Halloween has crept up on us again. Witches, goblins, and super-heroes are descending on neighborhoods across America, and a few simple precautions can prepare them for a safe and enjoyable trick-or-treat experience. These suggestions from the American Red Cross are worth remembering.

For kids

• Walk, slither, and sneak on sidewalks, not in the street.
• Look both ways before crossing the street to check for cars, trucks, and low-flying brooms.
• Cross the street only at corners.
• Don’t hide or cross the street between parked cars.
• Wear light-colored or reflective-type clothing so you are more visible. (And remember to put reflective tape on bikes, skateboards, and brooms, too!)
• Plan your route and share it with your family. If possible, have an adult go with you.


• Carry a flashlight to light your way.


• Keep away from open fires and candles. (Costumes can be extremely flamable.)


• Visit homes that have the porch light on.


• Accept your treats at the door and never go into a stranger’s house.


• Use face paint rather than masks or things that will cover your eyes.


• Be cautious of animals and strangers.


• Have a grown-up inspect your treats before eating. And don’t eat candy if the package is already opened.

For adults
Parents of trick-or-treating kids can get so caught up in the fun themselves that they might forget some simple safety ideas that could save everyone some trouble.

Below are just a few common sense tips that can help.

• Know the route your kids will be taking if you aren’t going with them. The best bet is to make sure that an adult is going with them. If you can’t take them, see if another parent or a teen aged sibling can go along.


• Know what other activities a child may be attending, such as parties, school or mall functions. Know who they’re going with, and how they will get there and back.


• Make sure you set a time that they should be home by. Make sure they know how important it is for them to be home on time.


• Explain to children the difference between tricks and vandalism. Throwing eggs at a house may seem like fun but they need to know the other side of the coin as well, clean up and damages can ruin Halloween. If they are caught vandalizing, make them clean up the mess they’ve made.


• Explain to your kids that animal cruelty is not acceptable. Kids may know this on their own but peer pressure can be a bad thing. Make sure that they know that harming animals is not only morally wrong but punishable by law and will not be tolerated.


• Pin a slip of paper with the child’s name, address and phone number inside a pocket in case the youngster gets separated from the group.


• If you’re going to be driving anywhere tonight, the National Safety Council urges you to be especially alert.
  • Enter and exit driveways and alleys carefully.
  • Watch for children darting out from between parked cars.
  • Watch for children walking on roadways, medians and curbs.
  • At twilight and later in the evening, watch especially carefully for children in dark clothing.
  
  

I love the magic of Halloween. I love the tiny voices at knee level saying “twick ah twee,” and the creative costumes, and the grandparents taking flash photographs of their darlings as they come down the porch steps with their loot. I especially love knowing that the children I care about will be able to indulge their sense of fantasy and their greed for candy without danger. If we all use common sense and follow suggestions like those listed above, everybody can have a frightfully good time!

Dear STC members,

To help STC provide enhanced educational programming and a new level of service, the Board of Directors has approved the creation of a totally new position, Director of Education. This role will help position STC as a leader in providing the most advanced, dynamic, and future-oriented training and education in the field of technical communication.

I am delighted to report that Lloyd Tucker is joining the STC staff on November 1st as the new Director of Education. Lloyd has been the Director of Education and Membership at the Document Management Industries Association (DMIA) for the past ten years. He was the architect and project leader for an award-winning and profitable association e-learning system, developed and managed the education program for the annual conference and worked with regional and local leaders in planning community events.

Prior to his twelve years with DMIA, Lloyd was in the Air Force for twenty-five years, culminating his career as a Lieutenant Colonel. He supervised military intelligence training, served as a spokesperson for Defense Intelligence in international forums and developed a $26 million worldwide intelligence communications program. He gave daily morning intelligence briefings to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during Operation Desert Storm. One of his references, a general, told me that Lloyd “is a technical communicator with great creativity, skill and grace under fire—literally—as well as a fine educator and leader.”

Having a director-level position focused on education will enable STC to offer programs valuable to the experienced technical communicator as well as the neophyte. Lloyd’s experience with all forms of delivery mechanisms, from conference programming to small training sessions and e-learning, will benefit the entire membership.

