Next Chapter Meeting; Wednesday, December 5th

UPDATE: Thank you to those who were able to join us for the December Chapter Meeting. The Salary Database is available on the STC website.

Please join us at Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation and Affiliates for an STC Live Webinar to find out if you are being compensated enough and how your salary compares to other industries. Rick O’Sullivan will walk participants through the different ways the data in the Salary Database can be used to assist in job searches, create budget projections for technical communication managers, evaluate the competitiveness of different regions for facility location, and provide estimates for technical consulting for different regional and industry clients. The STC 4 Lakes chapter will cover the cost of the webinar; we’ll also provide lunch.

When?Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 (networking lunch from 11:30 to Noon; Webinar from Noon to 1:00pm)

Where? Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation (2401 International Lane in Madison)

Who?All STC 4 Lakes members as well as potential new members that want to learn more about STC and our chapter meetings.

How do I RSVP? You will need guest security passes to attend this event, so please email Chad at cbeery@us.ibm.com with your first and last name no later than the end of day, Monday, December 3rd. After the RSVP deadline, someone from the STC 4 Lakes board will email directions about where to enter the facility.

Share Your Newsletter Content Ideas!

What would you like to read about in our chapter newsletter? Please share your ideas and suggestions!

Question #2; Telecommuting/Writing remotely

The following question was submitted for the panel discussion chapter meeting held at the end of September. However, due to time constraints, the question was not asked during the discussion. Instead, we’ve placed it here for online discussion. What do you think? Post your comments below in response to this question:

When looking to hire technical communicators, employers obviously have a huge list of skills they are looking for in an applicant. Based on your experience, do employers look at telecommuting (the ability/know-how to work remotely from a home or mobile office) as a desirable skill? Not everyone is cut out to work remotely, and I’m just wondering if a lot of companies realize that and seek candidates that can work remotely effectively.

Question #1; Corporate blogs and wiki usage

The following question was submitted for the panel discussion chapter meeting held at the end of September. However, due to time constraints, the question was not asked during the discussion. Instead, we’ve placed it here for online discussion. What do you think? Post your comments below in response to this question:

There are some new tech tools out there. What are your views on the use and effectiveness of corporate blogs? What about wikis?

Thanks for an excellent September chapter meeting!

A big thanks goes out to our panelists (Keith Hoffman, Annette Markham, Julia Stone and Mary Bertun (moderator)) for participating in the technical communication discussion during our September kick-off meeting. We had an excellent meeting, and another great turnout. Thanks everyone for attending and contributing to a lively discussion. However, we didn’t get through all of submitted questions, so we (the STC4Lakes Board) thought we post the remaining questions over the next couple of months on this blog.

Watch for the questions shortly!

Have any questions for the panel discussion?

As you probably already know, our kick off meeting will feature a panel discussion entitled, “From Writer to Communicator: The Future of Technical Communication.” Our three panelist include Keith Hoffman, Annette N. Markham and Julia Stone. (Take a look here for short bios of each panelist).

Do you have a question you’d like the panel to answer? Post your questions in the Comments section below. No need to leave your name — just your question. Our discussion will be quite broad and open-ended, so almost any question related to technical writing/communication is fine.

Remember, the deadline to RSVP for the kick off meeting is approaching; please see this posting for details on the meeting and how to RSVP.

Thanks!

The STC 4 Lakes Board

Next Chapter Meeting; Friday, September 28th 11:30 to 1:00

Join us on Friday, September 28th from 11:30 to 1:00 as we start another year of chapter meetings. Our kick off meeting will feature a panel discussion entitled, “From Writer to Communicator: The Future of Technical Communication.” Our three panelist include Keith Hoffman, Annette N. Markham and Julia Stone. You can find additional panel discussion information, including biographies of each panelist, on the STC 4 Lakes chapter web site. A free lunch will also be served - see below for additional details and instructions on how to RSVP.

When? Friday, September 28th, 2007 (networking from 11:30 to Noon; panel discussion from Noon to 1:00pm)

Where? The Great Dane, 2980 Cahill Main in Fitchburg

Who? All STC 4 Lakes members as well as potential members that want to learn more about STC and our chapter meetings.

How do I RSVP? Simply post a comment to this very blog entry (click the ‘Comments’ text in the lower, right-hand corner of this blog entry). We’d like to give an accurate count to The Great Dane no later than the end of day, Wednesday, September 26th. When you RSVP, please indicate the following:

• Your first name
• One meal choice: Fish (New London Bridge Fish Fry), Vegetarian (Taliesin Vegetable Tart), or Wrap (Prime Rib Wrap). You can find detailed descriptions of each choice in the Great Dane online menu (PDF). 

***UPDATE (9-25-07; 2:30pm): If you experience problems posting your RSVP (several members have), please RSVP by emailing Chad Beery at cbeery (at sign) us.ibm.com; include “RSVP” in the subject line of your message - Thanks!

The new STC4Lakes chapter blog

Due to password issues and other technical difficulties with blogger.com, we’ve decided to use WordPress to host the Madison, Wisconsin STC4Lakes chapter blog. Please update your aggregators and bookmarks accordingly.