Lines and Letters

Volume 23, Issue 7, April 2007

Contents

• Joint meeting with Cleveland ASTD April 19: Instructional Design: Putting Theory into Practice
• Upcoming events
• Congratulations to our two Distinguished Community Service Award winners!
• Thanks to O'Reilly Media for supporting our chapter.
• Region 4 Conference coming this fall!
• Member profile: Barb Philbrick (Associate Fellow!)
• How can I enhance my career outside the work place?
• Could your firm host a Webinar?
• Congratulations to a new senior member and welcome new members!
• STC National Conference deadlines approaching!
• Handy hint: Hiding Adobe Palettes.
• Conference registration reaches all-time high.
• Job news.
• STC election information.
• Webinar review: New standard for safety information.
• See something interesting? Tell us about it!
• Member profile: June Muhic.
• March 8 NEO STC meeting review.

Joint meeting with Cleveland ASTD April 19: Instructional Design: Putting Theory into Practice

Ann Kane will provide a brief overview of instructional design and adult learning theory.

We’ll cover the ADDIE design model and audience analysis, and complete an activity on writing objectives. We’ll discuss templates and techniques for designing for ILT, SS, e-learning, and Web conferencing. Lastly we’ll cover evaluation and have an activity on writing test questions, then wrap up with any questions.

Ann Kane has spent over 15 years in the training and development industry since graduating from Ohio University with a degree in Education and Mathematics. Her career features positions as corporate trainer, instructional designer, and training manager at various corporations, with experience in e-learning, blended learning, web conferencing, and other training techniques. Currently, Ann is a Learning and Development Consultant for Affiliated Computer Services (ACS). With a background in both delivery and design, Ann is able to formuate effective instructional design concepts while keeping materials practical for delivery.

Please note: The chapter is billed per registration. If you register but do not attend, you will still be expected to pay for the meeting.

For more information, see http://www.neostc.org/calendar/20070419.html.

We look forward to seeing you!

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Upcoming events

• 4/13: Registration deadline for the NEO STC Software Day, MadCap Flare Survival Guide.
• 4/19: STC and ASTD meeting: Instructional Design: Putting Theory into Practice.
• 4/19: ASTD Workshop on creating your own Web-based tutorial. See http://www.neoastd.org/ for detail.
• 4/19: Northeast Ohio Chapter of the Usability Professionals Association (NEOUPA) meeting, “Using Analytics for a Better Customer Experience.” See http://www.neoupa.org.
• 4/20: Software Day: MadCap Flare Survival Guide. Rob Houser presents at Tri-C West.
• 4/21: Software Day: MadCap Flare Survival Guide. Rob Houser presents at Riverhead Training in Pittsburgh.
• 5/4: Last day of advanced registration for STC’s 54th Annual Conference.
• 5/12 to 5/16: Technical Communication Summit — STC’s 54th Annual Conference — in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• 10/12/07: Region 4 Conference. Watch for details!

* Note that the chapter is not sponsoring these Webinars. If you would like to host a seminar, please e-mail us.

Reminder: If you RSVP but do not show up for a meeting, it costs the chapter money — we have to pay upfront for meals. Please remember to let the Programs Committee (programs@neostc.org) know in advance if you have registered but cannot make it to a meeting.

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Congratulations to our two Distinguished Community Service Award winners!

A big thank you and congratulations to our two Distinguished Community Service Award winners, Lori Klepfer and Jeanette Evans. Lori and Jeanette both have been key contributors to the success of the NEO STC chapter for many years.

Lori is currently the NEO STC CIC SIG manager and Executive Director for the Northeast Ohio chapter of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD).

Jeanette is currently a co-editor of the newsletter, co-chair for the Academic Relations committee and has been an proponent for the chapter through her efforts in mentoring, competitions, and academic communication.

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Thanks to O'Reilly Media for supporting our chapter

Thanks to O’Reilly Media, Inc., for providing books for the door prizes at the March meeting. If you won a book, please consider writing up a book review and submitting it to Lines and Letters. If interested, you can order books from O’Reilly at http://ug.oreilly.com/

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Region 4 Conference coming this fall!

Mark your calendars now! The Region 4 Conference — The Crucial Communicator — is to be held October 12, 2007 in downtown Cleveland. Although this sounds far away, preparations are already underway for this event. If you are interested in helping (an assortment of tasks are needed), please see Bob Young (bobyoung@maximus.com) or Stephanie Webster (swebster@tmwsystems.com).

