STC PMC Newsletter August/September 2006

1. V o l u m e 3 9
N um be r 6
Au gu st / S ep te mbe r 2 00 6
Why I Want to be a Technical Writer
By Adrienne Lambdin
n realizing that I wanted to
leave my position as a
Licensed Medical Social
Worker, I recently began a period of
intense self assessment and, perhaps
more importantly, a careful scrutiny
of the current employment
landscape. Feeling more like a
detective than a modest career
changer, I began the quest to find
answers to the following:
❏ Which occupations are currently
expanding?
❏ Is there a career out there that
offers the ability to be creative in a
relatively secure environment?
❏ What sort of role will afford me
the opportunity to be compensated
fairly?
❏ What am I good at?
❏ What do I like to do?
After an exhausting amount of
Internet searches, library visits, and
interviews with charitable
professionals in a variety of fields, I
enthusiastically embraced the idea of
becoming a Technical Writer.
Early along the path of
exploration, it became clear that
there is place for people like me:
people who are methodical in their
work and enjoy the process of
documentation and revision as much
as they do the actual writing process;
people who are exceptionally attuned
to the intricacies of grammar and
spelling, as well as the influence that
the format of a document has; people
who are able to listen carefully and
interpret messages effectively based
on their audience. This place could be
found in fulfilling the role of a
Technical Writer.
I then turned my research efforts
toward answering additional
questions. In what type of setting
could I be employed? Would a
position as a Technical Writer offer
me the security I was seeking?
I continued on my path, unsure of
what I would learn about the
remuneration and other practicalities
of this occupation. Happily, I found
that the Department of
Employment’s Occupational Outlook
for the career is optimistic. I further
read that Money magazine recently
ranked Technical Writing 13th on
their list of “Best Jobs in America.” I
could be employed in a range of
settings within the field. I also
learned of a wonderful gem of
opportunity that exists for many
writing professionals: freelancing.
Now I was certain: Technical Writing
had all that I wanted in a profession.
So, when friends and family ask
me, “Why do you want to be a
Technical Writer?” I reflect on the
newfound wealth of opportunity I
have uncovered and retort with a
chuckle, “Why wouldn’t I?” ■
Adrienne Lambdin can be contacted
at AdrienneLambdin@hotmail.com
O
Contents
Why I Want to be a Technical
Writer__________________ 1
Editor's Voice
Harvest Time ____________ 2
President’s Podium
It’s a New Year… A New Chapter
Year That Is _____________ 3
Member Reports___________ 4
Book Review
The STC-PMC Bookshelf Summer
Reading List _____________ 5
Upcoming Meetings ________ 7

2. NEWS & VIEWS 2 August/September 2006
EDITOR'S VOICE
Harvest Time
By Al Brown
hy does the new year
start in January, the dead
of winter? That never
made sense to me. Maybe it’s all
those years of starting school in the
fall—or the Jewish High Holy Days,
ushering in the new year in autumn
with the sound of the ram’s horn and
the eating of a new fruit. The idea of
the yearly cycle comes from our
agricultural roots, when fall was the
time for the work and celebration of
the harvest. This has little
relationship to the
technological world
in which we find
ourselves. Back in
the Day, product
introductions were
timed to trade
shows, which had
their own rhythm. Now products ship
as soon as possible, if not sooner, no
matter what time of year. My cubicle
is nowhere near a window, so the
only time I have a sense of the
season is during the walk to and from
my car. In a month or so, it will be
dark when I arrive and dark when I
leave.
Even so, the change in weather
from lethargic heat to invigorating
chill seems like a natural time for a
new start. Lori Corbett’s President’s
Podium column points this out,
celebrating the end of a successful
year and looking forward to new
challenges and opportunities for a
new season.
The times, our profession, STC,
and PMC are definitely changing, and
there’s plenty of room
for new ideas and new
blood. You’ll find lots of
information here and
on the STC-PMC
website about activities
and plans for the new
year. Pick something
and get involved—it will be rewarding
both personally and professionally. ■
W
NEWS & VIEWS
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, 2005, 2006.
