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.  

Ray Gallon — STC Candidate for Director

Ray is an independent consultant specializing in the convergence of content strategy, content development, and usability. He is currently in his second term as president of STC France. Before that, he was the chapter’s education outreach manager, and guided STC France’s mentoring programme.

Ray will be posting specific articles about important issues on his personal blog. Join him there, and leave your comments, or raise the issues that concern you the most. 

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, Ray, and all the STC candidates.

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.

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)

I have been encouraged to write here of my somewhat unusual way of entering into the field of technical writing.  That’s right, I am not a technical communication professional, but am trying to enter the field—by just jumping in.  Some of you might find my approach and my experiences—and my success (?)—interesting.

Let me introduce myself by my elevator presentation.  It was interesting when I gave it to a gathering of about 40 technical communication professionals at a recent evening event of the WDC chapter:

• name: Steve Jolivette . . .
• trying to break into the field of technical writing . . .
• have done a great deal of technical writing, but in the capacity of an IT programmer/analyst, not a technical writer . . .
• have also done much writing as an historian (have a Ph.D. in history) . . .
• so I have done a great deal of writing, but I do not have expertise in the software tools of TW . . .
• in order to break into the field I am willing to start at a very low rate . . .

Wooh—I got quite  a rise from this last revelation!  I had hardly finished pronouncing the last word (“rate”) when everyone laughed, some gasping with shock.  The laughter was not exactly because it was funny—it was more the laughter of surprise at the unexpected-incredible, i.e., at a supposedly big-time gaffe.

Now, I am not exactly a spring chicken—but I was more surprised than my audience.  Naïve?  Hmmm . . .  Well, then again . . .  To hell with it!  I defended my stance then and I defend it now.  How else can I show my talent and my determination to do quality work?  I’ll work for nothing (for awhile—however long it takes) to prove myself.  I’ll even volunteer for a good long stint at a non-paying job if that is what it takes. (My idea is that I can be highly productive writing solid text—to pass to others to format and graphically enhance—while gaining expertise with the tools.)

This hire-me-on-trial, let-me-train-on-the-job tactic is how I first entered into computer programming years ago.  With a B.A. in history, needing solid employment, and with no programming education, training, or experience, I went to the Yellow Pages and started dialing the “Data Processing” numbers—and soon found a small company which gave me a two-week trial (I passed) which was the beginning of a satisfying career in IT.  (It was a fine career in its own right, and in later financing my way through graduate school in history.)  So something like that can probably—almost certainly—work for me a second time.  I’ll give it a try.

Anyone interested in trying me?

In any case, I’ll post here from time to time, at major events or major epiphanies, to let those who are interested know how it is coming along . . .

STC Class of 2010 Fellows and Associate Fellows Announced

STC is pleased to announce that 24 distinguished members have been named Fellows and Associate Fellows of the Society. They will be recognized at the Honors Banquet at the 2010 STC Summit in Dallas this year.

New Fellows:
Phylise Banner
Michelle Corbin
David Dick
Pamela Ecker
Russell Friend
Barbara Giammona
Ann-Marie Grissino
Kristine Haugseth
Alan Houser
Russell Kahn
Karen Lane
Deanne Levander
Sylvia Miller
Jack Molisani
Neil Perlin
Kathryn Poe
Gloria Reece
Thomas Reed
W.C. Wiese

New Associate Fellows:
Mona M.A. Albano
Barrie Byron
Angela Dianetti
Taryn Light
Nad Rosenberg

STC awards Associate Fellow to Senior Members who have attained distinction in the field of technical communication.

The rank of STC Fellow is conferred upon Associate Fellows who have attained such eminence in the field of technical communication that the Board deems them worthy of being singled out as one of the select few who have distinguished the Society and the profession.

All are welcome to attend the Honors Banquet; please purchase your ticket when you register for the conference.

Congratulations to all the honorees!