Society for Technical Communication Transformations

by Destry Wion  ::  published 30 June 05    

As a relatively new member of the Society for Technical Communication, I have not really been involved with the organization yet outside of paying my dues and reading the complementary publications that come from it. I seemingly made it even more difficult to find ways to contribute when I moved from Seattle, where there’s no less than two STC Chapters in the city alone, to Strasbourg, France, where the entire country is the only chapter (France Chapter), and headquartered in Paris.

Even more, the France Chapter is heavily oriented around technical writing, almost solely (_technical communication_ and technical writing are pretty much synonymous in France right now). Since I am a new media designer, not a technical writer, there is seemingly not much I can offer the France Chapter, nor much the chapter can offer me in return. The lack of a more regional chapter to my location is another problem, as it makes attending regular meetings impossible.

I had pretty much reached the decision to not renew my dues when they expired, but then something wonderful happened within STC that made things a bit more interesting for special-case members like me; the Transformation initiative made it possible to belong to three Special Interest Groups (SIGs) instead of having to enroll with a local chapter. With no less than 21 active SIGs to choose from, it might be easier now for me to find value with my membership, and perhaps find ways to get involved a little more.

At the moment, I am still enrolled with the France Chapter and belong to one SIG, Online Information, but I will likely be changing my STC status to drop chapter enrollment and add two additional SIGs, most likely the Illustrators and Visual Desingers and Information Design SIGs. Many of the SIGs seem to still be thinking about their Web site objectives so perhaps I can help in that respect and learn a few things from special interest members in return.

Latest Ten Articles

  • Finally Pro-MacBooked 6 April 07

    Six months later than expected, and on the eve of the new Apple Leopards, I am nevertheless a happy owner of the MacBook Pro, and it feels good.

  • What Makes a Good Web Accessibility Guide for the Business? 2 April 07

    With pressure mounting on web developers and companies alike to provide quality eAccessibility products and services, it makes good business sense for companies to have their own eAccessibility guidelines to help ensure development objectives are being met in efficient and cost-effective ways. However, just knowing guidelines are needed is one thing, producing and integrating them into a development workflow is something else. What breadth and depth of information should they cover? How should they be written and structured for maximum understanding? What format provides the best utility? Seemingly, the preparation of eAccessibility guidelines is not a fundamental task, the considerations are many.

  • Main Points Delivered at the First European eAccessibility Forum14 March 07

    I’m not exactly punctual on this one, but making a long story short, here are the main points as I took them from the eAccessibility Forum held in Paris nearly 6 weeks ago…already.

  • In Paris for the First European eAccessibility Forum27 January 07

    It’s going to be a whirlwind trip on the train, but should be interesting nonetheless.

  • Lose Readers by Moving Themes?14 January 07

    We hear about free Weblog themes all the time, and see the same ones all over the Web, but it’s not often you read about someone moving a personal theme from one self-owned domain to another, or the implications of doing so.

  • Book Reviews Coming to Wion18 November 06

    Reading and writing is my kind of chocolate, and when it comes to book reviews, everybody wins. I hope you’ll find them helpful. Stay tuned.

  • A Core Textpattern Technique Addressing Internationalization Interests14 November 06

    This article presents a core Txp technique for managing internationalization efforts, and three methods of use are described: 1) multilingual publishing within site, 2) collaborative international publishing between individuals, and 3) an alternate approach to #2 that essentially takes a community slant.

  • Textpattern Building Block Mechanics30 May 06

    Here is the second article in a two-article series about Textpattern building blocks. If you missed the first article, Understanding Textpattern Building Blocks, you might check it out too.

  • Heatmap Presentation of Eye-tracking Data17 May 06

    Isotopic heatmaps of eye-tracking sessions are easier too see and understand; hence, great slide material for stakeholder presentations (management, clients, and so forth).

  • IE Conditional Comments: Where Have They Been?19 April 06

    Conditional comments have been with us for years and largely unknown, but with the coming of IE 7 they may be the swan song that’s about to go platinum.