Northeast Ohio Society for Technical Communication
This could be almost any engineer. Nothing could stop you once you had that fine engineering education, society kept telling you when you were a student. Then you began your first job, and it did not take long to learn those years of academic struggle left your engineering education incomplete, in fact with a gaping … Continue reading…
A gridiron MBA? Jim Tabaczynski is a marketing communication and public relations strategist who asks this question in relation to his book Hard Hitting Lessons. The book “lets you see how much you can learn about business from football” as explained at the Hard Hitting Lessons site. Tabaczynski is with JPT Group and goes on to say … Continue reading…
“Just right” were the words that came to mind when reviewing Exercises in Media Writing. As a companion to Dynamics of Media Writing, what we see in Exercises in Media Writing appears to be an effective mix of useful and interesting materials. With fourteen major areas of interest, Exercises in Media Writing covers a wide and appropriate array of topics including … Continue reading…
An avid boater, I’m not a fan of the months of January and February. The gray, cold days seem to limp like a damaged yacht heading back to port. You can see hope on the horizon but then the wind snaps you back to reality. But if there is a silver lining, it’s a good … Continue reading…
The 2019 STC Summit is in Denver this year, May 5-8. The full schedule is available here: https://summit.stc.org/schedule/. You can view it in a PDF grid, or as a list. There are 80+ sessions and 12 workshops, plus: Opening Keynote by Peter Morville, information architecture expert and co-author of the O’Reilly “Polar Bear” books: https://summit.stc.org/keynote-speaker/ … Continue reading…
Did you know that we have so much going on in one place, and it’s only for NEO STC members? Check out what’s inside: Job listings throughout all of Ohio! Be in the know! Chapter announcements Event announcements Registration links Event reminders Feed from STC’s Notebook blog Did you even know that STC has a … Continue reading…
Patrick Files, an Information Developer at Rockwell Automation, described how teamwork with SMEs and a survey produced improved HMTL search methods. Files, a NEO STC member who creates and maintains online help for software products at Rockwell, was the guest presenter at the February meeting, titled “Mining for Metadata with Survey Monkey”. After making the … Continue reading…
I had the pleasure of interviewing STC Vice President and Associate Fellow Ben Woelk for this piece. Thanks Ben! While talking to Ben, I saw one theme emerge: he enjoys a challenge. And that drives him in his work and personal life, from his membership on the STC Board of Directors to his hobby of … Continue reading…
“STC is an outstanding organization I wish I had known about years ago.” So said Paul Joseph who is currently an STC member and host of a recent NEO STC webinar on technical writing. Paul hosted the webinar in connection with his work as CEO of the International Writing Institute (IWI) and promotion of a … Continue reading…
Paul Joseph, CEO of the International Writing Institute, discussed different types of writing at our January 28 free mini-webinar. NEO STC held this free mini-webinar via Gotomeeting. All 150 tickets sold out. The event was open to STC members and non-members. The goal of the event was for those new or interested in the field … Continue reading…
Recently, Jennifer Yaros presented a mini-webinar on Tapping into the Creative Mind: The Science Behind Generating Ideas. Jennifer is the founder and Chief Creativity Officer at BrainSpark, a program that consults with businesses to help them foster creativity and innovation. In this mini-webinar, Jennifer explains the difference between creativity and art, saying “creativity is about … Continue reading…
Building LEGO structures isn’t just for entertainment purposes anymore – you can use them to encourage team communication and problem solving too! Heidi Spangler, owner of Backwards Bicycling, LLC and certified LEGO Serious Play facilitator, led attendees in exploring their creative sides by providing topics to illustrate and discuss using LEGO Blocks. Building with LEGO … Continue reading…
The word that comes to mind when I think of the contents of The Teacher’s Role in the Changing Globalizing World is “smorgasbord” as in a smorgasbord of interesting ideas. The chosen works ably address with their smorgasbord of ideas the notion that the role of teachers today is changing throughout the world. Today a teacher … Continue reading…
NEO STC wishes you and yours a wonderful new year. Did you set any resolutions? I did the obligatory “be healthier” resolution which means hitting my Fitbit step goal and water intake goal everyday. Speaking of resolutions, make sure you check out the President’s Column written by Bob Young. He talks about upcoming events and … Continue reading…
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…