Council Meeting Notes-Aug 2012 (Draft) | STC Atlanta - Society for ...

Society for Technical Communication ? Atlanta Chapter

Executive Council Meeting Summary

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Tuesday, July 10, 2012, 6:20 pm (meeting opened at 6:45 pm)

Present: Michelle Schoonover, Jane Wilson, Howard Speck, Jessica Pierre, Sharon Ford, Rachel Mahan, Holly Harkness, Gay Stahr, Roberta Heinlein and Mirhonda Studevant.

Next meetings:Tuesday, September 11, 2012 at 6:30 pm, Home Depot SSC (date delay because of Labor Day); Tuesday, October 2 at Home Depot SSC and Tuesday, October 30 (tentatively a conference call)

The group introduced themselves to Jessica Pierre, a student a SPSU.

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I. Approval of Minutes from July Meeting

Jane moved and Sharon seconded that the minutes be approved as written. The motion passed.

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II. Chapter Meeting (reported by Roberta)

Roberta has confirmed our August 21 meeting speaker as Rob Houser. He will present the topic ?Improve User Productivity with JIT Advice?.

Action Item: Promote the August meeting, including that Rob is a former STC Atlanta President

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III. Upcoming Programs

Currently need September, October and January programs. Other planned programs:

November ? Cheryl Dennis will speak about Agile Development

December ? Chapter banquet?

January ? Jen Collier may present Sesame Street/Instructional Design topic

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IV. Program Ideas

Educational Offerings ? certificates, Continuing Education, Online programs, etc. Action Items:? Gay and Michelle will research and collaborate on Educational Offerings

Starting as a Contractor ? How to Start (perhaps incorporate into the Employment Workshop)

Soft-skills: Dealing with Difficult People (Mary Nepper from East TN)

Personality Types (Judy Glick-Smith)

Cross-Functional topics, such as Content Strategy (Gay is part of the Content Strategy meetup group and will inquire about possible speakers)

Design-type topics, ie. Typography or Graphic Design (Leslie Hankey)

Digital Photography (Mark Wallis)

MadPak (MadCap Suite including Flare Help Authoring Tool)

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V. Employment Workshop (reported by Howard)

The Employment Workshop is scheduled for Saturday, September 22 at the LaQuinta Perimeter on Peachtree-Dunwoody Road. Registration/continental breakfast begins at 8:30. Workshops begin at 9:00. The program is anticipated to last until 1 pm. Registration is $25 for STC members and $40 for non-members. Speakers include:

Jeff Sheehan ? Using LinkedIn to Get Jobs.

Michelle Schoonover ? Creating a Digital Portfolio

Holly Harkness ? Resume Preparation (and resume review)

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Emplolyment Workshop Volunteers: Holly, Jane, Michelle (registration and food), Sharon

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Roberta hadn?t spoken with Doreen about use of the projector, but LaQuinta offers a rental for $50; projection screen (no charge); flip charts w/ markers ($20) and Coffee (with refills) for $10/pot.

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The council agreed that the workshop should be promoted on college campuses with TCOM programs (including SPSU, Mercer U, GSU and KSU) as well as fellow professional organizations like ASTD, Int?l Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI), Medical Writers, etc.

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Action Items: Howard/Roberta will forward collateral to ASTD to promote the STC workshop during the ASTD Atlanta one-day conference on 8/20. Also contact Clarity, Pro Edit and MDI to request cross-promoting the workshop (not partnering). Jane will set up Pay Pal advance registration.

John/Jessica will update web site to promote workshop and link to advance registration.

Gay will write Save the Date info.

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VI. Leah Guren Workshop (reported by Roberta)

The Technical Writing Basics (day 1) and Technical Editing (day 2) workshops will be hosted at the same LaQuinta Perimeter location as the Employment workshop on Friday, Nov. 9 and Saturday, Nov. 10. We need a projector(the hotel provides the screen), flip charts (2); markers, easels printed materials (60 pages per person per day estimated) and volunteers to help with food. The target registration is 50 people, with a break-even at 25-30 people per day. The proposed pricing model is:

Day/Status	STC Member	Non-member	Student
One Day	$149	$199	$99
Both Days	$248	$348	$148

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The council agreed that this workshop should be promoted to non-technical writers. The promotional materials need to explicitly state that those outside of TCOM are encouraged to attend.

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Action Items:Jane will forward neighboring STC chapters info to Gay. Gay will create a blast to members. John and Gay will collaborate on messaging. John/Jessica will also recruit volunteers for this workshop. Roberta will ask Rachel Mahan and Judy Glick-Smith for testimonials about Leah to include in the promotional materials. Roberta will also ask Judy Glick-Smith about best dinner dates with Leah during her visit.

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VII. Mentoring (reported by Michelle)

Michelle received information from Al, she has plenty of content to use as a baseline. There may also be a tie-in to the Employment Workshop as far as enlisting members for 6 month mentor commitments.

Action Items: Michelle will contact SPSU ETC&MA Program leaders to see whether they would be open to STC members to serve as mentors with their existing program.

VIII. Mentorship (reported by Sharon)

Sharon presented ideas to help people to share resources including

Lending Library/Book Swap where people would keep inventory online or create space where items could be listed with contact information and instructions to purchase or send.

Reading List with recommendations for professionals (new and seasoned) rating by level of experience/years of practice; reference materials/?bibles? vs. ?good to know? material; and Independent Contractor vs. Employee (in terms of legal, recruiters, insurance coverage); including a Pick of the Month will have a review featured on the STC Atlanta web site (the group suggested member interviews, profiles, etc.) Howard also suggested building a reading list via Amazon;

Sharon is willing to interview members ? council discussed video or podcast interviews to post to the website.

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IX. Volunteer Needs

Planning December (banquet) event; Banquet in lieu of awards banquet; (may need to move to January instead ? most cost-effective and logistically easier). May still do Harp?s mixer/community service event in December.

Employment Workshop

Writing/Leah Guren Workshop

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Source: http://stcatlanta.org/2012/08/council-meeting-notes-aug-2012-draft/

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