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The Carolina Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) serves nearly 300 members in the Triangle (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) area of North Carolina. Read more... Subscribe to ourcalendar of events:Delivered by FeedBurner   Upcoming Events:

Our community is about to get a display case in which to show off the many awards of recognition that we've garnered over the years. As soon as we secure the space, and move the tokens of our accomplishments into it, we'll update this spot with an invitation for your opportunity to drop by it to view some tangible representations of the fruits of our labor over the years.

We are collecting old cell phones to bring to the RTP Electronics Recyle Day on Wednesday, September 26, 2007. If you have a cell phone you'd like us to recycle for you, you can deliver it to John Martin. Please bring it (or them) to him before or after his 6:00-7:15 class in Tompkins G123 on Monday, 09/24, or Tuesday night before or after his 7:30-8:45 class in Tompkins 109. Alternately, email him at nematome@nc.rr.com to make other arrangements.

It's that time again! Elections are coming up soon! Start thinking about whether you'd be interested in participating in a great organization. We'd love to have you!

For the 2006-2007 academic year, our community has been recognized for the following achievements: >Two students (Kim Rothwell and John Martin) were inducted into Sigma Tau Chi, the national honor society for the Society of Technical Communication. >The International Public Relations Competition Committee of the STC awarded our community an Award of Excellence for our PR campaign surrounding our first ever Benefit Rock Concert, which we sponsored in October of 2006. >Our newsletter, Technically Speaking, earned an award of Excellence in the 2006-2007 STC Newsletter Competition. >Our community received recognition at the Excellence level, and then went on to be recognized as a Community of Distinction, which is the highest level of recognition from the International Society of Technical Communication. >Milton Hawes was recognized with the "Volunteer of the Year Award." >John Martin was recognized with the "President's Award." Congratulations and good work everyone!

TechComm 101 - Online Certificate Course Start: Wednesday, April 07, 2010 at 10:30:00am EDT End: Wednesday, April 07, 2010 at 12:00:00pm EDT STC certificate programs let you explore a subject in-depth over the course of several weeks. In addition to the practical work skills that you will develop, participating in a certificate program provides you with a unique live opportunity to learn directly from an instructor and to also exchange ideas and tools virtually with the other participants in the program. __TechComm 101__ *Session 1: 17 February—Introduction and Grammar Review *Session 2: 24 February—Four Key TC Concepts (Theory and Application) *Session 3: 3 March—Five Key TC Concepts (Theory and Application) *Session 4: 10 March—TC Deliverables and Writing Definitions *Session 5: 17 March—In–Writing Procedures *Session 6: 7 April—In–Design and Layout *Session 7: 14 April—In–Editing and Moving On

STC-Philadelphia Metro Chapter Conference Start: Friday, March 26, 2010 at 08:00:00am EDT End: Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 06:00:00pm EDT 2010 STC-Philadelphia Metro Chapter Annual Conference The Society for Technical Communication (STC) Philadelphia Metro Chapter invites you to attend our annual conference. The conference, to be held on Saturday, March 27, will feature a keynote presentation by Harold Hambrose, CEO/Founder of Electronic Ink, and author of Wrench in the System. Preceding the conference on Friday, March 26, the renowned Neil Perlin will present workshops on Adobe Captivate 4 and Topic-based authoring. We will have a large auditorium, three classrooms, and lots of good food and refreshments. Plan to increase your technical communication knowledge and enhance your career! {img src=http://www.stcpmc.org/themes/simpletheme/images/title.gif alt="STC-PMC" link=http://www.stcpmc.org}

SIG Volunteer Meeting (Monthly) Start: Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 10:30:00am EDT End: Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 11:00:00am EDT STC Technical Editing SIG volunteer teleconference call from 10:30 to 11:00 a.m., Eastern Standard Time. Access to this teleconference is restricted to current volunteers. Please contact a SIG manager for details.

TechComm 101 - Online Certificate Course Start: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 10:30:00am EDT End: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 12:00:00pm EDT STC certificate program let you explore a subject in-depth over the course of several weeks. In addition to the practical work skills that you will develop, participating in a certificate program provides you with a unique live opportunity to learn directly from an instructor and to also exchange ideas and tools virtually with the other participants in the program. __TechComm 101__ *Session 1: 17 February—Introduction and Grammar Review *Session 2: 24 February—Four Key TC Concepts (Theory and Application) *Session 3: 3 March—Five Key TC Concepts (Theory and Application) *Session 4: 10 March—TC Deliverables and Writing Definitions *Session 5: 17 March—In–Writing Procedures *Session 6: 7 April—In–Design and Layout *Session 7: 14 April—In–Editing and Moving On

Final Day for Early Bird Registration for STC Summit Start: Monday, March 15, 2010 at 12:00:00am EDT End: Monday, March 15, 2010 at 11:59:59pm EDT Early Bird registration for the 2010 summit ends today. Register early and save! {img src=img/wiki_up/Summit2010_bluebkgd-300x93.jpg alt="STC 2010 Summit"}