Please welcome Lloyd and send him your suggestions for quality educational programming for STC at his e-mail address: lloyd@stc.org. Thank you!

Susan Burton, CAE
Executive Director
Society for Technical Communication
901 N. Stuart Street, Suite 904
Arlington, VA 22203
Phone: +1 703-522-4114, extension 210
Fax: +1 703-522-2075
sburton@stc.org

Greetings from the 2006-2007 STC International Art, Pubs, and Online Competitions,

STC is inviting technical communicators to serve as judges in STC’s international competitions (technical publications, technical art, or online communication). Judging in the international competitions provides a unique opportunity to share information with peers, network, and get a marvelous view of the best work that our colleagues are producing.

If selected, you will serve on a team of three judges to evaluate entries that have already received distinguished awards at the local/regional level. Your team will judge the entries in one or more categories. The number of entries varies by competition and category. All judging and determination of awards are completed before or on the day of judging.

You may apply as either an on-site or remote judge. There are advantages to both, but because of funding considerations, the number of on-site judges is limited and some applicants for on-site judging may be invited to judge on a remote team. If you are applying to be an on-site judge, please indicate on your application if your employer is willing to fund all or part of your travel and/or accommodations.

On-Site Judges

On-site judges will meet in Arlington, Virginia for judging that begins at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 24, 2007. Rooms will be reserved for Friday and Saturday, March 23-24, 2007. Priority as on-site judges may be given to persons who have partial or full corporate travel support.

Off-Site Judges

Off-site judges make the initial and final decision on awards in a telephone conference call. The team selects a mutually agreeable date and time for the call but they must allow time for mailing of the entries, and electronic submission of evaluation forms, awards list, and Best of Show forms to the Society office to be received by March 20, 2007.

Qualifications for Judges

All judges must meet at least two of the following criteria:
1. Master’s degree or higher in technical communication or related field.
2. Senior membership in STC
3. Seven years in technical communication or a related field (STC membership not required).
4. Strong publishing background (five articles or one book).
5. Teaching experience in communication or a related field (five years full-time or seven years adjunct or part-time).
6. Winner of an STC or other communication competition award.
7. Certification by a communication-related professional organization.

Your judging experience and breadth of activity in STC may also be considered.

How to Apply

Complete the application (available at http://www.stc.org/comp/internationalCompetitions01_forms.asp).. The form must be submitted by December 1, 2006. You will be notified of the results of your application by the first week of February.

If you are accepted as a judge, details will be sent to you in mid January.

If you have any questions, please contact Karen Baranich, STC Competitions Manager, (803) 217-7299 or kbaranich@scana.com.——-
Peg Cottrell
Director of Administration
Society for Technical Communication
901 N Stuart Street #904
Arlington, VA 22203
Phone +1 (703) 522-4114×204
Fax +1 (703) 522-2075 – fax
Peg@stc.org

Dear STC members,

Oops. Somehow I lost a month and didn’t send an email to STC members in September. With my oldest son leaving for college, a week in Finland for work, and the Jewish high holidays, the month was gone before I realized it. This time of year is also very busy for STC’s communities, as meetings, conferences, competitions, and other programs move into high gear.

I was pleased to have the opportunity to visit with the Finnish Technical Communication Society in September. While people-watching at an outdoor cafe in Helsinki, I had a long chat with FTCS President Nick Hill about the common issues of our societies and possible ways to work together in the future. I also attended their monthly meeting later that week and led a discussion about trends in our field. Thanks to our colleagues in Finland for their hospitality.

Many of us in STC were saddened by last month’s passing of STC Fellow Ken Rainey. (Look for an obituary in the December issue of Intercom.) Ken was a true evangelist for technical communication, bringing his love of the field to his students at Southern Tech and around the world. We will miss him.—-
Paula Berger
STC President, pres@stc.org

Update from the October Board Meeting

The STC Board of Directors meeting in mid-October in London focused on our strategic objectives related to membership, marketing, and partnerships, and the revised 2007 budget. A top priority was a review of the results of the knowledge-based governance survey sent to all members a few weeks before the board meeting (results to be posted on stc.org soon). Committee chairs in the membership and marketing areas reported on progress and plans, and guest Ping Duan of the Capital University of Medical Sciences in Beijing gave a presentation about technical communication in China. Executive Director Susan Burton’s report focused on the resources we need to work toward our strategic objectives, and also explained the need to improve our technology and office processes. Click here to review the status slides from the board meeting.

