Are you looking for ways to develop your technical communication skills without having to invest the time and money to go back to school, start a course on Udemy or Lynda, or become a certified technical communicator? Or maybe like me, you have done most of that—got that sweet MSTC degree, shoutout to this great API doc course on Udemy, but still need to work on the CPTC cert!—and want to find out how real people are solving the problems you face every day.
Conferences can be a great way to get practical insights, learn new skills and tools, and meet people both in your area and around the world who can help and connect you with resources (and friendships!)—all without breaking the bank or requiring a ton of upfront investment. In this blog post, I run through some of my favorite technical communication conferences…and a few I hope to attend someday!
Virtual options
Not keen on in-person events given the changing guidelines in response to COVID-19? Some conferences in the near-future, like the STC Summit, have switched to be virtual events. Additionally, many technical education companies such as SnagIt by TechSmith are offering limited-time access to tools for educators and virtual remote workers. Trying googling a list, or see this Google Doc (note: this doc is not maintained by STC Carolina).
Review the details across conferences in the following table, then click through the descriptions in the following blog post reel.
Conference | Audience | Cost | When | Where | Skills |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DOCS | Practitioners, esp. in Carolinas | Under $250 | TBD in August | RTP, NC | DITA, authoring |
STC Summit | Practitioners worldwide | Varies, < $1,000 for members, $250 for students | 17-20 May | Virtual | All things TC |
SIGDOC | Academics | Under $500 | 3-4 Oct | Denton, TX | TC research |
LavaCon | Content strategists | $2,450 for 2 attendees | 25-28 Oct | New Orleans, LA | Content strategy |
Writers UA | Practitioners | $700 | TBD | TBD | Writing |
Write the Docs | Tech practitioners | Under $500 | 3-5 May | Portland, OR | Tech, software |
SpeedCon | Students | Free | 18 Apr | Virtual | Beginning TC |
Did I miss any? Let us know what your favorite tech comm conferences are!

Art Berger
Technical Writer at IBM and VP of STC Carolina
Blog post contributed by Art Berger.