STC France Chapter 2007 Conference
The STC France Chapter held its annual conference February 2-3 2007.
A highlight was the talk by Ian Andersen, head of the Communication and Information Unit at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Interpretation, entitled “Communicating Europe in many languages: European Commission communication strategy and the challenge of multilingualism”.
The talk describes how the Commission’s Directorate General for Interpretation is addressing the challenge of going local, as the European Commission moves from stakeholder-oriented communication to direct interactive communication with European citizens at a moment when traditional forms of media are being supplanted or modified by or merged with electronic media. With political decision-making in Europe now taking place in 23 languages without any particular difficulties, Mr. Andersen explains how communicating simultaneously across a large number of languages, while certainly complex, is neither impossible nor prohibitively expensive.
The conference theme, “Raising Our Profile,” encapsulates STC France’s commitment to helping members gain the skills necessary to achieve professional excellence and to raising the awareness of and demand for our profession in France and beyond. The conference was rganized in conjunction with the STC Trans European Technical Communications Competition Awards Cocktail and STC France’s 15th anniversary celebrations.
Keynote speaker was Silvia Cambié, the President of the Europe/Middle East region of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). She is currently based in London and works as Director of Chanda Communications, a consultancy specialised in media & stakeholder relations and public affairs. Silvia has been a member of IABC for ten years and has held different leadership positions. She holds a degree in social sciences and business administration from the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and speaks five languages. She is an accredited journalist and a certified coach.
Speakers
Patrick Hofmann, a world-renowned Visual Interaction Designer who has helped clients like Nokia, Motorola, Philips, FedEx, HP, BASF, and AGFA improve the usability of their products. He recently helped develop the post-graduate Information Design curriculum at CPIT in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Kim Schrantz-Berquist, a senior freelance Technical Writer and Trainer who has worked for a diverse range of companies including IBM, ICL, Alcatel, Clearstream bank and Manpower. She has 20+ years experience as a technical communicator and holds a B Sc. in Technical Writing in Engineering from the University of Washington.
Samina Arnoult, a freelance financial consultant and a board member of Paris Entreprendre, a networking group that supports freelancers and small businesses in France. She has helped hundreds of businesses get started and prosper.
Karen Baranich, Manager for STC Competitions and Assistant Manager of the Instructional Design and Learning SIG (IDL), and a frequent presenter at local, national, and international conferences. Karen has worked as education coordinator, researcher, commercial artist, fashion designer, and newspaper reporter, and holds degrees in fashion design, media art, instructional media, and educational psychology.
Linda Urban. an Instructor at the UC Berkeley Extension and UC Santa Cruz Extension, where she teaches classes in technical writing, developing online help, usability, and information architecture. As a consultant, Linda works on product usability, user interface design, Help systems, software and hardware documentation, and web-based information. Linda has a BA from the University of California at Berkeley and is a Senior Member of STC, and a member of UPA, SIGCHI, and the Information Architecture Institute. Her company is Linda Urban Communications, LLC.
Stuart Mudie, a freelance technical and marketing writer based in Paris, with over 10 years experience as a professional communicator. He has worked with a number of companies in the IT and Telecommunications sectors in such fields as mobility, web content management, and business intelligence. Stuart is co-author, with Derek Torres, of “The Unofficial Guide to Windows Vista” and is a contributor to Microsoft’s Windows Vista Expert Zone.
Ian Andersen, head of the Communication and Information Unit at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Interpretation. He is active in a number of inter-service working groups on the Commission’s internal and external communication strategy and runs pilot-programs encouraging staff to be ambassadors for the organisation. Ian worked for 15 years as a conference interpreter between Danish, English, French, Italian, Swedish and Norwegian, and as a trainer of Chinese interpreters. He holds an MA in Chinese studies and a BA in political science from the University of Copenhagen and has worked for Danish National Television and as a business consultant before joining the European Commission in 1986. He is a member of the Brussels chapter of the IABC and of the National Press Club of Denmark.
Sessions
Half day workshops on February 2 were:
- Working Smart: Master your Authoring Skills
- Build a Strategy for Success
- Managing and Mentoring: Mastering Difficult Conversations
- Intuitive images: creating and evaluating usable graphics for international audiences
- Using Networks to Build Your Career
- Sharing Your Expertise: Putting Together a Presentation or Workshop
Conference Sessions (on February 3 were:
- KEYNOTE: Raising Our Profile
- Away with words: designing wordless instructions for international audiences
- Beyond Technical Communications: Moving from Technical Communicator to Author
- Paths to Success: Networking and Contributing (It’s all about relationships)
- Communicating Europe in many languages: European Commission communication strategy and the challenge of multilingualism