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Member profile: Barb Philbrick (Associate Fellow!)

By Jeanette Evans (jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net)

STC recently honored Barb Philbrick as an associate fellow, only the second time someone from our chapter has achieved this status (Bege Bowers of Youngstown State University was the first). Huge congratulations are in order for Barb. Huge!

Currently our NEO STC newsletter editor, Barb has contributed greatly to STC and our chapter for many years. For example, in 2000, Barb was an NEO STC Distinguished Community Service Award winner and in 2005, received a volunteer of the year award. This award is given to individuals by the Northeast Ohio community president for their outstanding efforts to help the community accomplish high goals. Barb received the award for her newsletter work.

Among her contributions to NEO STC, Barb created the local chapter of the STC Consultants and Independent Contractor Special Interest Group (CIC SIG). She contacted a variety of people in the area to start up the CIC SIG. She got a Web site started for the group, hosted a number of meetings, and created a local directory of consultants and independent contractors. The directory is still being used by businesses trying to find technical writers.

Running a technical writing business, Barb founded Caslon Services 15 years ago with the idea of producing quality documentation to her clients. She has learned new tools and recommended new processes to her clients. She realizes that one of the values she brings as an owner of a technical communication firm is to help others do their projects cost effectively. Most recently, Barb was discussing ways to help a client reduce translation costs with a couple different translation vendors at a recent NEO STC chapter meeting.

Barb lives in Aurora with sons Gus and Henry and husband John Burkhardt. Her oldest son recently started kindergarten. Barb has volunteered at her local school, participated in spring bird walks with Audubon for the past 10 years, and participated in list groups dealing with pregnancy, bird watching, and technical writing.

The citation on her associate fellow award reads: “In appreciation for your continued commitment to service to your STC communities and for mentoring your colleagues in the technical communications field.”

As explained at http://www.stc.org, the rank of associate fellow is conferred only upon a senior member who has attained distinction in the field of technical communication. Senior members may not apply for the rank of associate fellow; they must be nominated by a committee composed of fellows and associate fellows.

Those of us who have been lucky enough to work with Barb know she is a great choice for associate fellow. Heartfelt congratulations go her way.

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How can I enhance my career outside the work place?

By Stephanie Webster (swebster@tmwsystems.com)

Do you feel that you’ve hit your limit in growth potential at your workplace? That there doesn't seem to be any challenges for you to partake? One way to improve your career potential is to expand your skills outside the cubicle walls. This means getting involved outside your day-to-day job.

As you read this, you are probably thinking, “Sure, I would love to, but where do I find those types of opportunities and where do I find the time?” The NEO STC chapter has the answers to these questions for you.

You can learn many career skills outside your work setting. For example, how many of you have learned how to create a newsletter or brochure because of work done for your church, girl scout troop, or baseball league? The NEO STC chapter gives you the opportunity to increase your experience and professional skill set by being involved in the following committees:

• Marketing Material: Public Relations, Programs, Regional Conference
• Interpersonal Skills: Membership, Programs, Regional Conference
• Web/Internet Savy: Employment, Newsletter, Web
• Organizational Skills: Programs, Academic Relations
• Leadership: Board and Committee managers

You do not have to immediately take on a committee manager level to improve your skills — there are numerous opportunities to enhance your career skills through individual tasks or once-a-month commitments. Even though the end of the NEO STC year is wrapping up for the summer break, keep in mind now is the time to sign up for the 2007 - 2008 NEO STC chapter's committees and board positions.

If you have a minimum of an hour a week and want to improve your career path, consider getting involved in an NEO STC committee or joining the chapter’s board, and you will realize that your time has been well invested. If you are interested in volunteering for a position, you can review the committees at http://www.neostc.org/official/officers.htm. Please contact incoming president, Trish Spayer, or current president, Stephanie Webster, to confirm openings and interest in positions.

Please note that if there are multiple candidates for a board position, the chapter will hold elections.

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Could your firm host a Webinar?

STC is offering an interesting Webinar in April, and we would love to find a hosting volunteer:

May 2, 2007: Choosing the Right Usability Technique (to answer the right question)
Presenter: Whitney Quesenbery
Level: Intermediate

If you are interested in hosting, please let Denise Kadilak (denise.kadilak@blackbaud.com) know.

