Volunteering with the Rochester Chapter of STC

Have you ever wondered why people volunteer? Why do people give of themselves when there are so many other things to do with their lives?

Personally, I believe it’s something in the water or maybe in the air – especially in Rochester, New York. Rochester is a great volunteer town! It seems like everyone you talk with is involved in something that puts demands on them beyond their 8 to 5 schedule and they seem to love talking about their experiences. They willingly give up their personal time so that they can spend an evening or the occasional Saturday or Sunday being with other like-minded people. But if it’s not in the water or air it must be something that they inherited from their parents or possibly contracted from their children. You know what I mean, all those nights and weekends helping with homework and school projects – that must have something to do with it.

So what do they get from this volunteering?

Well I can assure you it’s not anything monetary. Most volunteer jobs even seem to cost a bit; you understand – for the person to get there – with the price of fuel or at least the cup of $4 coffee while participating in the meeting. And in many volunteer organizations there is always a need for a PC or MAC so you can communicate with others, so there is that cost and of course the price on the Internet provider, that could be a small fortune. So volunteering is not a moneymaking deal, quite the opposite when you come down to it.

So why do so many people volunteer?

I believe it’s personal! It’s a lot like breathing and drinking water – you really need to do it to stay alive. Not alive in the physical sense but more of a personal pride and personal value sense of being. It gives you that feeling that you have made a difference. Like watching your children grow and succeed because you helped nurture their growth. Plus I think it’s a very selfish thing, it makes them feel good about themselves. And while they are feeling good they don’t think about the cost, they do however reflect on the value that their personal contribution has added to the good of the project they supported.

So have you volunteered lately?

If not, the Rochester Chapter of STC is a ‘great’ organization made up of very talented people who have so much to share. Your skills and experience can add so much to the chapter that it is hard to imagine not having you as part of the team. Volunteering with STC will add value to the Chapter and give you a sense of accomplishment for something you personally believe in and it would not have gotten done without your help. Plus, if you’re not careful, you may make some new friends and learn something along the way. Because when you’re involved you add value and make a significant difference.
—Joseph Uhal is the President of the Rochester Chapter.

“An Evening with Helen Thomas: Women’s History Month Featured Speaker”

7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 6
Hubbell Auditorium
University of Rochester’s River Campus

ADMISSION: $3 for University undergraduates; $7 for the University Community; and $10 for the public. Tickets can be purchased at the Common Market in Wilson Commons and at the door.

Helen Thomas, the longtime White House Bureau Chief often referred to as “The First Lady of the Press,” was a pioneer for women journalists covered breaking news from the FBI to Capitol Hill. For 57 years, she also served as White House correspondent for United Press International and covered every president since John F. Kennedy.

Thomas is now a syndicated columnist for Hearst Newspapers and has written three books, including her latest, Thanks for the Memories, Mr. President: Wit and Wisdom from the Front Row at the White House .

The event is sponsored by the Campus Activities Board, UR Women’s Caucus, and Simon Association of Women MBA’s.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact the Common Connection at (585) 275-5911.

The March issue of Intercom, which highlights current content management topics, has been posted to www.stc.org/intercom.

In this issue:

• what a content management system (CMS) does


• the different types of systems available


• how to implement a CMS


• how technical publications groups can use content management (CM) to restructure themselves in their wider organizations.

Other features include an article on the certificate programs and institutes available at the annual conference and a guide to STC’s 2007 election.

To access Intercom articles online, you’ll need your STC member number and password.

Posted on behalf of Saul Carliner, Manager of Conferences, STC. If you have any questions please contact Lloyd Tucker, STC Director of Education at lloyd@stc.org.

Dear Members,

As you go through the program materials for the upcoming STC Annual
Conference, I thought you might be interested in checking out the
following programs of particular interest to information designers and
architects:

(1) The Information Design Institute is an in-depth
conference-within-a-conference that explores advanced topics in
information design and architecture. Sessions cover information
architecture for mobile devices, interaction design, the development of
taxonomies, wayfinding, designing for special audiences, designing
wordless instructions, and the design process.