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.diffchar {color:red;}+ “Workshopping” Documents Through Technical Editors: An Important Function of Quality+ David Dietz+ + How many times has this happened to you? You call up a particular large business, say, for example, your bank, and at some point—as you’re sifting your way through the numerous automated messages to get to just the right person to address your particular concern—you hear the following announcement: Your phone call may be recorded for quality assurance purposes.+ + Over the past couple decades, it seems like quality assurance (or QA) has become increasingly important to businesses around the world.+ + A fervent commitment to quality is easy to understand. With the seemingly unlimited choices available to vendors and consumers—not to mention the greater ease and frequency with which legal action is pursued—quite often the X factor that “seals the deal” for a sale (or opens the door for a lawsuit) is the quality of the company’s products and services.+ + You might think that this concern for quality would also extend to the documents a company produces. Well, you’d be half-right. While many businesses now employ their own internal QA staff, too often, skilled technical editors aren’t among those QA specialists—at least, not at first.+ + Many companies chug along for years thinking that those skilled enough to perform highly intricate and complicated work (such as structural or mechanical engineering)—and who are fluent in English—must surely be able to craft quality documents. After all, they’re the ones who know the product or service better than anyone else, right? Well … yes—and actually, that is part of the problem.+ + Workshopping Documents+ A few years ago, I got a first-hand appreciation for how being a product’s creator can easily lure someone into believing that they are omnipotent and omnicompetent when it comes to that product. However, what a product’s creator may not realize at first is that this “ultimate knowledge and capability” is a double-edged sword. Because, while creators completely understand everything there is to know about the product, common human shortcomings can limit their ability to fully articulate it in any sort of medium—at least, not without a little expert guidance.+ + This lesson was brought home to me when I had the good fortune to write a play that a local theatre company was going to produce. For someone who’s been an aspiring playwright for many years, this was a pretty big deal, and I wanted to make sure that my script was in the best condition that it could possibly be for stage production. Now, perhaps you are asking: What does writing a play have to do with technical editing and/or QA? Well, believe it or not, all good plays go through their own kind of QA process, much like any other product, service, or technical document would.+ + In “the biz,” it’s known as “workshopping.”+ + Before a play ever sees full production on stage, it goes through a number of developmental steps. First, of course, the playwright imagines the story, setting, and characters. Then, the playwright writes a draft of the play’s script and puts it in the proper format for presentation. (Yes, even stage plays must conform to a very specific layout before any professional theatre company will even glance at it.)+ + Next, the play receives what is known as a “seated reading.” In a seated reading, a group of actors is cast in the various roles in the script and read the entire play aloud (including all stage directions, and sound and light cues) for the benefit of both the playwright and producers. And, if the playwright is particularly fortunate, other performers, playwrights, and production people—and even general theatregoers—will also attend the seated reading.+ + Because, at its heart, a play is such a visual medium, it’s more helpful to the playwright, the producers, and a general audience to actually see and hear it being performed, as opposed to simply reading the script. Once the reading is finished, all those present offer the playwright feedback, including positive and negative reactions, and suggestions for where the script could be improved.+ + Take it from me: A seated reading can be a singularly humbling experience. It opens your eyes to things that may not have occurred to you while you were writing the script, such as+ inconsistencies in the story or characters (or both)+ unintentional humor in the dialogue+ physical components of the set and props that may be impractical for the theatre to create+ + + But perhaps the most startling revelation I had during my first workshop experience is that sometimes the author knows details that are important to the overall script in his/her mind, but somehow, in the course of writing, he/she neglected to actually include those details in the script!+ + There is an old showbiz adage that one of the things an actor needs to be successful is a thick skin. Well, let me tell you, that holds doubly true for playwrights (take it from someone who’s both). If I had not gone through the QA process of workshopping, my ego would have continued to keep me blissfully unaware of both the serious—and not-so-serious—problems of my script. And thanks to the input I received from the various people who attended my reading, I was able to completely pull what was inside my head out into the open, put it on paper, and ultimately realize it on stage.+ + Had any one of those people—each one possessing a different but vitally important set of theatrical expertise—been left out of the mix, I’m convinced that my play would not have enjoyed the kind of technical and critical success that it did.+ + The Play (or Document) is the Thing!+ If you think of a technical document as being like a play script, then the importance of having a process to workshop or review for it becomes academic. And, to their credit, many companies will now concede this point. But, even if they establish a document review process, too often it heavily relies on simple self-checking alone. This can cause major problems. Because, although self-checking is an undeniably important part of the document creation process, solely relying on it isolates the author and overlooks the double-edged sword of “omnipotence and omnicompetence.” And no one is immune to its effects.+ + For example, at the company where I work when I’m not writing plays (or acting in them)—engineers write almost all of the technical documents. And, of course, they’re experts at making sure all the components work together the way they’re supposed to in the overall product’s design. But, much like a playwright, their “omnipotence and omnicompetence” can keep them too close to their subject matter. Or, to put it another way, it becomes difficult to see the forest for the trees. Consequently, like any other author, they can inadvertently leave out important information. Furthermore, because they are so focused on the product’s technical aspects (for instance, making sure that tab ‘A’ does indeed go into slot ‘B’), they tend to gloss over other important editorial considerations.