Arranging our board meeting to coincide with the Region 2 conference provided excellent learning opportunities for all of us. Several chapter leaders sat in on the board meeting, and board members got to meet many members from Europe and Israel (and some from the U.S. too). Our UK chapter hosts arranged a lovely evening where everyone had the chance to mingle and see the city from atop the London Eye. Our extremely well-attended town hall meeting early Saturday morning gave members a chance to meet Susan Burton and the STC officers for Coffee, Croissants, and Q&A.

Progress Report on STC Activities

Professional Development. STC has just awarded its largest research grant ever to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for a study of “Usable Content in an Interactive World”, focusing on developing a general set of heuristics that makes paperless information usable. You can read the details here. We are excited to be funding this ground-breaking research of importance to the future of technical communication.

Education and Training. STC’s new Director of Education, Lloyd Tucker, starts on November 1. Lloyd has been the Director of Education and Membership at the Document Management Industries Association (DMIA) for 10 years. He was the architect and project leader for an award-winning and profitable association e-learning system, developed and managed the education program for the annual conference, and worked with regional and local leaders in planning community events. Lloyd managed to slip over to our office a few days early for several intense planning sessions for the all-new Technical Communication Summit: STC’s 54th Annual Conference. I think you’ll like our exciting 2007 conference with invited speakers, updated tracks, and five new certificate programs!

Education and Training. While in London for the board meeting and Region 2 conference, I was pleased to meet STC’s 2007 Honorary Fellow and Annual Conference keynote speaker Simon Singh, along with Susan Burton and Honorary Fellows committee member Andrea Ames. Wow! We found Simon to be fascinating, fun, and eager to talk to our members in Minneapolis about how his communication work developing TV and film relates to our work. I think you’ll enjoy Simon’s talk next May in Minneapolis.

Communities. If you’re a community leader, be sure to look over the new criteria for STC’s Community Achievement Awards (CAAs). The CAA Committee has worked with the board’s Communities Affairs Committee to revamp the awards criteria to better match STC’s strategic objectives. They’ve also added a new “Fundamental” level of recognition so we can better acknowledge communities that meet the baseline requirements for compliance with STC’s best practices.

Membership. As of November 1, STC’s online renewal form is “open”. The first 50 members to renew online will receive a free webinar of their choice. The deadline for renewals is January 1 — that’s the date specified in the STC Bylaws!

Upcoming Events

World Usability Day 2006 is almost here, and STC is a sponsor for this global event on November 14. To take part in the World’s Largest Online Card Sort, see www.stc.org/wud.

LISA, STC’s new partner association, invites STC members to attend the LISA Forum Europe 2006 in Warsaw, Poland on November 13-17.
STC is expanding the Related Events calendar on our website and we need your help! Please send information on STC events or any other events of interest to the global technical communication community to Cecily Farrar. Thanks.

Coming Soon…

• Why corporate sponsorships can help STC members


• Schedule of regional and chapter conferences for early 2007


• What ever happened to STC’s Transformation? (I just haven’t had time to answer this one yet…)

(press release)
Rochester Women’s Network will host its 11th Annual Business Conference, “Powering the Economy through Leadership and Innovation: Discovering What You Have That the Regional Economy Needs” on Friday, November 3rd at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm. Details and registration are available at the RWN web site or by calling 585.271.4182.

The conference will focus on where the regional economy is headed and how to prepare for and take advantage of emerging business and career opportunities.

• Keynote speaker Gay Gilbert, Administrator for the United States Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration’s Office of Workforce Development and point person for the WIRED Finger Lakes Partnership – a Federal initiative to help stimulate the regional economy – will discuss what the USDOL envisions for our region and provide the framework for the day.
• Maggie Brooks, Monroe County Executive, will offer her perspective on the opportunities that the WIRED initiative brings to our community during the plenary session.
• Robert Duffy, Mayor of the City of Rochester, will wrap-up the day and share his thoughts on putting the ideas generated during
  the Conference to work.

