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TC Camps Unconference is a local conference for technical communicators that is driven by the members of the communitywriters, editors, designers, and the people who support them.
TC Camp eventsarefree to attend. Several morning workshops are available at low cost, thanks to the support of our vendors and sponsors.The workshops are voted on by the community and are always a hit with attendees.
If you’re unfamiliar with the term unconference, it is a type of conference where the topics/sessions are decided by the attendees on the day of the event. An unconference is an event where users suggest topics, get together and discuss them in detail. There are no presenters, but rather a meeting of like-minded people who want to discuss the selected topic. The day starts with optional workshops run by tech comm luminaries, and then the unconference is held in the afternoon.
TC Camp is free (minus a nominal fee for an optional workshop and lunch), and is a full day of learning, sharing, and networking for tech comm professionals.
TC Camp was inspired by the amazingly successful Data Mining Camp, put on by the San Francisco Bay ACM. One day, Liz Fraley at Single-Sourcing Solutionsthought it was worth the experiment to bring the unconference format to technical communications professionals.Its not really surprising, Liz and Single-Sourcing Solutions provide an extreme amount of community resources and, in fact, finds dedication to communities part of their corporate responsibility.
She had been thinking about how it was going to be possible to pull off an event like an unconference while keeping it accessible (and at a low cost) and still providing a good value to attendees. It wasn’t untilthe ACM had their Hackathon at the Silicon Valley Cloud Center that everything came together for that first TC Camp event. With a venue in hand, Liz contacted a wide-variety of top-notch speakers to created a fantastic agenda that had mixture of valuable content: a flexible unconference and high-value workshops. This way attendees would get quality trainingopportunitiesas well as be inspired for complex discussions in the afternoon.
That first year the event was successful that everyone who attended asked when they were going to hold the next one. (And everyone who wasn’t local asked when we were going to take it on the road!). The toughest critics in the Bay Area have said it was the best thing to happen to tech comm in a decade.
Originally, in 2005, O’Reilly Media had a Friends Of O’Reilly (Foo Camp) unconference event, where some people actually camped out that weekend.
TC Camp’s popularity arises from its unconference format it places more focus on the attendees instead of juried presentations. As long as you participate, vote, and interact in the discussions, you’re guaranteed to connect.
~ Tom Johnson,I’d Rather Be Writing Blog
As technical communicators, were all well aware of the critical importance of keeping our skills current and our networks active. Fortunately, a value-packed event is just around the corner that can help us do just that: TC Camp TC Camp is incredibly affordable with no compromises on quality. Many of the best minds in Northern California technical communication will be participating this yearSo if youre looking forthe perfect opportunity for skill-building, networking, and fun, grab your backpack and head for camp.
~Lori Meyer,Communication Rising Blog
I presented a morning workshop and was part of the expert panel in 2013 and earlier this year I made the trip to San Jose again as an attendee. It’s been well worth the trip on both occasions, and here’s theshort list of reasonswhy I’m looking forward to TC Camp 2015
It’s a chance to get out of the cave.Gatherings like TC Camp offer the opportunity to compare notes with people whoshare your concerns and perhaps more importantly people who havedifferent problems to solve.
It’s a chance to teach.We all haveknowledgeto share,expertiseon our particular set of circumstances, and the tactical and strategicopinionsthat go along with technical communications implementation.
It’s a chance to learn.TC Camp gives us the opportunity to listen topeers and expertsin similar (and sometimes completely different) fields discuss the issues they’ve had to face and the solutions they’ve found.
And besides, it’s a chance to get out of Texas for a couple of days in January (ice storms, anyone?). I’ll see you in 2015!
~ Michael Hahn, TC CampAttendee Survey
TC Camp is a one-day unconference that packsmore into one daythan some weeklong conferences I’ve attended. The seminars are interestingand provide afuture viewof our industry. The unconference format givesattendees controlof what they want to learn during the day. The offerings are all soleading edgethat it’s actually hard to pick the top few that interest me in what time allows. Lessons learned at TC Camp help keep me at thetop of my game, and, therefore,highly marketable.
Last year, my favorite moment at TC Camp was acustomer-led seminar. She providedreal-worldusage of tool implementation, and that was so interesting. Informationright from the trenches!Of course, it was asuccess story; however, thepitfallswere also outlined, so anybody moving to that tool could sidestep these issues.
Themidday forumwas another highlight of the day. If you’re attending for thefirst time, look forTC Camp veteranswho can help you through theunconference process choosing what seminars you’d like presented is your first task. Also, finding a veteranexpands your network, and TC Camp (and Tech Comms, for that matter) is all about networking. I look forward toseeing my TC Camp buddiesandmeeting new TC Camp friendsin 2015!
~ Cherie Woordward, TC Camp Attendee Survey
I attended TC Camp last year because I was confident the program would featurevery knowledgeable speakersand session topics that addresscurrent markets and technologies.
