2012 Annual General Meeting

By Carol Lawless

We wrapped up another great year, in June, with our third annual general meeting. While the highlight was Eric Walter’s inspiring presentation, we did manage to complete some business.

Last year’s minutes and our financial report were both reviewed and passed. The STC is discussing changes to how they fund chapters. Under the current funding model, our chapter has not received any funding since 2009. However, Jim Bousquet, our treasurer, pointed out that we have been able to draw on our fiscal reserves to pay for chapter events. The chapter is slowly working towards a balanced budget, and we hope that a new funding formula will help to bridge the gap between expenses and revenue.

Rob Cundari, President with Fei Min Lorente, Past President

We held our Board of Director elections. Three positions were available and all three were unanimously elected. Our former vice-president, Rob Cundari steps into the President’s shoes, Fei Min Lorente moves to Past President and Jim Bousquet continues in his role of Treasurer. With Carol Lawless’ move to B.C., Debbie Kerr replaces her as Secretary.

Jim Bousquet, Treasurer with Fei Min Lorente

 

 

Debbie Kerr, Secretary, with Fei Min Lorente

Rob Cundari, President addresses the group

Once the present, official business was completed, we talked about past and future. Over the last year, we focused more on social media. Not only did our website get a facelift, but we used social media more proactively to connect our members, and advertise events. And we had a number of successful events: at least one STC activity monthly through the year.  Next year, our goals are the four “C”s:

1. Community: We plan to improve our presence and involvement in the internal STC community and raise awareness about our chapter externally.
2. Communications: We will improve communications not only to our members as well as our yet-to-be members within the technical writing community.
3. Commitment: This group of volunteers is committed but we want to draw out more involvement with the rest of our membership.
4. Celebration – We have some amazing accomplishments. We will celebrate and advertise them!

Carol Lawless receives the DCSA

And speaking of celebration, The Distinguished Chapter Service Award was officially awarded to Carol Lawless. She was recognized at the April awards night but wasn’t in Ontario to receive the award. Congratulations Carol and thank you for all your hard work and devil’s advocacy over the years.

Fei Min also thanked the many other volunteers who have made this year a success:

·         Sylvia Squair - Liaison to universities and colleges

·         Nancy Halverson - Hospitality and Competition Manager

·         Sian Waterfield - Competition Assistant

·         Kathryn Bender -  Programme Manager

·         Debbie Kerr - Student Awards Manager, Past President

·         Jim Bousquet – Treasurer

·         Carol Lawless – Secretary and Membership Manager

·         Rob Cundari – Vice President

·         Absent but still appreciated: Ursula McCloy, Ann Garniss, Patrice Bernard, and Gareth Evans

·         A special thank you for all our families for supporting us in our work. And a thank you for the members.

Sian Waterfield with Fei Min

Nancy Halverson

And finally, a huge thank you to Fei Min for all the hard work she’s done over the last three years. Fei Min has been a tremendous leader during a challenging time. As President, she kept the council moving and the chapter running smoothly during the STC financial crisis and subsequent transformation of the organization. Thanks Fei Min, for getting it done! Fei Min summed up her tenure as “the best of times, the worst of times”.  Through it all, our members have patiently supported the many changes, trusting that they will eventually lead to a vibrant chapter in this new social and professional climate.