General Information about the Conference

The Technical Communication Summit is an international meeting of professional technical communicators at all levels, from beginners to seasoned veterans. It is a gathering of technical writers, editors, illustrators, managers, information designers, architects, instructional designers, usability and user-centered design practitioners, researchers, and students.

The Summit fosters industry-leading technical communication by stimulating information exchange, cultivating research, and serving as the primary source of education for professional technical communicators.

This program will be designed to appeal to professionals and managers--as well as researchers and students--and be the best source of information and training anywhere. Sessions within the Summit will represent the latest communication techniques, publishing technologies, and business trends.

To be the best source of education for technical communicators, stringent qualifications will be enforced in the selection process for this conference. Overall, the Summit will have approximately 70 education sessions from the call for proposals. Historically, we have received more than 250 submissions for these sessions. Consequently, it is imperative that as you write your proposal, you pay close attention to the descriptions of individual tracks, the categories of presentations, and supporting documentation. It is critical, as you prepare your submission, to ask questions of the track managers if you are unsure of the requirements.

Please note: Although you will find the descriptions of the tracks in this call, you will not be able to select the track for your proposal. The track managers and program committee will assign your proposal to a track. This will ensure that your proposal has the best chance possible of being accepted.

The submission and selection process will not be an easy undertaking for either the submitters or the track managers. The competition for spaces will be intense. So will the prestige of being selected.

Also please note: Anyone can submit an individual proposal for a progression. Proposals do not have to come through the SIG manager or progression manager. The program team will confer separately with the SIG managers/moderators for final selection for the progression. The intent is to open the call for progression topics to a wider number of participants.

  • Before submitting your proposal, please review the Proposal Checklist.
  • All proposal submissions must be made online.
  • You may submit more than one proposal, but each must be submitted separately.
  • Proposals may be updated online until the submission deadline. To update a proposal, select the corresponding proposal ID from the login table and click the "Edit" button. Each proposal you create will be given a unique ID.
  • If you have questions about your proposal content or format, contact a Track Manager.
  • If you have any questions or problems submitting your proposal(s), please contact Lloyd Tucker at +1 (571) 366-1904, or by e-mail.

Submission Deadline: 5:00 PM EDT, Monday, 10 September 2012.

You will be notified of the program committee's decision in November 2012.

Speakers selected to present will receive full or partial complimentary registration depending on the session format and number of speakers in the session.