Council Meeting Recap: January, February, and March

by Carol Lawless, Recorder

Council has had a busy winter, planning the general meetings for the rest of the year, as well as the education days. Our traditional April wine and cheese saw some twists from meeting to meeting as new information came in, but we finally resolved to hold it at the Fishbowl, in the Davis Centre. (Runners up were Wildcraft and The Brick). We'll be honouring the winners of the Heidi Thiessen Memorial Award, the Distinguished Chapter Service Award winner, and the winners in the chapter competitons.

In May, we will be having two general meetings. On May 6, you will have the opportunity to see our Translation 201 presentation, which was cancelled in March. On May 20, Fei Min Lorente will present on integrated help for Eclipse. We're currently planning to finish the year with a movie and popcorn night in June! We're investigating whether we can show the movie Helvetica, and which venue might work best. Stay tuned for more!

Aside from the general meetings, we are continuing to assess the STC webinars. There are fewer ones this year than in the past, but we will register the chapter for any that might interest our membership. We're also planning our education workshop, and are expecting to hold it at the end of April.

On the financial front, the first rebate cheque has arrived, and there is a GIC that will mature in April. We discussed splitting the GIC into three parts that will mature at different times. This will give us the flexibility to access money if we need it.

Unfortunately, the London Student chapter is dissolving. We have supported them with seed money and other donations in the past. How much money we have given the chaper will determine how the chapter's money will be split between our chapter and Head Office.

The Toronto chapter held technical publications and online competitions. We assisted with the promotion of this event, and some of the judging. Several entries were received from our area and the awards will be sent to us so we can present them to the winners at our April general meeting.

Our Webmaster and crew are continuing to work diligently on the website to update information, and keep you informed about upcoming events. We're also starting to look ahead to next year's council. A number of council members have indicated they will not be returning, so we're on the lookout for new volunteers. If you're interested, contact any of the current council to let us know!

About Carol Lawless

Carol has been a member of our profession since 1993 and is a senior STC member. She is a founding partner of KCA Consulting, specializing in web usability and usability testing. She's also an independent contractor, when a suitable project arises. She is our official recorder at council. Outside of the STC and work, Carol's special interest is Ancient Civilizations, and still does not tire of visiting ruins (her favourite is Delphi with Karnak a close second). In her spare time, she runs Mom's taxi and loves to read (while waiting for the next taxi run!).