Thoughts on the 2010 STC Summit
Posted on 09. May, 2010 by Melanie in Writing
Last week, for the first time, I attended the annual conference of the Society for Technical Communication (the STC Summit).
Since I’ve only been an STC member for a couple of months, I was pretty much in awe and amazement the entire time. It was a nerd’s paradise.
The list of luminaries I saw is a pretty good match to my bookshelf and Google reader; both include names like Ginny Redish, Caroline Jarrett, Rahel Anne Bailie, Colleen Jones, Rachel Lovinger, Ann Rockley, and tons of others.
Here are the main points I gleaned from the Summit. Since a detailed summary would take all day, I’ll keep it brief.
Bad content is a business liability
Monday morning, the keynote address started with a bang, as outgoing STC President Cindy Currie noted that 10 to 15% of all product liability lawsuits arise not from defects in the products themselves, but in product documentation. The lesson was clear: bad documentation is a serious liability. Tech writing has business value.
I had this point reinforced later, when a consultant told me about a client whose outdated documentation had cost its company a $1 million fine.
Ouch.
Sounds like not paying attention to content can really cost companies. Businesses are wise to make quality content a priority, and give it the attention and resources that it deserves.
Which leads to my second point…
Good content is a business asset
We can nerd out about words as much as we want. (As we did while listening to keynote speaker and noted lexicographer Erin McKean.) That’s good fun.
But at the end of the day, tech writers only have value in the marketplace to the degree that we can improve our employers’ or clients’ revenues, or prevent their losses. When content is well fed and cared for, it improves the customer’s experience, ultimately boosting sales and minimizing support costs.
I saw examples of really well cared for documentation that inspired me to keep advocating for quality content. The ExactTarget documentation team‘s session on their wiki deployment was the most striking example. With the help of a full-time implementation engineer and Mindtouch software, they’re able to publish high-quality content in a ridiculously fast-paced environment.
Similarly, Colleen Jones and Kevin O’Connor led an amazing session on usability testing for content. Their focus on iterative testing was completely new to me. Definitely something I’d like to learn more about, and ultimately try.
Inspired and … okay, a little starstruck
I left the Summit with tons to think about, motivated to do everything I can to plan, create, and maintain effective content.
And getting to meet a who’s who of writers and experts was a pretty sweet perk.