It’s time again to gather up your best samples of technical publication, art, and/or online communication for the Southwest Regional PAO Competition! This year, the Kachina chapter is in charge, though I haven’t seen the details yet of which other chapters will be joining up.

I particularly like this event because it gives those of us in smaller chapters (like Tucson!) a chance to really participate in the larger STC community. Sure, anyone is welcome to submit to any of the STC competitions, but by having a local SW event, it just feels friendlier.

I admit it - I was at the Creation Star Trek Convention last weekend, and I had a great time! I don’t know what the official numbers were, but I’d guess there were between 13,000 and 15,000 attendees at this thing - like many conventions, there were speeches, presentation, book signings, a vendor area, and a number of social events.

My favorite presentation was by Wil Wheaton, who has moved beyond his original “child star” label to become a well-known blogger and terrific author. Wil is open, funny, gracious, and incredibly generous with his time and talents. You can read his blog or a variety of columns all over the place - among his funniest is a series of reviews of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes over at TVSquad.com, but there’s lots more. Another cool thing about Wil Wheaton is that he’s been blogging since 2001, and has gotten really really good at it. Well worth a visit!

Another high point for me was the photo opp I got with George Takei. We had about 45 seconds to pose for the picture, but it was a warm and friendly 45 seconds! His was a very good presentation, too, and it’s clear that he’s really enthusiastic about his current projects. On this one, though, I left before the question and answer period was over.

It’s interesting to me to see how the people at Creation pulled together such a huge event - it was almost 10 times larger than even the largest event I’ve ever worked on (STC-Dallas, maybe?) Some things are the same - the need for lots of up-front prep, tons of volunteers on the floor, inevitable problems with tickets, etc. Also the difficulty in estimating how many attendees for each session, sometimes leaving huge rooms empty and smaller rooms overflowing. Some things I think we do better - the Star Trek printed program was somewhat confusing, and most of their signage was vague at best. Some things they did really really well - for example, I liked how they renamed the two main presentation rooms the “Gene Roddenberry Theatre” and the “James Doohan Theatre” - much more inclusive and thematic than the generic room names we’ve had at some of our venues! There was also a color-coding system in the badge and wrist-bands. I’m not sure how that would translate for much-smaller events, but it was interesting anyway.

Actually, it’s still pretty hot here in Sunny Tucson - 102 as I type this. But the kids are back in school as of today, so it feels like it should be Fall.

In terms of technical communication, I’m working on a number of things in addition to regular client projects.

I’ll be attending the IEEE-USA annual meeting at the end of this month as a representative of my local section. This will be my first such event, so I’m not sure what it will be like. It’s being held at the Phoenician resort up in Phoenix, so at least I’m sure the facility will be great!

Next month, I’ll be speaking to the Puget Sound STC chapter next month on Virtual Teams, yet another consequence of the book I wrote with Kit and Char. It’s a quick one-day trip, should be fun!

Also in September, I’ve got the IEEE/PCS adcom meeting, this time being held in conjunction with the IPCC annual conference that starts October 1st. Somehow, I’ve been granted the responsiblities of chairing both the 50th anniversary committee and the sponsorship team. The good news is that the 50th stuff is fun, and the sponsorship is a fairly easy sell - it is, after all, an IEEE event!

Then in October (usually my most horribly busy month) I’m slated to attend Lavacon in New Orleans. I haven’t been to any of the prior Lavacons, but I hear they’re among the most valuable events available for technical communicators. I’m particularly looking forward to seeing a bunch of my STC buddies that I normally only see each May.