And so it begins… the exhilaration of choosing which X (customer eXperience, digital eXperience, user eXperience…) crashes right into the stress of planning which strategy (brand, business, content, digital, marketing, product…) to cover and the exhaustion of flying hither and yon to meet with like minds and fresh young faces. Where will you speak, who will you listen to, how will you fit it all in? Yes, conference season now engulfs us. The spring version is hectic, but nothing compares to the fall season.
To be sure, most folks who practice somewhere in the content profession don’t deal with the chaos. Tight budgets, skeptical PHBs, stagnant wages, and a long honey-do list likely keep most close to home. So the emergence of online tracks and streaming conference coverage should be a good thing. Except for the conference organizers who now deal with that many more moving parts that could jam up.
The grand central station metaphor seems to fit both conference season and the converging worlds of content, communication, and experience. Some fields serve as hubs for a variety of paths and destinations. You can write for tech comm, marketing, product development, user support, even HR. You need a ticket to ride, and then you can pick your destinations. The same holds true for strategists and designers.
Some of those destinations trend for awhile and then fade, while others continue to attract a constant influx of travelers. Content marketing? Hot. Knowledge management? Not so much. Content strategy holds it own, while digital experence surges forward. All of them require skilled professionals who can think, plan, imagine, write, design and produce. They check some baggage, and carry on the others, choosing window or aisle seats depending on whether leg room or a view is more important. Some will miss their connections, while most will arrive in style.
And there will always be a few of us who forget which city we’re in this week.
For those who want to read the tourism blogs before they venture out, we’ve pulled together some top spots for tech comm, content strategy, user experience and customer experience. These folks can really give a sense of the place, how to get around, what to avoid, and how to best experience it. Here’s just a sample:
- When does your documentation need screenshots?
- The Science Behind the Most Popular Infographics
- Is It Time to Forget Big Data and Focus on Real People?
- Stepping Up: UX in the Enterprise
- User Flow: Find the Top Path Through Your Website
While you’ve got a layover, you’ve got some time to peruse the latest edition of Tech Writer This Week. And no worries about changing gates.
