An official chapter of the Society for Technical Communication

Contents

Lines and Letters

Volume 25, Issue 4, January 2009

February meeting reminder: Tracking your editing metrics

Please join the Northeast Ohio STC community for its February 18, 2009 meeting. This will be a joint meeting with the American Chemical Society.

This presentation explains how the Rockwell Automation technical communication group tracks metrics to support a business case that advocates a formal editing role.

Key points covered

  • Developing levels of edit — focus on how they took the research and customized it for their group.
  • Estimated hours to edit — how they developed a formula, based on their levels of edit exercise.
  • How to use metrics to your advantage — what should you track and how can this data help you refine your processes and scheduling.
  • Editing metrics merge nicely with overall technical communication metrics — help you define better, more defined metrics for the entire department.

Presenter: Lisa Adair is a graduate of Youngstown State University with a degree in Technical Writing and Editing. Joining Rockwell Automation, Inc., in September 1994, she has 14 years of technical writing experience. She presented on this same topic at the 2007 Technical Communication Summit and the Region 4 conference in Cleveland, Ohio, in October 2007. In addition, her “Styling for Structure” article was published in STC’s Intercom magazine in June, 2008.

Lisa will present a summary of the “Tracking Your Editing Metrics” presentation as part of the editing progression at the 2009 Technical Communication Summit in Atlanta this May.

Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Registration from 5:30 to 6 p.m.; food and drinks from 6 to 7 p.m.; presentation from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Location: Rockwell Automation
1 Allen Bradley Dr.
Cleveland, OH 44124

Directions

Price: You can choose one of the following:

  • Meeting only $10
  • With dinner — members $20
  • With dinner — nonmembers $30

To pay through PayPal, visit the NEO STC web site.

Food: Buffet. Meal includes meat and vegetarian options in addition to salad, sides, dessert, and soft drinks.

Register: If you plan to attend, please email the Programs Committee by close of business February 13. Or, call Denise at 216-251-0716.

Hope to see you there!

Thank you to our meeting sponsor, STAR Group America, LLC!

Radcom Services

For more information on Radcom, see http://www.radcomservices.com/

Upcoming events

NEO STC events

  • 1/29/09: NEO STC board meeting at Mavis Winkle’s in Independence.
     
  • 2/7/09: NEO STC Social: Skiing at Boston Mills. See the NEO STC web site for more detail.
     
  • 2/18/09: February meeting: Tracking your editing metrics. See the NEO STC web site for more detail.
     
  • 2/20/09: Networking lunch at Fox & Hound English Pub. See NEO STC web site for more detail.
     
  • 3/12/09: Monthly seminar: Networking “Follow-up — Your secret weapon.” See the NEO STC web site for more detail.
     
  • 3/17/09: NEO STC Social: Green beer at Sullivan’s Irish Pub. See the NEO STC web site for more detail.
     
  • 3/18/09: Networking lunch at Eddie’s Creekside Restaurant. See NEO STC web site for more detail..
     
  • 4/1/09: Deadline for $1000 NEO STC 2009 scholarship. Applications and information are now posted on http://www.neostc.org/scholarship/.
     

Other events of interest

President’s column: Three positive things

By Amy Vogt (avogt@ppipubs.com)

  1. My husband made raspberry pancakes for breakfast this morning.
  2. We had a nice visit with my parents this evening. They are healthy.
  3. I went for a hike in the park today. The frozen waterfalls were beautiful.

Three positive things. This is my list of three positive things for today.

I started the practice of writing positive events in my life over a year ago on what had been a terrible day for me. Instead of throwing my stapler at a colleague, I wrote an e-mail to Tricia Spayer, our Immediate Past President, and shared some positive energy. This is not a daily practice for me. I tend to make these lists sporadically, when I need it the most.

We’ve all heard that this will be a challenging year. Some of us have experienced this personally and to different degrees. It may seem naïve to think that simply writing something positive can change anything; the economy will not be affected and your employment situation will remain the same.

