President’s Message from STC Washington, D.C. – Baltimore Chapter – New Chapter Year Update!

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Greetings STC WDCB Family,

Thank you very much for tuning into STC WDCB’s 2020-2021 New Chapter Year Update. The world as we know it has changed dramatically in light of COVID-19; I wish you the best of health, and special condolences to those that have been touched by the Pandemic in ways that have caused the illness, or loss of loved ones. My goal is for the STC WDCB virtual community to provide a wealth of uplifting resources, and a sense of community that positively contributes to your efforts to maintain mental wellness, peace, and a balanced sense of new-normalcy. I encourage you to lean into our community and take advantage of our offerings, which will be covered during our New Chapter Year Kickoff Celebration on Friday September 25, 2020 @ 6:30-7:30 PM ET via the GoToMeeting Platform. We will commemorate another successful year with the 2020-2021 STC WDCB Administrative Council, acknowledge award recipients, and discuss upcoming events while networking. Please sign up for your free ticket and invite your colleagues and friends.

The Masterclass in TechComm Webinar Speaker Series

The All-Stars in TechComm Webinar Speaker Series that I created to support the professional development edification of our community, has been re-branded as The Masterclass in TechComm Webinar Speaker Series. It will continue to feature prominent figures in the technical communication (TechComm) industry offering candid discussion on crucial topics, trends, and skills within our field. Why should you tune in? Because thought and practitioner leaders embark on ways to challenge themselves for refinement, inspiration, and to provide mentorship. If you ask an Olympic champion that has a record of longevity in their specialty about how they’ve continued to manifest successful results, they will express the sentiment that leaders (Olympians are world leaders in their specialty) are tried, and tested individuals that defy stagnation by finding ways to stay sharp… let’s stay sharp together! The Fall 2020 lineup of speakers includes the following:

September 2020

Dr. Ginny RedishUX Writing: A New Role for Technical Communicators?

With lots of examples of successful and unsuccessful user experience (UX) writing, Ginny will show you that UX work is not new for technical communicators, and may be the challenge that you need for your next career move.
Webinar: Wednesday September 30, 2020 @ 7:00-8:00 p.m. ET

October 2020

Dr. Ugur AkinciSelf Publishing on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing for TechComm Pros

Ugur will teach all the tricks and tips for how to leverage on-demand self-publishing via Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Attendees will have the opportunity to publish their first book on the KDP platform in real-time.
Webinar: Thursday October 29, 2020 @ 7-8 p.m. ET

November 2020

Ms. Shawneda CroutIntegrate Social Media into Your TechComm

Technical communicators with the ability to adopt social media into the creation, and review phase of content planning, find it to be an invaluable resource in their TechComm projects. Shawneda will advise on how to use social media and social search platforms to provide opportunities to illuminate customer pain points, provide customer preferences, and receive real-time feedback to benefit work processes.
Webinar: Thursday November 12, 2020 @ 7-8 p.m. ET

December 2020

Dr. Liz HermanIdentity Disruption and the Technical Communicator
It’s an amazing time to be a technical communicator. Our talents, skills, and smarts are needed. The way we have identified ourselves for the past several decades is changing. We need to prepare for an identity disruption. Join Liz as she shares insights and data about this seismic change.
Webinar: Thursday December 3, 2020 @ 7-8 p.m. ET

Our chapter uses the GoToMeeting platform to host webinars. The webinar link will be emailed by noon on the date of the event. Be sure to also subscribe to The MasterClass in TechComm Podcast to support this growing professional development initiative. Stay tuned for further details!

STC Alliance Competition

STC WDCB joined forces with the STC Alliance Competition this past term. Thank you to those that entered the competition, and/or volunteered to be a TechComm judge.

Award Information

Entrants received comments on their work from designated judges in the TechComm industry. Winners from our chapter will be recognized at the New Chapter Year Kickoff Celebration and are encouraged to sign up to attend! Check out the STC Alliance 2019-2020 Competition Winners list.

How to Enter the STC Alliance 2020-2021 Competition

Check out STC Alliance 2020-2021 Competition Entry submission Guidelines. The 2020-2021 competition is still in planning stages so check back for updates from time to time.

