Highlights of the STC Summit 2012 include links to well-written blog posts by my fellow #stc12 attendees:

• Sunday’s opening session keynote by Scott Berkun. Scott reminded us that Creativity is Work. Read Hannah Morgan’s blog post for an articulate and inspiring recap of Scott’s message: Motivation Monday at #STC12: Creativity is Work!
• Interesting observations about reduced vendor participation by Content Rules capture my feelings, also. Thanks Val for writing. I would also add to the not so good list that healthy food was difficult to track down.
• I remember an STC Summit over four years ago when twitter was an unknown entity to me. When I attended that twitter town hall meeting, I was the oldest attendee by at least 15 years. Now we are all on board and greeted twitter like an old friend and consistently used the #stc12 hashtag. My friend and STC super star Ben Woelk aptly discusses Twitter Use at STC Summit. I especially like the graphic portrayal of #stc12 information. I enjoyed Ben’s presentation with career sherpa Hannah Morgan so much that we are working to enlist Ben and Hannah to serve as our keynote speakers and Saturday workshop leaders March 9, 2013 at our STC Mid-Atlantic Technical Communication Conference sponsored by STC Philadelphia Metro Chapter. If you are not yet on twitter, you can replay our twitter feed.
• Tech writer Kai’s presentation on pattern recognition sparked a few ideas for me. See his blog post on 6 ways he enjoyed the Summit.
• IBM information architecture presentation by my former IBM colleagues discussed information experience models.
• Many of the STC Summit presenters, including me, posted slides to SlideShare with the #stc12 hashtag.
• My friend and presentation partner Ann Grove, president and owner of Logical Writing Solutions, served as our VIP sponsor for the return of the STC Music Jam with our Rough Drafts band. Lead base player Viqui Dill, our of top 10 twitter handles!, tells the Rough Drafts Music Jam story very well with pictures.
• We need to change the way we deliver information. Global, mobile, social: surfing the perfect storm. Tristan Bishop delivered an informative and entertaining talk full of statistics and trends. Sarah Maddox took these excellent notes that tell us the key is to communicate with people in the channel of their choice. As technical communication professionals, we can show our managers that we provide value in this area because we read, analyse, and respond clearly.
• Face time is golden!
• Our STC Philadelphia Metro Chapter members, and geographically favorable future members, bonded over an off-site lunch at the local casino, where the food was delicious and it was easy to pay separately and enjoy time together. I earned my first senior discount for being 50 or over!
• Knowledge is affirmed.
• Brain is full.

In April 2012, I shared tips for Optimizing LinkedIn for Technical Communication Job Searching and Network Building at our STC Philadelphia Metro chapter program meeting.

One of the meeting attendees followed my suggestions and invited me to connect with him on LinkedIn. In a review of his profile, I noticed the nifty Twitter Follow button on his LinkedIn profile. But I didn’t see the button on my own profile. Why? Blogger Michelle has the answer for us. See her Simplifying Social Media blog post Add a Twitter Follow Button to Your LinkedIn Profile.

How do we get it? The first step is to join something that you believe in, that you want to be a part of, and that you want to contribute to.

I am an Associate Fellow and active member of the international Society for Technical Communication (STC). Our STC members are professionals all over the world, with membership in virtual Special Interest Group (SIG) or geographic communities. I am competitions manager, frequent presenter, and active member in my home chapter: STC Philadelphia Metro Chapter. I’m also a member and volunteer leader in the STC Palm Beaches Chapter.

Earning recognition starts with taking actions and keeping accurate records. I’m pleased to share the exciting news that our STC Philadelphia Metro Chapter has earned recognition as a Community of Excellence for sponsoring a respected regional conference, embracing social media to enhance communication with members, seeking improvements to chapter operations, and promoting the value of STC membership.

Does your organization do great things? Keep records, apply for recognition, and toot your horn. It feels good to bask in the light of recognition. Keep shining.

Attending conferences is an important part of my own professional development. In addition to attending professional development events each year, I’m honored to be selected as a speaker for the STC Technical Communication Summit 2012, where it all comes together.

