STC WDC-MB Blog

The 2012 STC Election will take place Friday, 2 March, through Friday, 23 March. The 2012 STC Ballot is not yet available. When the election opens, a link to the online Ballot will be posted here.

Find out more about the election, get to know the candidates, and pose questions by visiting the STC Election web pages.

Nicky Bleiel — STC Candidate for Vice President

Find out more about Nicky Bleiel by visiting her website and by reading her Newsletter Article about the election and her vision for the Society.

Some of us will remember Nicky for her encouraging and enthusiastic participation in the Virtual Town Hall meeting on January 25, 2012. Nicky will be the featured speaker at our awards celebration on March 1st, so we can meet her in person before the elections.  

As we hear from other candidates, we will be posting updates on our Chapter blog, so stay tuned as we prepare for the 2012 elections.

Good luck to Nicky and all the STC candidates.

Many thanks to everyone who participated in our Virtual Town Hall meeting on January 25, 2012. The webinar provided a good opportunity for us to reconnect, celebrate the accomplishments of the past year, and get excited about the opportunities before us in the coming year.

Slides from the Virtual Town Hall in pdf format

Among the highlights of the presentation were

• the map of our chapter members’ geographic distribution,
  
• a summary of the events we attended in 2011,
  
• a preview of some of the events we are planning in 2012,
  
• and an open and honest view of our finances.
  

The group had a few lively discussions about what STC offers to our members, especially the grant from IBM, potential locations for future meetings (come to the wineries in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley), and the STC job bank.

The group expressed a desire to give support to our local student affiliates. Tiffany Newland will be attending the JMU Student Chapter Meeting in February and suggested that we send her ideas and information about events that would appeal to students at the undergrad or graduate level. Email Tiffany at tnewland at woodmark.com.

Many thanks to some of the STC leadership who attended online
Nick Bleiel
Alan Houser
Judy Glick-Smith
and to all our chapter members and volunteers for a terrific 2011.

Here’s looking forward to communicating with you in 2012.

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.