Each year NCRA’s flagship event, the annual Conference & Expo, attracts not only members from the United States, but also members and guests from around the world. At the 2022 NCRA Conference & Expo held in Orlando, Fla., in July, Krystian Wawrzynek, a member of the Intersteno Board of Directors, attended his first NCRA event.
Intersteno is the trademark of the International Federation for Information and Communication Processing, a nonprofit association founded in 1887 that serves as an evergreen worldwide community uniting all those using a full range of speed writing methods to quickly produce high-quality texts.
The JCR reached out to Wawrzynek to learn more about why he attended, what he experienced, and more.
JCR | What is the name of the city and country where you reside?
KW | I reside in Zagreb, Croatia; however, I represent Poland and the Polish national team in Intersteno and all other activities.
JCR | Was this your first time attending an NCRA Conference?
KW | Yes, it was my first time attending the NCRA Conference, and I loved it. It is a little bit different than the Intersteno Congresses, and maybe this is the reason why it was so great for me!
JCR | What prompted you to attend?
KW | I was invited by NCRA President Debbie Dibble. I came as a representative of the Intersteno Board. We find cooperation with NCRA important, and visiting each other’s congresses strengthens this bond.
JCR | What position do you hold with Intersteno?
KW | I am a member of the board. The board consists of seven members: President, two vice-presidents, secretary-treasurer, and one more member. Additionally, there is the jury president and the chairman of the scientific committee. I was elected to the board during the 51st Intersteno Congress in Berlin, Germany, in 2017. Now the full board that was elected then is in its third term of office.
JCR | Are you a working court reporter or captioner yourself? If so, how long have you been working in the profession?
KW | No, I am not a working court reporter, nor a captioner. I am an electronics engineer. However, activities related with what I call Intersteno matters are my second life. I learned touch typing when I was 12, which was 20 years ago. And yes, of course, I use my touch-typing skills every day at work.
JCR | How did you first learn about the court reporting and captioning professions?
KW | Frankly speaking, I have no idea how I heard about the professions. I have known about them since forever. For me it was always obvious that in places like court or in parliament every single word must be written down. My mother was a touch-typing teacher, my first Intersteno Congress was when I was 17. When I was 23, I became a Polish delegate to the Intersteno Council, and four years later I became a member of the Intersteno Board. I live this world! I love that it matters! Probably at some point I just started to simply compare different techniques used in courts in different countries instead of asking, What is court reporting?
JCR | What was the biggest takeaway for you from the Conference?
KW | My biggest takeaway from the Conference was definitely the Awards Luncheon when I found out about the fantastic results of the competitors and about the many people committed to their job in a selfless manner. It was very interesting and also moving.
JCR | What surprised you the most about your Conference experience?
KW | A huge surprise for me during the Conference was the way of conducting the competitions, and to be precise, the persons dictating the competitions in realtime. They were dictating so fast! Normally people do not talk as fast as they were dictating! And they were very accurate and didn’t make any mistakes. Wonderful!
JCR | Do you have plans to attend another NCRA Conference in the future?
KW | Yes. Absolutely, I would love to attend another NCRA Conference in the future! If I only get the opportunity, I will come back for sure!
Krystian Wawrzynek just recently returned home from the 53rd Intersteno Congress and World Championships held in Maastricht, Netherlands. He can be reached at krystian.wawrzynek@gmail.com.
