September 2002
An entrepreneur is defined as someone who organizes, manages, and assumes the risk of a business enterprise. While most of us report to managers and work with others on our projects, we can all employ the entrepreneurial spirit in our jobs to help us better achieve our objectives and help management view technical communication as a value-added enterprise rather than a necessary evil. That's why we've chosen "The Entrepreneurial Attitude for Success - Even if You Work for Someone Else" as our theme this year.
You'll find our programs full of tips and tricks to help you apply entrepreneurial concepts to your work-day processes and pave your way to simplified work flow and positive exposure. Don Elmore, guest speaker at our September meeting ("Make Your Idea a Reality: Using Business Plan Principles in Everyday Business Decisions"), showed us how to use business plan concepts to create effective business cases for everything from gaining approval for a purchase to implementing your ideas and innovations. Don's presentation clearly and cleverly illustrated how a well-constructed business case enhances your credibility while laying the foundation for implementing your idea.
Our theme continues at our next meeting, where Marya Ryan will talk about how you can save your organization money by creating online help that can do double duty as a print manual. Marya's experience in streamlining user documentation is well-known and her presentation promises to be enlightening as well as entertaining.
The Society for Technical Communication is dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of technical communication. The largest organization of its type in the world, its 25,000 members include technical writers and editors, content developers, documentation specialists, technical illustrators, instructional designers, academics, information architects, usability and human factors professionals, visual designers, Web designers and developers, and translators - anyone whose work makes technical information available to those who need it.
Society membership provides opportunities for ongoing learning and professional
networking. STC promotes the public welfare by educating its members and industry
about issues concerning technical communication. Our monthly programs are just
one effort in achieving STC goals. Join us at our next meeting and learn how
STC can help you become more entrepreneurial in your career.
Our next chapter meeting is next Tuesday, October 1. Everyone is welcome, so tell all your colleagues and bring a friend.
The meeting begins at 6:15 with a half hour of mixing and mingling - a great time to meet talented technical communicators and area business leaders. We do provide food, so your RSVP is very important. The program begins at 6:45, and we usually wrap up around 8:00.
Get directions from our chapter website, www.prairienet.org/cil_stc/
or ask for directions with your RSVP.
| Program: | Double Duty - Cost Effective Online Help Doubles as Print Manual |
|---|---|
| Presenter: | Marya Ryan, Central Illinois chapter member, will discuss how to save your organization money by creating online help that can do double duty as a print manual. | Date: | Tuesday, October 1, 2002 |
| Time: | 6:15 PM |
| Place: | Room D244, Parkland College, Champaign, IL |
| Cost: | FREE!!!! |
| Dinner: | Will most definitely be served (which is why your RSVP is so important) |
| RSVP: | By noon on Friday, September 27, to LALaCombe@aol.com
or 217/566-3722 Bring a guest and share the value and benefit of STC!! |
The value of STC membership is immeasurable. With your membership you receive two publications: Intercom, the premiere, award winning periodical that provides practical examples and applications of technical communication and Society news and industry related events; and Technical Communication, which features articles about the practical application of technical communication theory and serves as a common arena for discussion by practitioners.
You also receive discounts on seminars, products and services as well as regular opportunities for networking and education at our chapter meetings, and advance notice of technical communication job openings in the central Illinois area through our Weekly Announcement email.
And if you join on October 1, you get the remainder of 2002 included with your
2003 membership. Contact Beth Russell-Minda, Membership Committee Chair, for
more information: erussellminda@yahoo.com
or visit the STC website at www.stc.org.
We're only two months into the new chapter year and already we have many projects in the works.
*** New Members ***
First, we want to welcome new members: Polly Kroha, Jennifer Goode, Gwen Smith,
Kirsi Rintanen, and Gary Barker. These members have either joined STC for the
first time, renewed their outdated membership, or transferred from another chapter.
Welcome to all.
*** Mark Your Calendars ***
The November meeting will be held November 5, 6:15 p.m., at Parkland College.
Specific room location to be announced. Jeff Carroll, Project Manager with Volition,
Inc., a Champaign company that creates computer games, will speak about surviving
the difficult project.
