STC PMC Newsletter April/May 2004

1. April/May 2004 Vol. 38, No. 5
The Other Side of the Table
by Barrie Byron
recently had the
opportunity to participate
in the interview process at
a software company
where I am a technical
writer consultant. Our
project deadlines were
looming, and the hiring of
more contract writers was approved. We
could add members to the writing team,
and we had to do it fast! It was fun to be
on the other side of the table for a change.
After the interviews concluded and the
hiring decisions were made, I was
reminded of this basic fact: The resume
gets you in the door, but your interview
determines the hiring decision. All of us
in the business of getting hired as tech-
nical writers can benefit from a review of
some basic interviewing tools. You might
even want to use this checklist as one of
your interview rehearsal tools.
When you are invited to interview for a
technical writing position, consider the
following points that are likely to come
up in an interview at a software company:
❏ Be prepared to cite your strengths and
summarize your skills. Very often, an
interview can open with “tell us some-
thing about your experience...” Practice
the elevator talk. Sell yourself in the time
it takes to go up a few floors in an
elevator.
❏ Research the company before you
show up for the interview.
❏ Research the technology you will be
writing for, at least something about the
type of industry (for example, network
software).
❏ Look through your samples to see if
you have written any related documents.
❏ Bring samples you wrote within the
last five years.
❏ Identify portions of the samples that
you wrote yourself (in contrast with
inheriting and maintaining the
information).
❏ Familiarize yourself with your sam-
ples. Look them over if it has been a few
years.
❏ Be prepared to discuss the authoring
tools you’ve used on previous jobs; espe-
cially in relation to the samples in your
portfolio.
❏ Be prepared to answer questions about
your samples. For example, “How did you
produce the graphics in this sample?” and
“What tool did you use to create this
document?”
❏ Know what an authoring tool is.
Familiarize yourself with files formats of
authoring tools and other software. For
example, if you developed help files, what
was the format of your deliverables?
❏ If your samples include electronic doc-
uments or help systems on a CD, print a
few pages to represent the content.
❏ Be prepared to answer questions about
accomplishments listed on your resume.
❏ Be prepared to describe the operating
systems that run the applications you’ve
documented. For example, “I documented
a database management system that ran
on Windows” or “I documented a finan-
cial system that ran on two UNIX
platforms.”
❏ Know what an operating system is.
❏ Know what a platform is.
❏ Be prepared to talk about documenta-
tion methodology in relationship to the
software development life cycle.
❏ Review basic life cycles to understand
the types of documents used to develop
software.
❏ Be prepared to talk about how you’ve
managed your projects. How do you
gather information? How do you handle
document reviews? Have you participated
in peer reviews? Edit cycles?
❏ Be prepared to talk about your work
practices. For example, how have your
organized and managed your electronic
files? Did you store them locally on your
hard drive, back them up on a network, or
use version control or project manage-
ment software such as VSS or PVCS?
(Continued on page 11)
In This Issue…
Features
1 The Other Side of the Table
4 STC-PMC Chapter Meeting Notes
7 Technical Writers’ Week
8 Expand Your Skill Set and Your Value
as an Employee or Consultant
9 Bus to Baltimore
Columns
2 Editor’s Voice
3 President’s Podium
6 Book Review
10 Crossword Puzzle

2. NEWS & VIEWS 2 April/May 2004
Editor’s Voice
What a Conference!
by Lori Corbett
asn’t it amazing? It’s
great to attend a well-
planned conference
with a variety of
professional sessions
where we can learn
and network.
I know you know it
takes hard work and dedication to organize
an event like this. For the past few years,
most of the work to pull the STC-PMC
annual conference together was done by
Sheila Marshall, volunteer extraordinaire (in
my humble opinion). Yes, a few other
members of the chapter help, but without
Sheila’s efforts the conference would not
have been as successful as it was.
Would YOU like to take over as
conference manager? I know that Sheila is
ready for the break from this responsibility,
especially as she is also completing a year as
the Vice President of our chapter. My fear is
that without someone stepping up to this
leadership role, the conference just won’t
happen next year. Planning needs to start
soon: to set the date, procure an excellent
keynote speaker, etc. When I was in
Orlando, the conference committee started
its work for the year nine months before the
event. For us, that means work, planning
needs to start in June.
❏ Are you willing to take responsibility for
letting this wonderful opportunity for our
membership die?
❏ Are you willing to take the responsibility
for ensuring that this wonderful opportunity
for our membership thrives?
