Dateline Houston – June 2013 Issue 05/31/2013

Here’s the list of stories we talked about this month.

See the June 2013 issue of Dateline Houston to access all the posts for this month, or click one of the links below to access a specific post.

• STC Houston Mission and the Future
• How to Get on the Job Training Before You Get on the Job
• 2013 STC Summit Video Contest
• Didn’t Make it to the Summit, but Still Want to be Part of the Learning
• See What Techcomm Bloggers are Saying About the STC Summit on Day 1
• STC Houston Would Like to Welcome the 2013-2014 STC Board of Directors
• STC Houston Members Wishing STC a Happy 60th
• STC Houston is Honored as the Most Improved Community in 2013
• 2013 STC Summit Eventifier Site: Next Best Thing to Attending the Summit
• STC Houston is “Stepping up Our Game”
• Why was STC Houston Recognized by STC.org as a Community of Distinction and the Most Improved Community?
• UHD Graduate Program Expo – June 11, 2013
• Summit@aClick — Access the STC Summit Content
• Date Clarification for May Program Meeting
• STC Houston Ranked #17 in the List of Most Popular STC Chapters and SIGs
• Were You Quoted in the “101 Things We Love About Tech Comm” Presentation in Atlanta?
• Dateline Houston – STC Houston’s Online Newsletter Just had its 20,000 View!    
• STC Houston Election – June 11, 2013
• Final STC Houston Program Meeting of the Year – June 11: Lightning Talks    
• IN WHICH THE PROGRAM AND SCHOOL YEARS END

Enjoy and have a great summer!

Thanks,

Yvonne Wade Sanchez

Newsletter & Social Media Manager for STC Houston

IN WHICH THE PROGRAM AND SCHOOL YEARS END 05/30/2013

By Cindy Pao, President, STC Houston

It is the time of year when things end. Certain other things then begin, among those things being summer and a quieter life at my house.
Our children have either finished the school year (the college one) or are winding up the school year (the middle schooler). My middle schooler reports tonight that he has four and one-half days of school left. That means three and one-half days of finals, after which I shall be, perhaps, happier than he will.

We are planning vacations. Perhaps we are planning to work a little harder. Maybe we are planning to goof off more. This is what summer lets us do.
And so it is that the STC Houston program year is winding down, too. The admin council will take somewhat of a break for a bit and then start up planning as summer starts to come to a close. We need the break. We’re tired.
Consider the accomplishments of the year:

• Five program meetings
• Two workshops: video and leadership
• One free webinar – our first
• Monthly networking lunches
• Quarterly Lone Writer SIG meet ups
• Dateline Houston gets its 20,000th hit
• 50th anniversary and its ensuing celebration
• Distinguished Chapter Service Award winner Erika Guerra Ramon
• Collaboration with the New York Metro and Philadelphia Metro chapter on the annual competition
• Chapter Achievement Award application
• CHAPTER OF DISTINCTION!
• MOST IMPROVED COMMUNITY!

[To be sure, there are more, and they are listed on the Chapter Achievement Award application. If you’d like to see it, let me know.]
We have a group of volunteers in our chapter who’ve worked hard to make all of this happen. Why, the CAA application took multiple hours and at least two meetings to complete. All that effort just to get recognition and validation for our chapter!
Did you check out any of these activities? We hope we did something – even a little thing – that has been valuable to you.
You need to remember, we did it all for you. Sure, we did it for us, too, but it was mostly for you.

June Program Meeting

I said it last month, and I’m saying it in a slightly different way again: The June program meeting is about recognition and information:

• Cheer and recognize and thank our awesome volunteers.
• Find out who are our active members.
• Take a look at the award-winning entry to the regional and international competitions.
• Sit back, listen to, and laugh at the lightning talks*.
• Pick up some free SWAG from years past (please help me get it out of my garage).
• Eat.
• A lightning talk is a presentation format where the speaker presents 20 slides, each displayed for 15 seconds, for a total talk time of 5 minutes.

I hope I’ll see you there. It won’t be the same without you!

Keep in Touch

I’m not going anywhere next year, so drop me a line! You can send email to president@stc-houston.org.

Final STC Houston Program Meeting of the Year – June 11: Lightning Talks 05/30/2013

The highlight of the STC Summit in Atlanta were the Lightning Talks. Well guess what? STC Houston will be hosting its own version on Tuesday, June 11 during out last program meeting of the year. In addition, you’ll have an opportunity to cast your vote for next year’s administrative council members.

Visit http://www.stc-houston.org/programs for all the details.