The words we speak to ourselves matter, though. It is easy to accept the negative in life. Once you start to repeat negative stories to yourself, you begin to believe they are true. If you can break this pattern with even a small amount of positive thinking, you can change the course of your day. This will affect how you view yourself or a difficult situation, and how you work with others.

We’re all communicators in STC. We all recognize the power of words within our professional lives each day. We’ve created our lives with words. I wish that all of you can create a positive and successful 2009 for yourselves. Happy New Year!

Adobe training despite the snow

One foot of snow did not stop our Professional Development Workshop on January 10, 2009. We were honored to welcome Alan Houser to Kent State University to present an Adobe Technical Communication Suite Integration class. This event brought STC members all the way from Mansfield and Pittsburgh. Thanks to everyone who made the drive to Kent State that morning to attend the class!

I would like to thank Denise Kadilak, and Keiran and Elena Dunne with Kent State University for their help in making this event a success. Thanks also to Ginny Haas for her support on the day of the event.

Additional Professional Development Workshops in April and May!

Our next Professional Development Workshops will be in April and May. Watch for details soon about registration for:

Topic: Instructional Design
Presenter: Geoff Hart
Date: April 18, 2009
Location: Kent State University

Topic: Intuitive images: creating and evaluating usable graphics for international audiences
Presenter: Patrick Hofmann
Date: May 16, 2009
Location: Joseph-Beth Booksellers

Successful membership drive

We had a successful membership drive thanks to Julie Mason and Sharon Jendrisak on our Membership Committee! We had eleven new members join from October 1, 2008 to January 2, 2009 — and a few more have joined since then!

I want to personally welcome our new members! Please feel free to contact me, Amy Vogt, or any of the members of our board if you have any questions or need anything.

Don’t forget to renew your membership!

If you have not renewed your STC membership yet, there’s still time! Don’t forget to renew your membership on stc.org.

Yoga class — Social Networking Event

We had our first STC yoga class on January 11, 2009! This Social Networking Event helped our members to share some energy, balance, and fun — outside of the usual STC context. Thanks to all who attended! Several of us plan to continue the practice, so contact me, Amy Vogt, if you are interested in attending a yoga class in the future.

Congratulations to our new Associate Fellows!

Congratulations to Jill McCauslin and Bob Dianetti on achieving the honorary rank of Associate Fellow! Thanks to Tricia Spayer, Jeanette Evans, Angie Dianetti and Ginny Haas for their help with their nominations this year!

Congratulations on Stephanie Webster’s new addition!

Congratulations to Stephanie and Tim Webster on the birth of their son, Graham Rhys!

Graham was born on January 17, 2009 at 2:39 pm. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 3 oz and was 20 inches long.

Congratulations to NEO STC’s newest Associate Fellows!

Be sure to congratulate our new Associate Fellows, Jill McCauslin and Bob Dianetti, both of Radcom Inc!

The rank of associate fellow is conferred only upon a senior member who has attained distinction in the field of technical communication. They must be nominated by a committee composed of fellows and associate fellows.

Local members published in Intercom

The December 2008 edition of Intercom included “Moving Toward a Content Reuse Strategy, Slowly and Carefully,” written by NEO STC members Julianne Forsythe and Jeanette Evans. The article describes experiences at Rockwell Automation. Intercom calls the article, “a detailed study outlining the benefits of topic-based authoring, content reuse, and content management strategies to more fully leverage technical content as a business asset.”

See http://www.stc.org/intercom/PDFs/2008/200812_14-16.pdf.

Congratulations to Julianne and Jeanette!

April 1 scholarship deadline

By Jeanette Evans and Sarah Burke, Academic Relations Committee Co-Chairs

Don’t let the deadline fool you — NEO STC wants to hear from Ohio’s brightest technical communication students. Our community is accepting applications for a $1,000 scholarship until April 1, 2009. For details, see neostc.org/scholarship.