Address submissions or
comments to Al Brown, Managing
Editor, NEWS & VIEWS,
7439 Devon St., Philadelphia, PA,
19119, phone (856) 222-7427;
email newsletter@stcpmc.org.
Toolbox
We produce NEWS & VIEWS with
Frame-Maker 6.0 and Acrobat 6.0
on various Pentium computers.
Newsletter Staff
Managing Editor
Al Brown
newsletter@stcpmc.org
Layout Editor
Rose Marie Sosnowy
nvstcpmc@verizon.net
Associate Editor
Rebecca Richardson
rebecca.one@verizon.net
Mary Shaw
mary@maryshawwrites.com
Also Contributing to This Issue
Adrienne Lambdin
Lori Corbett

3. August/September 2006 3 NEWS & VIEWS
PRESIDENT’S PODIUM
It’s a New Year…
A New Chapter Year That Is
By Lori Corbett
ongratulations to the
Philadelphia Metro Chapter.
We had a banner year with
lots of successes. It takes a great
team to pull off the projects and
programs on our agenda, and we did
it! For my annual review of the year,
I’d like to take a few moments to
thank our members whose initiative
and drive helped win our chapter
recognition from the STC in the form
of a Merit Award.
The citation on the award as it was
presented at the STC Annual
Conference this past May states that
we are a Chapter of Merit because of
for our successful membership
growth through the year, our
outstanding newsletter and website,
and our Active Member recognition
program. It’s a beginning and
definitely a very good place to start.
Thanks to the efforts of many of
our members, our chapter is thriving
and providing great programs for our
membership and future technical
communicators. I’d like to take a
moment to thank for the following
folks for their contributions to our
chapter:
Nad Rosenberg It was Nad’s
rechartering initiative a couple of
years back that ensured STC-PMC
would have the building blocks on
which to grow and develop our
chapter. After stepping back a bit
during the past year, Nad has
stepped up to the plate once again as
co-chair of the Publicity Committee.
Way to go Nad!
Steven Lungren A man with
boundless energy, Steve continued
Nad’s legacy as president in 2004.
During his tenure, STC-PMC
strengthened its base. When his
term finished, Steve took over the
reins as our webmaster
extraordinaire. As if that wasn’t
enough, Steve has also co-chaired
the STC-PMC Conference Committee,
bringing excellent workshops and
keynote speakers to our conference.
There’s just no stopping Steve, a fact
for which I am extremely grateful.
Julie Margulies I really don’t
know how many years Julie has
worked diligently on the program
committee, as a co-chair and most
recently as chairperson. She has
been dedicated to finding appropriate
venues and along with her committee
to provide an excellent slate of
speakers for our monthly programs.
Julie is now co-chairing the Publicity
Committee with Nad to bring the
word about all the benefits STC-PMC
can provide to all technical
communicators in the Philadelphia
Metro area. Congratulations to a job
well done and I know you’ll do great
things in your new position Julie!
Timothy Esposito Timothy
ventured into uncharted territory as
the chairperson of our newly created
Education Committee. Under his
leadership, we awarded our first
college scholarship to Kimberly Coles,
an honor student at the University of
Delaware. Great job, Timothy!
B.J. Hinshaw B.J. took the plunge
this past year and decided to get her
C
STC-PMC LEADERSHIP
Address correspondence for the
Philadelphia Metro chapter of STC
to: STC-PMC, P.O. Box 60069,
Philadelphia, PA 19102-0069.