+ + In an effort to help rectify this situation, the management at my company compelled the engineers to delegate their editorial duties. At first, they passed those duties off to administrative assistants; perhaps because they assumed—as many people do—that being able to speak fluent English is the sole qualification necessary to edit a document. However, this assumption overlooks the subtle but important distinction between copy editing and content editing. And, while many administrative personnel are more than capable of copy editing a document—checking for things like grammar, spelling, and punctuation—content editing requires the capacity to understand the subject matter on a much deeper, technical level.+ + The Case for Technical Editors+ While using the copy-editing approach may produce a grammatically acceptable document, without a technical editorial (content) review, its overall quality is unlikely to be improved. To put it another way, it’s like having a seated reading attended and performed by set designers and stagehands only. While they can certainly comment on the physical components of the play, they are unlikely to provide constructive feedback on things like character development or story arc. It’s just not their focus or area of expertise.+ + Mistakes that have occurred while using only a self-checking departmental technical review cycle range from:+ The simple:+ Using vocabulary and abbreviations that are meaningful only to the author or company+ Stating the obvious: “Project-specific drawings are created specifically for each project.” (As if they would be created for anything else…)+ + To the embarrassing (and customer-enraging):+ Using the wrong customer’s business name throughout a document+ + To the technically incorrect:+ Inadvertently missing (or misplaced) decimal points in measurement tables that could have an impact on construction or safety+ Inconsistencies in numbers, reflecting changing calculation results—(perhaps because an analysis had to be rerun with different parameters, but the needed changes weren’t made in all areas of the document)+ Procedural steps that do not make sense when one tries to understand what is being asked (information may be missing—most likely due to “omnipotent” knowledge; or perhaps the text refers to an illustration that does not logically match the text, and adjustments should be made to one or the other or both)+ + + Therefore, just as it is important to have the correct mix of theatrical professionals at a seated reading, it is important to include professional technical editors as part of the review (QA) process for technical documents. Technical editors help to “bridge the gap” between simple copy editing and more complicated technical content editing. Contrary to common misunderstanding, technical editors are not simply copy editors. They’re specialists in technical writing, a unique discipline that molds and shapes highly dense, jargon-ridden, technical content.+ + Technical editors use their combined technical and grammatical expertise to transform the document’s language and presentation order into a form that the document’s intended audience will more easily understand and accept. This includes helping to ensure that facts are consistent, explanations are clear, and that figures and tables are in the appropriate location and clearly convey the information they are supposed to convey. Most importantly, technical editors can help the author determine if there are any gaps in the information. This kind of detailed review improves each document’s overall quality and usability, thereby increasing its value to both customers and vendors.+ + For companies like mine, clear, concise, and correct technical documentation improves not only our bottom line, but also our reputation. Because no matter how impeccable the technical work may be, if it’s presented in a sloppy document, readers will question the accuracy of the technical information. This is a particularly important concern for my company because it operates in a heavily regulated industry: nuclear power generation. Our documents are scrutinized with a gem cutter’s precision by+ utility personnel—engineers, managers, quality assurance personnel, and licensing personnel, among others+ regulators—the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)+ industry personnel in organizations such as the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)+ + + So, at my company, document mistakes can dissatisfy many different but equally important people. And complaints about document correctness and clarity (that is, quality) lead to internal corrective action processes for formal resolution, which cost both time and money.+ + For instance, a power plant may want to change the level of power it produces. Several different analyses must be run to determine the impact of the change, each using various operating parameters. Inconsistencies can occur when a number (or series of numbers) isn’t changed to reflect the results of the analysis for that set of parameters—a simple oversight easily made in tight deadlines… but one that a technical editor should detect. Why not the author? Remember that whole “omnipotence/omnicompetence” thing? It often tricks the brain into thinking it sees what should be there on the page (when, in fact, it’s not). A fresh set of eyes doing a thoroughly detailed review can ensure that the correct number is used.+ + Projects can get even more complicated (both technically and financially) when a regulatory agency like the NRC is involved. The project may consist of a proposed methodology that, if approved by the NRC, may save our utility customers hundreds of thousands of dollars once it is available to implement. But, if approval from the NRC is held up for any reason—including clarity or correctness within the documentation—so is the utility’s ability to use it.+ + A utility may also apply to amend its license so that it can increase (or “uprate”) the amount of power it generates and hire my company to perform and document the analyses necessary to make the uprate possible. Changes in plant equipment may need to be made. If incorrect data reaches customers, and customers don’t catch the mistake, they may begin making expensive physical changes based on that data. Furthermore, if incorrect data reaches the NRC, the time to provide clarification may result in delays to plant changes planned for already scheduled maintenance outages. Outages are incredibly expensive. Timing is critical, and delays can be extremely costly. Action based on one oversight or confusing information can cost companies, and many individuals, significant money and time.+ + So, if there’s an important lesson to be learned from my workshopping experience, it’s this: when it comes to any written material—whether it’s a script for a play or a technical document—as John Donne once famously penned, “No man is an island.” It takes contributions from many qualified individuals to successfully produce any sort of product or literature. And, when it comes to producing quality technical documents, it’s a good idea to include technical editors as part of your QA process.+ + (By the way, in case you were wondering… yes, I even “workshopped” this article through technical content editors before I even submitted it for publication! Thanks, Donna, Jennifer, and Anitha!)+