NEO STC is offering a $1,000 scholarship to one deserving Ohio undergraduate, graduate, or community college student studying a technical or scientific communication-related field. This scholarship is designed to encourage local academic excellence, provide the profession with educated communicators, and promote greater awareness of and participation in STC. Applicants will be evaluated based on their potential to contribute to the profession.

NEO STC plans to notify the winner by May 1 and will recognize the recipient at our May meeting.

So you think you can judge?

By Jeanette Evans and Sarah Burke, Academic Relations Committee Co-Chairs

Do you think that judging might be for you? Are you interested in learning more about the next generation of technical communication professionals? If so, consider volunteering as a judge for NEO STC’s $1,000 technical communication student scholarship program. To be eligible to judge you must:

  • Be an NEO STC community member in good standing.
  • Have at least five years of experience in the field.
  • Not be currently affiliated with a learning institution or technical communication program.
  • Not currently work with an applicant.

Being a judge will involve only a few hours of your time. In April, judges will evaluate the scholarship applications and then discuss their observations with the other judges. They will consider several items-among them the potential of each applicant to contribute to the future of the profession. Last year, we chose our winner based on the input of a four-member judging panel. We used consensus-style judging conducted via a lunchtime conference call. If you are interested in helping our community select a deserving student for our 2009 scholarship, please let Jeanette Evans or Sarah Burke know.

We are hoping to attract applicants on a level equal to that which we had last year. Our 2008 applicant pool was outstanding, making the judging particularly challenging! Undergraduate, graduate, or community college students pursuing degrees or certificates in technical or scientific communication from accredited Ohio institutions are eligible to apply.

Watch http://www.neostc.org/ for more details about the scholarship. Some important dates to note:

  • February 1 — official launch of scholarship
  • April 1 — scholarship application submission deadline
  • May 1 — winner announced

Check out http://neostc.org/scholarship/ to download an application or promotional poster.

Throw your hat into the ring!

By Tricia Spayer (tspayer@yahoo.com)

Have you ever wanted to:

  • Gain leadership skills
  • Be a part of making important decisions
  • Work with genuinely dedicated professionals
  • Enhance your skill set on your résumé?

If so, the NEO STC Executive Board is the place to gain all that, and much more.

As Immediate Past President, it is my responsibility to seek qualified candidates for: Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary for the 2009-2010 year, when Amy Vogt and Denise Kadilak advance to the positions of Immediate Past President and President, respectively, as written in our bylaws. Our bylaws also describe the Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary positions — read more about them.

As a board member in any of these positions, you will receive mentoring, training, and support. If you are interested, or have any questions, send me a message by the end of January 2009.

Remember, also, there are many other opportunities to help on committees. Check out our list of committees. Don’t worry about being shy or inexperienced — we’ve been there, and we’ll help you — you can do it!

Charity is big winner at December meeting

By Bob Young (ryoung1956@sbcglobal.net)

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/GoEllenBike/NEOSTCAwardsHolidayParty2008#

The spirit of giving added to the warm glow inside the Great Lakes Brewing Company for the Northeast Ohio STC annual Holiday party.

NEO STC’s first charity auction, spearheaded by Jean Church, netted nearly $500 for the Cleveland Food Bank. Members had the opportunity to bid online and at the December meeting for beautifully wrapped baskets, training certificates, a wine assortment and an NBA basketball signed by the big man “Z,” (Zydrunas Ilgauskas), thanks to the generosity of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Food Bank was not the only winner. The winners of the STC writing competition were recognized with their plaques, and members in attendance for the December gathering received a sleek coffee mug, courtesy of the meeting sponsor, Radcom.

“Thanks again for a most wonderful get-together of good food, conversation, and camaraderie!” said guest Ellen Hayes, an STC Central Ohio member who garnered more than an STC merit award. “I walked away with two of the door prizes — there were many awesome choices. You certainly have a fun chapter,” Hayes added, “I had a great time.”