Make plans now to join us for our holiday networking luncheon at Silvercreek December 3rd at 12:00. The luncheon is a real networking opportunity for local IT business people, people who are new to the community, people who are looking at new job opportunities, chapter members, friends and colleagues.
*** Committee News ***
Committees are a great opportunity for you to strut your tech comm skills. The
following committees need your help:
- Employment (Marcia Krause, chair: Marcia@wolfram.com)
- Program (Marty Atwater, chair: m.atwater@insightbb.com)
- Membership (Beth Russell-Minda, chair: erussellminda@yahoo.com)
- Website (Polly Kroha, chair: pkroha@uillinois.edu)
- Awards and Competitions (Jennifer Goode, chair: jenniferegoode@hotmail.com)
- Public Relations/Publicity
Membership and Public Relations/Publicity will be especially busy this year, and are a great way for you to contribute to your chapter and use your communication abilities. You may even learn something new. Contact the committee chair or Laura LaCombe for more information and to sign up. LALaCombe@aol.com.
*** Web Site ***
Polly Kroha, website committee chair, has been busy updating our chapter website.
Check it out at www.prairienet.org/cil_stc/.
Polly invites everyone to contribute a brief biography. There's a place for freelancers to advertise their skills. And we invite employers to advertise their tech comm openings and instantly reach a highly skilled pool of talent.
Anyone with suggestions or contributions to the website can contact Polly at pkroha@uillinois.edu.
*** New at STC ***
The STC website, www.stc.org, will be implementing
a new members-only area beginning October 1. Be sure to get your login and password
(contact Laura if you haven't gotten yours - LALaCombe@aol.com).
The site will be down on September 30 to install and test the new members-only
area, but will be back in operation on October 1.
*** New SIG ***
The Society for Technical Communication's new Special Needs SIG is dedicated
to providing information that will assist technical communicators with disabilities
in the practice of our profession; furnishing all technical communicators with
information that will help them make our communication products more accessible
for users with disabilities; and offering strategic leadership, both within
the Society and through alliance with other professions, to help harness technology
and methodology to assist people with disabilities in the general population.
Contact Lori Gillen, Membership Co-Manager (lori.gillen@McKesson.com)
or Dan Voss, SIG Manager and Membership Co-Manager (daniel.w.voss@lmco.com)
for more information.
Find out more about all the SIGs available in STC from www.stc.org, or ask any board member.
*** Randy Brooks Seminar ***
Randy's seminar on web consulting strategies has been cancelled. Watch for another
of Randy's excellent workshops after the first of the year. If there's a topic
you'd be especially interested in, let Laura know.
Randy Brooks, a senior member, an award-winning web consultant and Professor
of English at Millikin University, offers a variety of seminars on web design,
development, and consulting. His seminars are very informative, very affordable,
and STC members receive a discount.
or, Why We are Sooooo Needed
From the local weathercast: "Temperatures will be below normal for the next few days, which is typical for this time of year."
Send your tech comm bloopers to LALaCombe@aol.com.
Good bloopers are shared at the meetings and in the newsletter, and the best
blooper of the year will win a prize.
As four high-ranking employees huddled over the boss's critical instructions, trying to decipher his hen-scratching, one pondered aloud, "How many hours of productivity are lost each year due to managers' bad penmanship?"
- STC Central Illinois Chapter - October 2002 Meeting
Marya Ryan, Central Illinois chapter member, will discuss how to save your organization
money by creating online help that can do double duty as a print manual.
Date: Tuesday, October 1, 2002
Time: 6:15 p.m.
Place: Room D244, Parkland College, Champaign, IL
Cost: FREE!!!!!
Lunch: Will most definitely be served (which is why your RSVP is so important)
RSVP: By noon on Friday, September 27, to LALaCombe@aol.com
or 217/566-3722
- STC Central Illinois Chapter - November 2002 Meeting
Jeff Carroll, Project Manager with Volition, Inc., will speak about surviving
difficult projects.
Date: Tuesday, November 5, 2002.
