The newsletter summarizes recent activities of the STC Philadelphia Metro Chapter, including being honored as a 2010 Chapter of Excellence. It announces upcoming events like the annual STC Summit and a presentation on preparing for localization. It also provides feedback from attendees of the recent Mid-Atlantic Technical Communication Conference, and encourages members to get more involved and consider presenting at future conferences.

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About Us Events Membership
News & Views
April 2011
Greetings!
On behalf of the STC Philadelphia Metro Chapter's leaders and volunteers, I'd
like to congratulate the entire chapter for being recently honored as a 2010
Chapter of Excellence. This prestigious honor is awarded to STC communities
that demonstrate a high level of achievement - we're grateful for the
recognition. A general overview of this award is provided later in this
newsletter.
It's also been quite a busy month. Just last week we met with many of our
New Jersey colleagues in Voorhees to hear Nad Rosenberg deliver some
insightful tips and information about using visuals more effectively. This was a
follow-up to her recent presentation at the 2011 Mid-Atlantic Technical
Communication Conference that was held on March 26 in Willow Grove, PA at
the Giant Community Center.
Speaking of the conference, I'd like to thank everyone who helped to make
this event such a great success - the speakers, attendees, and volunteers.
The same goes for the Friday workshop that Don Moyer hosted. We've
received excellent feedback and look forward to putting together another
terrific event in 2012.
There's more in store! The annual STC Summit is coming up on May 15
(Pre-registration for the Summit ends this Friday, April 29!). Then 2 weeks
after that (May 28th), we have a special presentation by Theodora Landgren,
one of our senior members and regional specialist with her company a2z
global. She'll be talking about how best to prepare for localization and
encourages attendees to bring their questions - I encourage those looking into
expanding their roles and reaching an international audience to take
advantage of this opportunity.
And for those of you who are interested in getting more involved with the
chapter and helping us continue to offer great services and programs, stay
tuned! We'll be providing more opportunities and information on how you can
help, learn new skills, and get to know your STC colleagues a little better.
Todd DeLuca
President, STC-PMC
Join STC Now

2. Member Feedback of the 2011
STC-PMC Mid-Atlantic Conference
I attended my first Mid-Atlantic Conference this year, and I found the whole
experience to be informative and fun. I enjoyed getting to meet many
members of PMC, as well as other STC members from around the
surrounding areas. All the classes I attended helped to spur ideas for how I
could improve my own technical writing skills and my career. It also
informed me about the future of technical writing and how to adapt to the
changes that are coming. As you can tell, this conference had a lot to offer.
The workshops were diverse and offered a variety of ideas and methods
that we could take back to work with us. They also offered great networking
opportunities. If you did not get the chance to participate this year, I highly
recommend you do so next year. The classes are diverse and there is
definitely something for everyone.
-Katie Wilson
Technical communication is rapidly changing and we as technical
communicators need to keep up with new trends in our field. While we may
be dealing primarily with the written word, we also need to communicate
visually. Taking a cue from the newly-emerged sister field user experience
design, visual explanations are becoming of greater importance.
Don Moyer gave the keynote presentation at this year’s Mid-Atlantic
Conference. Even if you missed his Friday workshop, we got a chance on
Saturday to create some of our own drawings that we can use as templates
for storyboarding. Moyer pointed out that all topics are complex and using
visual explanations can make it easier to think about topics.
While we technical communicators are often writing documentation, it is not
surprising to include diagrams, charts, or other illustrations. It is to our
advantage to use pictures as well as words to communicate effectively.
Having balance between technical communication and user experience will
expand our usefulness in the workplace, and increase our likelihood of job
retention.
-Jackie Caddle
Capturing and Presenting Ideas:
How to Share What You Know With Your Fellow STC'ers
by Barrie Byron, STC Associate Fellow and Active Member
Bright ideas are attractive. Our Mid-Atlantic Technical Communication
Conference is designed to inform and spark new ideas. I was recently
inspired to learn and contribute as a conference speaker. We all have
knowledge and experiences that can inspire others. In our conversations
with coworkers, friends in the industry, and fellow professionals, we learn
from listening, observing, and doing. My secret for learning at the highest
level is to volunteer to speak about a topic. The goal of presenting is met
May 2011
Chapter Meeting
Thursday, May 24
6:30pm - 8:30pm
Tredyffrin Public Library
582 Upper Gulph Road
Stafford, PA 19087
610.688.7092
Register for meeting
June 2011
Chapter Meeting
Wednesday, June 15
6:00pm - 8:30pm
D’Ignazio’s Towne House
Media, PA
Details to come...
Visit the Events page of the
STC-PMC website for more
information.

3. when I:
 Help our audience to understand something
 Motivate our audience to take action to do something
 Give our audience something to think about
First, discover what you have a passion for. Do you see a pattern in the
requests you receive for help on a specific topic? Do your friends,
coworkers, and industry peers send you email messages with requests for
help or clarification on a particular subject? A good way to generate and
capture ideas is to start an idea journal. I use a Google document so I can
access my journal notes from any computer.
Second, from your idea journal, select a topic that interests you and inspires
you. Start a slide deck and begin outlining your discussion points. You do
not need Microsoft Office to make a slide deck. You can use free software
such as Google Presentation, Lotus Symphony Presentations, or
OpenOffice Impress. Use the web, use your professional skills, and
definitely use your anecdotal experiences. Add these learned bits of wisdom
to your slide deck or to your idea journal.
Third, give yourself a deadline to complete your slide deck. The next time
that you see a call for proposals, consider participating. Every event has
specific proposal and presentation guidelines and a proposal deadline. Plan
to complete your proposal well in advance of the deadline. You might be
required to get the proposal accepted by your company management, so
plan for the approval cycle as appropriate.
The Conference is not the only opportunity to present information; STC-
PMC has many opportunities. Consider presenting at a chapter meeting or
consider presenting a workshop in your area of expertise. Do the work and
have fun with your topic.
May 2011 Newsletter Publication Schedule
The publication day for the newsletter is the last Wednesday of each month
with the deadline for content the Wednesday before publication.
The next STC-PMC newsletter will be published on Wednesday, May 25,
2011. The deadline to submit content is Wednesday, May 18, 2011. Submit
all content and questions to:
Newsletter Editor

4. 2010 Community of Excellence Award
As a 2010 recipient of a 'Community of Excellence'
award, the chapter was required to complete an
extensive application that outlined and documented
activities performed by the chapter during the course
of the year. The application is organized into
different sections, with a stated minimum
requirement for each section being completed in
order to be granted an award.
Each award requires a higher level of activity and
supporting documentation. After careful review of
the submitted application and documentation, the
STC Community Achievement Award Evaluation
Committee (CAAEC) decides whether a community
has met the stated minimum requirements for the
desired award level. The three award levels,
beginning from lowest to highest, are: Chapter of
Merit, Chapter of Excellence, Chapter of Distinction.
I'm proud to say we've reached Chapter of
Excellence for 2010. With your help and continued
support, I hope to say we are a Chapter of
Distinction for 2011!
If you have any ideas or thoughts on how we might
better serve our regional members and reach even
higher goals, contact the Newsletter Editor.
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STC Philadelphia Metro Chapter
PO Box 214
Lionville, Pennsylvania 19353
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