Your conference registration includes access to sessions in all of the
Institutes at the conference.

(2) The Designing and Assessing User Experiences track explores various
topics in usability including an overview of software for usability, paper
prototyping, making the most of expert reviews, and avoiding bias in
usability testing, as well as case studies of usability in organizations,
and a session with usability expert Jared Spool.

(3) For those of you interested in cross-cultural issues, check out the
Globalization, Localization, and Translation Institute, which explores
issues ranging from topics such as automated globalization and quality
metrics for localization and translation to the homogenization of
cultures.

(4) If you are interested in knowledge management, check out the Knowledge
Management Institute, which features sessions on creating communities of
practice, design considerations for corporate intranets, “harvesting”
knowledge, identifying patterns in knowledge, and case studies of
knowledge management in organizations. This Institute also includes an
introductory session on knowledge management, for those who want a
refresher.

(5) To keep up with the latest in technology, check out the following.
—The Web 2.0 Institute, which features sessions on collaborative writing
with wikis and social computing, along with an introduction to Web 2.0.—The Content Management Institute, which features sessions on XML, DITA
and a variety of other complex publishing technologies.—The sessions in the Managing People, Projects, and Business Track,
which includes sessions on developing a business case for technology and
addressing the non-technical components in a technology implementation.—The sessions in the Producing and Publishing Information track, which
include sessions on using XML and DITA, content management, cool tools
under $100, and e-learning technology.

(6) For comprehensive ideas on communicating content, check out the
Developing and Delivering Content Track sessions on modular writing, using
UML, best practices for designing Web forms, page design, the psychology
of writing style, visual rhetoric, writing for the Web, games, and
creative e-learning.

(7) For an in-depth learning experience, you might be interested in one of
our certificate programs, such as (a) The Science and Art of Effective
Interface Design, (b) “Undiscovered Country: Taking Your Information
Design Skills to the Next Level,” or© “Moving to Content Management:
From Justification to Implementation.”

Check out the complete conference schedule at www.stc.org/54thConf.

Note that early bird registration rates are available through February 28.

I hope to see you in Minneapolis.

Best regards,

Saul Carliner, Ph.D., CTDP
Manager of Conferences, STC
Coordinator, Information Design Institute

Posted on behalf of Mollye Barrett, candidate for STC Director. If you have any questions, please contact Mollye at mollyeb@kencook.com. You may also post a comment here using the Comment button at the bottom of the article.

Every Member Counts!

Hi! I’m Mollye Barrett and I’m a candidate for STC Director. I’m asking for your vote in the coming STC elections because I support technical communicators and the needs of STC members. I believe every member counts.

I place great store in technical communicators, the work you perform and the value you add to society. You’re important and so is your work. As an STC Director, I will listen to members and learn about your challenges, I’ll work to support your needs and as a result, I’ll ensure that STC’s governance is transparent and responsive.

As a past president of the Wisconsin Chapter and a Region 6 Conference Committee member, I understand the challenges of STC leadership. These positions have led me to recognize that the society requires changes that will facilitate growth and renewal.

My experience as a chapter mentoring program manager has connected me with professionals and students seeking a rewarding career as technical communicators. I’ve learned that by listening, offering encouragement and guidance, I’ve helped others acquire the skills and knowledge to become valuable practitioners in their field.

My role as Director would be that of a facilitator and I’ll consider every issue by asking, “What do members want and need? What resources can the Society offer to support the members?”

My career has benefited from the educational opportunities of countless chapter meetings as well as many regional and international conferences. Further, I have developed a rich network of high-functioning technical communication professionals that are both colleagues and friends.

Service is the heart of a volunteer organization like STC and service is why I am a Director candidate. To the role of Director I offer my energy, creativity, and best communication skills.

My goals are clear: offer members the education, programming, and support they need to thrive in their careers, lead the society in changes that will facilitate growth and renewal, and enjoy the opportunity to work with everyone. Some inititatives I support and propose include:

• Regularly survey members on their interests and expectations
• Ensure that STC is a member-driven organization
• Focus on STC as both a professional development and social networking organization
• Build an international mentoring program
• Recognize and honor working technical communicators
• Support STC as a business focused on the needs of members
• Support a strong membership drive for new members and contact lapsed members, encouraging them to rejoin

I have been a member of STC since 1995 and have benefited from the service of others. Please contact me with questions, concerns, ideas or just to say hello.

