June 2004 (Volume 15 Number 9) About the Quill

In This Issue

President's Message

President Heidi Marr recaps her year as president -- including the many strengths of our chapter. Click to read the Quill Article

Making Paths and Finding Niches

Learn how to find a path and make a niche for yourself that will make you stand out from the others in your field. Click to read the Quill Article

Wonder Writer

You always knew that there was nothing ordinary about being a writer. Read this creative article to find out how Paige Turner, superhero, puts Inconsistency away. Click to read the Quill Article

Company Recognition Award

Each year we recognize a company who has gone that extra mile to recognize technical communication as a profession and the work that is done to support our chapter. Find out who is this year's winner. Click to read the Quill Article

Set Your Phasers on Stun -- Ants

If the ants go marching one by one or even two by two, they may be walking over our CIC-SIG Coordinator's desktop in her home office. Find out how something little can go a long way. Click to read the Quill Article

Upcoming Events

There was a time when summer marked a quiet time in our chapter. This year that is not the case. Find out what telephone seminars are available to you this summer. Click to read the Quill Article

Telephone Seminar Handouts

Not only do we offer telephone seminars, we are also offering you the leftover handouts that were not taken at the seminars. If you couldn't attend a seminar, find out what information you missed. Click to read the Quill Article

Fanshawe Awards Announced

This is the time of year when we announce the winner of our award to the student with the top marks in the Technical Writing program at Fanshawe College. This year, there is a special twist. Click to read the Quill Article

News from England

If you have ever experienced the difficulty of organizing childcare, you will appreciate that childcare is even more "special" in England. Get your monthly fix of news from England. Click to read the Quill Article

May Meeting Recap: Translation Basics

After a series of articles about translation, the May general meeting was a panel discussion that provided a lot of valuable information about getting information translated. Get the details about translation that you need. Click to read the Quill Article

Writers in Greece

If you ever wanted to find out about writing in the old days -- the really old days -- then this is the article for you. Read the article and take a trip through Greece. Find out where technical writing skills would have come in handy. Click to read the Quill Article

Program Survey

If you have ever commented about a meeting topic not interesting you, read this article to find out how you can make a difference about which topics you would like to see covered next year. Click to read the Quill Article

London's Professional Development Event

The London Student Chapter held its first Annual Professional Development Event. Find out about the keynote speaker and the discussion groups. Click to read the Quill Article

Membership News

Find out who is new to our chapter. Click to read the Quill Article

Online Survey Results

Read all about what "your survey says!" Here is a summary of some answers to the survey questions posted on our Web Site. Click to read the Quill Article

STC Head Office

It takes a lot of work behind the scene to keep the STC running. Find out about requests for nominations and requests for proposals. Click to read the Quill Article

The Editor's Message

Recognition is not one of the reasons that I volunteered to edit The Quill, but recognition is what has occurred on many levels.

Chapter Recognition

In our first year of having an online newsletter, we have won an Award of Merit. By entering this competition, we wanted to let others outside of our chapter see the talent of the many people who have provided designs, pictures, articles, and ideas to make this newsletter something this chapter can be proud to call its own. As an editor, I coordinate submissions from a lot of people, but without those people, there would be no newsletter. This is definitely a chapter award.

Individual Recognition

Working on the newsletter has enabled me to get to know people with whom I may never have had the chance to interact. By getting involved with the newsletter, I have exchanged e-mails with a wide range of people who are in a variety of stages in their careers. This has "forced" me to talk to people, because I can no longer sit back and "watch."

Thank you to everyone who has e-mailed me to let me know when you were particularly happy with an issue. Your praise was much appreciated.

Volunteer Recognition

Last, and certainly not least, The Quill has put me in the enviable position of working with a great group of people:

Opal Gamble -- technical advisor (everything from designing the css to creating Web pages to talking me through processes)

Margie Yundt -- copy editor and PDF creator

Nancy Halverson -- monthly News from England articles that provide both work and personal perspectives

Carol Lawless -- monthly history articles and some creative pieces

Patrick Hofmann -- monthly articles about putting your best graphics forward

Elaine Garnet -- monthly "how to" articles about setting up and running a business

Steve Neville -- jack of all trades (writing articles, submitting banners for our competition, coming up with story ideas, and doing book reviews)

Diane Russell -- meeting recaps and other articles.

For those of you who have ever submitted an article for The Quill, my hat goes off to you. You have helped someone by sharing your knowledge. Thank you.

To print the entire Quill, click here!If you have any story ideas for next year's newsletters, send them to me, Debbie, at quill@stc-soc.org. Don't let your summer be unproductive.

Creating and supporting a forum for communities of practice in the profession of technical communication