Region 2 Conference and STC Board meeting report
by Cindy Currie, STC Fellow and Region 1 Director, dir1@stc.org
Kudos to the Region 2 conference planning committee for an outstanding conference! Some highlights are called out below:
- Great collection of presentations and expert speakers – a really good program with lots of globally recognized speakers and hot topics! I participated on a panel discussion called “Technical Communication Meets Business: Where Do We Go from Here?” which seemed to be very well received.
- Sponsorships – the conference planning committee did a fabulous job of covering their costs through corporate sponsorships! Many lessons to be learned from their successes in this area.
- Town Hall Meeting – Our new Executive Director, Susan Burton; President, Paula Berger; First Vice President, Linda Oestreich; and Second Vice President, Mark Clifford held a question and answer session with Region 2 conference attendees to that provided a forum for members and others to meet these influential STC leaders and get answers to their most pressing questions. This event was very well attended.
- Chocolate Raffle – Yes, a personal favorite of mine, and I won a nice assortment of European chocolates! The Transalpine chapter (aka the “chocolate” chapter) has been doing this for a number of years now. All monies raised were donated to a local charity. (Tip: Consider doing something similar to raise money for a charity near you or to raise money for your community. You could split the proceeds, donating half to a charity and retaining the other half for your community.)
Here’s how it worked: many who attended the conference brought an assortment of chocolate from their city, region, or country. These were all displayed on a large table near the conference registration desk for all to see (and drool over), and I spent a great deal of time here. Committee members sold (a limited number of professionally printed with the conference logo) raffle tickets throughout the conference. Mid-way through the conference, they SOLD OUT of raffle tickets!!!! And, a black market for Chocolate Raffle tickets sprang up!
At the end of the final day of the conference, all the chocolate was bundled into a number of small assortments and raffled off during the closing reception (complete with champagne, hors d’oeuvres, and cakes!). Executive Director, Susan Burton and former Region 2 Director, Vici Koster-Lenhardt acted as emcees for the raffle. It was quite a lively affair and seemed to be thoroughly enjoyed by the whole crowd!
The Board met in London on October 12-13, with a workshop day on the 12th and our official face-to-face fall board meeting on the 13th. The Board’s focus during this time was on membership, marketing, partnerships, and the 2007 budget, which we have now finalized.