For a list of all STC Webinars, visit http://www.stc.org/edu/seminarsList01.asp.

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Congratulations to a new senior member and welcome new members!

Candace Wintering is now a senior member! Thank you for your continued membership and for your support of our chapter.

Please welcome our new members, Anne Paczula and Lisa Zwick, and transferred members Paul Holland and Suzanne Dixon. We hope to see you at upcoming events!

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STC National Conference deadlines approaching!

“If you snooze, you lose.” Or so the saying goes. Register today to save money and take advantage of the advance member rate of $795 (USD). The deadline for advance registration is May 4.

And don’t forget to make travel arrangements and accommodations. Hotel reservations must be made by April 13. All the information you need about the Conference and hotels is on www.stc.org/54thConf.

Register today! We would hate for you to miss out on the 100+ educational sessions, the Institutes, new Certificate Programs, two fantastic keynote speakers (Simon Singh and Ze Frank), the (sold out!) EXPO, and all the amazing networking opportunities.

For the latest information about the Conference and to register with the special advance rate, visit http://www.stc.org/54thConf/index.asp today.

See you next month!

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Handy hint: Hiding Adobe Palettes

By Lisa Mileusnich (lmileusnich@parker.com)

In Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, or Illustrator, you can press <Tab> to temporarily hide all open palettes (press it again to bring them back). Hiding the palettes can clean up your workspace when your design is obscured by too many windows.

You can also press <Shift>+<Tab> to keep your Toolbox and Options bar, but hide the other palettes.

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Conference registration reaches all-time high

Advanced registration for the new, different STC conference hit a record high during the week of April 2. At that time 1,019 people had registered. The closest comparable number in recent times was during the run-up to the 2003 STC conference in Dallas, which had 650 registrants six weeks prior to the conference.

“People are obviously responding to the changes we've made in the conference this year,” says Lloyd Tucker, STC’s Director of Education. “We’re making the conference more useful to our members and the profession, and the difference is drawing more attendees.”

For more information about the conference, including listings of technical sessions and speakers, please visit the Technical Communication Summit site

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Job news

Check out just a few of the hot jobs from our Web site at http://www.neostc.org/jobs/openings.php!

• Technical Writer, CCSI Inc., Highland Hills
• Technical Writer, Parker Hannifin, Mayfield Heights, Ohio
• Full-time Lecturer, Case Western Reserve Universit, Cleveland OH
• Technical Writer, OEConnection, Richfield, Ohio
• Part Time Web Designer, OEConnection, Richfield, Ohio
• Documentation Specialist, TMW Systems, Inc., Beachwood
• Contract Technical Writer, Cleveland Motion Controls, 7550 Hub Parkway Cleveland, Ohio 44125
• TECHNICAL WRITER, TECH CENTER INC., Akron/Canton
• Inspira is looking for a technical writer on a contract basis. More information (this link goes to Dice.com)

If your company has a job opening, please contact Namrata (Nams) Malik at Nams Malik (nmalik@ra.rockwell.com)

Job listings on the NEO STC Web site are free and reach a targeted audience!

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STC election information

STC’s 2007 election will open in early March. STC has posted brief biographies about each candidate at http://www.stc.org/candidatesFAQ/index.asp. Members can use the "Ask the Candidate" feature on the Web site to submit questions directly to the candidates.

Voting instructions and ballots will be sent to all members in March.

Webinar review: New standard for safety information

Jeanette Evans (jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net)

STC sponsored a Webinar covering ANSI Z535.6 — A New Standard for Safety Information in Product-accompanying Literature. Rockwell Automation hosted this Webinar locally at their Landerhaven office in Mayfield Heights on January 31, 2007.

Attendees learned about this new standard for presenting safety messages in owners' manuals, product manuals, instructions, and other collateral materials.

The standard focuses on the design and placement of product safety messages (or warnings) in product-accompanying documents such as owners' manuals, instructions, users' guides, maintenance or service manuals, assembly instructions, and safety manuals.

The speakers ably described the new standard and reviewed the four types of safety messages defined in the standard: supplemental directives, grouped safety messages, section safety messages, embedded safety messages.

Participants found the presentation and standard content itself useful for providing ideas on how to work with this type of information.

Here is more from stc.org about the presenters:

Steven Hall serves as vice-chair for the ANSI Z535.6 subcommittee which directed and oversaw the development of the new standard. He is a senior consultant and director of hazard communication consultations at Applied Safety and Ergonomics.

