Introducing This Year's Council

by Debbie Kerr, The Quill Editor

It takes a lot of people to keep this chapter running smoothly. Without these volunteers, you would be missing many of the benefits that you have grown accustomed to over the years.

In addition to performing their regular functions as council members, I asked each of them to write a brief biography that I have presented below with a picture.

Opal Gamble (President & The Quill Technical Advisor)

Technical writer, web monkey, and general geek, Opal's wanted to be a tech writer since high school; she became a STC-SOC council member in 1997. A graduate of UW's co-op Rhetoric and Professional Writing program, Opal is a Technical Writer and (unofficial) web designer at Virtek. She also runs her own freelance business.

When she's not doing STC business, Opal participates in auto-cross events (with a hybrid car, no less!) and tries to cultivate a green thumb in her garden. 

Heidi Marr (Past President)

Heidi is a Senior Information Developer at The PEER Group Inc. in Kitchener, where she writes user and developer-focussed documentation and training materials for custom software applications. For fun, she enjoys travelling, camping, long lunches with friends, and beverages on sunny pub patios. And, at home, she takes advantage of a water-access property by kayaking and canoeing on Puslinch Lake whenever weather and time permit.

Carol Lawless (Treasurer)

Carol has been a member of our profession since 1993 and is a senior STC member. She currently leads a team of writers who produce system documentation within the IT division at Sun Life Financial. This is Carol's third year as our treasurer. Outside of the STC and work, Carol's special interest is Ancient Civilizations, which is why her recent trip to Greece was so special. In her spare time, she runs Mom's taxi and loves to read (while waiting for the next taxi run!)

Emily Layng (Secretary/Recorder)

Emily is currently working at ATS, in Cambridge, and has recently been promoted to Team Leader of Systems 1. As part of a busy group, long days and short weekends are the norm. She has been a technical writer since 1996, and has created documentation for both hardware and software companies. Outside of ATS, she is involved with a local Astrology group that is putting together correspondence courses for learning Astrology.

Lori Shantz (Competition Manager)

Lori stumbled into technical writing while looking for work as a museum curator. She figured that if she could explain Einstein's theory of relativity to fifth graders, she could probably explain technology to adults. (The jury is still out about which is tougher, however.)

This is Lori's fourth year on the STC council, and her second year as competition manager. She also volunteers for a local theater company (occasionally even appearing on stage!) and is a fledgling gardener, an avid reader, and a passionate cook.

Kim Creed (Education Manager)

Kim writes technical documents at ATS (Automation Tooling Systems). Her current workload includes documenting assembly line machinery and creating a prototype of online help. Previously, she wrote documentation for optical carriers and business process automation software. When she isn’t writing, Kim practices yoga, sketches and creates stained glass pieces.

Ursula McCloy (Employment Manager)

As a literature grad and a bit of a software Luddite, Ursula wasn't sure how she'd like the world of technical writing. It's been eight years since a friend offered her a contract to copy-edit some software guides, and she hasn't looked back. She is currently employed with The PEER Group Inc., where she has tried her hand at just about everything—end user and developer level software docs, QA, UI design, marcom, and internal communications. Outside of work Ursula enjoys gardening, cooking, bicycling, beaching, and being a mother to a three year.

Sarah-Beth Doner (Membership Manager / Student Liaison, UW)

Sarah-Beth is a student at the University of Waterloo where she is studying English Rhetoric and Professional Writing, and participating in the Applied Studies Co-op Program. Two of her co-op terms have involved technical writing at iAnywhere Solutions in Waterloo.

Peter Szabo (Program Manager)

Peter has been a technical writer in one form or another for ten years. For the past five years, Peter has worked for CheckFree i-Solutions, a software firm in Waterloo, and is currently the Manager of Technical Publications. Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Peter moved to Guelph in 1997, where he currently lives with his wife, Irene, and six-year-old son, Taylor. He is working on his first feature-length screenplay.

Christy Simard (Student Awards Manager) 

Christy manages a team of information developers in Kitchener-Waterloo, where she supports traditional writing jobs, user interface design work, and marketing writing assignments. Her expertise combines an educational background in technical writing with eight years of industry experience.

Christy became a member of the STC in 1998; this is her third year as a volunteer on council.

Fei Min Lorente (Volunteer Manager)

Fei Min is back in the Waterloo area after graduating from UW and spending 10 years in Calgary. She is currently working at Dspfactory Ltd., running her own business called Articulated Concepts on the side, and happy to get involved in STC business after the dust settled from the Big Move. When she's not doing technical writing or family stuff, Fei Min fills in the spare minutes with scrap booking. 

Mark Ladouceur (Webmaster)

Mark has been a technical writer for over eight years and currently writes, edits and maintains content for the operations manuals at Credit Union Central of Ontario. When he's not at work, Mark enjoys writing fiction and hopes to have his novel published soon. 

Elaine Garnet (CIC SIG Co-ordinator)

Elaine is a writer with twelve years of experience in the scientific and engineering fields. Her years of experience, coupled with three degrees and one diploma, have resulted in projects with over 30 companies during the four years that she has owned and operated her business—Words To Order. 

Currently, Elaine writes the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) reports that technology-based companies submit to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to obtain tax credits. She also prepares documentation for Industrial Research Assistance Program grants, as well as proposals and business plans.

Debbie Kerr (The Quill Editor)

In the 20 years that Debbie has been writing documentation, she has worked in a variety of industries: government, retail, software, and insurance. She is currently employed at The Economical Insurance Group in Kitchener writing design specifications.

Debbie has been a member of the STC since 1994 and has held several council positions over the last three years.

Margie Yundt (Management SIG Co-ordinator & The Quill Copy Editor)

Margie Yundt has been stomping through the field of technical writing for over 10 years, avoiding cow patties and landmines along the way. When she is not whipping up user manuals or Web pages, she enjoys hanging out with her kids (no, really) and working on her husband's "to do" list.

Marisa Latin (Member of Newsletter & Program Committees)

All her life, Marisa had a feeling that she was going to write a book. When she found herself in a high-tech firm and ended up writing manuals, she thought the heavenlies had a great sense of humor. As a 'thinker' personality type, only 3% of you will get what she is saying. But since we only use 5% of our brain, she's hoping that there's a 95% chance those stats are wrong.

Martin Eisenloeffel (Public Relations Committee & The Quill Illustrator)

Martin has been a Technical Writer in K-W for the past five years. He joined the STC during his last year of study at Wilfrid Laurier University. Currently, he hangs his hat at Equitable Life Insurance, where he creates internal documentation for their new software, and publishes a monthly team newsletter.

When not focused on his career, he enjoys doing freelance photography work, is a basement musician, and once a week volunteer DJ at CKMS FM in Waterloo.

Ted Edwins

Although Ted doesn't have an official position on the council this year, he has held many positions over the years including president (two terms), past president, competition manager, and education manager. In 2001, Ted won the Distinguished Chapter Service Award for all that he has done for our chapter. This year he will continue to help the council in any way that he can.

Other Council Members

• Andrea Braniff (Public Relations Manager)
• Paul Kostiuk (Email List Manager)
• Sherry McMenemy (Student Awards Committee)
• Hari Singh (Special Web Projects)