Chapter Officers
President
Lori Corbett
stcmember@verizon.net
Vice President
Nancy Kitkin
vicepresident@stcpmc.org
Treasurer
Gary Samartino
treasurer@stcpmc.org
Secretary
Todd Deluca
secretary@stcpmc.org
Immediate Past President
Steve Lungren
pastpresident@stcpmc.org
Region 1 Director/Sponsor
Cindy Currie dir1@stc.org
Chapter Committee Managers
Careers
Estella Clifford
careers@stcpmc.org
Programs
Julia Margulies
programs@stcpmc.org
Pam Klaassen
programs@stcpmc.org
pamela_klaassen@yahoo.com
Membership
Mike Sharp
membership@stcpmc.org
NEWS & VIEWS
Al Brown
newsletter@stcpmc.org
Nominating
Open
Website
Steve Lungren
webmaster@stcpmc.org
Online Competition
Donn DeBoard
donn.deboard@vertexinc.com
Marc Green
mgreen81@comcast.net
Publicity
Julia Margulies
publicity@stcpmc.org
Education
Timothy Esposito
education@stcpmc.org
STC-PMC Conference
Gary Samartino & Steven Lungren
conference@stcpmc.org
Competition
Marc Green & Prescott Williams
(Continued on page 7)

4. NEWS & VIEWS 4 August/September 2006
MEMBER REPORTS
Admin Council Meeting
6/28/06
he STC-PMC Admin Council
had its 2006-2007 Kick-Off
meeting on June 28. The
purpose of this teleconference
meeting was to introduce council
members (new and old) and to begin
discussion of planning activities for
next year.
President Lori Corbett began the
meeting by reviewing the announce-
ment from the Annual STC Conference
that the STC-PMC chapter has
received a Chapter Merit Award. Our
chapter received the award by
meeting certain membership and
participation criteria, such as holding
regular meetings, organizing confer-
ences, and publishing a newsletter.
The goal for next year is to shoot for a
higher-level achievement award.
Steve Lungren, our chapter
webmaster, talked about increasing
the involvement of chapter members
and officers and improving technical
skills to make their own updates to
the site. The addition of a listserv for
chapter dialogs and announcements
was also discussed. Options to add
this functionality are being
investigated.
Timothy Esposito spoke about the
chapter scholarship. We will once
again be offering a $1,000.00
scholarship and other benefits to an
eligible local student who is studying
technical communication (pending
official budget approval). Changes
from last year include more publicity
and a possible extended deadline for
submission.
Other chapter committees have
been busy ramping up for the
upcoming year. The publicity
committee will be co-lead by Julia
Margulies and Nad Rosenberg. Their
goal is to increase awareness of
chapter activities and events to the
greater metro area. Other activities
will include gathering chapter artifacts
and information and to create an
updated chapter brochure. The
programs committee has already had
one meeting and is working on the
meeting schedule, speakers, and
topics to begin this fall.
The final piece of business, the
Annual STC-PMC Conference, was also
discussed. A proposed date of March
16 and 17 was announced and the
council began consideration of the
conference title and focus (including
possible keynote speakers). More
information will be forthcoming as
details are ironed out.
Other meeting news:
❏ Member Tessa Lynch will be setting
up a regular lunch member meeting
for Center City (starting this Fall)
❏ The Active Membership program
will continue.
❏ STC-PMC members are encouraged
to purchase items from our page on
the Café Press website to help support
the scholarship program. ■
T
STC-PMC CALENDAR
Unless otherwise noted, all meetings
follow this schedule:
Networking: 6:00 to 6:30 p.m.
Dinner: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Program: 7:30 to 9:00 p.m.
For the latest information and
details, and to register, check the
STC-PMC website.
September 20, 2006; Get Out of
Your Cube—Linda Lane, financial
analyst, will show you how to
"network" a room and make it work
for you. The Double Tree Inn,
Plymouth Meeting, PA.
Thursday, October 19, 2006.
Indexing in a Nutshell—Improve your
indexing skills and learn more about
this field with Cheryl Landes, technical
writer, editor, and indexer. TBD (in
Pennsylvania, between Delaware and
Philadelphia)
Wednesday, November 15, 200.
Adding Value to Your Role as a
Technical Communicator—Andrea
Carrero and Barrie Byron present two
viewpoints: one from the perspective
of a business owner and the other
from the perspective of a contractor/
employee. TBD (New Jersey)
Thursday, December 7, 2006.
Holiday Mixer—Celebrate the
upcoming holidays and new year and
practice the networking skills we
learned in September.TBD
Wednesdat, December 6, 2006.
