Conference Chronicle

Here at last in the Windy City!

By Darlene Doehrmann

My co-worker Liz and I had been eagerly anticipating STC's 48th Annual Conference from the moment we received our preliminary programs. Because I am responsible for updating the text and screen shots in a user manual for the home health care industry, I was looking forward to conference sessions that would help me with the following tasks:

• redesigning the user manual;
• turning some of the user manual's text into a visual presentation;
• creating an index in FrameMaker;
• managing the user manual project (which also includes related documentation); and
• converting the user manual from Microsoft Word into FrameMaker and Portable Document Format (PDF).

To get some ideas on how the user manual could be redesigned, Liz and I inspected the winners of the STC's international technical publications and online communications competitions at the Exposition. We found a suitable design that will give our employer's user documentation a modern look and help users easily find information. Another valuable source of ideas was the STC bookstore, where we picked up some of the best books on design and electronic publishing.

For ideas on how I could incorporate more graphics into the user manual, I went to "Say It in Pictures: Visual Literacy for Business and Technical Communication," and "Tell Me, Show Me, Let Me! Beyond TV Pictures of Paper Pages." (Another reason I went was to hear William Horton, a prolific author who has been in the forefront of electronic information design since 1971.) Another session—"Blue Skies Above Solid Earth: Skills for Thinking Visually"—helped me rediscover my visual "inner child" by showing that simple symbols can help users quickly grasp concepts. I also attended "Designing with Type and Images," a post-conference workshop where attendees cut out images and type and arranged them into a creative design layout.

Other sessions helped me in most of the remaining areas. "Image File Formats for Print and Web" gave me tips on how to prepare screen shots for print on on-screen venues. "IXGen for Beginners Plus Cool Tips" showed how to index in FrameMaker by demonstrating the features of IXGen, an add-on indexing utility. And "Surviving the Time-Consuming, All-Encompassing, Complex Project" provided sample templates I can use to track deliverables and deadlines.

I also wanted to go to a session I hadn't planned on, and "Conan the Grammarian" sounded too good to pass up. Richard Lederer, the presenter, explored a common-sense approach to English usage, which I will think about whenever I write or edit anything from now on.

The STC functions offered unique ways to socialize and learn. At the Welcome Reception Sunday evening, Liz and I looked for familiar faces from the Boston chapter meeting we had gone to in January. We didn't see anyone, but I ran into fellow communicators from STC Region 6 (the region I was in before I moved to Rhode Island). At the Regional Networking Luncheon, I sat with some Boston chapter members that Liz and I had met at the chapter reception earlier in the week. I also met some Region 1 members from New Jersey and Canada. At the SIG Special Networking Group (SIG) Networking Luncheon, I sat at the "Editing" table, where attendees shared techniques for reviewing documentation in PDF.

Our hotel room overlooked the Michigan Bridge, which beckoned us to the Magnificent Mile. The Magnificent Mile offered a wealth of exclusive shops, upscale hotels, fine dining, and tourist attractions (such as the John Hancock Center). While we window-shopped, we were impressed with the trees and flower-filled medians that complement Chicago's architectural wonders. Just as engaging were the street performers, who handed out newsletters and loudly shouted their opinions at passersby (I remember hearing something about President Bush and aliens). A salesperson handed me a tiny, perfume-laden strip of paper from Marshall Fields; the scent still lingers in my handbag. On another day, Liz and I walked to Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park on Lake Michigan and then walked up Lake Shore Drive past well-tended flowers and parks.

We had worked up big appetites from our city scopes and went to two restaurants within walking distance of the Hyatt Regency. At the Berghoff Restaurant—a famous German restaurant in Chicago's Loop—a Berghoff beer was the perfect introduction to sauerbraten and spaetzle. At Volare Restorante Italiano, bread dipped in olive oil, pasta served with lots of tomato sauce, and wine hit the spot after another trip to the Magnificent Mile.

STC's hospitality tours also offered ways to see famous Chicago sites. Liz and I took the "Pizza and Second City" tour. Two motor coaches full of conference attendees departed from the hotel and everyone began the evening by feasting on bread, focaccia chips, deep-dish and thin-crust pizza, salad, desserts, and drinks. Afterwards we were whisked off to Second City, an improvisational theater that has been the starting point for many comedic actors and writers in American film, television, and theatre. A highlight of the evening was when a Second City cast member pulled an Illinois student onto the stage to participate in a barbershop sketch.

As Liz and I flew back to Rhode Island armed with books, handouts, notes, and subject-matter experts' e-mail addresses, I felt like a renewed person and looked forward to redesigning and rewriting the user manual.

Darlene Doerhmann is a technical writer at Healthcare Automation, Inc. in Warwick, RI.