Elaine Wisniewski is a managing consultant in the human factors and product safety group at Applied Safety and Ergonomics. She participates in research, development, and evaluation of safety communication such as warnings, instructions, symbols and graphics, owner's manuals, and other safety-related publications.

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See something interesting? Tell us about it!

Many of our NEO STC members are also members of another STC community or SIG. If you receive a newsletter and find an interesting article, please consider passing it on to the Lines and Letters editors at newsletter@neostc.org

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Member profile: June Muhic

By Jeanette Evans (jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net)

A senior member of STC, June Muhic is currently the Membership Chair for our chapter. In describing her present and past STC-related activities, June notes, “I am serving as Bob Young’s Campaign Manager for the STC Director election. In January 1996, I joined the Orange County, CA, chapter of STC. When I joined NEO STC in 1998, I proposed we have a mentoring program like the one similar to Orange County’s. I became the NEO STC Mentoring Chair and have also been a mentor.”

Currently employed as an instructional designer, June develops classroom and Web-based training for Progressive’s Commercial Auto division. Holding a BSEET from DeVry Institute of Technology (formerly Ohio Institute of Technology), June started her career as a Systems Engineer for Rockwell’s Strategic Systems Division in Anaheim, CA.

In describing her background, she says: “My department was responsible for testing the guidance and control system (brains) of the Peacekeeper (MX) Missile. You have often heard the saying ’It doesn't take a rocket scientist to write documentation’ but my claim to fame is that I was a ’rocket scientist.’ With the end of the cold war in 1991, I was laid off. I took the things I liked best about that job and decided to move to procedures and training. I became a Publishing Services Specialist for Digital Graphics AdVantage. I created procedures and facilitated training for Pacific Bell Directory’s yellow page advertising. Then came the invention of the cell phone and once again I was the product of another downsizing. I then became a Technical Writer for Bergen Brunswig Corporation, a pharmaceutical distribution company. I created online Help and documentation for their distribution software. It was Bergen Brunswig who introduced me to STC.”

After moving back to Ohio in 1997, June felt that if she contacted STC, she would find a job. “I met Angie Dianetti and Jill McCauslin. We decided to have lunch one day. I thought we were discussing STC and how I could get involved. Next thing I knew, Bob Dianetti was calling me for an interview. Soon I began working for RADCom as an Information Designer.”

In April, June celebrates her eighth wedding anniversary with husband Ed. June’s family also includes Lucy, her 4-year-old daughter. June is also secretary of her neighborhood association, which was established last year. She enjoys scrapbooking, sewing, and shopping.

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March 8 NEO STC meeting review

By Lori Neuman, Senior Member, Rockwell Automation

Publication awards and a help conversion tool from an award-winning company were featured at the March STC meeting. Brad Keller, Account Representative from ComponentOne, presented DoctoHelp, a one-click conversion tool that also lets you author native HTML or Microsoft Word help files.

Citing the often discussed (and perhaps premature) reports of RoboHelp's demise, Keller demonstrated a conversion of a RoboHelp project into DoctoHelp's help authoring tool. Once converted, the Doc-to-Help file is compatible with Microsoft's new Vista operating system. Vista compatibility is probably one of the strongest drivers urging help authors out of maintaining older WinHelp help projects.

In addition to looking ahead to new developments in help authoring, our chapter looked back at the previous year's accomplishments and presented the annual Publications Competitions awards. Congratulations to the award winners, who spanned a variety of area industries, as well as publication types.

A special thanks goes to Hyland Software for hosting this month's meeting at their lovely, innovative facility in Westlake. After the meeting, a few of us toured the building, replete with a pool table, bean bag chairs, and two twisty playground slides — the type you'd see at a fast-food restaurant play area. Combined with on-site amenities such as a hair salon and massotherapist, the facility is designed to maximize creative thinking as well as productivity. Hyland Software's flagship product is OnBase, an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) software tool for managing a variety of published media.

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Lines & Letters editors

Managing Editor: Barbara Philbrick (caslon@alltel.net)

Co-Editors:

• Lisa Mileusnich (lmileusnich@parker.com)
• Jeanette Evans (jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net)
• Jan Lowry (jllowry@aol.com)
• Bob Clark (clarkre55@aol.com)

Love it? Hate it? Let us know! E-mail us: newsletter@neostc.org

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