Montco TW Support Group—
Connect with other like-minded
professionals and get a bite to eat in
an atmosphere of inspiration,
encouragement, information sharing,
and fun for one and all. Anne Ukoa
(formerly China Moon), Horsham, PA
SOCIETY FOR TECHNICAL
COMMUNICATION
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
www.stc.org.

5. August/September 2006 5 NEWS & VIEWS
STC AND RELATED EVENTS
AROUND THE WORLD
June 19—23, 2006. International
Communication Association (ICA)
56th Annual Conference in Dresden,
Germany. For details, contact: ICA,
(202) 530-9855,
conference@icahdq.org
3/16/2007 - 3/17/2007. March
16 & 17 have been reserved for the
2007 STC-Philadelphia Metro Chapter
Annual Conference and pre-
conference Workshop at the
Safeguard Scientific Conference
Center on the Penn State Great Valley
Campus in Malvern, PA.
06/1/2008 - 06/04, 2008. Get
ready!
STC 55th Annual Conference
Philadelphia, PA
UPCOMING STC WEB AND
TELEPHONE SEMINARS
All of these seminars are held from
1:00–2:30 p.m. Each seminar costs
$99 per site for STC members. (The
nonmember rate is $149 per site.) A
site can have only one phone
connection and one computer
connection.
In addition to offering high-quality
training at an affordable price, STC's
seminar series features a quick and
simple online registration process. For
detailed information about any of the
following seminars, go to
stc.webex.com.
September 27, 2006. Creating
Interactive CBTs with Captivate in Half
the Time—Kevin Siegel
October 11, 2006. Designing
Business Forms: A No Nonsense
Approach—Nathaniel Lim
October 25, 2006. Ten Ways to
Increase Your Value as a Technical
Communicator—Holly Harkness
November 8, 2006. Choosing the
Right Usability Technique (to answer
the right question)—Whitney
Quesenbery
November 22, 2006. Selling
Technical Communication Services-
Both Inside and Outside Your
Organization —Robert Dianetti
December 6, 2006. Creating
Training That Sticks —Maggie Haenel
BOOK REVIEW
The STC-PMC Bookshelf
Summer Reading List
By Al Brown
ow that the Dog Days are
over, it’s time to reflect on
what did—and didn’t—get
read over the summer, and what’s on
the list for the fall. Beach reading?
Never got there. But I did discover a
brilliantly written series of thrillers by
Barry Eisler featuring a half-Japanese
assassin named John Rain; the first
one is Rain Fall. And there’s a new
Stephen King novel, Cell, which
almost belongs here: a cautionary tale
about how technology can literally fry
your brain. An equal stretch is a
graphic novel (those of us of a Certain
Age know them as comic books) from
the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman.
(If you like dark fantasy—even if you
don’t—try his novel Neverwhere, set
in the abandoned stations in London’s
Underground.) This made me realize
that I don’t really get that particular
mix of text and graphics; do the
pictures get in the way of the words,
or the other way ‘round? Somehow I
can’t process both at once.
Closer to home, I recently revisited
Donald Norman’s The Design of
Everyday Things. An engineer asked
me to comment on the control panel
of a prototype and was surprised by
some of my observations, particularly
about mixed signals. Are you making
this work like a game console or a cell
phone? Trying to have it both ways
turns it into a confusing mess. This led
me back to Norman’s discussion of
controls and affordances—the subtle
cues that tell us how things are
supposed to work.
One book I’ve been seriously
working on is Text in the Book Format
by Keith A. Smith. He’s a book artist
and poet, who has written extensively
on bookbinding for artists and has
produced many limited-edition “art
books.” This book, a response to
desktop publishing, suggests that the
page is now a linguistic unit, in the
same way a word, sentence, or
paragraph is. It’s nothing new to a
technical communicator, just an
aspect of information design. But it’s
interesting to see how an artist
responds to this notion. Stay tuned;
you’ll definitely read more about this
one soon.
Then there are a few new books
that sound intriguing. Edward Tufte,
one of the great gadflies of our
N
From the
Grand Foofaloof’s
Puzzle Palace
More news from the feline research front. A
recent study concluded that polydactylic cats—those, like yours truly,
who have an extra toe on each paw—in addition to being
extraordinarily handsome, eat less than their more conventionally
digital species mates. Any idea why?