The complete list of winners in the STC competition that received well-deserved congratulations were:

Online Competition

  • Award of Excellence
    Presented to Jean Church from URS Washington Division For “How to Run a Report”
  • Award of Merit
    Presented to Ellen Hayes from Cranel, Inc. For “ISOdx User’s Guide”

Technical Publications Competition:

  • Award of Merit
    Presented to Lori Neuman from Rockwell Automation for “Stratix 8000 Ethernet Managed Switches Installation Instructions”
  • Award of Merit
    Presented to Tess Weaver, Pete Delic, and Bill Waltz from Rockwell Automation for “ControlLogix Fault-tolerant SIL2 System Configuration Application Technique”
  • Award of Merit
    Presented to Janean Voss, Lisa Mileusnich, and Julie Mason from Parker Hannifin Corp. for “Order Management: Inquiry-to-Order Training Set”

Welcome new members!

Be sure to welcome our new members:

  • David E. Belcastro
  • Lauri Burkons
  • Mary M. Cosgrove
  • Ric Gudgeon
  • Shea M. Hansen
  • Alan A. Horvath
  • Laurie A. Klappauf
  • Scott McDonough
  • Lynn Ann Nickels
  • Tess Weaver
  • Anita Wright, Jr.
  • Neil Gould, III
  • Doug Zachau
  • Douglas Kirchgesler
  • Gail A. Pogue
  • Dennis N. Price
  • Mark William Rudlosky

We look forward to seeing you at future events!

Member profile: Lynn Nickels

Jeanette Evans (jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net)

New to NEO STC, Lynn Nickels recently attended the NEO STC Bring-A-Guest meeting. While new to NEO STC, Lynn is not new to STC. She is a past president of the Youngstown State University chapter of STC and recently rejoined STC after becoming employed as an information developer at Rockwell Automation in the technical communication group.

Concerning her educational and professional background, Lynn explains, “I have an associate degree in Computer Programming from Trumbull Business College, an associate degree in Technical Writing/Page Layout from YSU, a bachelor’s degree in Journalism/Photography with a concentration in Professional Writing and Editing from YSU, and a Master’s degree in English with a certificate in Professional Writing and Editing and a certificate in Teaching of Writing.” Lynn completed her Master’s degree work at YSU with an impressive 4.0 average. She has also taken courses in Mechanical Drawing and Digital Mapping from Cuyahoga Community College.

Before accepting her current position at Rockwell, Lynn says, “I worked for the Giant Eagle Corporation as a software trainer and inbound scheduling supervisor. I worked eight years as a graphic designer for an advertising firm in the car industry. I worked eight years as a CAD/CAM operator digitizing street maps for the state of Ohio. And, while in college, I worked for the Jambar newspaper for four and a half years in almost every capacity, from writer, to darkroom manager, to editor, to interim advertising manager. I did my reporting internship for The Youngstown Vindicator and went on to freelance for them as a stringer.”

She continues, “While working at the Jambar, I had the opportunity to be an entertainment writer. I got the chance to meet and interview many, many celebrities. Among them, I had the opportunity of interviewing Jim Tressel twice and going on an away trip with him and the YSU football team to Missouri … what a fun time that was! Jim personally got me on the team plane. He is a great guy! Other interviews and people I’ve had the opportunity to meet, interview, or photograph include Chicago, Hall and Oates, The Isley Brothers, The Goo Goo Dolls, 10,000 Maniacs, Better Than Ezra, Loverboy, The Black Crowes, NSYNC, Brookes and Dunn, MatchBox 20, Heart, Culture Club, Eddie Money, Michael Stanley, Eric Clapton, Kansas, Fleetwood Mac, Megadeth, Rick Springfield, Taylor Dayne, Willie Nelson, 98 Degrees, Color Me Bad, Blue Oyster Cult, Lenny Kravitz, The Kentucky Head Hunters, and Tracey Lawrence. A few of the experiences that stand out most in my mind include having dinner with .38 Special, interviewing Kansas, and allowing my professor to come with me to meet them (he is their biggest fan!). I got an A that semester! And going to meet George Clinton on his tour bus after his show … George licked my hand in greeting (hence the nickname, The Atomic Dog).” Lynn also has interviewed and covered shows for many comedians, including Jeff Dunham & Peanut and Bobbie Collins.

