'I went to a conference last weekend in London - Cents and Sense,' I told my boss at Monday lunch, and eagerly added 'I'm going to add a page to my document that quantifies how much it saves or earns the company.' (I learned something from all the conference presenter's speeches - the charismatic Patrick Hoffman on visual documentation, IBM's factual Ian Larner on DITA, the humorous Derek Torres on Vista...)

'Ah, post-conference exuberance! Wait three days - little or nothing results from conferences in reality.'

'No honestly! Here in Europe, Technical Communications is at the dawn of a new era. Really! The STC is at the forefront. You should see the new Director we have, Susan Burton, she's a serious gun. We're going to change the world. I want to be right there to help!'

'Kim,' my boss broke in. 'I hate to tell you, your document isn't going to save the world.'

I was bewildered. After lunch and our espresso, I went back to my desk, and sat in silence knowing that my boss was right - in reality very little change results from conferences.

But this conference was different, and now weeks later, that feeling still hasn't left me. Not just because of its useful business theme, but because all the directors were present in Europe for the first time in ten years: President Paula Berger was there, VP Linda Oestreich who I dined and London-Eyed with, and our very own Mark Clifford who's next in line after them, and Regional Directors too like Region 5's Director Sherry Michaels from whom I learned so much about the business of training. They were all there - all that STC and Tech Comms experience in one place at one time. And I was there benefiting (and even at a super price - thank you David Farbey and organisers!)

And at this European conference, our STC US counterparts seemed genuinely interested in us. In a way, maybe they finally had to be. We're their only solid stepping-stone to a global STC initiative. China's knocking on STC's door - its communicators are numerous, sophisticated, and more due-paying rich every day. Born from the womb as the world's leading visual communicators, the world's largest technical communication's society needs them. And to do that, they need to know how to accommodate members outside their borders...members like us in Europe.

So for globalisation or for other reasons, change really is happening with the STC, and this time, our Big Brother is including STC Europe in their real agenda, not just in talk. At the breakfast discussion, they told us how they were building infrastructure, a preliminary step to supporting our goals.

So I put them to the test and asked them more. 7:30AM, while everyone else was bleary-eyed from the entertaining London Eye and dinner social evening, I was running on adrenaline and I asked my pre-planned question with tenacity:

'How can the STC help get a plentiful supply of qualified, trained authors into our European industries? The quality of documentation on Continental Europe is abysmal. There are no trained professionals, our universities are shut, our writers can't write. What can the STC do to help?'

The audience agreement was tremendous. Many rallied around. The problem was critical. I had already distilled the cause down to the lack of education, and I was shocked to learn that the UK had only three university degree courses left.

The US contingent seemed out of their depth. They'd reached their hands across the ocean, but it was then (and also during the Panel Discussion) that I realised we were in fact real strangers to them: multi-cultured, multi-lingual, at a real infancy in many aspects of technical communications, and astoundingly mature in others. And that's when I knew only European authors could help Europe, and that I had to get involved personally and do something.

So before I left the conference, I'd already exchanged business cards with a Paris university professor, and commiserated with a past Coventry university lecturer. There was hope, but in all honesty, three weeks later I hadn't yet made any follow ups. Had I too already succumbed to après-conference lethargy?

No! Too much is at stake, and besides, I always need to remember that we're very lucky to work in a small enough industry where individuals really can make a difference. By the time this article will be published, I'll have emailed my conference contacts, and made a start on real work towards helping the STC and my profession. My first task is to make some notes about the different writing styles of our profession: our user guide's instructions, marketing literature's benefits, and magazine's articles just to name a few. (I wonder how many technical authors reading this right now actually know how to write proficiently in these three different styles and more?) That's my starting point, because for me, writing is the cornerstone of our field and a discipline all authors must master.

So that's how I've been inspired - If you'd attended the London Regional 2 conference, or even if you hadn't, have you been inspired too? Is there any way you want to help the STC or your profession? Or might you just want to make your own documentation better at your workplace?

If there is something you're inspired to do, start it now. Your three days are up!

Kim Schrantz-Berquist
University of Washington graduate in Technical Communications, BE chapter member, and UK chapter member (founding member and past long-serving officer).