I surely hope you choose the latter and
step up to the plate. If several of our
members would like to work together, you
know the old adage: “many hands make
light work.” You would certainly have the
opportunity to prove it.
If you would like to volunteer for this
worthwhile position, please contact Sheila
Marshall at (610) 933-9573. I and many of
your fellow STC-PMC members will thank
you. ■
Newsletter Staff
Managing Editor
Lori Corbett stcmember@comcast.net
Layout Editor
Rose Marie Sosnowy (610) 792-4031
Associate Editors
Al Brown (856) 222-7427
Rebecca Richardson
rebecca.one@verizon.net
Mary Shaw mary@ladywriter.net
Also Contributing to this Issue
Barrie Byron (609) 530-1969
Zsolt Olah idesign@vizitime.com
Gloria Reisman (610) 660-5118
Mary Shaw lmary@ladywriter.net
Mike Sharp (610) 854-2141
Submissions and Reprints
You may reprint original material appearing
in News & Views, as long as you
acknowledge the source and author and send
us a copy of the publication containing the
reprint.
ISSN 1078-9952. News & Views, published
six times per year, is the official publication
of the Philadelphia Metro Chapter of STC.
We encourage letters, articles, and other
items for publication. Note: By submitting
an article, you implicitly grant a license to
this newsletter to run the article and for other
STC publications to reprint it without
permission. Unless otherwise noted,
copyrights for all newsletter articles belong
to the authors. The design and layout of this
newsletter are copyright STC, 2004.
Address submissions or comments to Lori
Corbett, Managing Editor, News & Views,
834 Westridge Drive, Phoenixville, PA,
19460, phone (610) 382-8683;
email stcmember@comcast.net.
Toolbox
We produce News & Views with Frame-
Maker 6.0 and Acrobat 6.0 on various
Pentium computers.
News & Views
One of Our Own Judges at the
International Online Competition (IOCC)
Left to right: L. Kendall Johns of the Lone Star chapter in Austin, TX; Gwen Thomas of the Orlando
chapter in central Florida; and Barrie Byron (team lead) of the Philadelphia Metro chapter judging
online entries. An interesting sidebar is that one of the entries they judged was ultimately awarded Best
of Show!

3. April/May 2004 3 NEWS & VIEWS
President’s Podium
About Elections
by Nad Rosenberg
’ve been thinking a lot about
elections lately.
First, there’s the upcoming
presidential and
congressional elections.
Although I don’t usually
relate politics to professional
concerns, for the first time in
my recollection, there’s a real convergence
between the state of the union and issues
regarding our profession.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to express or
encourage a particular political opinion. I’m
just going to mention a few national issues
that affect us deeply as technical
communicators.
Jobs
Is there a more compelling topic for a
professional organization to consider? While
unemployment is a key issue for the country
as a whole, many chapter members are
experiencing this phenomenon up-close and
personal. Linked with unemployment is the
political hot potato of outsourcing, which
creeps into every discussion related to jobs.
The outsourcing phenomenon is something
that affects or will affect all technical
communicators—and this topic promises to
be one of the hottest political topics in the
upcoming election.
Health Care
How many of us now have to pay for all
or part of health benefits that used be
included in our standard employment
packages? For those lucky enough to receive
good health benefits from our employers,
what happens when we retire or are laid off?
The cost of health care is enormous and the
issues complex. So we all need to be as well-
informed as possible regarding the
candidates’ positions in this critical area.
Retirement
For many of us, life after technical
communication is a subject that becomes
more important every year. When the time
comes to retire, will we have the financial
resources needed to visit Tahiti—or even
feed the dog? We should all look carefully at
the candidates’ plans for Social Security and
determine how these options will affect us.
There are, of course, many other
extremely difficult and complicated
decisions involved in this election. My intent
here is only to raise awareness of a some
things that affect us professionally and to
encourage everyone to learn as much as
possible about the political alternatives.
STC-PMC Election
In addition to the national, state and local
elections, there is one more election that’s
been on my mind. The STC-PMC election!
