President’s Message:
There’s a First Time for Everything!

by Debbie Kerr, President

First General Meeting

Let me start by saying that our first general meeting about getting a job was great! It went so well, in fact, that people were asking when the next meeting was. Before they left, they asked to be added to be our email list so they could be sure to attend next time, too. We had people ask how to become an STC member.

Another first for this meeting was that I contacted Communitech about promoting this event. Elaine Garnet, former CIC-SIG Co-ordinator, and a frequent attendee at Communitech events, mentioned that there was a Career Fair on September 12, in the same room where we were going to have our general meeting. When I contacted Thom at Communitech, he admitted that he didn’t know anything about our organization. Before he could distribute the flyers and the email requesting speakers, they would have to be approved. Well, the person who looked at them had heard of us, and “fully endorsed” our group. We printed 150 flyers, and all but 20 were distributed. Thom also sent an email to his Human Resources peer group, which eventually made its way to two of our council members, so it was circulated well. This alone increased the visibility of the entire STC organization and particularly the Southwestern Ontario chapter. That’s not bad for a group that is currently looking for a Public Relations Manager!

Thank you Thom for helping to promote this event, and our group. Thank you to all the council members that came together to make this room a success. I think nearly everyone on the council was involved in some way from preparing for the event to promoting the event to participating in the day of the event. My hat goes off to you in all your efforts!

First Online Meeting

Putting this event together was no small task. It required planning. However, the plan to have our council meeting the week before the general meeting fell through. We had to come up with a Plan B, because there were too few people available on our initial planning night. Plan B became an MSN chat session to cover off all the details. I sent out an agenda, and asked everyone to send me his/her MSN information, and we decided on a time to sign in.

We didn’t know how it would go, because it was our first time, but it actually worked out well. It was fun. And the conversation could be captured for bribery purposes later. The meeting probably would have been shorter in person, because we can all talk a lot faster than we can type, but we got everything sorted out in the comfort of our own homes. The only problem for me was letting those typos go and typing in short, incomplete sentences. You could also tell who was used to chatting because they had the emoticons down pat, and were crying on cue, because someone hadn’t read the details in the newsletter. Oh, did I give too much away?

Anyway, emoticons aside, it was a good forum for one topic, but we realized that in-person meetings are still required. As it was, it took two hours to sort everything out, and I thought I might never type again. I know we don’t have any Worker’s Compensation coverage for council members who type too much in an online meeting.

First New Special Interest Group (SIG)

Sometimes, just when you think an article is finished, someone, like Mike Reid, sends you an email and says, I want to start a DITA SIG, and you have another first that you have to mention. In the all the years that I have been a member of the Southwestern Ontario Chapter STC, there has never been a DITA SIG, so it just goes to show you that times and the needs of the chapter change, and we have to change with those needs. For more information about the DITA SIG, contact Mike at ditasig@stc-soc.org.

First Time Two SIGs Started Within a Week of Each Other

Just when I thought my article was complete, I received an email and suddenly the Consulting and Independent Contracting SIG (CIC SIG) had a new leader, Peter Szabo, and we went from not having any active SIGs to two SIGs within one week of each other. Contact Peter at cicsig@stc-soc.org if you are interested in joining his SIG, or if you have any questions about technical communication from a contractor’s perspective.

First Competitions of the Year

We have several firsts when it comes to competitions.

Technical communication competition this year for the Southwestern Ontario Chapter

The Southwestern Ontario Chapter STC is having its technical publications and online communications competition. STC members and non-members can find out the strengths and weaknesses of their technical documentation ranging from manuals to magazines to newsletters to online help. Our Competition Manager, Ruth Haworth, provides details in her article.

Education competition

Once Ruth got me in competitive mode with her competition, I got thinking about our education seminars. If we are having the education seminars for our members, then why not let our members decide on who are speaker is this year? Choosing the winning speaker means winning a spot in the seminar. For more information, see my article!

Website competition

The Toronto Chapter STC wants to provide you with “Fun! Fame! And Fortune!” by giving you the opportunity to redesign their website. Go to www.stctoronto.org/competition/stcWebDesignContestRules.htm for contest details.

Student poster competition

STC Head Office is having a competition of its own that is specifically for student members of STC. It wants to get students involved and part of the inner workings of Head Office. Fifteen selected entrants will make a presentation of their work at next year’s STC conference in Minneapolis, where it will be judged. Details are still being finalized. For more information, see our article.

About Debbie Kerr

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 Waterloo, where she has stepped out of her traditional role of writing user guides and help files, and now writes a variety of specifications.

Debbie has been a member of the STC since 1994 and has been a council member for many years. For the second year in a row, Debbie has bravely taken on the role of Chapter President.