IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
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IPC COMMUNITY 71 SPRING 2024 A s a member of the IPC Thought Leaders Program (TLP), I am responsible for identifying knowledge-sharing oppor- tunities that can generate ideas and insights that strengthen the IPC community as well as create a sustainable and lasting future for its members. I am delighted to highlight some of my recent contributions as a member of the TLP. Webinar: Improving Technical Writing In a September 2023 workshop on work- force development, I delivered a webinar titled "Technical Paper Writing: Industry Best Prac- tices for Conference Man- uscripts." The webinar was prompted by my observations as chair/ co-chair of the IPC APEX EXPO Technical Program Committee (TPC) for 2022 and 2023, as well as prepa- rations for ECWC16. TPC members believe there is a need to commu- nicate and document infor- mation in a formal and perma- nent record for the advancement of science and technology. Technical papers add to the credibility of our work so others can truly understand the benefits and advance the field themselves. It is also important that any work presented at IPC APEX EXPO is described in a manner that can be reproduced by others. Additionally, many members of the IPC com- munity are involved with standards task groups and know that high-quality technical papers are often leveraged to help create new and stronger industry standards. In my leadership role on the TPC, I observed that technical manuscript writing was more prevalent in scientific and academic commu- nities and less so in engineering and indus- trial environments (where most IPC members reside). I also noted that technical paper writing is in danger of becoming a lost art. In today's fast-paced world, information is often communicated digitally in brief formats like text messages, posts, and video clips. Pow- erPoint presentations are useful for conveying information in most professional settings. All these forms of com- munication serve a valuable purpose: the timely and illustrative dissemination of infor- mation. But the quality and breadth of the informa- tion can have its limitations. The IPC APEX EXPO Techni- cal Conference was used as a model for the Technical Paper Writing webinar. The principles I covered can be applied to writing a manuscript for most any technical conference. Julia Gumminger, manager of IPC professional development and events, along with the TPC, created an Author Guidebook which is issued to Ideas and Insights Elevating the IPC Thought Leaders Program By Stanton Rak, Principal, SF Rak Company