We are looking for candidates and other
volunteers who want to make a contribution
to our chapter. If you’re interested, jump on
the STC-PMC bandwagon and send me an
email (twnad@techw.com). Unlike the
national election, it won’t cost you a thing to
run for office—and we can guarantee that, if
elected, you’ll be less stressed than George
Bush or John Kerry. ■
Chapter Officers
President
Nad Rosenberg (856) 848-6593
Vice President
Sheila Marshall (610) 933-9573
Treasurer
Steve Lungren (267) 620-2421
Secretary
Jill Cassidy (215) 590-9815
Immediate Past President
Jeff Stein (856) 728-1254
Region 1 Director/Sponsor
Jon Baker (978) 443-3049
Chapter Committee Managers
Employment
Giacomo DeAnnuntis (215) 482-1255
Programs
Gloria Reisman (610) 660-5118
Julia Margulies (610) 397-2448
Membership
Mike Sharp (856) 854-2141
News & Views
Lori Corbett stcmember@comcast.net
Nominating
Mike Sharp (856) 854-2141
Web site
Lois Shank lbshank@ptd.net
Online Competition
Donn DeBoard (484) 595-6216
Marc Green (610) 358-0631
Brian Winter (610) 640-4200
Address correspondence for the Philadelphia
Metro chapter of STC to
STC-PMC, P.O. Box 60069, Philadelphia,
PA 19102-0069.
Mission Statement: Designing the Future of
Technical Communication.
The Society for Technical Communication
(STC) is an organization dedicated to
advancing technical communication.
Membership is open to those employed in,
interested in, or concerned with the
profession of technical writing, publishing,
or associated disciplines. Contact STC at 901
N. Stuart St., Suite 904, Arlington, VA
22203,
(703) 522-4114 or http://www.stc.org.
STC-PMC Leadership
Society for Technical
Communication
“We are looking for
candidates and other
volunteers who want to
make a contribution to our
chapter.”

4. NEWS & VIEWS 4 April/May 2004
STC-PMC Briefings
STC-PMC Chapter Meeting Notes
Location: Philadelphia University
Date: Feb. 19, 2004
Topic: Back to School: Local Area Technical Writing Programs
Program Chair: Julia Margulies; Co-Program Chair: Gloria Reisman
The meeting started at 7:10 p.m. with
about 30 attendees. The meeting ended at
about 9:15 p.m.
Chapter president Nad Rosenberg opened
the meeting. In attendance were the four
speakers, chapter members and guests from
other chapters: Neil Perlin, a.k.a. “The XML
Man,” from the Boston chapter; Kimberly
Bogden, from the NY Metro chapter.
Chapter Business
The following chapter announcements
were made:
STC Annual Conference 5/9–5/12
❏ Chapter dinner somewhere on the Inner
Harbor is planned; sign up with Nad now.
Location may be the Rusty Scupper.
❏ A charter bus is available for conference
transportation.
New member introductions
❏ Five new members stood and introduced
themselves to the chapter. New members
hailed from Georgia, New Jersey, Florida,
and other states.
Annual chapter conference 3/20
❏ Handouts were distributed.
Volunteers and attendees needed!
Meeting appreciation
❏ Many thanks to program chair Julia Mar-
gulies and co-program chair Gloria Reisman
for arranging this meeting.
❏ Excellent food: hot and cold finger food,
sodas, fruit, cheeses. Very nice spread!
❏ This was our first meeting at
Philadelphia University. All attendees
seemed very pleased with the location
Program: Area Master and Certificate
Writing Opportunities
Philadelphia University
Russ Pritchard from Philadelphia
University hosted the meeting and opened
the formal program. Russ described the
Master of Science program in Instructional
Design and Technology offered by
Philadelphia University, emphasizing that
graduates of the Philadelphia University
program are “liberally educated
professionals.” In addition to updating our
technology proficiency skills, Russ reminded
us that we retain the ability to be lifelong
learners. The school of Design and
Communication provides four areas of
academic study, including Instructional
Design. Classes are held Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday evenings in Bucks
County. The program consists of 11 required
classes. Cost is about $1700 for three credit
hours. Visit www.philau.edu/graduate for
details. You can contact Russ directly by
email (pritchard@philau.edu).
Drexel University
Rachel Reynolds from Drexel University
discussed the three tracks in the Master of
Science program, one of which is the
technical writing track. The program
requires 45 hours, with 7 required courses.
Other courses are electives from any school
in the college (Psychology, Business, and so
on). The emphasis, in contrast to
Philadelphia University, is “science into
technical writers.” Program graduates go on
to become editors of scientific journals,
technical writers, and medical writers. The
cost is about $700 per credit hour. Drexel
University operates on a quarter academic
system. For more information on the
Graduate Program in Communication at
April 15. Contracting Panel
Join us on April 15 for a panel
discussion on contract technical
communication. Perhaps you have been
recently laid off and are considering
contracting. Or, maybe your current job
is becoming increasingly tenuous. You
might already be a contract technical
communicator. Come hear our panelists
discuss their views on contracting
today. Included on the panel will be two
chapter members who have been
contractors for the last few years and
two recruiters with extensive experience
working in the Delaware Valley area.
