Gore and STC award

Al Gore Documentary, Environmental Awareness Projects Receive Awards


Minneapolis, Minn. – May 2, 2007



– The Society for Technical Communication, a 15,000-member international professional association, will award Al Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” with one of its highest honors at its Annual Conference in the Minneapolis Convention Center. STC honors the film with its President’s Award as the ultimate example of the mission of the Society: to convey complex technical concepts in ways that people can understand and use.


Mr. Gore's film is an example of how still images, video, illustrations, and audio can come together to enlighten an audience about a critical issue," says Paula Berger, STC President. "It points to the direction that STC members' work is moving—away from static information written on a page, and into a world where multiple media come together to help us make sense of the world."


The keynote speaker at the conference's opening session will be Simon Singh, Ph.D., a particle physicist turned TV producer specializing in science and mathematics. Singh's work on the BBC television series “Earth Story” has helped audiences understand the development of our planet and the delicate balance of forces that enable life to thrive.


Conference attendees will see other examples of technical communication in the service of the environment when they visit the display of this year's International Technical Communication Competition. Winning entries include:


a series of park signs and a visitors guide that explain how plants can be used to remove toxins from groundwater
a magazine that shows how to build an ecologically friendly "green" home;
a Web-based game that introduces children to endangered animals and their habitat needs.


"As public awareness of environmental issues grows, technical communication will play an ever-expanding role," says Berger. "Policy-makers and citizens cannot make informed decisions about things they do not understand. As people commit themselves to change, technical communicators will be there explaining options and consequences."