Upcoming Chapter Events

by Opal Gamble, Outgoing Program Manager and Peter Szabo, Incoming Program Manager

Exciting news! In an effort to give you more bang for your membership dollars, the STC is continuing WebEx seminars through the summer. Our chapter will be hosting seminars in July and August!

June 9
WebEx Seminar: 'Ready, Fire, Aim' No More - Creating Effective Documentation Specifications with Neil Perlin

As the size and complexity of online projects increase, so does the risk that they will spin out of control--especially if there’s no project documentation. Without project documentation, team members often veer off in their own directions, and maintenance developers waste time trying to figure out what their predecessors did. A documentation specification minimizes such problems by providing a one-stop summary of a project. Yet many developers don’t create specs on the grounds that they’re too complex or too time-consuming to fit into the project schedule and budget.

This seminar takes the opposite view--projects are too complex not to have a spec. But what is a spec? It isn’t a style guide. Instead, a spec is a summary of a project’s design and technical aspects--the structure of the project and the rationale behind that structure, topic attributes, graphics settings, authoring tool specifications, troubleshooting tips, and so on. This seminar describes the elements of an effective spec and discusses how you can create one in just a few days. And once you do, you’ll no longer be troubled by the "Ready, Fire, Aim" model of project management.

This free seminar ($35 for non-members - bring a cheque with you to the seminar, payable to STC Southwestern Ontario Chapter) takes place at CheckFree i-Solutions, 455 Phillip Street, Waterloo, from 12:30-3:00 pm.

Please RSVP to Peter Szabo by Monday, June 7, 2004. In your e-mail message, please state the names of attendees and membership status.

Seating is limited to 25, so RSVP early!

July 21
Seven Ideas for Sprucing Up Help with Saul Carliner

Topic and location details to follow on stc-soc.org, but book your calendars now!

August 18
Chapter 1: Writing Effective Introductions and Overviews with Leah Guren

Topic and location details to follow on stc-soc.org, but book your calendars now!

If you have any questions about upcoming chapter events, or if you have a suggestion for a meeting topic, feel free to email your friendly, neighbourhood program managers.

For details about our chapter's events for the rest of the year, as well as last minute updates or additions to the schedule, take a look at the STC calendar.