Choose three sessions from Concurrent Workshops that offer something for everyone in the business arena, from business owners to senior managers and executives as well as individuals seeking to advance their careers. Topics include:

• Winning Strategies to Hire, Retain and Motivate the Best and Brightest


• Getting the Job You Want: How to Evaluate, Market and Enhance Your Skills


• Starting and/or Growing a Business in a Challenging Economy


• All About Industry Clusters: Becoming Successful with the Company You Keep


• Making a Flat World Work for You: Embracing Tomorrow’s Technology Today


• Flexible Workforce: A Creative Approach


• Social Entrepreneurship: The Triple Bottom Line


• Building an Education Bridge to Your Future


• Hot Jobs in a Cool Economy


• Smart Customer Service Drives Business Success


• The Power of Networking

Conference admission also includes the RWN Up & Coming Businesswomen’s Awards Luncheon recognizing 15 women on the “fast track” who have demonstrated professional and career leadership potential. [Editor’s Note: Amy Castronova, president of Novatech and STC-Rochester Chapter VP, is one of the honorees.] The luncheon program will feature remarks by Germaine Knapp, President of Sojourner House and recipient of RWN’s 2006 “W” Award. Wrap up the day at the WIRED networking wine and cheese reception. Planned breaks throughout the day offer ample time to visit the Exhibitors’ Marketplace which features products and services geared toward professionals, as well as time to network with one another.

Brochure and registration form

Register online or call 585.271.4182 for more nformation.

Special thanks to RWN Business Conference sponsors!

• Presenting Sponsor: Preferred Care
• Supporting Sponsors: Rochester Woman Magazine; MIKAREN Interactive, Video and Design; Democrat and Chronicle; Rochester Institute of Technology, E. Philip Saunders College of Business; My Digital Office; WIRED, Finger Lakes Partnership; Constellation Brands; Davie, Kaplan, Chapman and Braverman, P.C.; ESL Federal Credit Union; Paychex; Advantage Professionals; The Summit Federal Credit Union

Sincerely,
Deborah Stendardi, Conference Chairperson & Mary Peters,
Executive Director Rochester Women’s Network————————————————————————————————-
email: rwn@rwn.org
phone: 585.271.4182
web: http://www.rwn.org

Every year, the Society for Technical Information awards scholarships to four students who are preparing for careers in some area of technical communication. The $1500 awards are given to two undergraduates and two graduate students to help with school tuition and expenses for accredited degree programs.

This year, one of the awards went to Heidi Trost of Henrietta, NY. A graduate of Nazareth College, Ms. Trost plans to pursue advanced studies at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT.)

The STC International Scholarship Committee awarded the scholarship to Ms. Trost based on her outstanding academic record, the high quality of her technical documentation and graphic design projects, and her potential for contributing to the rapidly changing technical communication profession.

Since 1971, STC has awarded these annual scholarships to improve the transfer of technical information through such occupations as technical writing and editing, graphical design, interface design, and Web design. For more information on the STC International Scholarship Program, visit the STC Web site.

The Society for Technical Communication (STC), the world’s largest association for technical communicators, has announced its support for World Usability Day, Tuesday, November 14, 2006. This event is organized by the Usability Professionals’ Association, which is sponsoring a series of events that promote the values and benefits of usability engineering and user-centered design. All events will take place over a 36-hour period. Individuals and organizations in more than 30 countries around the world are participating.

As part of World Usability Day, STC and CM Pros, an organization of content management professionals, are organizing a global online card-sort exercise. Card sorting is a fast, cheap, reliable technique way to determine how people categorize information. This knowledge helps information architects and usability professionals create structures for print and online information that make products and technologies more usable. STC’s card-sort exercise will be carried out by participants living and working all over the world, and is expected to provide insights about regional variations in the ways people organize information.