My favorite part of TC Camp washow much I learned about DITAfrom professionals who had been through actual adoption and implementation in their companies and consulting engagements. As in STC settings, everyone wasquite openandwilling to sharethe benefits of their experience. Related to this, TC Camp agreat networking opportunity. I receivedtwo contracting queriesas a result of my conversations there.
My advice for new attendees?Arrive earlyFor one thing, I thought the campus roads were confusing and poorly marked. If we’ll be in a different location, of course this doesn’t apply. More important, I missed the preliminaries of setting the program, though, as I sayI found the program to be very valuable overall.
~ Prescott Williams, TC Camp Attendee Survey
TC Camp is agreat deal it’s free! Lunch is only $4. For $35, you canattend a workshopgiven by a tech comm professional on a very relevant subject. It is held inSilicon Valley. That is always exciting to me because I get tomeet peopleworking on thecutting edgeof technology and willing toshare their knowledge. This will be the third year that I will attend.
Thenetworkingis great. I meet new people and refresh old contacts. The face time is very valuable.
Come ready tonetwork, have agood time, andparticipate. Unlike other conferences with set agendas, attendeesvote on the sessionsand canactively sharetheir own knowledge and experiences with others.
~ June Harton, TC Camp Attendee Survey
I attended the TC Camp last year [2013] and found it to be immensely valuable. I really liked the unconference format in which attendees choose what they want to talk about. The discussions I attended were timely, lively, and informative. With a dozen or more sessions to choose from, it was easy to find plenty to like. The event is also valuable for its camaraderie. I’ve long missed having a regional event where I could meet with other technical communication professionals and exchange ideas.
~ Patrick Lufkin, STC San Francisco Newsletter
I attended last year [2014], and it was worthwhile. Even for an unconventional tech writer like me (not using Adobe, or Flare, or DITA), there were plenty of workshop options. Its a good way to meet other tech writers and discuss challenges and solutions. Even better, its an affordable way to learn whether attending a larger tech comm conference would be worthwhile.
~Neil Kaplan, in thecomments on the I’d Rather Be Writing Blog
I’ve been attendingSTC conferences and eventssince the early 1990s, and theTC Camps are, by far, my favorites. The unconference format, whose content is largely dictated by the attendees, provides flexibility and keeps the proceedingsspontaneous, smart, and relevant. The formal presentations and vendor access are, of course, valuable, but mostlyI enjoy the camaraderie. TC Camp is one of few opportunities around where you can engage with so many smart, dedicated technical communicators who arewilling to share what they knowand are savvy enough to invest a day outside of work in their own careers and professional development.
~ Patrick Lufkin, TC CampAttendee Survey
I will admit that I attended partly just to see how an unconference worked. I am a fan ofcreative processesand ways of working with peers thatimprove on older, more traditional, hierarchical strategiesthat, of course, have their place, but don’t solve every problem and bring plenty of their own. I have to say that this alone wasworth the effort to attend. (I had to fly in from Oregon on my own dime.) It is heartening to see theexcitement and engagementthis conference structure encourages in its attendees.
I was interested in most of the user-suggested topics, and most of them were relevant to the work I do. Further, I found that the sessions I attended to be surprisingly and somewhat contradictorilyappropriate for both beginners and experienced professionals. That is not to say that they were comprehensive, mind you. Rather,parts of each session were educational for people new to a topic, while other parts got sufficiently beyond the surveys or tutorials one might find on the web to hold all but the most jaded practitioner’s attention.
Finally, I found thevendor presentationsinformal enough, educational enough, and lacking enough salesy-ness to honestly feel like there was a fair trade of my time for their support of the camp.
Thenetworking opportunitiesand theuser-suggested sessionswere a close tie for my favorite parts of TC Camp.
~ Paul Nagai, TC Camp Attendee Survey
Get to thecookiesfirst. Beopen-mindedand know that you are amongfriends. Pleaseshare your ideasand comments without fear of ridicule or retribution. TC Camp attendees arewarm and friendly, and are investing their time and money to learn, share ideas, and network. It’s avery comfortablelearning environment. Andremember:Get to the cookies first!
~ Victor Buccieri, TC Camp Attendee Survey, advice for new attendees
I am a fan of theformat of TC Camp. I loveeverythingabout it, fromattendees choosing the session topicsto thesmall group discussionsand thesession summariesat the end of the day.
My advice to someone attending for the first time would be tobring a tech comm challengeyou are having at work and it is likely that someone at TC Camp will have a solution for you.
~ Jill Ellonsali, TC Camp Attendee Survey
I really like theunconferenceformat. It gives everyone achance to contribute, and the sessions are oftenmuch more engagingthan a typical conference talk.
One of my favorite parts is when thesession proposals go up for voting. It provides a really interesting snapshot of thevariety of issuesthat technical communicators deal with on a day-to-day basis. It always gives menew things to think about.
Get involved! Suggesta session,volunteerto be a note taker, or justshare your ideaseven if they seem half-baked. TC Camp is very much an event whereyou get out of it what you put into it.
~ Wendy Shaffer, TC Camp Attendee Survey