Introducing the CAC Outreach Team, Part 3 of 3

by Kevin Cuddihy on 15 November 2012

Guest post by Ben Woelk, Outreach Team Lead, Community Affairs Committee

You know when you go to use a new software product and you just want to pick up the phone and ask a person what to do next? Well, that’s what your outreach team rep is for. STC and the Community Affairs Committee provide many Leadership Resources available on My STC. However, we also want to provide you with a go-to person when you have questions or concerns. The Outreach Team provides that support. You don’t have to run your community all by yourself. Your team member is ready, willing, and able to provide you needed support!

In our previous posts, we’ve introduced seven members of the CAC Outreach Team. I’d also like to acknowledge assistance we’ve received from Michael Opsteegh (Orange County) and Karen Lane (Orlando), who have worked with specific communities.

Here’s the rest of the team:

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Summary of STC’s October Board Meeting

by Kevin Cuddihy on 14 November 2012

Starting with the September 2012 Board Meeting, we’re posting brief summaries of the meetings to keep members informed, with a link to a longer summary. Both the brief summary here and the longer summary are provided by the STC Secretary, Alyssa Fox.

The STC board approved membership lists of several committees, along with the Intercom Advisory Panel members.

Alan Houser, STC President, reviewed the proposed bylaws changes that the board will discuss at their face-to-face meeting in November 2012. Steven Jong, STC Certification Commission Chair, will also join the STC board at their face-to-face meeting on Friday, 16 November.

Ray Gallon, STC Director, reported on various ISO standard committee actions and needs.

Finally, Nicky Bleiel, STC Vice President, reviewed the suggested changes to the Retired membership category, which the Board approved [note: this was announced previously]:

• Change minimum age from 67 years old to 65 years old
• Change requirement to be ”completely retired” to “work 20 hours or fewer a week”

Click here to read the longer summary (in PDF form).

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The October Issue of Intercom is Online

by Kevin Cuddihy on 13 November 2012

The October issue of Intercom, with a theme of usability and user experience, is now online. Below is a copy of the note from editor Liz Pohland for this issue. Remember, Intercom Online now has commenting available, so please ask questions, start a discussion, and give your thoughts.

With this issue of Intercom, I am pleased to introduce the 2012–2014 Intercom Editorial Advisory Panel members—Chair Elizabeth (Bette) Frick, Barrie Byron, John Hedtke, Jack Molisani, and Andrea Wenger.

Dr. Elizabeth (Bette) Frick, frequent Intercom author and president of the Text Doctor LLC, teaches writing and communication to employees of corporations and governments in the Denver Metro area and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis–St. Paul. She holds a PhD in English from the University of Minnesota and served as president of the Twin Cities Chapter of STC from 2003–2004 and is also an STC Fellow. Bette is board-certified as a medical editor by the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences and serves as the president of the American Medical Writers Association—Rocky Mountain Chapter (2011–2013). She recently completed requirements for the highest Toastmasters award, the Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM).

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Upcoming Webinar on 15 November: 21 Types of Content We Crave

by Kevin Cuddihy on 13 November 2012

Can you imagine a top chef trying to create an appealing dish with only one or two ingredients? They might be able to pull something off, but it would not be as desirable as one in which they could use a variety of ingredients. Most technical writers are as limited as a chef with one or two ingredients and they are wondering why no one wants to sample any of the content they are serving. They don’t realize what they’re up against in the battle for attention. Find out how to offer more with the live Web seminar 21 Types of Content We Crave, presented by Scott Aughtmon on Thursday, 15 November, from 4:00-5:00 PM EST (GMT-5).

Everyone is busy these days. In fact, they’re busier than ever. They are not sitting around thinking about you and waiting for you to communicate with them. Content isn’t special anymore. Content is a commodity. It’s everywhere. That means you have to find a way to break through the static or else you will never be heard. Your work will all be in vain.

If you want to have any hope of getting through to your audience, then you must expand what you offer on your “content menu.” The only way to do that is by learning the secret of using the “21 Types Of Content We Crave.” Once you understand the types of content that people crave, you will be able to use them to spice up your writing and create content that people will happily consume.

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Upcoming Webinar on 13 November: Does Your Career Need A Usability Evaluation?

by Kevin Cuddihy on 12 November 2012

Does your career path conform to the best practices of usability and design? Is your career flowing by design or by accident? For most of us, the answer is some of each. Join Janel Anderson on Tuesday, 13 November, from 10:00-11:00 AM EST (GMT-5) for the live Web seminar Does Your Career Need A Usability Evaluation? Anderson weaves together usability best practices and principles of design with career planning and strategy. You will apply several design heuristics to your work experience, networking efforts, and overall career.

This webinar uses five of Jakob Nielsen’s 10 usability heuristics to do a usability assessment of your career. Anderson will first explain each of the heuristics and show their application to print and online documentation and products. She will then apply the same heuristics to career development and career change. The webinar will examine how you tell the story of your career, how you document your career on your resume and LinkedIn, and how you represent yourself as a personal brand.

In this engaging talk, career coach and public speaker Janel Anderson will share stories of her own career while she explains and applies heuristics such as:

• match between the real world and your career
• visibility of your system/career status
• flexibility and efficiency of use
• recognition rather than recall
• help and documentation

You’ll come away with new insights on your career to date and concrete action steps for creating a forward-thinking career design for the next decade and beyond.

