This Month in History

by Carol Lawless, Chapter Treaurer

The Southwestern Ontario Chapter STC is rich in history. Part of that history includes many firsts and awards. Last year, we received a joint Chapter Pacesetter Award with the Toronto chapter "in recognition of outstanding efforts made to continually improve the joint Technical Publications and Online competitions". It's now November 2003 and another successful competition is underway. It's hard to believe that ten short years ago, our two chapters were the first in Canada to hold the STC Online Documentation Competition. There were 12 online entries received and 25% earned an award.

Other November firsts:

• In 1992 we co-hosted a conference on "Usability Concepts and Procedures" with the Centre for Professional Writing.
• In 1995 we were the first Canadian Chapter to hold an STC Internationally-sponsored seminar. John Brockman presented on "Writing Better Computer Software for Users".
• In 1996 we launched our first Website. If you're reading this online, you can check out our new Website. Take a minute to answer this month's poll! (If you're reading hardcopy you can go to www.stc-soc.org later and complete the survey).

Each time you try something new you make history. What memories do you have of the STC? Often, you cannot appreciate how far you have come until you see where you have been. Why not take this opportunity to share some of your stories that show the changes in the communication profession over the years? Submit your ideas and stories to quill@stc-soc.org. To start this process, your editor has submitted some of her memories.