President's Message: You Are Not Alone

by Debbie Kerr, President

I am often asked what the benefits are of being a member of the STC and particularly being a member our chapter. Sometimes this is a difficult question to answer, not because there aren't any benefits, but because I have started to take those benefits for granted. It's like they are always there and you fail to think about how much work goes into making those things happen.

My First Meeting

I have been a member of the STC for 15 years, and I have been a member of the Southwestern Ontario Chapter for all those years. I can still remember my first meeting two colleagues and I decided to head to Waterloo to see what the STC was all about.

It was dark and wet that night, and we were in an unfamiliar area. I lived in Guelph and the other two people lived in Brampton. So, naturally, we got lost. We then tried to find the Davis Center at the University of Waterloo. Now, to show my age, the Davis Center had not been built when I went to university at Waterloo, so we were uncertain where to park. Naturally, we parked on the opposite side of the campus, so we had to hike across campus in the rain. Luckily, we persevered and we made it to the meeting.

I don't remember the topic, but I do remember the feeling that I got. I felt welcome right from the start and, eventually, two of us joined the council so that we could make others feel just as welcome and to ensure that people received great value for their membership fees.

Sense of Identification and Belonging

The people are the main reason that I renew my membership each year. I like being with people who understand what I do and what I have the potential to do.

Have your ever gotten excited at work because you successfully described an elusive concept? Have you ever worked hard to simplify some text and saw the "aha" on someone's face when they read it? Have you tried to explain that thrill to someone who is not a technical communicator and received a blank stare?

Those of us who are communicators understand that it takes more effort to explain something with fewer words than with a lot of words. It's not like the days of Dickens, when writers got paid by the word. Unfortunately, some things have not changed since Dickens, and people still believe that more text is better. However, technical communicators understand that the more concise the information, the easier it is to understand and remember.

With the STC, everyone knows and understands what you are going through. I have seen people at meetings get excited and say, "Finally, I've found people who understand what I do." We have such a wide range of skills that other people often struggle to understand what we do. People assume that if your title is technical writer, then all you do is write. I once applied for a position that required a lot of analysis work. At that time, I had been a technical writer for 20 years, so I said that I had 10 years experience doing analysis. I don't think the person believed me, because I didn't even get an interview. While this person failed to understand how the role of a technical communicator easily corresponded to the job description, a fellow technical communicator would not make that same mistake. Instead, they could identify with your frustration.

Learning Opportunities

There are so many opportunities to learn -both formal and informal. Our chapter has general meetings with guest speakers who cover a wide range of topics. We also offer certain webinars free to members, and if we do not host them, there is the opportunity to register for them on your own. While not all of these meetings may apply to you, focus on the ones that will. Look at Head Office's website for a list of upcoming webinars.

The Southwestern Ontario chapter has employment progressions so that people can learn about job searches, resumes, and interviews. We also have two education days with internationally-renowned speakers. This year's education days are on May 11 (instructional design and tutorial styles) and 12 (graphics and their usability).

If you are not in the area, you can still participate in some of our activities. For example, in addition to webinars, you can also learn by entering our competitions for technical and online communications, which are held each fall. By submitting an entry, you get valuable feedback about what you have done well, and areas where you can improve. This feedback comes from judges who have been in the field for many years.

During all these learning activities, there is always networking opportunities. I refer to this as informal learning, because you never know when you are going to receive a valuable piece of information when talking to another technical communicator.

Connections in this Country and Beyond

Since the STC is an international organization, you can meet and get to know a lot of people both in this country and worldwide. The best chance for doing this is to get involved with the STC -locally or internationally. When you judge as part of our chapter competitions, you get to spend time with fellow communicators. When I judged internationally, I met several people from various parts of the US, and I still remain in contact with some of them. Some members of our chapter have presented at conferences in various US cities. One of our former council members is now in England and another one is in Tennessee. There is also the STC's annual conference, which has attendees from all over the world. When I went to conference, I sat next to a woman from Israel. You just never know who you are going to meet.

On a local level, you can meet a lot of people from industries in the area. It is a great way to make connections and to get employees' perspectives about their companies. Sometimes there are parts of a company that are better to work in than others. Why not find out first hand from someone who currently works for that company? You don't have to rely on the company's website for all your information.

Whether you have connections in this area, other areas of the country, or areas beyond our border, you don't know when a networking opportunity will lead to other opportunities.

Publications

Our newsletter is another source of information. All issues of our newsletter are posted on our website, so you can search them. You can also use them to find someone who might be able to help you with a particular problem or to answer a specific question. For many of the articles, the people who submitted them provided their email address. If there is no email address, contact us, and we may be able to put you in contact with that person.

In addition to our newsletters, there are also the Intercom magazines from STC Head Office. There is a database of articles that have appeared in the magazines and you can perform a search to find all articles that are related to a particular topic. You might be surprised at how much information is available to you. You can also access 5500 research documents from the Aberdeen Group, which has partnered with the STC.

Employment

Right now, finding a job or keeping a job is uppermost in everyone's mind. If you have ever heard the adage, "It's not what you know; it's who you know," then you can understand the importance of getting to know other technical communicators. I am not saying that you will be hired solely on who you know. What I am saying is that if the candidates are equally qualified, potential employers (possibly fellow communicators) will choose someone they know rather than someone they don't know.

If you are in the Waterloo, Kitchener, and Guelph area, it is a good idea to get to know the people who live in that area. If you are from somewhere outside this area, this opportunity also applies to you. Although you may not be able to attend our meetings, you can let people get to know you by submitting articles for publication in our newsletter. If you are working as the lone writer in a company, you could write about that experience. If you have worked on some special project or resolved an issue that is related to your profession, then why not share it with your fellow members? You may even want to describe what it is like to work in a small town. Make your name familiar to other members.

Near or far, you can also take advantage of our resume critique service. You can send it to our Employment Manager and she will review it for free. She is a manager and has seen a lot of resumes, so she knows what skills would be valuable to companies, whether they are job specific or transferable skills. There is also our job bank, which often includes postings from different parts of Southwestern Ontario. Spread the word about this site to employers as well. Many people do not know that they can publish job postings for free.

Open Communication

This is only some of many benefits that are available to STC members, and particularly our chapter. If you have not taken advantage of these opportunities, why not take the time to try them?

Please feel free to contact anyone on our council if you have any questions or suggestions. We would love to hear from you.

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.