.diffchar {color:red;}- Bette Frick’s upbeat webinar, “Marketing Bingo,” was the first Technical Editing SIG quarterly membership meeting of 2010. In her engaging presentation, Frick, the Text Doctor®, presented 25 marketing strategies that every editor can use.+ Bette Frick’s upbeat webinar, “" href="tiki-index.php?page=Marketing+Bingo" class="wiki ">Marketing Bingo,” was the first Technical Editing SIG quarterly membership meeting of 2010. In her engaging presentation, Frick, the Text Doctor®, presented 25 marketing strategies that every editor can use.

.diffchar {color:red;}+ Do your magic!+ Charles R. Crawley+ + By title at the avionics company where I work, I am a technical writer, but by function I am really a technical editor. And the engineers at my company often see me as a magician. They bring documents to me and ask me to do my magic on them.+ + Based on a posting on our Wiki, “Understanding the Value of a Technical Editor”, I would like to point out a few indicators about our worth and magical appeal.+ + First, my company is getting its money’s worth. I don’t know how the economic recession is affecting you, but it’s about to make my hands fall off. In less than half a year, the other technical writer and I have produced almost as many pages as we did IN THE ENTIRE LAST YEAR (emphasis added). Working harder (albeit, smarter) seems to be our alternative to hiring another writer.+ + Second, we are the masters of the documentation system that controls our documents. While I never intended to be a database administrator, it is in fact what I have become. We understand and control (to a certain extent) the review cycle better than anyone else. Engineers and managers always come to us to find out where something is “stuck.”+ + Third, we provide a level of quality control that is easily lost when non-writers take over the process. Inevitably, we fight over control of the Word documents (source files) and insist that engineers review Adobe Acrobat files, which are copies of the Word files. Whenever we lose control of this process, documents invariably get messed up in one way (writing) or another (formatting).+ + While I am thankful to still have a job, I am not happy with the amount of work we do because it has lead to a loss of focus on the actual writing. But I know that we contribute to the financial bottom line of our company. And I know that without our documents, equipment will not get certified, planes will not fly, and people will be even more unhappy with the airline system than they already are.+ + Also see, Understanding the Value of a Technical Editor.+

The full preliminary program for the STC Summit to be held in Dallas May 2  5 is now online. Visit the program page to see the available sessions. You can register online.

Organization: Advent Software Contact: jobs@advent.com Location: San Francisco Phone Number: 800.685.7688 Duration: Full-Time Description: Information Design • Assist in the development of the information architecture of the site to make sure it facilitates effective delivery of the content. • Define the structure of the content to meet the overall site strategy, working closely with the Web Architect and content contributors. • Participate in the selection and implementation [...]

One of our own, STC Associate Fellow and Georgia Tech faculty member Rebecca Burnett needs your help with a research survey shes conducting. She writes: Dear STC Colleagues, This survey asks about your experiences collaborating with others in the workplace. You will be asked about the different tools you may use, about how often you use these [...]

.diffchar {color:red;}- Contacts- SIG Managers- Treasurer- Secretary- Membership Manager- Listserv Administrator- Programs Manager- Webmaster- The Diane Feldman Scholarship Program Manager- Newsletter Team- Feedback- Kelly Schrank, bookwormeditingservices at gmail.com+ Rebekka Andersen, randersen at ucdavis.edu-

.diffchar {color:red;}- You can read about the winners here. >We plan to award an undergraduate and a graduate scholarship in 2010.>+ You can read about the winners of the 2009 scholarship here.

.diffchar {color:red;}- Eligibility- Undergraduate- Graduate- Deadline for Scholarship Application- To Apply- Advice for Applicants- Deadline- Previous Winners- In Honor of Diane Feldman- Comments or Questions- The Diane Feldman Technical Editing SIG Scholarship- Please be sure that you show your focus on Technical Editing in your resume, biography, and essay.Tailor your resume, biography, and essay to the scholarship committee; give the judges some context for your experiences, especially as they relate to Technical Editing.+ Please be sure that you show your focus on Technical Editing in your resume, biography, and article.Tailor your resume, biography, and article to the scholarship committee; give the judges some context for your experiences, especially as they relate to Technical Editing.- For the essay, the scholarship committee is looking for an essay about a project you have completed, not the actual project you completed.For the biography and the essay, the judges will adjust your score for exceeding the recommended lengths.+ For the article, the scholarship committee is looking for an article about a project you have completed, not a copy of the actual project you completed.For the biography and the article, the judges will adjust your score for exceeding the recommended lengths.

This years Currents conference is April 17 at Kennesaw State University. Were excited to welcome Tom Johnson (www.idratherbewriting.com) as the keynote speaker. The conference will include sessions ranging in topics from project management to presentation skills to usability. For more information, check out http://stcatlanta.org/currents-conference/ Image by Daniel*1977

.diffchar {color:red;}- About the SIG- Membership Benefits- Definition of a Technical Editor- Understanding the Value of a Technical Editor- History of Our SIG- Membership Map- The SIG and its members have received some notable awards" href="tiki-index.php?page=awards" class="wiki ">Awards.+ The SIG and its members have received some notable Awards" href="tiki-index.php?page=Awards" class="wiki ">awards.

