Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Robert Dianetti, Candidate for Vice President


Bob is an experienced technical communication executive, educator and practitioner with extensive non-profit board experience. Bob is founder and President of Radcom, a 16 year technical communication and instructional design consulting company which has enjoyed an average 20 percent per year growth rate since 1996 and employs 24 people. In 2011, Radcom won three awards for growth, the Weatherhead 100, Capital Cascade Growth Award, and the Inside Business NEO Success Award. In addition, Radcom has won several other awards for content including various STC competitions (12), APEX Awards (6), Hermes Awards (2), Communicator Awards (2), and the NEO Success Story of the Year Award. Bob is an STC Associate Fellow.

Bob has served with distinction on several non-profit boards, including the STC board as Director from 2004 through 2007. At the Society level, Bob served on the Governance committee and was chair of the Bylaws sub-committee which rewrote the Society Bylaws in 2007. More recently, he served as head of the Distinguished Community Service Award committee. Other boards he has served on include:

  • Humane Society of Greater Akron
  • Meredith Cowden Foundation
  • Hudson Chamber of Commerce
  • Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (Northern Ohio Chapter)
  • Cuyahoga Community College Technical Communication Program Board
  • American Society for Training and Development (Northeast Ohio Chapter and Greater Cleveland Chapters)
  • Sales and Marketing Executives International
  • Cedarville University Professional and Technical Communication Student Advisory Board

Bob has been a member of the NE Ohio chapter since 1986. Bob served as the NE Ohio chapter President, Vice President, Membership Director, Corporate Sponsor Chair, and Communications Chair. Bob was also the recipient of the Distinguished Chapter Service Award (2001) and the Volunteer of the Year Award (2000). He has spoken numerous times at STC Chapters across the country. As a conference speaker, Bob has addressed the 2001 STC Region 6 Conference, the 2000 STC Region 4 Conference, the 1999 Northeast Ohio TechniCom, and presented an STC webinar in 2006.

In addition to his work with STC, in 1999 Bob spearheaded the development of a technical communication certificate program at Cuyahoga Community College, serving as head of its advisory board and teaching two courses.

Bob lives with his wife, Angie (who is also a technical communicator) and 4 sons in Stow, Ohio.

Candidate Statement:

I am a long-time STC member who is passionate about both the Society and the profession. I believe in the great benefits that our service offering brings to individuals, organizations, and the world. Technical information is being developed on an ever-increasing scale year by year as technologies are developed and available. Unfortunately, I do not see that the Society has been able to take advantage of this upswing in the global increase and need for developed technical information.

As an experienced practitioner and technical communication company executive, I believe I am the right person to lead this organization to put it back on a path of growth and excellence. My experience as President of Radcom, in addition to my extensive knowledge of the Society’s governance structure make me uniquely qualified to take this on. In my service on various non-profit boards, I have a strong sense of how successful boards and non-profit organizations run, and will bring this expertise to the STC. To sum up, I believe STC can thrive and grow in today’s global economy. I humbly ask for your vote so that I can help make this happen.


Links:

Website: www.radcomservices.com

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/robertdianetti

Facebook: www.facebook.com/rdianetti

Link to Candidate Questionnaire (.doc)

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Li-At Ruttenberg, Candidate for Director


Note: Translations below may be affected by foreign language limitations in Blogger. For original post, see http://notebook.stc.org/meet-the-candidates-li-at-ruttenberg-candidate-for-director/


Hello, and thank you for taking interest in the STC Elections. I’m honored to be a Director candidate. I’ve helped bring value to STC on the local, regional, and virtual levels. I’d love to take it to the national and global levels.

I’m not saying I have all the answers. I’m saying I want to bring immediate changes to STC so that it can finally be a truly global organization. And I’m saying I want your help.

אני לא אומרת שיש לי את כל התשובות. אני אומרת שאני רוצה להביא שינויים מידיים שסוף סוף יהפוכו את STC לארגון בינלאומי אמיתי. ואני אומרת שאני רוצה את עזרתך.

Je ne dis que j’ai toutes les réponses. Ce que je veux dire, c’est que je veux apporter des changements immédiats à STC de sorte qu’elle soit enfin une véritable organisation internationale. Et donc je sollicite votre aide.

我不是说我有所有的答案。我说我要给STC带来直接变化; 这样, 它终于可以成为一个真正的国际组织. 我想得到您的帮助。

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
In conversation with some of the other candidates, John Hedke (who’s running for the Nominating Committee) wrote, “Being available [to STC members] makes the members happy.”

I couldn’t agree more. I began volunteering with STC on the first night I attended a meeting (in 2000, at the Los Angeles chapter), and only slowed down twice: once when my grandmother passed away at the same time that I was moving to Santa Barbara and once when a car accident drained me of almost all energies. But, even during those times, I tried to stay abreast of events and contribute to the council.

I’m now able to fully volunteer again, and so I am!

  • The Technical Editing SIG needed a Fundraiser Events Manager, so I took on that role. And, although the “Watercooler Chats” aren’t a part of that role, I helped with those, too. (We’re finalizing plans for a co‐presentation by someone in India and someone in the US who work on projects together. They will discuss challenges that arise while working in cross‐cultural environments.)
  • The Santa Barbara, California, chapter has been nearly dead for several years. Thanks to the efforts of Ann Holmes, Wayne Kliman, and others, the chapter did not collapse entirely. But it also didn’t thrive and it was not providing much in the way of benefits to members and would-be-members. After hearing the frustration this brought to at least one member, I decided there were others out there who would love to take part in a vibrant SBSTC. So I’ve embarked on this mission, and I’m pleased to say we’ve made great strides.

I try to listen to our members and bring value to whatever part of STC I’m helping with. Space is limited in this blog, so I’d like to direct you to places where I’ve already discussed my background, my qualifications, and my plans:


I want to apologize for an oversight in one of my Q & A responses: I failed to mention that STC India has successfully run the “STC India Conference” for 13 years in a row, and even added an "STC India Summit” last year—free to STC India members! Kudos to all the volunteers who made this happen! Good luck in future endeavors; please let me know how I can help. Also:

  • What’s your opinion about partnering with TWIN (Technical Writers of India) and tekom? Specifically, do you think joining forces with them for conferences—and perhaps as a general partnership—would strengthen STC and increase member benefits, or would this somehow diminish these?
  • Do you think that STC India and its members would benefit from having the official STC Summit rotate globally, including in India? That is, what, if anything, was lacking in your STC India Summit (or STC India Conference, for that matter) that would be improved if it were the officially rotating “STC Summit?”
Again, I thank you for your time. Please vote, and please consider voting for me.