STC Summit 2021

STC’s TechComm Summit is the organization’s annual conference. The Summit attracts over 650 like-minded industry professionals that come together to continue growing in the TechComm field via workshops, panels, and other career enhancing opportunities. Due to the Pandemic, the 2020 conference was held virtually, however, the 2021 conference is scheduled to be held in Atlanta, Georgia on June 6-9, 2021 at this time. For details, check out the STC 2021 Summit .

STC WDCB Networking and Volunteering

Our First Friday Lunches were a successful networking event that we’ve decided to put on hold in support of current social distancing measures. However, what may be perceived as a setback can also be harnessed as a great opportunity; Let’s dive deep together in support of our speakers in The MasterClass in TechComm Webinar Speaker Series, and tap into a free subscription to The MasterClass in TechComm Podcast.

**Please consider the current chapter volunteer openings to review opportunities to get involved.

Sign up to Receive Event Notification Emails

1. Go to STC WDCB Events
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Online Resources

Our chapter website offers job listings, a LinkedIn Group, and much more. View chapter updates in Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Renew Your STC WDCB Chapter Membership

Please Renew Your STC Membership for 2021 and allow us to continue to serve you by selecting STC WDCB as your home chapter. We welcome your suggestions for how we can continue to bring you meaningful professional development events, and networking opportunities, so please do not hesitate to reach out.

Thank you for your time and membership. Please let me know how I can be of any further assistance to you.

Sincerely,

Tavia Record
President and Professional Development Director
STC Washington, D.C.-Baltimore Chapter
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Section 508 Best Practices Webinar: Accessible Content Shared Through Social Media, March 26

From the United States Access Board

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The use of social media by Federal agencies has become widespread across the Federal government. Agencies use social media to promote their mission and to engage members of the public. The next webinar in the "Section 508 Best Practices Webinar Series" will take place March 26 from 1:00 to 2:30 (ET) and cover how federal agencies can implement social media in an accessible manner. Representatives from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will share their experiences in ensuring access to various social media sites and platforms. NIH maintains over 60 Facebook pages, 40 YouTube channels, 13 Flickr pages, and numerous Twitter accounts. The presenters will provide an overview of social media techniques, address common questions, review access issues and solutions, and offer best practices and techniques for making content accessible on various social media platforms, including Facebook, Flickr, Google+, Twitter, and YouTube. They will also cover internal guidance that NIH has developed and other resources on the subject that are available.

Questions can be submitted in advance of the session or can be posed during the live webinar. For more details or to register, visit https://www.accessibilityonline.org/ao/.

The "Section 508 Best Practices Webinar Series" provides helpful information and best practices for federal agencies in meeting their obligations under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act which ensures access to information and communication technology in the federal sector. This webinar series is made available by the Accessibility Community of Practice of the CIO Council in partnership with the U.S. Access Board.

Date:

March 26, 2019 1:00p.m. to 2:30p.m. (ET)

Presenters:

  • Jennifer Dorsey Social Media Coordinator, NIH National Cancer Institute
  • Gary Morin Program Analyst, NIH Office of the Chief Information Officer

Registration:

https://www.accessibilityonline.org/ao/

Note: Registration closes 24 hours before the start of the session. Instructions for accessing the webinar on the day of the session will be sent by email to registered individuals in advance of the session. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) and Video Sign Language Interpreters are available for each session and will be broadcast through the webinar platform. A telephone option (not toll-free) for receiving audio is also available.

STC WDCB Chapter Social Media Update: Meetup

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Hello STC WDCB! Here’s a bit of exciting news about our Meetup group. We will be closing our Meetup group soon.

That might not sound too exciting at first. We know.

Here’s what’s exciting: We will be throwing our full support to a new Meetup Group, InfoDevDC, organized by our own Becky Todd for all our Meetup needs. InfoDevDC’s first meetup featured past STC president, Alan Houser, and InfoDevDC is planning a series of great #TechComm events in the area. We want to support them in every way possible.

And don’t forget, you can continue to find all our news about events and happenings through our other online resources, including this Events and News blog.

To join our EventBrite email list, send an email to email hidden; JavaScript is required with EventBrite in the subject line and we will add you to our mailing list.

Connect with us on Facebook, twitter, Linked In, Pinterest, and Flickr. We’ll keep you informed.

Sincerely,
Your STC WDCB Administrative Council