You can view my candidate information on the STC candidate site (www.stc.org/candidatesFAQ/candBio01.asp?candID=22) and additional information on my campaign site (www.mollyebarrett.org). I look forward to your vote of support and the opportunity to serve STC.

Mollye Barrett
mollyeb@kencook.com

414-847-1271

Posted on behalf of Jonathan Baker, candidate for STC Director. If you have any questions, please contact Jonathan at jbaker2525@earthlink.net. You are also welcome to post comments here, using the Comments button at the bottom of the article.

What do you want from STC?

I know from STC surveys and my past experience on the STC Board that most
members value STC for networking (including the conferences),
publications, chapters, and SIGs. These same things have great value for
me. But as a professional, I want STC to provide training/education that
prepares us to grow in our jobs, certification that helps us progress
professionally, job leads that foster career growth, and industry
leadership that promotes a higher level of respect for the field of
technical communication.

The professional/job-oriented values are actually more important to me
personally than the other more social aspects. Don’t get me wrong, for
more than 10 years I’ve worked in the trenches just like most other
volunteers and I have made many friends within STC. However, the problem
is, I, like many other members, want more than STC has been able to
provide. Does that mean I give up on STC and move on? Not necessarily.

Generally, I believe STC needs to reinvent itself. From the inside, this
happens by fundamental changes in how STC does business. This means
bringing both STCís financial practices and governance, among other
things, into the 21st century.

Why should this matter to you? Because organizationally STC is still stuck
in the very comfortable past circa 1959, which means STC can’t possibly
deliver what you and I need a half a century later. Reinvention is the
single greatest challenge for STC. I believe that STC can successfully
reinvent itself, but only if the membership, including and especially the
leadership, can let go of the past.

I am in the process of writing several articles on STC’s finances and
governance. These articles will be available on the web shortly.

Read my articles. Get passionate. Vote.

As always please feel free to contact me at jbaker2525@earthlink.net.

Jonathan W. Baker
Candidate for Director

Editor’s note: Cindy is currently our Region 1 Director, and will be speaking at spectrum on March 23.

Taking Technical Communication to New Heights!

Hello STC members! I’m Cindy Currie, a candidate for Second Vice President (2VP). I’m currently a Director, Community Affairs Committee chair, and a Strategic Planning Committee member. I belong to the Northern New England and UK chapters and five SIGs. I’ve been a member since 1991 and a Fellow since 2005.

For the past two years, I’ve worked hard to help STC deliver more value for all members. I want to continue this work, and I feel that I can best do that by increasing my commitment to STC through the office of 2VP.

My primary focus is promoting the value of technical communication to business. We need to ensure that senior management fully understands the role we play in helping to increase the bottom line of business. It is through relationships at this level that we will succeed in bringing the profession closer to the core of business, raising its profile, and creating new and higher-level roles for technical communicators. I know we can do this by concentrating on four key areas:

• Codifying our body of knowledge – The certification debate continues, with strong feelings on both sides. Certification – if we choose to go in that direction – isn’t possible without a body of knowledge (BoK) against which to certify TCs. In either case, a BoK is essential to elevating the profession in the global business hierarchy, helping to further legitimize it.


• Enhancing and expanding professional growth opportunities – Members must be ready to meet new and exciting challenges, so we must provide a variety of business and leadership learning opportunities, as well as education and training on methods and tools.


• Creating a solid identity for STC – We need strong brand identity that loudly trumpets STC’s industry leadership of the profession, and is quickly and easily recognized as one that means quality – of both the practice and its practitioners.


• Reworking our business model and infrastructure – We must be able to identify, support, and promote changes and improvements with clarity, speed, and agility. STC is a business and we need to run it like a business with all the right frameworks in place to deliver on all of our commitments – to members, partners, academe, and business.