Congratulations to STC Fellow William Horton, who recently won the Camera Obscura Journals Outstanding Professional Photography Award! His photograph is shown at left. Below is the press release announcing the award. Kudos, and keep on snapping pictures! Press Release William Horton, an STC Fellow and author of numerous books and articles on technical communication and e-learning, has won [...]

Voting has opened for Society offices. Please check your email from Diana Buttram with STC 2010 Election Ballot Information for your user name and password and login and vote right now. Please note that some members have had this email from Diana caught in their SPAM filters, so if you dont have yours, check your filter [...]

SVC Web Manager Todd Hawley attended both the BSides and RSA security conferences in San Francisco in early March. Heres his report.

.diffchar {color:red;}- Job Leads- Syndicated Jobs- Job Seeker's Boot Camp- Employment

Hey, have you ever thought of running for the Board? It’s 9 March, and that means the STC elections open today! Be sure to check your email for the link to the ballot site and your special pass code to access it. Choosing the newest leaders to take STC into the future is always an important [...]

STC's 2010 election is now open. All ballots must be received by noon EDT (GMT-4), on 8 April 2010. The election process is important to STC's future since these leaders will be guiding the organization. Thank you for doing your part to make STC a vibrant, growing organization. STC is your association. If you have not already done so, please take a moment to get to know the candidates for the Society's top elected positions. Links to the candidate information are at the bottom of this page. If you are ready to vote and have your election user name and password, please go directly to the secure Online Election Ballot.

The Technical Editing SIG wants your input: Tell us how you use the SIG's website and other online networks. It will only take two minutes to complete the survey. Your responses will help us improve the Technical Editing SIG's web site, and help determine how we should incorporate social media and other networks. Take our Social Media and Online Usage survey...

The Nielsen Norman group offers E-commerce User Experience: Design Guidelines for International Users (pdf, 2007). You can read about and download these guidelines. There is a charge for the download.

Maura Betler, our member survey manager, submitted the summary of the 2009 survey results. You can read all about it here: http://www.stc-phoenix.com/2010-caa/Survey_results2009_summary.pdf

Guest Post by Suzanna Laurent. Have you ever wondered how some people accomplish so much more than others do? We all have the same amount of time, but we use that time differently. Some people just work smarter, not harder, so they use more of their potential. We take our brains and their capacity for granted. For [...]

For our March chapter event, rather than the usual evening presentation, were holding a half-day event during the afternoon focused entirely on e-learning. If you create video tutorials, screencasts, or other multimedia formats for your instructional content, or you want to learn how to develop e-learning content, this event is for you. The afternoon will include [...]

For our March chapter event, rather than the usual evening presentation, were holding a half-day event during the afternoon focused entirely on e-learning. If you create video tutorials, screencasts, or other multimedia formats for your instructional content, or you want to learn how to develop e-learning content, this event is for you. The afternoon will include [...]

.diffchar {color:red;}- Community_Service_DCSA_Awards"> Distinguished Community Service (DCSA) Awards+ SIG_Service_DSSA_Awards"> Distinguished SIG Service (DSSA) Awards- 2008: Michelle Corbin+ >2009: Rick Sapir>2008: Michelle Corbin

Rick SapirThe Technical Editing SIG is proud to recognize one of its members with the Distinguished SIG Service Award, or DSSA. Started in 2002, this DSSA recognizes exemplary dedication of a member to a SIG and its activities. Three basic criteria are considered in identifying nominees for the DSSA: length of SIG membership, consistency of service over time, and the variety of service.

During the March 2007 Board of Directors teleconference meeting, the Board unanimously approved a new mission statement for STC. The new mission statement reads as follows: STC advances the theory and practice of technical communication across all user abilities and all media. Learn more about STC at http://stc.org/about/.

Successful internationalization does more than prepare a website for deployment across cultures and in different languages. There are a number of ways you can optimize your website for search in different regions, where language and culture affect the way people look for information. Read more in Internationalizing websites for search success in the December 2009 [...]

Author-it has released updates for Author-it, Author-it Live and Author-it Service Manager. MadCap Software has a new release as well, with Flare 6.0 debuting. The MadCap website calls it the “first software to natively support documentation authoring and publishing for mobile devices.” Doc-To-Help also has a new release, Doc-To-Help 2010, which focuses on teamwork and user control. STC’s India [...]

Friday is competition day here at Stately STC Manor, and our conference room has turned into Competition HQ. Were pleased to welcome Brian J. Lindgren, General Competitions Manager, and Preeti Mathur, Publications Manager, as they categorize and sort the entries for distribution to the judges. (Deanne Levander, Online Manager, was unable to attend.) The competion received over [...]

STC's 2010 election opens 9 March 2010 and runs through 8 April 2010. All ballots must be received by noon EDT (GMT-4), on 8 April 2010. An email containing ballot access information and instructions for the 2010 STC Election is being sent to all members. The election process is important to STC's future since these leaders will be guiding the organization. Thank you for doing your part to make STC a vibrant, growing organization. See http://notebook.stc.org/2010-election/ for information about each candidate and the election process.

