The theme of this year's STC France Chapter Annual Conference, Connecting Communities, provides not only the backdrop for the content of our scheduled sessions. It also encapsulates our overall objective of bringing together technical and business communicators, employers, managers, academics and students with a view to forging new and stronger connections between these various groups.

Our aim with this year's conference is to explore the ways Web 2.0 technologies, social networking tools and the development of online communities are affecting the technical communication profession and how technical communicators need to adapt to these new trends, integrate them into their work practices, and increase their value within their organization and in the marketplace.

We've got a great list of professional speakers and interactive sessions lined up and this promises to be our biggest and best France Chapter conference to date. In fact, there's so much going on that we've had to spread this year's event over two days and two different locations (though we promise you'll still have time for some sightseeing)!

For full program details, visit http://stcfrance.org/conference2009

Register early to benefit from our Early Bird rates!

Day one of the conference will be held at the Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris (14th arrondissement) and will feature morning and afternoon keynote speakers, break-out sessions, themed discussion, and a sponsor showcase.

Registration includes all coffee breaks, buffet lunch, and networking cocktail.

Sessions include case studies, best practices, research findings, and interactive discussions broadly related to the conference theme, including:

• Web 2.0 or social networking tools and technologies that offer new ways of working and interacting with users or professional communities
• Training and recruitment issues in a Web 2.0 world
• Cross-cultural communication
• Using technical communication skills and new technologies for career advancement

We end the day with a look at the impact the Web has had on the way people, especially younger generations, interact with information, highlighting the need for new communication strategies to meet the new needs and expectations of readers, and inviting attendees to reflect on the future of the profession in preparation for our panel discussion on day two of the conference.

Friday Night Social Outing (Optional Extra. Additional Cost Applies: 30€ per person)
Join us on Friday night for an evening of vertiginous entertainment and down-to-Earth French cuisine! Socialize with other attendees over a meal of crêpes and cider followed by a trip to the top of the "Montparnasse Tower":http://www.tourmontparnasse56.com/uk/ where you'll discover one of the best views of Paris by night!

Day two of the conference will be held at the "Rive Gauche" campus of the UFR d'Études Interculturelles de Langues Appliquées de Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (13th arrondissement) where we will join students and professors of the Licence Professionnelle Rédacteur Technique, Master 2 Pro ILTS and Master en Conception de Documentation Multilingue et Multimédia (CDMM) courses.

Registration includes morning coffee break, refreshments, and boxed lunch. Thanks to the generous support of Paris Diderot - Paris 7 University, who have donated our meeting space, we are able to offer this second day of the conference at significantly reduced cost.

In the morning, a series of short presentations by students of the CDMM course will provide attendees with fresh insight from newcomers into the world of technical communication who have much to offer, based on the research they are doing. This will be followed by an "Idea Market" session in which attendees will be encouraged to extend and discuss these ideas in small groups, sharing their own experience, and providing feedback to the students to help with their continued research.
Presentations will include:

• The Added Value of Standardization: Why standardized documentation is profitable
• Words in Documentation: Still Relevant? How documentation changes facing user-friendly technology and techno-friendly users
• Migrating to DITA . Process, Constraints and Benefits
• Why Promote e-Learning in Academic Education and Business?
• Choosing Adequate Visuals for Technical Documentation

In the afternoon, our panel discussion "Future trends in Business and Technical Communication," hosted by experienced industry professional Tony Self, will bring together the various topics and trends presented during the conference. We will hear different points of view, including that of a recruiter, a tools provider, and an academic, who will explore these trends and their future impact for business and technical communicators. This interactive discussion will solicit feedback and questions from the audience and encourage them to continue their exploration of these themes for themselves once the conference is over.