The program will allow substantial time
for questions and answers. We'll be
serving a hot buffet dinner, and a cash
bar will be available.
May 9–12. STC Annual Conference,
Navigating the Future, in Baltimore,
MD. Join us on the bus as we travel to
and from the STC Annual Conference.
For more information about the bus see
the article on p. 9.
June 17. Content Management
This month's theme is Content
Management, and our presenter is the
always interesting Cheryl Lockett
Zubak. Be sure to check the STC-PMC
Website for more details as the date
approaches.
STC-PMC Calendar

5. April/May 2004 5 NEWS & VIEWS
Drexel University, visit
www.coas.drexel.edu/humanities/grad/
com.html or call Dr. Ernest Hakanen at (215)
895-1354.
Penn State
Bob Reitman from Penn State discussed
the Technical Communication Certificate
program, an outreach program of the College
of the Liberal Arts and Professional Studies
in Technical Communication. The focus of
this five-course certificate program is on
adult learners who already have their
Bachelor’s degrees. In addition to the five-
course certificate classes (which may be
taken for credit or for certificate-only non-
credit), other technical communication
opportunities include Technical Writing for
Product Development and Services,
Technical Writing for Pharmaceutical
Professionals, and Text and Layout in a
Technical Publishing Environment. All
courses are available on a contract basis, and
are offered periodically as public sessions.
The cost varies, depending on campus
location, credit or certificate, and other
variables. For more details on Penn State’s
Technical Communication Certificate
program, visit www.psutechcomm.org/ofbr.
University of Delaware
Past STC-PMC president Rebecca
Worley, from the University of Delaware,
spoke about the many, diverse, and flexible
educational opportunities, including the
Certificate in Business and Technical
Writing. This certificate program also
focuses on adult learners and is designed for
degreed individuals or students who want
credentials. The program requires 21 credits,
7 courses. Many classes are available online
through video streaming. The University of
Delaware is “wired” and was recently named
the number two “wired high tech university.”
The continuing education program includes
a Webmaster Certificate program. A new
program under development is the New
Media program (combining IT, graphic arts,
communication, and technology). Rebecca
read a sampling of the continuing education
courses, including XML, Acrobat, CSS, and
Visio. Prices vary. A five-class XML course
may cost about $600. Visit
www.continuingstudies.edel.edu/
communcations/technical_writing.shtml for
details. Contact Ann Adkins-DePaul at
aadkins@udel.edu for any questions. ■
April 16-17
The Manitoba Chapter STC and the
Technical Communication Diploma
Program at Red River College (RRC)
will hold a joint conference, “Toward a
Community of Practice in Manitoba,” at
RRC’s Notre Dame campus in
Winnipeg, Manitoba. For more
information, please contact Alexa
Campbell at acampbell@rrc.mb.ca or
(204) 949-8455.
April 17
The STC Region 4 Conference,
“Writers Without Borders: Trends in
Technical Communication,” will be
held at the Holiday Inn Select in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The
conference will focus on how the role of
technical communicators is changing in
an evolving business world. For more
information, please contact Darlene
Mullinex at
dmullenix@federatedinv.com, (412)
462-3581, or visit the Pittsburgh
chapter’s Website (www.stcpgh.org/
conference)
May 9-12
STC’s 51st Annual Conference will be
held in Baltimore, Maryland. Post-
conference sessions will be held on
Thursday, May 13. For more
information, please visit the STC
Website at www.stc.org/51stConf/.
July 25-27
The Sacramento Chapter STC will host
the STC Region 8 Conference at the
University of California, Davis. The
conference will feature seminars, a
regional leadership summit, and a trade
show and career expo. For more
information, please contact Eric Butow
at ceo@butow.net or visit the
conference Website at
www.stcregion8conference.org.
STC and Related Events
Around the World
STC-PMC Briefings
(Continued from page 4)

6. NEWS & VIEWS 6 April/May 2004
Book Review
The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading
in an Electronic Age
reviewed by Al Brown
ost of us in this
business have
grown up—or
grown old—with
the technology that
Sven Birkerts
disses in The
Gutenberg Elegies.