Dates: 20–23 May 2012
Location: Chicago-Rosemont, Illinois, at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare

My trusted presentation partner Ann Grove and I are presenting an interactive workshop in the Professional Development track on a topic that we are both passionate about: the culture of our communication.

Our presentation and workshop is titled Communication Culture: Resolving Conflict and Leveraging Feedback and discusses how resolving conflict and responding to feedback are core professional survival skills. In our current economy, our ability to master soft skills can be more important than mastery in technical communication and project management skills. Attendees can participate in scenario-based negotiations and skill-building exercises to learn how our communication culture impacts our ability to achieve conflict resolution.

We strive for the following learner outcomes:

• Know the six methods for resolving conflict: ignore, smooth over, force, compromise, collaborate, or seek help from a third party.
• Select appropriate method and take specific actions to resolve conflict in a mature and respectful manner.

Participants will learn specific techniques to:

• Ask for and leverage feedback from management and peers to maximize professional growth
• Identify feedback as it occurs
• Omit the fear from feedback
• Clarify feedback
• Give feedback in a non-confrontational manner
• Learn to evaluate your team culture
• Understand the four root causes for conflict: personalities, misunderstandings, issues, and leadership styles

Ann and I enjoyed presenting this session on 9 March 2012 at the STC Mid-Atlantic Technical Communication Conference. If you are attending the STC Summit 2012, come on out on Tuesday morning to sharpen your saw and learn new skills.

Twitter? Really? Yes, this social network of microbloggers might be a resource you should consider.
I like this article titled Your 2012 Job Hunt Checklist from the Prime Time Second Act blog. Browse around the Second Act blog… there are several articles that might inspire you.

I presented a session titled LinkedIn Training: Improve your profile on the world’s largest business network on Saturday, January 21, 2012 at the PCC Employment Outreach Event in Pennington, NJ.

I presented a similar talk for the Philadelphia Metro Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication in April 2012: Optimizing LinkedIn for Technical Communication Job Searching and Network Building.

During my research, I gathered resources and articles of interest to job seekers. I have parked these miscellaneous links and online resources here for all to enjoy and use.

Social media: LinkedIn, twitter

LinkedIn is a two way conversation, always be personal, always respond. Read the LinkedIn guest author post titled Ten tips to enhance your job search on LinkedIn.

Twitter is microblogging as a social conversation.

Job search sites

Indeed.com is a popular job search aggregator.

CrossRoads from Net-Temps, a weekly electronic magazine with information and tools to help you succeed in your job search and career.  Net-Temps is your employment site to post your resume, search for jobs and apply online.

Job skills evaluation

The Discovery channel, in conjunction with a university and .gov, has put together the Discover Your Skills website to help students and people plan their careers or change skill mid-career.

Recommended reading from people that I like

Career Sherpa Hannah Morgan posts an excellent job search guide and blog. I attended Hannah’s “Define your personal brand” seminar at the Rochester, NY’s Society for Technical Communication Spectrum 2011 conference and was converted to an enthusiastic fan and follower.

Our keynote speaker Sandy Schussel’s blog Reaching is enlightening and powerfully inspiring.

Keep in touch with your network

Recommended reading on this subject includes the following two posts:

• Pinging your network
• Establish a Professional Web Presence this Weekend

@TwitJobSearch

A job search engine for Twitter. Helping jobseekers and employers by finding and organizing job tweets. Join the chat on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/bcfu8E and visit http://www.twitjobsearch.com.

Education, it’s not always expensive and it’s sometimes free

M.I.T. Game-Changer: Free Online Education For All http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesmarshallcrotty/2011/12/21/m-i-t-game-changer-free-online-education-for-all/

Networking

Although the Internet will probably make up one component of your job search, the most effective way to find a job is through networking. You could answer dozens of ads, but knowing the right people can make all the difference in landing an offer. Plus, only about 15% to 20% of all job openings are ever publicly advertised in any medium, according to Quintcareers.com. Most job leads come through the grape vine, specifically, your grapevine. How’s your vine?

Network

Suggestions and more ways that you can network:

• Use your college alumni association
• Join a professional organization
• Join online discussion groups (consider relevant LinkedIn groups)

All of these participatory activities are good ways to meet people in your field. You can set up an informational interview with experts in your industry, get an internship when you’re first starting out (or willing to work for free!), and keep in touch with college acquaintances.

