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Thanks to the power of technology, council continues to meet monthly. Did you know our council members live throughout Ontario, from North Bay, to London; Paris to Toronto; Guelph to Waterloo? We alternate our meetings from virtual to in person; some people dial in monthly. Our newest volunteer, Sylvia Squair, is our new liaison in London with University of Western Ontario and Fanshaw College. Our winter has been busy with event planning topping the monthly agendas:
Education days:
We’re still finalizing instructors for our Education days this spring. We are working on the same profit sharing model we established last year. We bandied about a number of topics and finally narrowed it down to content reuse and working with agile development.
Monthly events:
We are continuing to plan for a Webinar in the months we do not have an education evening. However, we did cancel February due to lack of interest.
Awards night:
Our annual Awards night is scheduled for March 30 at the Davis Centre. We’ll be presenting the Heidi Thiessen Memorial scholarship, Publication Competition awards, Summit award (drawing will take place that night) and Distinguished Chapter Service Award. Fei Min is looking into bringing the STC Travelling Road Show to the event. The road show showcases the International Competition winners from last year.
Annual General Meeting:
In June, we’ll have our Annual General Meeting and are looking for a speaker.
Other items of interest:
• Student competition is underway. We posted notices in London, Toronto, Waterloo and Guelph. Judging will begin shortly.
• Technical publications judging was completed in conjunction with the Toronto chapter, in one day. One entry in the group will go on to the International competition. Nancy will arrange to have the certificates for our chapter winners ready for the awards night.
• We finalized and rolled out the participation game. See our website for the current leaders.
• We’ve purchased an early bird registration to the Summit (transferable) that will be awarded to one volunteer at the Awards night. The person selected is expected to attend the Leadership day, write an article on the Summit and present a seminar on their learnings.
• We discussed the best way to communicate to members and decided to use a variety of options so people can pick the one that best suits them. With that in mind, we’ve set up Linked-in and Twitter accounts.
• The STC launched their new website. In future we will be able to set up a micro-site on the site. At that point, we’ll investigate how best to tap into this.
• Communitech representatives have attended some council meetings. Avvey Peters is our new Communitech liaison.
• As of year end (2010) our chapter membership is at 73 people.
• The audit has been completed on our 2010 financial statement.
• We’re pursuing sponsorship options with Front Runner.
• STC elections are coming soon. We’ll provide election information on the Blog and website. There are several international candidates including Canada’s Bernard Aschwanden running this year.
• And last but not least, our February council meeting was completed in a record breaking sixty one minutes!
Carol Lawless
Secretary
Southwestern Ontario Chapter STC
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
STC’s International Candidates
My fourteen years of STC membership have undoubtedly provided excellent professional development value, from a local perspective.
Initially, I relied on STC for contacts in my neighborhood to help me become established in the profession. As I grew in confidence and experience, I joined my chapter executive and tried to pay it forward by helping to provide a platform for new tech writers, as others had done for me.
The work is rewarding, and my colleagues on our chapter executive are first-class. So I guess you could say, I love the STC.
But at the international level, I have certainly felt some frustration. A particular sore spot for me is the way this international organization seems to remain firmly focused on what happens within the United States.
In 2010, I joined first the Community Funding and Support Task Force, and then the Community Affairs Committee, to help define the kinds and quantities of support that would most benefit our chapters and SIGs. My particular interest was the full inclusion of international members.
I participated out of concern that STC membership fees purported to provide a number of benefits that weren’t practical (US-centric job bank and salary data) or weren’t available (insurance) to international members. During our sessions, I learned that even within the US, rules vary so much from state to state that things are not substantially better for Americans!
At the Dallas conference in 2010, the Community Funding and Support Task Force summarized a number of recommendations. Many of these ideas are now being put into practice, and I hope they will benefit all STC members.
I believe that the STC executive genuinely desire to improve the value of STC memberships for all members, but change is always hard. Even characterizing myself as an “international” member suggests that “American” is the default position – exactly the perception I am struggling against.
But my experience on these committees has helped me see that the STC needs leadership from its international members, before it can become the organization it is striving to be.
In the upcoming STC election, we have a chance to vote for two international candidates. Bernard Aschwanden (Canada) and Ray Gallon (France) are both running for election as Directors of our Society.
I believe that the fresh perspectives these experienced members bring can help the STC transform itself into a truly international organization.
So when you vote for your new Society Officers between March 9 and March 30 this year, ask yourself whether the STC could use a helping hand from some international candidates.
And if you agree, then remember: Bernard and Ray are willing to step up and help us all.
Thank you,
Tracey Martinsen
Tracey Martinsen has been a member of the STC (Canada West Coast) since 1997.
Initially, I relied on STC for contacts in my neighborhood to help me become established in the profession. As I grew in confidence and experience, I joined my chapter executive and tried to pay it forward by helping to provide a platform for new tech writers, as others had done for me.
The work is rewarding, and my colleagues on our chapter executive are first-class. So I guess you could say, I love the STC.
But at the international level, I have certainly felt some frustration. A particular sore spot for me is the way this international organization seems to remain firmly focused on what happens within the United States.
In 2010, I joined first the Community Funding and Support Task Force, and then the Community Affairs Committee, to help define the kinds and quantities of support that would most benefit our chapters and SIGs. My particular interest was the full inclusion of international members.
I participated out of concern that STC membership fees purported to provide a number of benefits that weren’t practical (US-centric job bank and salary data) or weren’t available (insurance) to international members. During our sessions, I learned that even within the US, rules vary so much from state to state that things are not substantially better for Americans!
At the Dallas conference in 2010, the Community Funding and Support Task Force summarized a number of recommendations. Many of these ideas are now being put into practice, and I hope they will benefit all STC members.
I believe that the STC executive genuinely desire to improve the value of STC memberships for all members, but change is always hard. Even characterizing myself as an “international” member suggests that “American” is the default position – exactly the perception I am struggling against.
But my experience on these committees has helped me see that the STC needs leadership from its international members, before it can become the organization it is striving to be.
In the upcoming STC election, we have a chance to vote for two international candidates. Bernard Aschwanden (Canada) and Ray Gallon (France) are both running for election as Directors of our Society.
I believe that the fresh perspectives these experienced members bring can help the STC transform itself into a truly international organization.
So when you vote for your new Society Officers between March 9 and March 30 this year, ask yourself whether the STC could use a helping hand from some international candidates.
And if you agree, then remember: Bernard and Ray are willing to step up and help us all.
Thank you,
Tracey Martinsen
Tracey Martinsen has been a member of the STC (Canada West Coast) since 1997.
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