And we’ve made our peace with it—our
“Faustian pact,” as he puts it—if only to
stay in the job market. If you feel
uncomfortable with current information
technology, you’ll find ample
reinforcement of your fears; if you
embrace it without question, there is
plenty to argue with. Regardless of your
position, it’s worth the effort to come to
grips with this elegantly written and
impassioned, if one-sided, book.
The book’s title shows where he’s
coming from, literally. A teacher, literary
critic, and former bookseller, Birkerts
sees himself as a native of the Gutenberg
Galaxy, which is under attack by aliens
from cyberspace.
The first part of the book, “The
Reading Self,” develops Birkerts’ notion
of reading printed books as a unique
activity and its complex relationship to
the act of writing. He concerns himself
almost exclusively with the reading of
fiction, specifically novels. In that
context, reading places the reader in a
special kind of time that expands or
contracts, depending on the reader’s
focus. It also puts the reader in an
alternative world, which, depending on
the skill of the writer, can be as
compelling as reality. These realities can
exist simultaneously, and one of the more
fascinating ideas he plays with is whether
the experience of reality and the
experience of a novel differ qualitatively.
(Birkerts believes they do not.)
For Birkerts, reading is the act of an
individual performed in solitude;
therefore the technological, social, and
political forces that homogenize our
world also endanger reading as an
activity. He develops these ideas in the
context of his personal experience, which
makes for delightful reading for book
lovers, regardless of what you think of his
argument.
Part II, “The Electronic Millennium,”
elucidates Birkets’ two main themes.
First, he asserts that reading on a
computer screen differs fundamentally
from reading on the printed page.
Electrons lack the permanence of ink:
“Nearly weightless though it is, the word
printed on a page is a thing. The
configuration of impulses on a screen is
not—it is a manifestation, an
indeterminate entity both particle and
wave, an ectoplasmic arrival and
departure. The former occupies a position
in space—on a page, in a book—and is
verifiably there. The latter, once
dematerialized digitalized back into
storage…cannot be said to exist in quite
the same way. It has potential, not actual
locus.” Further, because they lack
permanence and emanate from a black
box few of us understand, words on a
screen lack authority and we cannot trust
them—we don’t know where they’ve
been and who’s touched them.
This reminds me of the villain in
Jasper Fford’s fantasy The Eyre Affair,
who kidnaps a character from Martin
Chuzzlewit and plots to change the ending
of Jane Eyre. As scholarship on critical
editions of everything from the Bible to
Joyce’s Ulysses shows, being in print
doesn’t guarantee authority. At the root of
this argument lies a love for books as
concrete artifacts, the physical handling
of which plays an important role in the
aesthetic experience of reading.
Birkerts’ second point is that the rise
of electronic media has contributed to a
major decline in literacy and culture,
particularly in the United States. It
encourages a broad and shallow approach,
rather than a narrower and deeper one.
Reading appears to be dying out as a
means of passing on our cultural heritage.
And this is one place where Birkerts’
argument begins to break down, because
he consciously discounts every form of
artistic and cultural expression other than
reading books as unworthy of
consideration. American civilization may
indeed be in peril, but not necessarily
because people aren’t reading many 19th
century novels anymore.
As technical communicators, we can’t
afford to succumb either to nostalgia or to
novelty. The issue isn’t tradition vs.
bleeding edge: it’s what communicates
clearly and effectively. We do need to be
aware of factors in our surroundings that
affect the audience’s ability to absorb
what we try to convey
The introduction of printing
technology in the late 15th century
transformed Europe from an oral to a
literate culture—triggering the
Reformation and the Thirty Years War in
the process. The current information
revolution promises to be equally
cataclysmic, and there will be far less
time to adjust. Mourning what is
disappearing without acknowledging and
preparing for what will replace it is
simply shortsighted. A better strategy is,
in the words of my daughter, to “suck it
up and deal with it.” ■
Birkerts, Sven, The Gutenberg Elegies:
The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age.
New York: Ballentine, 1995 [1994]. ISBN
0-449-91009-1 (paper), 231 pages,
$14.00.
Note: Have you read any good books
lately—ones that made you think differently
about your profession? If you have a
suggestion for one you’d like to review for
News & Views, contact Al Brown at
aheb@verizon.net.

7. NEWS & VIEWS 7 April/May 2004
Technical Writers’ Week
In support of our Second Annual Conference “Morphing into the Future
with STC,” Governor Rendell proclaimed the week of March 14–20 as
Technical Writers’ Week in Pennsylvania.