STC's 2010 election opens 9 March 2010 and runs through 8 April 2010. All ballots must be received by noon EDT (GMT-4), on 8 April 2010. An email containing ballot access information and instructions for the 2010 STC Election is being sent to all members. The election process is important to STC's future since these leaders will be guiding the organization. Thank you for doing your part to make STC a vibrant, growing organization. See http://notebook.stc.org/2010-election/ for information about each candidate and the election process.

Please join us for our March meeting to be held March 25, 2010 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm at a venue to be announced. The topic will be Using a Wiki for Documentation with Jeffrey Gardner. Topic: Covering information from Sun Microsystems newly published best practices guide of the same name, Jeff will discuss the advantages [...]

Please join us for our April meeting to be held April 22, 2010 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm at a venue to be announced. The topic will be Localization with Bing Hong and Tonie Flores. Description: Software companies that grow to moderate size or beyond find that they must localize their products to sell to multinational [...]

In January the Shenzhen Association for Quality and the China office of the American Societ for Quality held a quality forum in Shenzhen, China. The forum invited participants to learn about quality development. Approximately 300 attendees heard Kevin Wu, ASQ China general manager; Peter Shi, ASQ member and employee at Nokia Siemens Networks Corp.; and Lestie Carey, [...]

The February 2010 Issue of Intercom, "The 'Art Of Writing' Issue: Writing for Mobile Devices, Writing a Podcast, Writing for Video, Unusual Writing Environments," is Posted Online

We’re back with another Spotlight, with a closer look at the newly revived Sacramento Chapter. Our thanks to Prescott Williams for his great answers! Its been a while since our last Spotlight, and the reason is that Im having a heck of a time finding volunteers to be featured! Who wants some free publicity? If [...]

SCMLA 67th Annual Convention, October 28-30, 2010 Sheraton Forth Worth Hotel and Spa Fort Worth, Texas, USA For more information vist http://www.ou.edu/scmla/ For information on the technical writing and other sessions, download http://www.ou.edu/scmla/2-25-10.doc

7-9 June 2010 Hotel Maritim ProArte, Berlin, Germany Ulrich Henes and Donna Parrish are finalizing the program for Localization World Berlin and will let us know when the program is published. Get a first look at parts of the great program being planned. There is an ad for the conference listing some of the program offerings; see it before it [...]

We have received a nomination for a candidate who will be running for treasurer in our chapter election. Here is Marj Hermansen-Eldard’s responses to the election form questions: What values, traits, and experiences do you bring to the office? I have served as chapter treasurer for 2 years. I worked closely with the STC office to process and [...]

We have received a nomination for a candidate who will be running for treasurer in our chapter election. Here is Marj Hermansen-Eldard’s responses to the election form questions: What values, traits, and experiences do you bring to the office? I have served as chapter treasurer for 2 years. I worked closely with the STC office to process and [...]

A resounding success, Bette Frick’s engaging webinar Marketing Bingo was the first TE SIG quarterly membership meeting of 2010. Frick, the Text Doctor®, presented 25 marketing strategies that ranged from passive to active techniques.

A Facebook site announces the forthcoming English-language translation competition held by the European Commission for EU nationals who translate into English. You must have a Facebook account to see this site. The purpose of the competition is to recruit English-language translators into the EU institutions.

Today we bring you another look “Inside the Board,” from members of the STC Board of Directors on various topics of interest. Today, Judith Herr looks back at her long history of volunteering and talks about daffodils. Musings on Volunteering for STC and Daffodils For me, serving on the STC Board is challenging and rewarding, and the support of [...]

by Jennifer O Neill When selling products in Europe, how do we decide into which languages we should translate our user documentation? This is a potentially expensive, yet important, question. In an ideal world, we would translate the documentation into the language of every country in which we sell our products. However, not only could this [...]

For a thorough explanation of the essentials of Unicode and encoding, visit The Absolute Minimum Every Software Developer Absolutely, Positively Must Know About Unicode and Character Sets (No Excuses!). This is on the site of a programmer who engages visitors in translating articles. Available translations are listed on the sidebar of the home page.

Guest post by Neil Perlin Sometime between now and May, might you… …develop an online document conditionalized to be viewed on a desktop PC and an iPhone? …create a document containing dynamically customizable content? …create a hybrid document? …perform a hard-dollar cost-justification of your documentation group’s work? …or do something else that’s bleeding edge, and applicable to technical communication? Many technical communicators are [...]

STC's 2010 elections are taking place and your vote is needed to help the organization decide where to put its focus in the coming year.

FEATURES Monthly Chapter Meeting: STC Award Banquet Coming Events Improving Presentation Skills Doing Shameless Self-Promotion Membership Renewal Challenge Chapter Elections Community Service Projects Search the Web with GoodSearch.com

If you spend a few minutes on delicious.com, you can be rewarded with insights about resources in internationalization and localization, as well as who is active in the community. Explore one users links on web localization and then explore some other related searches to discover this world for yourself.

Organization: ProSpring Technical Staffing Contact Name: Jack Molisani Location: San Jose, CA Phone Number: 866-302-5774, Ext 201 Duration: 6+ months A client in San Jose needs an on-site Technical Writer/Editor for a 6 to 12+ month contract. They recently converted a large help system from RoboHelp to Flare 5.01 and need to make the Help more user-friendly and match the current version of the [...]

