STC Summit 2018—Day 3—Tuesday

On Tuesday morning I attended The Fourth Industrial Revolution—Preparing for an AI World, by Peter Scocimara. In his engaging session, Scocimara presented a history lesson and led us through the first three industrial revolutions. He then set the stage for the fourth, which is just beginning as humans begin creating artificial intelligences that may soon outstrip us and lead to drastic changes in how we live and work. His advice? Learn for the sake of learning, develop creativity, integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning, and become an informed citizen.

I needed a break to digest all that and visited the expo hall, collecting swag and entering raffles until it was time to go to lunch with the Technical Editing SIG at the nearby Cooper Canyon Grill. The food and company were fabulous, but then we had to high-tail it back to the hotel for our 1 p.m. sessions.

I was just barely in time for Yes And… :Improv’ing Your Corporate Communication Skills. This improv class, run by Ben Woelk and Jack Molisani, was designed to get introverts and shy people out of their comfort zones and into some fun improv exercises with a goal of helping us learn to think and respond quickly. Through a series of improv activities, we broke down barriers and let our silly out for two hours. This is one I hope they bring back again because it would be different every time and is valuable to anyone who wants to loosen up and learn to communicate on the fly through words, gestures, and body language.

At 3 p.m. we had a break and raffle drawings in which our very own Maryann won a registration for Summit 2019 in Denver! (If you ask nicely, maybe she’ll pack you in her checked bag.) My last session of the day was the Women in Tech Comm Panel, featuring Liz Herman (as moderator) and Nicky Bleiel, Alyssa Fox, Lisa Meloncon, and Tavia Record (as panelists). The panel answered questions from an impassioned audience and led a dialog about the role of women in tech comm that touched on all aspects of professional, personal, and social life. We discussed job searches, trust, feminism, mentoring, inclusivity, and #MeToo. This is another session that should definitely come back (bigger and better) next year.

On Tuesday night I went to the Diner Meetup, hosted by the local chapter. I ended up at the Blue Martini where I made a table full of new friends.

Day 1—Sunday

Day 2—Monday

Day 4—Wednesday

Author: Kelly Smith

Member of STC. STC-MGL Membership Manager, Social Media Manager, and Website Admin. Member of ACES. Senior Technical Writer.