Goal: Enhance the weekly communications strategy with more contributed content that celebrates our members, with an aim of 1 sort of spotlight per month.

Samantha has been doing a wonderful job sending out the weekly announcements, as well as providing a mix of content. Each week, I learn something new about what’s going on in tech comm or see resources that I can share. Know someone or some company/team that’s doing cool work? Suggest them for a spotlight via email.

Goal: Streamline programs by focusing efforts around a monthly goal, developing a backlog of industry speakers, and reevaluating the pricing model. 

As I’m sure we all recall, last year brought many challenges to virtual work and professional development. Michael tried out so many different formats, styles, and types of content for the Events, such as paid three-part series and pre/post event socials. This year, we wanted to synchronize the events more with regular cadence of STC Carolina activities, such as student orientations and the competitions in the Fall, as part of a way to reduce the duplication of effort amongst council members. As part of this, we experimented with asynchronous, virtual social sharing (more on this later), and offered mostly free events this fall.

Goal: Continue the annual competition, including the return of the Awards Banquet.

THANK YOU to all our many judges and submitters to the annual competition. Entry numbers were slightly down this year from last, but entries are often cyclical, and to be honest I think many of us our experiencing burnout at work. However, I am pleased to report that the QUALITY of submissions is shaping up to be just as spectacular as in years past. Please save the date for annual BEST OF SHOW, this year to be held virtually on Thursday, January 20, 2022 to kick off the new year on a high note.

Amy, what a truly wonderful job you have done taking the reins on the competition from Christina, and doing so entirely remote from New Jersey no less. For a while, we were not sure who would take the lead on the competition, and I think it is one of our signature programs that highlights what is so special about the community and skills we have. So thank you!

In terms of the awards banquet, I was so excited to see so many familiar and new faces at the IN PERSON awards banquet at the end of August this past year, and in such a fun venue at the Durham Hotel, to boot. We hope to host another in-person banquet in the new year, while keeping most of our other events virtual.

Goal: Develop a content strategy, including a repository of templates for content reuse to streamline efforts especially across outreach, communications, business/jobs, and programs.

Oddly for a technical communication organization, we do not have the most consistent of a content strategy. Related to the events goal of streamlining efforts, we were hoping that this goal would reduce duplication of effort for our council members and volunteers. Special thanks to Samantha and Michael for coordinating so much with the other council members, and for Kevin for working on our Education Outreach.

Our next area of focus I am hoping to be on business and jobs. If you have ideas or leads for things such as business outreach packets, guides like “What is a technical writer and how to hire one,” internship or job shadowing opportunities, or other things that come to mind, please let me know. I will share that sometimes, as a technical writer, I feel a little helpless in this area, thinking something like, “Well, I am not a director or hiring manager, so how could I help do an internship program.” Yet I have seen technical writers take a pivotal role in shaping the outreach and recruiting strategies at multiple companies, from large enterprises like IBM to startups. Many of you might know Chris Dawson, formerly at IBM and now at Red Hat, who for example still works on a wonderful Pathfinder program between IBM and NC State. I have also been pleasantly surprised in my role as a chapter president how many CEOs, CTOs, and recruiters I’ve been able to introduce technical writing as a discipline to. I share this because, as people with unique gifts in communication, we have the power to shape strategies, change the conversation, and touch people around us in so many ways. If you have any creative ideas or care to share your experience doing so in more structural, repeatable ways, please let me know!

Goal: Continue mentorship program, ending it with the return of Career Day.

Sometimes, a strategy includes when not to do something. Historically, we offered the mentorship program in-person and twice a year. We decided this year to forego the Fall cohort and offer only a Spring 2022 cohort, to help streamline our efforts. I hope that you will consider being a mentor in the upcoming ~March cohort, as we already have a number of people expressing interest in being a mentee.