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Last Chance to Sign Up For TechComm 201

by Kevin Cuddihy on 9 November 2012

TechComm 201, STC’s next certificate course, starts on Tuesday, 13 November, and runs every Tuesday through 18 December, from 10:30 AM-Noon each day. Registration for the course closes Monday, so you must register soon to attend the class!

Led by Leah Guren, TechComm 201 is a more advanced course that moves beyond the basic theory presented in TechComm 101. The focus is on soft skills, such as estimating and managing technical communication projects and working with SMEs; and technical skills, such as advanced editing, professional tool concepts, and Help Authoring concepts. The basic course schedule is:

• Session 1: 13 November—Project Planning and Management
• Session 2: 20 November—Tool Usage
• Session 3: 27 November—Style Guides
• Session 4:  4 December—Global Issues
• Session 5: 11 December—Online Help
• Session 6: 18 December—Advanced Editing

See the STC website for full session descriptions and to register. Register today and get set to take the next step in your career with TechComm 201.

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Registration for STC’s Content Strategy Virtual Conference is Now Open

by Kevin Cuddihy on 8 November 2012

STC introduces its latest virtual conference, Technical Communication Content Strategy in the Mobile Device Age, cosponsored by The Content Wrangler and featuring many of the top names in the field. This unique, three-day online event will include presentations on all aspects of technical communication and content strategy, and is hosted and moderated by Scott Abel of The Content Wrangler.

The virtual conference takes place over three days, 4-6 December, from 1:00-3:15 PM EST (GMT-5) each day. The conference includes seven sessions plus daily introduction and summary by Abel, with presenters such as Ann Rockley (the mother of content strategy), Sarah O’Keefe, Rahel Bailie, Joshua Tallent, and more. Sessions include:

• Content Strategy as a Framework for Content Design
• Strategy First: Launching Successful Technical Communication Projects
• Write Tight(er): What “Conciseness” Means, Why It Makes More Business Sense Today Than Ever, and How to Achieve It
• Supporting Multiple Mobile Devices with a Unified Content Strategy
• It’s a Mobile World, We Just Live In It—Learning About the Best Device for Your Content
• Curious Why Your eBooks or Apps Look Great and Work Great on Barnes and Noble Nook, but Not Kobo Books Devices and Apps?
• Reflowable and Fixed Layout files in Kindle and iBooks

See the STC website for full details, including session descriptions and learning objectives, and to register for this one-of-a-kind experience. Join STC and top names in content strategy for Technical Communication Content Strategy in the Mobile Device Age! 

Interested in a group rate for multiple attendees in the same company? Email Lloyd Tucker. 

Technical Communication Content Strategy in the Mobile Device Age
Tuesday-Thursday, 4-6 December
1:00-3:15 PM EST (GMT-5)
Members $169; Not Yet Members $225; Student Member $99

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How’s Your Community? The Community Affairs Committee Wants to Know!

by Kevin Cuddihy on 8 November 2012

Guest post by Ben Woelk, Outreach Team Lead, Community Affairs Committee

We’re conducting a brief community health survey that will help the CAC Outreach Team gather information about issues being faced by our community leaders. Our goal is to focus on the concerns that are most important to leaders in 2012-13. With the survey information, we can better serve our communities by focusing on the areas that matter most to them. We’re in our second year as a team and we’re pleased with the successes we’ve had advocating changes to the funding model and providing a free Summit registration for a leader from each community.

Please take a few minutes to complete the survey.  We’d appreciate your response before 16 November, but we’re happy to receive information later.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/STCCommunityHealthCheck

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Survey on Law and Ethics Training in TechComm

by Kevin Cuddihy on 7 November 2012

Guest post by Karen Green, Student Member

You are being invited to participate in a brief (usually 10 minutes) research study titled “Law and Ethics Training” being conducted by Karen S. Green, a graduate student at East Carolina University. The goal is to survey graduates from formal technical communication programs who have worked or are currently working in the technical communication field to determine whether they think a legal and/or ethics course should be a requirement for graduation from technical communication programs.

Please email Karen S. Green at for any research-related questions or call the Office for Human Research Integrity (OHRI) at +1 (252) 744-2914 for questions about your rights as a research participant.

Click here to participate in the survey.

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Path to Associate Fellow: Donn DeBoard, 2011

by Kevin Cuddihy on 6 November 2012

Path to Fellow is a recurring feature here on STC’s Notebook to highlight the rich contributions of our honored members. We want to tell your story! If you’re a Fellow or Associate Fellow and would like to participate in this feature, please email Kevin Cuddihy.

My path to Associate Fellow began in a night school systems analysis class at Widener University, Wilmington, DE. I was one of many journalism graduates during the Watergate Scandal era who was trying to distinguish myself in a tight job market. During this systems analysis course, I enjoyed the analysis process presented by the complex problems discussed during the course. I liked writing about technical topics. I also enjoyed developing my analysis reports in a clear and concise language. I tried to write so anyone could understand the problem and my recommended solution. My professor, a computer software professional at a local suburban Philadelphia software company, told me how clear, accurate, and readable these analyses were. (Evidently, my more technical peers in class were not doing what I was doing.) He mentioned that there were many positions writing something called software documentation. I can make a living explaining things simply and clearly? My course was set.

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