Organization: Technical Publications Contact Name: Robyn Faulkner-Conley Location: San Jose, CA Phone Number: 720-494-3313 Duration: Contract Research, plan, develop, and publish CLI-related documentation. This includes task, reference, and conceptual information for user guides, reference information, and help system and well as release notes. Ensure all documents adhere to Pillar style standards, information model, and quality checklists. Work with minimal supervision and meet established [...]

Organization: Technical Publications Contact Name: Robyn Faulkner-Conley Location: San Jose, CA Phone Number: 720-494-3313 Duration: Full-Time Research, plan, develop, and publish hardware product documentation. This may include hardware installation guides, service guides, cabling diagrams, implementation guides, architecture guides, best practices, and release notes. Ensure all documents adhere to Pillar style standards, information model, and quality checklists. Work independently and meet established deadlines. - Research, develop, [...]

The STC Atlanta Chapter is 30 years old this year! During the 2010 awards banquet, we’ll be doing more than presenting the STC Competition Awards and President’s Awards. We’ll be celebrating all of our achievements throughout the past 30 years and looking forward to continued years of learning and fun. Several of our past presidents [...]

The Technical Communication Center discusses how to prepare and do research for a technical document before writing it. ClickZ offers five social media trends to watch in early 2010. The Words on a page blog talks about topic-based writing and how it can help you pull together a writing project. Brain Traffic gives advice on gathering useful source [...]

The team is responsible for the creative design and print production of sales and marketing literature for the US Institutional, Third Party and Product channels. Creative Services comprises of Desk Top Publishing and Graphic Design specialists responsible for the following functions: Creates/formats brochures, reference guides, research papers, product profiles, commentaries, campaign materials, quarterly/monthly marketing documents, surveys and [...]

The team is responsible for the creative design and print production of sales and marketing literature for the US Institutional, Third Party and Product channels. Creative Services comprises of Desk Top Publishing and Graphic Design specialists responsible for the following functions: Creates/formats brochures, reference guides, research papers, product profiles, commentaries, campaign materials, quarterly/monthly marketing documents, surveys and [...]

If you missed our February meeting on Documentation in the Cloud, by Michael Hiatt, you can now listen to the recording and download it by going to the February meeting post. I updated the post similar to how I updated the January meeting post. In both, I embedded the audio recording right at the top. Ill try to [...]

If you missed our February meeting on Documentation in the Cloud, by Michael Hiatt, you can now listen to the recording and download it by going to the February meeting post. I updated the post similar to how I updated the January meeting post. In both, I embedded the audio recording right at the top. Ill try to [...]

STC Phoenix is looking for a few good people to fill chapter leadership positions. As many of you know, this last year has been a challenging year for STC leadership at the International and community level. Fortunately, STC Phoenixs leadership is strong and has conserved our funds while offering programs and activities and adding member [...]

Are you a technical writer? Do you want to be a technical writer? Then STC-Montreal's March Meeting is the place to have a drink, schmooze, and learn more.

If your organization does business in more than one part of the world, your web team faces the challenge of internationalization and localization of the website. Internationalization refers to making a product ready for use throughout the world, and localization refers to making a product ready for use in a particular geographic area. For a website, [...]

I admit that the STC Chapter Renewal Challenge has awakened my competitive side. I want to win. I want to win for the thrill. I want to win, so that our chapter is recognized internationally. I want to win, so that we can raffle prizes to reward our loyal members ( a 23” full HD LCD monitor, a [...]

We have received a nomination form for a candidate who will be running for vice-president in our chapter election. Here is Greg Barrus’s responses to the election form questions: What values, traits, and experiences do you bring to the office? I am a diligent and reliable worker. I am also committed to my responsibilities. [...]

We have received a nomination form for a candidate who will be running for vice-president in our chapter election. Here is Greg Barrus’s responses to the election form questions: What values, traits, and experiences do you bring to the office? I am a diligent and reliable worker. I am also committed to my responsibilities. [...]

Today we bring you another look “Inside the Board,” from members of the STC Board of Directors on various topics of interest. Today, Hillary Hart discusses the Funding Task Force. Building a Funding Model Together, or How to Stop Worrying and Embrace the Future Reading some of the blogs and posts by STC and its members over the [...]

This job is from our friends at ProEdit. Please contact Cammy Gibson at 770-886-6255, if you have any questions about this position. Job Description Contract Technical Writer (Cumming, GA) Job # GA804 ProEdit has an immediate need for a technical writer for an ongoing contract position at our office in Cumming, GA. The majority of this work [...]

On Feb. 25, 2010 Lauren Katzive and Karen Aidi hosted the SVC February meeting with a presentation about FrameMaker 9. Click New in FrameMaker 9 to download their Power Point presentation. Please note that this presentation does not require Power Point to run.

Updating Your Audio Settings After Logging Into Go To Webinar 1. Click the Audio Setup link within the Audio module of the main Go To Webinar panel. Note: You will be muted and will not be able to hear other attendees in the audience when the Audio Setup module is open. 2. Select your Headset Microphone from the [...]

