How to Make Subject Matter Experts Your Tech Comm Allies
By: Nick Ducharme
Vice President
Florida Chapter, STC
Friends,
Last month’s online turnout for Todd DeLuca’s stellar presentation, Collaborating on Virtual Teams, gave me such a warm and fuzzy feeling as your Vice President. This makes two months in a row that we have drawn a strong virtual presence to our meetings! I also got to experience it first-hand as your online moderator, since at the time I felt a bit under the weather and couldn’t swing the in-person networking option. It was such a relief to have an equally viable/valuable option for attendance—and that’s the key right there. We need attendance to be viable for all, regardless of location and other circumstances. This at the core of our mission for the 2018-2019 chapter year.
But enough about that for now. You’re probably reading this to hear what we’ve got planned for this month.
I suspect some of you, like me, heard a few horror stories about Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) when you were new to the profession. The themes of these cautionary tales are usually the same: “SMEs are incredibly smart and intimidating” or “SMEs are unapproachable.” In the worst cases, “SMEs don’t value us or what we have to offer.” Sometimes, these stories are true. But other times, SMEs can be among your greatest allies in the workplace if you can foster the right working relationship (I have wonderful SMEs in my work circle that I would be devastated to lose.) We’re all just people at the end of the day, and I think it’s important to demystify SMEs as a concept.
So, in accordance with your survey feedback on both meeting modes and meeting topics, we’re offering a panel on How to Make Subject Matter Experts Your Tech Comm Allies! I will be your humble moderator for the discussion, alongside your very talented panelists:
Debra Johnson, Chapter Director-at-Large
W.C. Wiese, Chapter Treasurer
Dan Voss, Chapter Education Chair for many years (up through last year)
Emily Wells, Chapter Communications Chair and your Memo to Members Editor
And on top of these four wonderful panelists, we will also be joined by a surprise virtual panelist, to be revealed at the meeting!
Please click here and RSVP to join us for this exciting panel on How to Make Subject Matter Experts Your Tech Comm Allies. You can either join us virtually or in person. Our panels tend toward lively discussion, so feel free to come prepared with some of your burning questions about SMEs if you like. I hope to talk to you soon!