Lightning Talks
This session features a series of five-minute talks on topics of interest to technical communicators. Each speaker has 20 slides automatically displayed for 15 seconds per slide. Timing is strictly enforced.
Speaker: Up to 9 different speakers
Location: American Red Cross, 2700 Southwest Freeway

STC Houston Election – June 11, 2013 05/22/2013

Please remember we will be electing our Administration Council members at our June 11 meeting. If you cannot attend the meeting, or if you would like
to cast your ballot in advance, please use the online proxy ballot that will be available by June 1, 2013. I will send out an announcement and a link
when the proxy ballot is available.

Paul Mueller
STC Houston Nominating Committee Chair

Dateline Houston – STC Houston’s Online Newsletter Just Had its 20,000 View! 05/17/2013

Dateline Houston, STC Houston’s Online Newsletter, recently received its 20,000 view.

Thanks to all the contributors, readers, and supporters of Dateline Houston.

FYI: You still have time to contribute. We will publish articles until June 1 at which point we’re taking a break for the summer.

Yvonne Wade Sanchez
STC Houston Newsletter and Social Media Manager

Were You Quoted in the “101 Things We Love About Tech Comm” Presentation in Atlanta? 05/14/2013

Remember a few months ago Jamie Gillenwater asked the community to share things they loved about techcomm. Well a number of us did share, and here are the Twitter accounts for those who were quoted in Jamie’s presentation at the STC Summit in Atlanta: http://www.slideshare.net/jgillenwater/101-things-we-love-about-tech-comm

Thanks,

Yvonne Wade Sanchez (@ywsanchez)
STC Houston Newsletter and Social Media Manager

STC Houston Ranked #17 in the List of Most Popular STC Chapters and SIGs 05/14/2013

What a great year we’ve had.  We started the program year off celebrating our 50th anniversary as a techcomm organization. Then, we ended the program year being recognized at the STC Summit in Atlanta as a Distinguished Chapter (highest rank) and also the Most Improved Chapter.  Part of what made this year fantastic was the increase in the amount of online engagement.  In September of 2012, I shared some stats that showed that STC Houston ranked #25 as one of the most popular STC chapters or SIGs on Twitter.  I’m excited to share that we’ve moved up to #17 and that the number of followers of @STCHouston has increased by almost 50%.

Thanks for the supporting STC Houston, and I hope next year is just as spectacular.

Yvonne Wade Sanchez
STC Houston Newsletter and Social Media Manager

Date Clarification for May Program Meeting 05/14/2013

Important: The May meeting is on Tuesday, May 21st.

I apologize for the confusion that I created two weeks ago, when I did not have all of the confirmations I needed in place.

Also, since Susan will be conducting a live usability test at the meeting on May 21st, she’d like to get an idea of how many people will be attending. Please drop me an email if you can attend!

See you next week!

Cindy Pao

Summit@aClick — Access the STC Summit Content 05/13/2013

As a reminder, if you attended the 2011, 2012, or the 2013 STC Summits, you can access the content from those summits from Summit@aClick. See the following STC Notebook article for details.

UHD Graduate Program Expo – June 11, 2013 05/13/2013

The University of Houston-Downtown offers master’s degree programs that can serve your needs. UHD invites members of STC to the upcoming graduate program expo at the UHD campus, conveniently located in downtown Houston, to learn more about these exciting opportunities.

Graduate Program Expo
Tuesday, June 11
6:00pm-8:00pm
UHD, One Main Street
Academic Building, 3rd Floor

UHD offers higher education in skills important to your organization. In the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, we are very pleased to house two great programs.

The MA in Non-Profit Management prepares graduates for the management and leadership of non-profit organizations of all types, with focus on areas such as strategic planning, development of entrepreneurial skills, program management, human resources, technology, budgeting, board development, leadership, and ethics. You can find more information on the program website: www.uhd.edu/npmgt

The MS in Professional Writing and Technical Communication (PWTC) prepares graduates and working professionals for career advancement in communications, writing, editing, social media, web content, journalism, instructional design and usability. More information is available on the program website: www.uhd.edu/mspwtc

UHD offers workshops and resources to serve your needs. PWTC Faculty would also welcome an opportunity to offer a brief training session about a key writing or communication issue for your organization. Popular topics include plain language, social media writing, and user testing. Please contact Dr. Michelle Moosally (moosallym) or Dr. Aimee Roundtree (roundtreea) for further information.

Feel free to contact us for more information. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Michelle Moosally, Ph.D.
Coordinator, MS in Professional Writing and Technical Communication
713-221-8254 (phone)
moosallym

Adolfo Santos, Ph.D.
Coordinator, MA in Non-Profit Management
713-221-8232
santosa