Northeast Ohio Society for Technical Communication
The champagne may be uncorked but there still is plenty to celebrate with NEO STC for the new year! We have some interesting and unique activities planned, starting with the January meeting. This will be a hands-on experience that you don’t want to miss. We hope you will join our friends at Keithley Instruments on … Continue reading…
Barb Philbrick, Jason Vensel, and Lisa Mileusnich visited the University of Akron on November 9. Students from Kelly Webb Bronstrup’s technical writing classes braved the cold and snow to meet with us. We discussed our career paths, how to work with SMEs, what we do at our jobs, and general tips for becoming a successful … Continue reading…
A mix of familiar and new faces gathered to share some holiday cheer at the annual NEO STC Holiday Party on December 13. More than 20 people met at Burntwood Tavern in Lyndhurst to network, laugh, indulge in tasty appetizers and beverages, and kickoff the holiday season. Members and friends traveled from Cleveland, Akron, Canton, … Continue reading…
A new book entitled “Conditioning Your Mind to Fuel Creativity”—written to unleash readers’ minds and empower them to think differently while imagining new ideas—is now available for purchase at http://www.brainspark-creativity.com/book and on Amazon.com. “Conditioning Your Mind” shatters preconceived notions about what creativity is and means, explaining that it is not a talent only some people are born with, but instead … Continue reading…
The Horizon Report continues to provide, as it has for over a decade, ideas about higher education developments, trends, and challenges. Published by EDUCAUSE and the New Media Consortium, the report identifies what is “likely to have an impact” on learning and teaching. See https://library.educause.edu/resources/2018/8/2018-nmc-horizon-report for the full report. See Students of the Future for a … Continue reading…
The Paper It’s Written On fills the particular needs of an independent editor. Authors Karin Cather and Dick Margulis ably tackle their subject matter with Cather being a former litigator and freelance editor working with academic works, memoirs, police procedurals, science fiction, thrillers, true crime, and fantasy (wow!). Margulis is an editor and book designer with … Continue reading…
If you were not able to attend our November, 2018, meeting and want to see Kim Lindsey’s presentation on the important topic of learnability, you can now access a pdf file and recorded webinar to see what you missed, This material is available for your personal use only, Kim has some great insights in her … Continue reading…
Our program year is off to a great start as evident by all the great content in this newsletter. Be sure to check out the following articles: President’s Column: Recap and Upcoming News by Bob Young Get Off Your Duff and Build Relationships Says Aschwanden by Bob Young Recap of Bernard Aschwanden’s Technical Communication 2020 … Continue reading…
One Bernard presentation plus eight wooden pumpkins equal an educational and fun start for our expanding NEO STC circle! (See exciting membership news in this column.) Bernard Aschwanden, past president of STC and recognized publishing technologies expert, kicked off our program year in September with a full-day seminar packed with information, insightful tips, and software … Continue reading…
The second most important business advice that Bernard Aschwanden received was also his best lesson in life. “The course is entrepreneurship. After (the professor) stands up and introduces himself, he says ‘I want everyone to stand up and take the chairs and turn them over on your desk’,” recalled Aschwanden. “One of the girls says … Continue reading…
Hello NEO STC members! I’m a working technical writer in Cincinnati who was graciously invited to attend the Technical Communication 2020 event presented by Bernard Aschwanden. I am considering membership, and I appreciate the opportunity to experience the benefits of the organization, courtesy of Sara Buchanan’s encouragement and Adobe’s generosity. Aschwanden presented a wealth of … Continue reading…
Cornstalks, pumpkins, and apple cider, oh my! It was an absolutely boo-tiful evening of Fall fun for our October social at Szalay’s Farm, in Peninsula. As we waited for everyone to gather, there was time to shop the farm market, overflowing with fresh fruit, cheeses, bread, pies, and pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. Across … Continue reading…
We hear much today about the possibilities of the use of blockchain in education and other applications. Let’s consider how we should understand blockchain terms and concepts and be able, if needed, to explain the technology for the audiences we serve. One take on the subject comes from the Why Higher Ed Should Do More … Continue reading…
STC recently hosted a free members-only webinar called The Introvert in the Workplace: Becoming a Leader and Influencer by Ben Woelk. If you are familiar with Woelk’s work, you know that he presented at Summit on the topic, published an article in the May/June 2018 Intercom journal with the same name, hosts a Slack group … Continue reading…
WordPress for Journalists surprised me in how in-depth it covers its topics. Provided is not only information about how to complete tasks in WordPress but also how to use this content management system to produce journalism today. Author LJ Filotrani has an impressive background and is most qualified to tackle her topics. Not only is she … Continue reading…
We hope you had a wonderful summer! We’ve been busy getting ready for a new NEO STC term year. It is with great pride, that we welcome the following officers for the July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2019 term: Bob Young, President Jason Vensel, Immediate Past President Tricia Spayer, Vice President Kathleen Gaughan, Treasurer Lisa Scovern, Secretary Visit … Continue reading…
It’s my pleasure as president to welcome you to a new NEO STC year that promises to be unique and exciting. Your officers and committee chairs met throughout the summer to plan some educational and fun activities. Our mission is twofold: improve communication so members can enjoy the full benefit of their membership and to … Continue reading…
Did you hear? NEO STC has a member-exclusive group on Slack which serves as a real-time communication tool that allows you to chat directly with officers and members. Further, Tricia Spayer, NEO STC Vice President, has set up integrations for the NEO STC Google calendar of events and the STC Notebook to keep you in … Continue reading…
Not only is Jackie Damrau the Book Review Editor for Technical Communication (STC’s scholarly journal), she is also a senior business systems analyst, scrum master, and certified BPMN professional. Jackie works on the Technical Communication Book Reviews Section as it offers a reviewer’s viewpoint about a book in the technical communication field as described at https://www.stc.org/techcomm/submit-book-review/. Reviewers are STC … Continue reading…
Kelly Smith has been a gold member of STC since 2015. As a gold member, she has a membership to all the STC SIGs. She is currently most active in the Instructional Design & Learning (IDL) SIG and has recently become their newsletter editor, which is how I met her. She is also a member of the Southeast Michigan chapter and … Continue reading…