President's Message:
Learning is the key to success

by Debbie Kerr, President

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Debbie Kerr and I am the president of the Southwestern Ontario Chapter of the STC. Welcome to another year of events and activities. We have the majority of events planned for the year, and we are just finalizing some dates. Once again, our meetings will cover a wide range of topics.

General Meetings

On October 7, we had an employment progression. A lot of great information came out of that meeting, so, if you weren't there, you missed out on something really good. Other topics that we have scheduled are:

• Life after Technical Communication: Many technical communicators have gone on to other fields. It's always good to have options in life, and the soft skills that you gain as a technical writer are very transferable to other roles.
• Proposal Writing: While many technical communicators write getting started guides, manuals, and help, there is another niche where you can use your skills. You can help your company win contracts. This makes you even more valuable to your company, and it can provide you with a whole new range of opportunities.
• CMS/DITA: CMS and DITA are extremely important topics right now. We are hoping to make this a lunch meeting. The topic and the time are a step out of the ordinary, so it is an event you don't want to miss.

As usual, we will be having our awards meeting and a fun event at the end of the year. Last year we had a great time at the theatre watching the movie Helvetica. We have a few ideas of how we can end the year with a bang, but if you have some ideas, we would love to hear them.

Education Days

We have asked Peter Vogel and Patrick Hofmann to be a part of our education days. While we are still working out some details, we do know that the education days will be in the first half of May. When you are planning your training for the year, make sure you plan to attend this event.

Webinars

These have become very popular, so we are trying to host one in the months when we are not holding a general meeting. We don't want you to stop learning, even for a month. The more we learn, the more ideas we can develop and implement in our workplace.

Ideas

We, as a chapter, can't give you the opportunity to learn information about a particular topic if you don't tell us what it is. If you can't get to a meeting on a particular night, but you would come if we held it at a different time place and time, then we need to hear from you. We are doing our best to give you good value for your money, but we need to know what you value.

If you have any suggestions or questions, please contact me at president@stc-soc.org. I am here to serve you, the members of this chapter.

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 fourth year in a row, Debbie has bravely taken on the role of Chapter President.