8. April/May 2004 8 NEWS & VIEWS
More Than a Tech Writer
Expand Your Skill Set and Your Value as an
Employee or Consultant
by Mary T. Shaw
n this time of widespread
corporate downsizing,
with pink slips seemingly
more common than
paychecks, and with
technical jobs moving
overseas in droves, what
can a technical writer do
to reduce her chances of falling victim to
the next round of layoffs? One way is to
make yourself more valuable to your
employer. Broaden your scope, branch
into new and compatible areas of product
support, and make yourself more visible
and less dispensable in the
process. With the help of a
supportive employer, you can
build on the skills you already
have for learning and explaining
technical material and apply them
to other areas of information
management and user advocacy.
Below are some areas a technical
writer could pursue with minimal
retraining.
❏ Testing/QA: Many technical writers
find themselves serving as unofficial
system testers in the course of their reg-
ular work. We are often the ones to
stumble upon a bug, an inconsistency, or a
user interface issue. Why not make it
official? If you notice that the regular
testing/QA staff is overworked, offer to
help out. They’ll appreciate the assis-
tance, and you’ll gain some valuable
experience.
❏ Instructional Design: Technical
writers are already good at explaining
technical concepts and procedures.
Instructional design simply takes it a step
further and incorporates additional
learning tools such as discussion points,
exercises, and tests. Instructional
methods might involve a traditional hard-
copy training workbook and instructor
guide for classroom teaching, computer-
based instruction, or other methods. A
quick Web search will yield numerous
sites that provide good information on
instructional design models and theories.
❏ Training Instructors: As technical
writers, we make our living by explaining
technical concepts and procedures
through our writing. As training instruc-
tors, we simply deliver the information in
a more interactive training classroom or
Web/teleconference environment. While
not everyone is comfortable with
speaking in front of a class, for most
people it becomes easier with practice.
Practice by offering small lunchtime ses-
sions to coworkers on a topic with which
you are comfortable, or offer to speak at
an upcoming STC-PMC meeting. Once
you feel that you’re ready for prime time,
get creative and think “outside the box” to
identify opportunities.
❏ Web Development: Many technical
writers these days are already experienced
with HTML and Web content develop-
ment at some level. Why not take it a step
further? In addition to the Web-based
help development and Web content
writing/editing that many of us already do
in our work, some technical writers are
branching into Web site development and
maintenance roles. Take some Web
development classes at your local com-
munity college to get the technical skills
you lack, or just buy some books and
teach yourself. Practice by developing
your own personal Web site, or volunteer
to create or maintain a site for a local non-
profit organization. Then look for
opportunities to help out on the side with
Web development/maintenance at your
company to show off your skills!
❏ Tech Support: As with technical
training, tech support is simply a different
method of explaining technical informa-
tion and providing the information a user
needs to resolve issues. While tech sup-
port can seem like a thankless, high-
pressure job, it can be a good way to
develop user interaction skills and can
provide a user perspective that can be
extraordinarily valuable in your more tra-
ditional tech writing work. And by
demonstrating your technical and
problem-solving skills in a tech
support environment, you can earn
extra clout with your more tech-
nical colleagues.
❏ Project Management: We all
manage our own projects. Those
technical writers who are particu-
larly well organized and have
managed multi-writer projects
might want to consider project manage-
ment at a broader level in the company.
We already have the technical knowledge,
the communications skills, and the ability
to plan and work with deadlines. With an
understanding of the work done by
project team members outside the tech-
nical communications realm, familiarity
with various project management tools,
and good organizational and client man-
agement skills, it’s a career step that could
open up a world of opportunities.
So break down those invisible role
barriers and broaden your horizons.
You’ll not only become less expendable
to your current employer, you’ll be more
hirable for your next! ■
About the Author: Mary T. Shaw is a technical
writer for First Consulting Group in Wayne,
PA and an associate editor for News & Views.
She can be contacted at mary@ladywriter.net.
“… areas a technical writer could pursue with
minimal retraining.
Testing/QA…Instructional Design…
Training Instructors…Web Development…
Tech Support…Project Management…”

9. April/May 2004 9 NEWS & VIEWS
Bus to Baltimore
B u s t o B a l t i m o r e !
Ride the STC-PMC
Baltimore
Chartered Coach to the
STC Annual Conference in Baltimore, MD
May 9–12, 2004
Why fight traffic on I-95?
Why pay for tolls and gasoline?