Hello Technical Editing SIG members, There are two important items that require your attention before March 1: UPDATE YOUR WEB SITE ACCOUNT One benefit of SIG membership is full access to the TE SIG web site. To keep your web site account active in 2010, be sure that your web site account includes your STC membership number. We will use this number to verify your SIG membership.

Turn Prospects into Buyers with Content Marketing is the subtitle of Joe Pulizzi and Newt Barretts great book, Get Content Get Customers, and if there is a book to read on the subject of content marketing, this is the one. The world of marketing is changing at increasing speed. People around the world are ignoring traditional marketing conventions and experiencing a behavioral transformation. Pulizzi and Barrett have produced the content guide for those who would be the change agents for their companies and how they communicate to consumers.

Organization: Intacct Contact: Jerry Franklin Location: San Jose, CA Duration: Contract Help the two staff technical writers  one here in San Jose, one remote  re-write an extensive online Help system that hasnt been re-thought or comprehensively revised in its ten years of existence. We just finished the heavy lifting of porting the Help content from [...]

Organization: IBM Information Management User Technology Contact: Shokey Ansari Location: San Jose, CA Duration: Full time We are seeking an information developer (technical writer) for a full time position at the IBM Silicon Valley Lab to develop technical documentation for the set of IBM Enterprise Content Management (ECM) products. This individual will work closely with software [...]

More info at Lockheed Martin site. Description: This is a Part-time casual position approx. 20 hours a week The technical writer will assist the Lockheed Martin Proposal teams in writing and editing proposals. This will include: Perform initial solicitation review for requirements Coordinate set up of the Virtual Capture Environment (VCE) Adapt past performance narratives to suit current submission Write initial draft [...]

Corda Technologies, a rapidly growing software company and leader in data visualization and executive dashboard software, is expanding our development team. We are searching for a creative and hard working technical writer with 0-2 years of experience who wants to work as part of a highly productive development team. As one of the best places to work [...]

Corda Technologies, a rapidly growing software company and leader in data visualization and executive dashboard software, is expanding our development team. We are searching for a creative and hard working technical writer with 0-2 years of experience who wants to work as part of a highly productive development team. As one of the best places to work [...]

STC has announced the schedule for live web seminars in 2010. In a web seminar, participants listen to the presenter over the phone (much like a conference call) while viewing presentation materials via the website. This format provides easier access to materials for reference during the presentation, as well as a more intimate, "classroom" setting than the typical telephone seminar. Registrants are provided a toll-free number, a secure URL, and access to both the audio and online elements of the presentation. Benefits: No travel time; Pay per site and not per person; Train without leaving the office Cost: Members $79; Nonmembers $149 Visit http://www.stc.org/edu/seminars01.asp for the full schedule, subjects and details, and to sign up.

I'd like to tell you a little about my background, describe the secretary's role and why I'm a good fit for it, and list what I see as the Society's issues and my ideas to help.

I'd like to tell you a little about my background, describe the secretary's role and why I'm a good fit for it, and list what I see as the Society's issues and my ideas to help.

There is a Camtasia class available, offered by Wake Tech, and it is in danger of being canceled because not enough people have registered for it. The class starts the first week in March, ends in May, and is held on the main Wake Tech campus on Saturday mornings. The cost is just $70. To search for the class, enter "Camtasia" here: https://webadvisor.waketech.edu/WebAdvisor/WebAdvisor?TOKENIDX=4593125118&SS=3&APP=ST&CONSTITUENCY=WBCE

Every year, the Atlanta Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication awards a scholarship to a junior or senior college student who is pursuing a career in technical communication. Were now accepting applications for this years David C. Leonard scholarship. If you or someone else you know is interested, you can find out more information on [...]

Panel Discussion Topic Join the Austin Chapter on March 9 at 6:30pm for an on-location program meeting and webinar to talk to a panel of experts in Agile development environment processes and practices. Topics to be discussed include: What is Agile, what is SCRUM, why switch to Agile, how has that changed things, how have [...]

Dont miss this on location meeting in Austin on March 16, 2010. If you’ve heard any of John Hedtke’s other presentations on publishing, you know what a silly business being an author is and how much fun it might be to become part of it all. By now, you’re probably already motivated to consider [...]

Our chapter's administrative council is a governing board--it sets goals and policies, plans activities to support those goals, defines and manages budgets, and coordinates the committees that contribute to the strength and well-being of our chapter and members. Committee managers are encouraged to participate on the administrative council, discussing chapter business and making recommendations, but per our chapter bylaws, only the five elected officers are authorized to vote on final decisions. If you would like to become more involved in the chapter, now is the time to consider volunteering for a committee or for an officer's position. The secretary's position is ideal for newer members, and if you have accounting experience, you may be interested in the treasurer's position. If you are a senior member who has attended chapter activities and are familiar with our membership, the nominating committee could use your expertise. 

We have received a nomination form for a candidate who will be running for president in our chapter election. Here is Paul Pehrsons responses to the election form questions: What values, traits, and experiences do you bring to the office? I value hard work and honesty. I value commitment and dependability. I value loyalty. I try to [...]