Chapter Technical Communications Competition Begins

by Ted Edwins, Public Relations Manager

The chapter technical communications competition is now underway. The deadline for entries is 5 pm on Friday, November 16, 2007. The competition committee invites entries to the competition and volunteers for judging.

This year, the competition is accepting entries in the following categories:

• Online communication
• Technical art
• Technical publication

The competition is the best way for you to get constructive feedback on your work. A team of three judges evaluates your entry against carefully chosen criteria, and then determines an award level. Most importantly, the judges also critically evaluate your entry and then provide written suggestions for improvement.

The top-level award winners, Distinguished Technical Communication, are automatically forwarded to the International Competition, where they compete against entries from other STC communities from around the world. Winners from our competition have competed excellently in the International Competition, earning many high-level and Best of Show awards.

Judges are an integral part of the competition. Not only do judges evaluate the entries against specific criteria, they also provide written constructive criticism that the entrants value as much as the award itself. Acting as a judge is a valuable experience that exposes you to work produced by your peers and lets you gather ideas about technical communication.

Call for Entries

Have you or your company produced technical communication products that you think are worthy of awards? Would you like your work to be recognized by your peers? Then you owe it to yourself, your co-workers, and your company to enter the annual chapter technical communications competition.

Entry Form

Download the entry form at stctoronto.org/competition/STCTOR_07EntryForm.doc.

Southwestern Ontario Entry

Since we are tracking which entries come from this chapter and we are trying to determine which methods of advertising work best, please identify how you learned about this competition. So if you learned about the competition by reading this article, then make sure you mark you entry form with "Southwestern Ontario - Quill".

Submission Location

Send or deliver your entry package to:

STC Toronto 2007 Competition
c/o Front Runner Training
21 St. Clair Avenue East, Suite 402
Toronto ON. M4T 1L8

Call for Judges

The Toronto STC chapter is recruiting judges to evaluate the technical publication and online communication entries for this year's competition! Are you an expert in online help? Can you author a manual like nobody's business? Are you qualified to judge their work of your peers?

Qualifications

To be a judge, you must meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Have 5 years experience as a technical communicator
• Be recognized and well-known in the field of technical communication
• Received an award winner in a past STC Competition
• Taught courses or given presentations in the field of technical communication
• Published papers or articles in the field of technical communication
• Been a judge in a previous STC Competition

More Information or to Become a Judge

For more information, go to stctoronto.org and click the links for Competition.

Follow the progress of the competition at stctorcomp.blogspot.com.

If you have any questions, or if you want to become a judge, contact Milan Davidovic, Toronto STC Competition Manager, at competition2007@stctoronto.org.

Ted Edwins

Ted Edwins is an independent consultant specializing in software documentation. He is a Past-President of the chapter. In his spare time he continues his futile quest to lower his golf handicap.