(Solution on page 7)
(Continued on page 7)

6. NEWS & VIEWS 6 August/September 2006
Active Member Information
Are you an active member? After the resounding success of last year’s program, we’re going to do it again this year. It
takes only 19 points to achieve active member status and receive a custom-designed polo shirt at our end-of-year
awards ceremony.
Points are awarded as follows:
❏ Attendance at a meeting (chapter, admin council, or committee): 1 pt.
❏ Activity on a committee: 1 pt
❏ Judge in the competition: 2 pts
❏ Presenting at a monthly meeting: 4 pts
❏ Writing a bylined article in News & Views (not part of normal committee activity): 2 pts
❏ Presenting at or attending STC-PMC conference in March: 4 pts.
Points Example for John/Jane Doe:
Attend 6 regular meetings 6 pts
Attend the STC-PMC conference 4 pts
Judge for the competition 2 pts
Work on the publicity committee
Attend 6 meetings 6 pts
Write 1 press release 1 pt
TOTAL 19 pts
Support the STC-PMC Scholarship Program!
Order STC-PMC merchandise from
www.cafepress.com/stcpmc
or look for items
at the monthly meetings!

7. NEWS & VIEWS 7 August/September 2006
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
Wednesday, September 6, 2006 STC Montco TW
Networking Group Meeting
Giuliano's
Horsham, PA
September 20, 2006 Get Out of Your Cube The Double Tree Inn,
Plymouth Meeting, PA.
Thursday, October 19, 2006 Indexing in a Nutshell TBD (in Pennsylvania, between
Delaware and Philadelphia)
Wednesday, November 15, 2006 Adding Value to Your Role as a Technical
Communicator
TBD (New Jersey)
Thursday, December 7, 2006 Holiday Mixer TBD
Wednesrday, December 6, 2006 Montco TW Support Group Anne Ukoa
Horsham, PA
Deadline for the
October/November newsletter
is September 30
PUZZLE SOLUTION
Answer: Polydactylism is a relatively rare mutation,
so polydactylic cats combined eat less than their
more numerous, normally pawed, relations.
feet wet in a leadership role as our
chapter’s vice president. It was her
initiative that created our Café Press
page (www.cafepress.com/stcpmc),
where you can buy merchandise to
support our scholarship program.
During the coming year, B.J. is
stepping back from leading our
chapter and moving on to co-chair
the Marketing SIG. Good luck B.J.
and don’t forget us; we look forward
to seeing you at as many chapter
meetings as you can attend.
Don DeBoard and Marc Green
I’m so glad to have one more
opportunity to congratulate our
Distinguished Chapter Service Award
recipients for their years of dedicated
leadership of our successful print and
online competitions. For the coming
year, Don is going to be taking a
well-deserved break, and Prescott
Williams is going to work with Marc
on the Competitions Committee.
Thank you all for your dedication and
hard work.
These are just a few of the people
who help to make our chapter the
great chapter that it is. We have lots
of opportunities, some small, and
some not so small. If you would like
to work on a committee, please
contact any leadership member listed
page 3 of this newsletter. ■
President’s Podium (Continued from page 3)
profession, published a new one this
summer. It’s called Beautiful
Evidence, and I don’t know much
about it, except that it will go to the
top of my reading list. His books are
always provocative and elegantly
produced. Another one for the list is a
paperback reissue of a cult classic
from the early 1980s: Putt’s Law and
the Successful Technocrat, by
Archibald Putt. Putt’s Law states,
Technology is dominated by two
types of people: those who
understand what they do not
manage, and those who manage
what they do not understand.
We’ve probably all had some
experience with that. So there are
two more books worth discussion
here in the coming months.
How about you? Have you read
anything this summer that’s worth
sharing? Have you seen something
that looks interesting? Get in touch,
and stay tuned. ■
The STC-PMC Bookshelf Summer Reading List (Continued from page 5)