So, let’s take technical communication to new heights!

To learn more about all of this year’s candidates and to ask questions, please go to http://www.stc.org/candidatesFAQ/index.asp

Posted at the request of Lloyd Tucker, STC Director, Marketing and Membership.

STC’s Technical Communication Summit Certificate Programs allow you to develop needed skills and explore subjects in depth over the course of the Conference.

2007 Certificate Program subject areas include:

• TechComm 101 — Basic Technical Communications.


• MasterWriters — Undiscovered Country: Taking Your Information Design to the Next Level.


• Usability — The Science and Art of Effective Interface Design.


• Content Management — Moving to Content Management: From Justification to Implementation.


• Team Management — The Shoemaker’s Children: Successfully Managing Geographically Dispersed Teams and Managing Culturally Diverse Teams.

For just $1295 (USD) you can enroll in a Certificate Program AND you receive full conference registration too!

Don’t just attend the Conference this year ˆ participate, learn, earn a certificate, and exchange ideas and tools with other attendees ˆ enroll in a Certificate Program today!

Register online

Lloyd Tucker
Society for Technical Communication
Director, Marketing & Membership

“I Link, Therefore I Am”
The Nuts & Bolts of Blogs and Social Media

Yvonne DiVita & Tom Collins
February 21, 2007
5:30 – 8:00 pm

Holiday Inn Rochester Airport
911 Brooks Avenue
Rochester, NY 14624

Many people know what a blog is (or think they do) and many have
visited blogs (often without realizing it), but many still wonder what
a blog could do for them or their business. And most wonder how they
should go about it, if they’re considering blogging.

To help answer questions like these, Yvonne and Tom will show examples
from their own experience and others across the blogosphere. And –
internet connection willing – they’ll “blog the event” live on their
own blog to demonstrate some of the tools, understandings, and skills
needed.

Yvonne DiVita is the founder and president of Windsor Media
Enterprises, LLC, a local company with its main divisions engaged in
book publishing and blog consulting. After publishing her
ground-breaking book, Dickless Marketing: Smart Marketing to Women
Online, she began blogging early in 2004. Her main blog, Lip-Sticking
(www.lipsticking.com), has helped establish her as an internationally
known thinker and speaker on topics related to online marketing to
women. She writes and helps others write dozens of blogs. In short,
she connects people.

Tom Collins is a recovering attorney and VP Production at Windsor
Media Enterprises, LLC. He began blogging in 2003, as a course
requirement in the Masters in Informatics program at SUNY Buffalo. His
first professional blog, Knowledge Aforethought: Thinking about how
legal knowledge workers collect, and then connect, the dots, won him a
chance to publish a book review in two London-based magazines aimed at
law firms and knowledge management professionals in 2004. He designs
books and blogs for a wide array of authors and businesses and writes
in A-ha! (www.ahablog.com) and WMEBlogs (www.wmeblogs.com).

Please join us for their presentation.

Agenda
5:30 – 6:30 Welcome, Introductions, Announcements, and Dinner (Chicken
French w/ Artichokes)
6:30 – 7:30 Presentation by Yvonne DiVita and Tom Collins
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, February 16. Cost: Members $10,
Nonmembers $15, Program Only $3.
——-

Mark your calendars for spectrum 2007 on Friday, March 23rd!

Each year the Rochester Chapter of STC hosts the spectrum conference, the premier event of our chapter’s program year. This year marks the 48th annual education conference and is guaranteed to capture your interest!

This year’s program will kick-off with keynote speaker Peter Bowerman, author of The Well-Fed Writer. Throughout the day, 16 presentations and workshops, concentrated on Emerging Technology, Professional Development, Personal Development, and Skills and Tools, will provide education for all your interests. Plus, share your expertise, opinions, and experience at the Idea Mart. Also on the agenda are the Tech Pubs Competition awards and vendor demonstrations.

spectrum brings together professionals from all areas of technical communication and welcomes you to this year’s conference. Register today!

NOTE: A registration form is available on the chapter web site. The web site will also be updated continually with information about spectrum 2007, so please be sure to check back often.