Send two versions of your résumé by e-mail. Many employers won’t open résumé attachments either out of laziness or fear of contracting a computer virus. Your chance of getting noticed: zilch. Go ahead and attach the document, but copy and paste a text-only version of your résumé into the body of your e-mail message to cover your bases.

Use industry-specific key words in your resume and LinkedIn profile so that search engines can find you.

Many employers dump résumés into a database and search for key words to narrow the field. The magic words are often job titles, skills, or areas of expertise related to the position. The best way to research your job key words is to look at ads for your target job and see the kind of language employers are using.

Resume reading http://portal.kiplinger.com/features/archives/2005/01/resume.html

Links of interest: news for job seekers in 2012

• Miller: 2012 will see growth in job postings, rise of “patchwork professionals”
• Tips for 20-something Job Seekers
• LinkedIn Got Me Two Great Jobs

Evernote makes it easy to remember things big and small from your everyday life using your computer, phone, tablet and the web. I installed it on my Droid phone, my Mac, my work computer, and have already used the web-only screen capture. I couldn’t write the enticing descriptions better than the Evernote web site. The following descriptions say it all, and I am wondering how I lived without Evernote before today!

With Evernote, all of your notes, web clips, files and images are made available on every device and computer you use.

Remember things you like. Save everything cool and exciting you see online and in the real world. Snap a photo, record some audio, and save it.

Take notes anywhere. You’re always moving, your notes should be too. With Evernote, your memories are on every computer, phone and device you use.

Evernote: my new favorite tool!

We hope that our PCC Employment Outreach Event (EOE) becomes an annual event.

PCC EOE features keynote speech “Seven Ways to Stay Motivated” by nationally-known author and business coach Sandy Schussel and additional career-building, skills-training, and getting-employed conference presentation topics that include:

• Should I just start my own business? by Sandy Schussel
• LinkedIn Training: Improve your profile on the world’s largest business network by Barrie Byron (me!)
  
• Technology, social networking, and business trends impact on skill set needs by Jim Klinck
• Managing your money in challenging times by Martin Hopkins
• I am not your friend: interviewing communication skills from HR perspective by Marianne Grady
• How many chances do you get to make a first impression? by Jack Levitt

Lunch, entertainment, skits, live music, and door prizes are provided by Princeton Community Church (PCC) to registered participants. We aim to motivate, inspire, teach, and share our skils.

•  8:00 a.m. Registration opens: networking, coffee, donuts
•  8:30 a.m. Opening session and keynote speech
• 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. Conference sessions
• 11:45 a.m. Lunch by Hopewell Bistro
• 12:30 p.m. Closing session with skit, music, and door prizes
• All day: support, advice, community, skills building

Registration required at http://pcceoe.eventbrite.com/. See you there!?

We had so much fun preparing this content that our passion has produced many opportunities for us. We presented on the virtual success topic at the following events:

• March 2011: Rochester STC chapter’s Spectrum conference
• April 2011: STC Mid-Atlantic Technical Communication conference
• June 2011: STC web seminar
• July 2011: Web seminar for 47 technical writers at Hewlett-Packard. We enjoyed this special purpose presentation for the HP Lunch and Learn series, where many of the HP writer work remotely.

We are schedule to present in person to the STC New England Chapter on March 21. See you there?

Our article is published in STC Intercom December 2011 issue: http://intercom.stc.org/2011/11/a-virtual-success-best-practices-for-working-remotely/.

Do you have good tips for successful work-at-home strategies? We would love to hear them!

A = Acceptance (a big one for quirky me!)

A = Affection (always a win for demonstrative me)

A = Affirmation

Affirmation is a form of recognition that we can all give the people that are important to us. “Hey, you’re important to me!” and “I value you as a person” and “You make a difference in my ____” (fill in the blank: life, team, project, family, group).

We’re not all rock star employees, but we all crave recognition. I agree with the advice for frequent feedback. Ask your boss for time today! Or make time for your employees, friends, family, and team members. See the WebWorkerDaily article 5 ways to keep your rockstar employees happy.

Recognition, the elusive and highly sought reward… give it today!