See You at the STC Summit!

I’m looking forward to attending the STC Summit in Sacramento on Monday. It’s been a few years since I’ve attended an STC conference. I’m really hoping that having the conference so close to the Bay Area will improve attendance this year. The last few times I went, the conference was poorly attended and the vendor exhibit hall was not at all convenient to the main conference rooms. This is one of the many reasons why I stopped having a booth at STC conferences a few years ago.

I’m hoping that the conference attracts technical communicators from many companies. I’m hoping that large companies send their folks. I’m hoping that small companies also find value in sponsoring their employees to attend. The last few times I went, there were dozens and dozens of freelancers looking for work and very few customers looking for ideas. Not that I mind talking to freelancers, after all, here at Content Rules we hire hundreds of them to work on customer projects every year. But, it would be nice to see a balance.

Finally, I’m hoping that the conference provides useful information on important topics. I’d love to hear about technology advances, workflow advances, and what the future holds. I’m hoping it is not another “We should all switch to XML” conference. This has been a recurrent theme at many conferences over the past few years. New technology, new workflows, new paradigms would definitely be refreshing.

So, I’m hopeful and keeping an open mind. And I hope to see you there!

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Val Swisher

Val Swisher is the Founder and CEO of Content Rules, Inc. Val enjoys helping companies solve complex content problems. She is a well-known expert in content strategy, structured authoring, global content, content development, and terminology management. Val believes content should be easy to read, cost-effective to create and translate, and efficient to manage. Her customers include industry giants such as Google, Cisco, Visa, Facebook, Roche, and IBM. Her fourth book, “The Personalization Paradox: Why Companies Fail (and How to Succeed) at Creating Personalized Experiences at Scale,” was published in 2021 by XML Press.

Val is on the Advisory Board for the Technical Communications Program at the University of North Texas. When not working with customers or students, Val can be found sitting behind her sewing machine working on her latest quilt. She also makes a mean hummus.

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