Make a vital contribution to STC and our Ohio STC chapter! You can help the chapter continue to achieve its award-winning service to its membership and community. In addition, there are many benefits to being a chapter volunteer, such as: Develop new skills Receive mentoring from STC leaders Advance your career: Add assets, experience, and … Continue reading…
Fall is coming upon us, and, for me, that usually means a slowing down of life. As a child, I used to hate fall. It meant the end of summer, going back to school, and cold weather. I loved summer so much that all these things seemed bad to me. As an adult, I think … Continue reading…
Research shows that there are five generations in the workforce today. These generations are described in the following table. Generation Years Born (roughly) Percentage in Workplaces Defining Qualities/Values Traditionalists 1925-1945 <2% Dependable Straightforward Tactful Loyal Baby Boomers 1946-1964 25% Optimistic Competitive Workaholic Team-oriented Generation X 1965-1980 33% Flexible Informal Skeptical Independent Generation Y (Millennials) 1981-2000 35% … Continue reading…
OHIO STC Networking Lunches & Social Events Sept 2023–August 2024 Thursday, Sept 21 – noon – Kickoff a New Season Zoom – Kickoff a new season – Discussion topic – What’s in the works for the chapter this year. What other things would you like to see us do? Registration Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIodioqzoqGdMVfXH3ICRyKKhpEZuedmwO Wednesday Oct 18 … Continue reading…
A recent Lay of the Last (Cleveland) podcast featured Angie. See the following to enjoy the podcast if you have not already heard it. https://www.layoftheland.fm/125-angie-dianetti-radcom/ Here is a snippet from the site. “Under Angie’s guidance, Radcom has earned the distinction of a Weatherhead 100 Outstanding Growth Company seven times over since then as one of Northeast … Continue reading…
If you have ever worked with Jackie Damrau as I have when she edits my drafts for book reviews for Technical Communication, you are lucky. Jackie is an inspiring person. I love her edits as she makes me look better as a good editor should. She also manages the lists of available books and lets … Continue reading…
Enjoy reading the answers Tricia Spayer provides below about how she took the prep course (on August 15) to prepare for the Tech Comm Foundation Certification. How did you sign up to take the course? I saw the STC email that promotes the courses. The schedule originally had the Practitioner Prep Course before the Foundation … Continue reading…
Transition in the air It is a daunting task to write my first President’s column for Ohio STC. I follow in the footsteps of previous presidents who have led well and showed passion for keeping our chapter active and vibrant. I wish to walk the same path as I continue the legacy of the president’s … Continue reading…
Enjoy reading the answers provided by Tricia Spayer who attended and presented at the conference in Atlanta earlier this year. What was your favorite part about the conference? This was my first in-person Summit since before the pandemic, so seeing many friends whom I have not seen in a long time was like a huge, … Continue reading…
Hi Everyone, Let’s take this time to recognize and congratulate all our Ohio STC 2023 award winners! Distinguished Chapter Service Award Kelly Webb-Bronstrup For sustained contributions to the Ohio Chapter – for sharing your wisdom and experience while acting as a mentor in our profession. Fellow Tricia Spayer Associate Fellow Lisa Adair Individuals … Continue reading…
Rob Smith, Vicky Duckworth. 2022. Policy Press. ISBN–978-1-4473-6233-3. 224 pages. $40.49 (softcover). Authors Smith and Duckworth are UK-based professors of education, and Duckworth is also a co-lead for the Social Justice in Education Network. The authors based Transformative Teaching and Learning in Further Education: Pedagogies of Hope and Social Justice on conclusions from the Transforming … Continue reading…
To illustrate one way AI can benefit writing, I’ve taken an excerpt from Einstein’s work to illustrate the benefits and challenges technical writers face when using AI. To create the AI version, I used a tool in Microsoft™ Edge through a ‘Discover’ extension setting the tone to ‘Professional’ and the length to ‘Medium’. (I did … Continue reading…
The editor of Intercom currently is Dr. Craig Beahr who is also a past President of the Society (https://www.stc.org/notebook/2022/10/06/announcing-dr-craig-baehr-incoming-intercom-editor/). Craig also acts as Chief Examiner for our Certified Professional Technical Communicator (CPTC) program and current chair of STC’s Certification Committee as he has a background in both academia and as a practitioner. Overseeing the transition … Continue reading…
As I sit down to write my last President’s column, I can hardly believe how quickly time has flown by. It seems like only yesterday that I was first elected to lead our chapter, and yet here we are at the end of another successful year. One of the highlights of this past year was … Continue reading…
Paulette was recently promoted to Lead Information Developer, which translates to information developer, level 5 at Rockwell Automation. Paulette is the only Lead ID in the department and the first for Rockwell’s business (Software and Controls) in the company’s history.
Practical Tips to Successfully Prepare for the Online CPTC Exam. As you probably surmised from the title, I’ve taken the CPTC Practitioner exam more than once before finally passing. I tend to live by the proverb, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. However, I learned a few tips along the way that … Continue reading…
Introduction Will AI eliminate your job as a tech writer? From the research I’m doing and courses I’m taking, the answer seems an obvious ‘No’. Currently, AI is a hot topic with discussions ranging from ‘it is just another search engine to ‘it’s alive and plans to kill all humans and take over the world’! … Continue reading…
The February 28, 2023 brown bag (Zoom) meeting hosted by the STC Rochester chapter included about 60 participants. How familiar were participants with ChatGPT? Only about two percent use ChatGPT all day every day. Most people just had some familiarity with the concept of ChatGPT and AI. Someone noted concern about ChatGPT replacing technical writers. … Continue reading…
Fragile Futures: The Uncertain Economics of Disasters, Pandemics, and Climate Change. Vito Tanzi. 2022. Cambridge University Press. ISBN-10 1009100122. ISBN-13 978-1009100120. 246 pages. US$24.99 (hardcover). How can governments prepare for unpredictable events such as a pandemic or climate change? That is one of the questions raised by economics professor Vito Tanzi as he also addresses … Continue reading…
On April 20, 2023, Char James-Tanny, a well-known accessibility advocate for more than 20 years, taught us about “Folding Accessibility into the Documentation Process”. The talk centered on the importance of accessibility, and how it is essential to respect people’s dignity, equality, autonomy, and usability in product documentation. Accessibility is a fundamental issue that affects … Continue reading…
As a Technical Communicator, it seems as though I’m always searching for information and then searching for better ways to communicate that information to readers. I suppose that it’s just the basics of our profession. But this search extends to our personal lives as well. Who hasn’t looked for guidance on how to complete a … Continue reading…