Why pay high parking fees while you’re at the Conference?
Come ride with STC-PMC to the Baltimore Convention Center!
Departing: 7:15 a.m. on Sunday, May 9
Location: Doubletree Hotel parking lot, Plymouth Meeting, PA
Our chartered coach will depart from the Doubletree hotel parking lot*
at 7:15 a.m. and drive directly to the Baltimore Convention Center.
Returning: 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 12
Location: Baltimore Convention Center
Our chartered coach will depart from the Baltimore Convention Center
at 4:30 p.m. and return to the Doubletree hotel in Plymouth Meeting.
Capacity: 47 passengers
Total cost: Depends on the number of passengers
Make your reservation now! Phone: (267) 620-2421
Round-trip cost, prorated based on the
number of passengers:
#Passengers Cost per passenger
47 ........................ $22
45 ........................ $23
40 ........................ $26
35 ........................ $30
30 ........................ $35
25 ........................ $42
20 ........................ $52
* The Doubletree hotel has graciously permitted us to use the area of their parking lot
near the road, furthest from the hotel, to park our cars during the Conference.
Doubletree is not liable for any lost valuables or damages to any vehicles.

10. NEWS & VIEWS 10 April/May 2004
Crossword Puzzle
by Zsolt Olah
ACROSS
1 A scented liquid that men sprinkle on
women on Easter Monday in Hungary
6 You’re all this if you got everything you
wanted
9 Article
10 Image projecting department
11 To disentangle the lovers’ knot
14 Personal computer
15 Communication form
17 Glaze + broil (A Japanese dish with slices of
marinated meat or shellfish.)
19 Our souls, unsaved
20 An orthodox Anabaptist sect that separated
from the Mennonites in the late 17th century,
now living in Ohio, Southeastern
Pennsylvania, and in the ‘Witness’
21 VUT
22 VIZIS
23 Intended course of action in the future
26 OZHS
28 Elevated place in the church
29 Father of brass, copper, and bronze
30 Piece of art produced by an independent
group
32 Teaching fellow
34 Rain element
36 A dog. But sounds like a train
40 UL
41 Monster street
42 Abbreviated form of the Hungarian currency
43 ZE
44 RHG
45 Footwear fight
DOWN
1 Audience with hearts and minds captured
2 A single occurrence upon a fairy time-scale
3 To make as effective as possible
4 Grey-like
5 EUHKHP
6 Sport that you like, even on a downhill
7 Short meeting. Could be with aliens
8 Hot iron tortured bread
12 NNI
13 Translation and localization
16 Short of cash
18 Shaving fishy
21 To mark with an indication of official
sanction
24 Young Longfellow could be called that
25 XXX
27 Yes, in Spanish
29 Significant person (besides you)
31 NUH
33 Bubble material
35 Unsweetened (modern) Greek liqueur
flavored with anise
36 Letters representing the ‘tch’ (like in sketch)
sound in Hungarian
37 A nasty, old, ugly person—mostly female
38 AES
39 Mysterious object in the air
1
C
2
O L
3
O
4
G N
5
E
6 6
S
7
E
8
T
9
A N
10
P R
10 11
U
12
N K N O
13
T
14
P C
13 15
T E
16
C H N I C A L
17
T E
18
R I Y A K I
19
O S
I
20
A M I S H
22 21
V U T
22
V
24
I Z I S
23
P
24
L A N
27 25
T
E
26
O Z H
27
S
28
A L T A R
31 29
O R E
30
I
31
N D I E I
35P 32
T F
36 33
G
37
U
34
D R
35
O P
36
C H I
37
H U
38
A H
39
U A
40
U L
41
S E S A M E
43 42
F T
43
Z E
44
R H G
45
S H O E B O X
We extend a warm welcome to chapter
members who are joining STC for the
first time, rejoining, or have transferred
from another chapter.
New Members
❏ Duane L. Arcuicci
❏ James Barr
❏ Taneisha Blyden
❏ Andrea C. Carrero
❏ Gilda G. Cellini
❏ Samantha Dolin
❏ Patricia Duffan
❏ J. D. Gebicki
❏ Staci Hangey
❏ Liz Mikita
❏ Carole Shankin
❏ Wray Stanley
❏ Rebecca E. Watts
Reinstated Members
❏ Melissa King
❏ Judith M. Myerson
❏ Linda Stauffer
Transferring Members
❏ Christopher J. McComb
❏ William A. Shook
❏ John R. Urban
At the end of February, the chapter
membership was 415.
