STC WDC-MB Blog

Big thanks to everyone who participated in our STC WDC/MB Social Media Survey.

Some folks have expressed an interest in seeing the full slideshow, so I’m posting it here.

STC Social Media Survey powerpoint slide show

What did we say?

We like email
We like face-to-face
We like Facebook
We like the Intercom magazine
Job postings, webinar training are important to younger members
Some of us are overwhelmed by too much social media

We are always interested in your feedback so don’t be shy about speaking up in the language and social media format of your choice:

STC WDC Chapter website http://www.stcwdc.org/
STC WDC Chapter event calendar and blog http://www.stcwdc.org/wdcblog/
STC WDC Chapter blog RSS feed
http://www.stcwdc.org/STC_Washington_DC_Chapter.xml
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/STCWDCMB
Linked In http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=156478
Twitter profile http://twitter.com/stcwdc
Twitter hashtag #stcwdc
Join this email announcement list http://www.stcwdc.org/list_annc.shtml
Join our members-only email chat list http://www.stcwdc.org/list_chat.shtml
MySTC WDC group http://stc.org/mystc/groups/viewgroup/94-Washington%2C+DC

Or feel free to contact me directly by email at any time.

Viqui Dill
Social Media Manager & At-Large Director (2012)

In December, the Washington DC – Metro Baltimore chapter received a $500 community grant from IBM. The grant was awarded as part of the IBM Community Grants program, which provides grants to not-for-profit organizations where an IBM employee or retiree regularly volunteers.

The program is part of IBM’s efforts to provide employee expertise and innovative technology to the broader community. It’s also a way to encourage employees to volunteer in organizations that serve their community. Chapter President Charlotte Glenn applied for the grant.

The chapter plans to use the grant to host an event that encourages students in technical communication and promotes technical communication as a career. Look for an upcoming event that gives students an opportunity to network with seasoned technical communicators in the greater DC-Metro Baltimore area.

Thanks IBM!

The deadline for entries into the 2011-2012 Summit Competitions for Technical Communication is this Friday. Entries may be mailed or hand delivered.

Photo Credit:
NASA/USGS/Landsat 5

Entry deadline: 7 p.m. Eastern Time,
Friday, 18 November 2011

Competition information for entrants and judges is available at http://www.stcwdc.org/compete.shtml

Download the Entry Forms: http://www.stcwdc.org/competition_about.shtml#FORMS

Judge Applications are now being accepted.

Download the Summit Competition Announcement flyer (.pdf)

Major kudos to Saul Carliner for pulling together this great webinar.

On Wednesday, November 9, the Washington DC – Metro Baltimore chapter treated members to a screening of the STC Virtual Conference Applying Research in Practice. It was a treat in every sense of the word. Provided at no cost to our members, the webinar offered presentations from researchers who are analyzing current trends in technical communication.

All the presentations were excellent. In addition to delivering some very interesting research results, the speakers provided links and references to other content that will keep many of us busy learning for the next few months.

Here are some highlights:

• Rebekka Andersen in The Effect of Content Management Systems on Processes in Technical Communication Groups described research that shows how important it is to consider the culture of an organization when attempting to implement content management systems.

• David Farkas described a new non-proprietary format for documents called QuikScan that he and his colleague Quan Zhou developed. The process, which incorporates content summaries within documents, can be used in many writing tools. It saves time and enhances reading comprehension.

• Wendy Freeman in What the Research Says about Use of Social Media by Younger People (It Might Surprise You) presented a thorough analysis of how young people are using social media with some interesting conclusions about what digital literacy means today.

• John Killoran in Search Engine Optimization and the Web Work of Technical Communicators discussed how search engines work and provided tips about writing web content that appeals to search engines.

• Brad Mehlenbacher in Social media and sustaining technical communication summarized the history of social media, explored it strengths and weaknesses, and provided a useful conceptual view of social media that gives a framework for evaluating and using the various forms of media available.

• Martine Courant Rife’s presentation Copyright Law and Professional Online Communication gave us plenty of food for thought about how copyright laws affect technical communication. She also answered our questions about copyrights and requirements of new laws such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

• Ann Rockley in Changing Publication Processes introduced us to some newer forms of publication, including eBook readers and tablet devices, and described the potential of these forms of communication. She showed how to use these emerging technologies and in one case how not to use them.

• Aimee Kendall Roundtree in Medical Writing in Social Media: Practices and Challenges discussed how the health care industry is using social media for communication. She provided a number of very interesting case studies and addressed some interesting issues related to health care and social media, such as whether online social networks can affect long-term health behavior and the competition between the emerging media and traditional, one-way communication policies in the field of health care.

• Stuart Selber in iPads in technical Communication described a research study at Penn State where students were given iPads to use in English classes. The study explored how users implemented the technology and the challenges that students and teachers faced using this form of technology as a medium for communication.

All in all, this was one of the most interesting webinars that I have attended. If STC offers it as a recording, be sure to take advantage of that opportunity.

You can now access the PowerPoint slides from our 10/24/11 webinar on professional certification for technical communicators with speaker Steve Jong.