazine, intercom  http:\\intercom.stc.org/2012/05/off-hoursthe-rough-drafts/ .

The commemorative t-shirt, thanks to the generous sponsorship of Ann Grove (Logical Writing Solutions).

Can you tell I'm excited?

Going to #STC12

Tomorrow morning before the rooster crows I will be on my way to the Society for Technical Communications Summit 2012 in Chicago. http://summit.stc.org/

Today, I'm getting ready. As you can see, I've got my boarding pass and a pile of business cards.

I plan to blog my experiences at the Summit.

I will be presenting twice, once as part of the Leadership Program, http://summit.stc.org/program-info/leadership-day/

and once as part of an Education progression http://www.softconference.com/stc/sessionDetail.asp?SID=274045 

I'm also participating in an evening Jam with other technical communicators. Our band name is the "Rough Drafts" which I think is so cool. http://summit.stc.org/announcing-the-return-of-the-summit-music-jam/

I have posted the content for these on SlideShare http://www.slideshare.net/viqui_dill

We have a big fancy Honors Banquet on Tuesday night. I have a new dress that is super cute.

The rest of the time, I'll be enjoying the company and wisdom of the other leaders and presenters. Should be a great few days.

Wish me luck!

Viqui would love to connect with you. 

Email her at social_media@stcwdc.org, 

follow her on twitter @viqui_dill https://twitter.com/viqui_dill, 

connect with her on Linked Inhttp://www.linkedin.com/pub/viqui-dill/15/79/7a5, 

or make her your friend on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/viqui.dill.