“STC’s involvement in World Usability Day is a logical extension of technical communication,” says Paula Berger, president of STC. “Everything that technical communicators do is about usability, whether making instructions more usable through better writing, interfaces more usable because of better labeling and navigation, or products more usable because of user testing. It’s all part of the same continuum.”

It is not necessary to be a member of one of the sponsoring organizations in order to join in the exercise. Anyone interested in participating can sign up at http://www.stc.org/wud. The exercise is made possible by the donation of WebSort software (http://www.websort.net) from Parallax, LLC.

Part 1: DITA & Translation
Tues, October 24, 2006
10am PST | 1pm EST | 6pm GMT

Presenters: Dr. Joanne Hackos and Jennifer Linton, Comtech Services

The first in a series of free educational Webinars, “DITA and Translation” will focus on how to best implement DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture) in your information development and management process.

As organizations build a business case for moving their content to DITA and implementing a content management system, reduced translation and localization costs are usually significant parts of the promised ROI. Translation costs are reduced through the virtual elimination of desktop-publishing tasks for multiple languages, as well as the limitation of new and changed topics vis-à-vis a comprehensive multi-language management system.

In this, the first webinar of the series, Dr. JoAnn Hackos, president of Comtech Services, director of the CIDM, and chair of the DITA Technical Subcommittee on Translation, will outline how to best implement DITA to reduce translation costs and speed time to market of global content.

Takeaways from the “DITA and Translation” Webinar:

• How to use DITA metadata to specify languages, bi-directionality and translation.


• How to prepare indexes in DITA that do not complicate translation activities.


• How to prepare your legacy translation memory so that you maintain its value as a business asset as you transform content to the DITA model.


• How to write with translation in mind.

And more!

The rest of the series:

• Part 2: Conditional Publishing
  
  Mon, November 20, 2006
  
  10am PST | 1pm EST | 6pm GMT


• Part 3: Specialization
  
  Thurs, January 18, 2007
  
  10am PST | 1pm EST | 6pm GMT

Register for this webinar or for the entire series.

Who: Dr. Charles F. Christiansen What: “Serenity in Spite of Stress” When: Wednesday, 18 October 2006, 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. Where: Holiday Inn Rochester Airport 911 Brooks Avenue, Rochester, NY 14624

Today’s fast-paced lifestyle can take a toll on your health and sense of well-being. Learn how to
give yourself a “time out” through the use of coping strategies developed at Harvard Medical
School. A variety of techniques will be discussed to cope with fatigue, anxiety and stress.

Recent books are helping to define an emerging consciousness and consensus about the current
focus on wellness. Dr. Charles F. Christiansen, a successful pastoral counselor for many years in Rochester, New York, has made this his area of concentration. He is now leading workshops, classes and seminars to help people discover:

• The Relaxation Response
• Cognitive Restructuring
• Stages of Spiritual Growth

Dr. Christiansen’s years of pastoral experience have been enriched by clinical training in
Behavioral Medicine at the Mind/Body Institute at Harvard Medical School. He has degrees
from Syracuse University and Drew University.

Agenda

5.30 – 6.30 Welcome, Introductions, Announcements, and Buffet
6.30 – 7.30 Presentation by Dr. Charles Christiansen
7.30 – 8.00 Wrap up, Finish Food

Reservations are required for food planning. To attend, please notify Agapi Theodorou, STC
Program Chair at atheo10@gmail.com or (585) 330-2587 no later than Friday, October 13 2006
at 12.00pm. Cost: Members $15, Non-Members $20, Program only $3.

See you there!

Amy Castronova, President of Novatek Communications, Inc. and 2006-2007 STC-Rochester Chapter Vice President, at Spectrum 2006.

Amy was recently selected as a recipient of Rochester’s Up and Coming Businesswomen’s Award for her professional and career leadership potential. The award, presented by the Rochester Women’s Network, recognizes women that have worked full-time in their current career field for fewer than 10 years and successfully demonstrated their professional influence in that field through numerous accomplishments, career growth and advancement, innovative and creative thinking, and initiative at work and in the community.

Amy will be honored at the RWN’s 11th Annual Business Conference on November 3rd, 2006 at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center.