Time: 6:15 p.m. mix and mingle, 6:45 p.m. program.
Place: Parkland College, location TBA.
Cost: FREE!!!!!
Lunch: Will most definitely be served (which is why your RSVP is so important)
RSVP: By noon on Friday, November 1, to LALaCombe@aol.com
or 217/566-3722
- STC Central Illinois Chapter Holiday Networking Luncheon
Join the Central Illinois Chapter for a one-of-a-kind networking opportunity
at beautiful Silvercreek. Meet talented technical communicators with the skills
to get your projects off the ground and ready for market, companies looking
to hire your experience and talent, comrades with similar work situations and
challenges, or just find out what's going on in the central Illinois business
community. Everyone is welcome.
Date: December 3, 2002
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Place: Silvercreek
Cost: TBD, but won't exceed $5 for members, $10 for non-members.
Lunch: Hors d'oeuvres, entrée, dessert and beverage.
RSVP: By Monday, November 25 to LALaCombe@aol.com
or 217/566-3722.
- STC Region 6 12th Annual Conference
Conference: Gateway to Your Future
Location: Millennium Hotel, Downtown St. Louis
Date: October 13 - October 15, 2002
Host Chapter: St. Louis
Contact: www.stcregion.org/region6/conference/conf2002_General_Information.htm
Early Bird Discount Extended!!!!
OPENING and KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:
Ron Blicq: Technical Communication: A Creative Endeavor with a Significant History
John Hedtke, Seeding the Clouds: How to Make it Rain on You Even During a Dry
Spell
SESSIONS (partial list):
Chasing the Holy Grail: A Case Study in Content Management David Garrett
Coming Out of Hiding: Technical Communicators and Their Hidden Value J. Suzanna
Laurent
Designing Usability Tests: A Mini-Workshop Susan M. Jensen (Twin Cities)
Essential Skills for Creating Web- Based Content Cheryl Towler Krichbaum (Twin
Cities)
Marketing Yourself as a Technical Communicator Thea Teich (Southwestern Ohio)
Multimedia: Gateway to a Successful Future in Technical Communication Julie
Stockwell, Nichole Karr, Bob Bergland, Joel Nelson (Missouri Western State College)
Scientific and Technical Presentations Traci Kelly (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
What Do Your Users Really Want? The Next Generation in Online Documentation
With an Integrated Usability Study Michael Hamilton (San Diego) "
Writing Independent-Study Online Technical Communication Courses with Integrated
Self-Evaluation Ron Blicq (Manitoba)
- STC Rock Valley Chapter Fall Conference
Conference: Solutions 2002
Location: Rock Valley College, Rockford, IL
Date: October 19, 2002, 8:15 a.m. - 3:34 p.m.
Host Chapter: Rock Valley
Contact: Tim Lewis, Rock Valley Chapter Vice President
815/873-9944
writer.lewis@att.net
Costs: Members*: $75.00
Non-members: $85.00
Students: $60.00
The STC's Rock Valley Chapter Fall Conference will feature five presenters,
a keynote speaker, a continental breakfast, and a full lunch. This year the
focus of the conference is on providing solutions to the common problems you
face each day as a technical communicator.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Brain Sharpening University Tom Wadsworth
- STC Region 4 2002 Conference
Conference: Region 4 2002 Conference
Location: Nov. 8 - Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corporation, Easton, OH
Nov. 9 - Columbus State Community College, Columbus, OH
Date: November 9 - November 9, 2002
Contact: www.centralohiostc.org/region4conf
Costs: Member: $40 - Leadership Conference; $85 - Conference; $115 - both
Non-member: $50 - Leadership Conference; $95 - Conference; $135 - both
Student: $10 - Leadership Conference; $25 - Conference; $30 - both
Corporate discounts available
This year's conference will feature several nationally known speakers and topics
from the 49th Annual STC Conference that was held in Nashville, TN, in May.
One glance at the conference program, and you'll see topics like Cascading Style
Sheets, XML/Single-Sourcing, Information Architecture, Web Usability, and Help
Authoring Trends.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Joel Sklar