Membership Update
Guidelines: Not your
typical crossword. Some of
the definitions may be be
vague, associative, even
funny. Single words
UPPERCASE (e.g., across
21) are your guides. You
can start solving the puzzle
using them ‘as is’.
Puzzle solution on p. 11

11. April/May 2004 11 NEWS & VIEWS
STC Annual Conference
May 9–12, 2004
Baltimore Convention Center
A grand opening reception on Sunday
night opens the conference on a festive
note. Three days of sessions cover
everything from the nuts and bolts of
management, writing, and editing, to
the latest trends in tools, usability, and
information design.
A fourth day (May 13) presents half-
day or full-day post-conference
workshops and tutorials covering the
same range of topics in greater detail, at
an additional charge. See the STC web
site (www.stc.org) for details.
Puzzle Solution
Navigating the Future of
Technical Communication
1
C
2
O L
3
O
4
G N
5
E
6 6
S
7
E
8
T
9
A N
10
P R
10 11
U
12
N K N O
13
T
14
P C
13 15
T E
16
C H N I C A L
17
T E
18
R I Y A K I
19
O S
I
20
A M I S H
22 21
V U T
22
V
24
I Z I S
23
P
24
L A N
27 25
T
E
26
O Z H
27
S
28
A L T A R
31 29
O R E
30
I
31
N D I E I
35P 32
T F
36 33
G
37
U
34
D R
35
O P
36
C H I
37
H U
38
A H
39
U A
40
U L
41
S E S A M E
43 42
F T
43
Z E
44
R H G
45
S H O E B O X
❏ Be prepared to discuss the milestones
when you preserved electronic versions of
your files. For example, when you send out a
draft for review, or after you have incorpo-
rated edit comments. What type of
comments would you write at these
milestones?
Several enhanced interview skills include
discussing what additional value you can
bring to the position; for example, point out
that you make deadlines because you have a
strong project management background and
use MS Project to develop your own
schedules and that you can do this for the
team, too. Discuss any additional tools for
success that you have used in previous jobs.
For example, mention that you provide
written documentation plans and statuses for
all your work. Even better, show samples of
these plans and status reports. How do you
solve problems? You can stress your team
approach to solving challenges. These are
not things that the employer usually expects
a contractor to bring to table, but they are
value-added; the employer gets them without
any additional cost and it helps the business.
Your verbal communication skills leave a
big impact on the hiring team. In addition to
polishing your technical skills, dust off your
speaking skills. Consider attending a
Toastmasters meeting to practice
communicating in a formal environment.
Doing your homework will help to ensure
you make the grade. ■
The Other Side of the Table
(Continued from page 1)
STC MEETING EVENT RECEIPTS FOR ALL
EVENTS ARE SELF-SERVE FROM THE
CHAPTER’S WEBSITE:
http://www.stcpmc.org

12. Newsletter Address
News & Views
Lori Corbett
834 Westridge Dr.
Phoenixville, PA 19460
stcmember@comcast.net
First Class Mail
NEWS & VIEWS 12 April/May 2004
Deadline for next issue: May 15
Upcoming Meetings
The information in the following table was correct at the time News & Views was published. Be sure to check the Website
(www.stcpmc.org) for details and late-breaking updates to the schedule. For all Thursday meetings, reservations are due by the Monday
before the meeting.
Date Meeting Topic Location
April 15, 2004 Contracting Panel Holiday Inn
Cherry Hill, NJ
May 9–12, 2004 STC Annual Conference
Special Registration Required
Baltimore Convention Center
Baltimore, MD
June 17, 2004 Content Management DoubleTree Hotel
Plymouth Meeting, PA
October 9, 2004 Philadelphia Mural Tour
Special Registration Required
Philadelphia, PA
A Look Inside...
❏ Thinking about attending the STC
Annual Conference in Baltimore? Ride the
STC-PMC bus! See p. 9.
❏ Expand your skill set and become more
than a tech writer after reading Mary
Shaw’s article on p. 8.
❏ The editor speaks on p. 2.
❏ President Nad Rosenberg talks about
elections on p. 3.
❏ Read a review of Sven Birkerts’ book,
“The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of
Reading in an Electronic Age” by Al
Brown on p. 6.
❏ An interview checklist is part of Barrie
Byron’s offering on p. 1.
❏ Test your crossword puzzle skills in
Zsolt Olah’s latest presentation on p. 10.