Lynn was also the editor-in-chief for the Angels for Animals animal sheltering magazine, The Halo, for 5 years. The magazine is an educational vehicle, as well as a way to solicilt help in the way of volunteers and financial donations for the shelter. Most recently, Lynn was able to interview actress Linda Blair of Exorcist fame about her new animal shelter in California.

Lynn recently moved to Cleveland, which she calls a step up from Youngstown, where she previously lived. Lynn has two children — a son, 27, and a daughter, 18. Lynn can be reached at lanickels@ra.rockwell.com.

Thank you NEO STC members!

By Jean Church (jean.church@wgint.com)

“There but for the grace of God go I. ” — attributed to John Bradford, English Reformer

Northeast Ohio’s hungry include children, the working poor, the elderly, the homeless, the chronically ill, and the unemployed. And speaking of the unemployed, the unemployment rate in Cleveland has grown from 5.6% in April to 7.2% in December, with no end in sight. More people than ever are in great need right now.

In December, we, the Northeast Ohio Chapter, did something about this sad situation. We came together, pooled our resources, and raised $475.00 for the Cleveland Foodbank. Our Charity Raffle fundraiser was a great success and we can be proud of this accomplishment. We can look forward to 2009 knowing that we did something positive to help the plight of the needy in Cleveland!

Discounts for STC members on Documentation and Training West 2009

Doctrain will be held March 17-20, 2009 in Palm Springs, CA.

Get a full access pass to the conference for only $899 (you save $400 off the regular price of admission) when you register by 5pm ET February 17, 2009. To take advantage of the deal, call Eileen Savary at 978-649-8555. Use discount code STC.

In addition, if you are an educator or student with a valid university ID, we have a special package offer for you that includes a full access pass to the event and two nights at the Westin Mission Hills, our host hotel — all for only $899. Contact Eileen Savary at 978-649-8555 to learn more.

Book Review: The Bug, by Ellen Ullman

Reviewed by Tess Weaver (tsweaver@kent.edu)

If you work in software development, don’t read this book. It will cause you to question your purpose and despise your career.

In this short novel, author Ellen Ullman aptly depicts a programmer tasked with resolving an ever-elusive bug and the tester who first finds it. Ethan, the programmer, slowly loses touch with all reality and his girlfriend as he delves into the code and the methodical steps of the debugger. Roberta, a linguist-turned-tester who falls into her career after leaving academia, helps hunt the cause of the bug — nicknamed “The Jester.” She too becomes entranced with coding languages and software development, but is slightly more successful at managing her personal life at the same time.

While the plot of this novel twists and turns around the hunt for the elusive Jester, the two main characters’ personal lives begin to crumble — Ethan’s turning into a landslide of mental instability. Both Ethan and Roberta lose touch with other humans, while their company begins laying people off. This seems to drive Ethan even further into debugging as he fears being laid off without a letter of recommendation — the key to obtaining another job if laid-off.

As part of the plot, Ullman references John Horton Conway’s Game of Life and uses basic graphic representations from it to foreshadow the events of each chapter. This is a fun, creative twist on a literary device that will have you searching Wikipedia for more information so you can better interpret the graphics and try to determine what will happen next.

An insightful, truthful depiction of life in software development, this novel demonstrates what can happen if you become too obsessed with your work. Overall, the insight and truth of this novel leaves you hoping that there’s something more and your own life isn’t as depressing as the lives depicted in this book.

A new font in the new year

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

Starting in 2009, drivers in NE Ohio will see a new typeface on NE Ohio signs as part of construction projects on Interstates 71, 90, 480, and 490.

The changes include taller lower case letters and more space inside a’s and e’s. You can read the new signs from father away, according to usability testing.

The Federal Highway Administration recently approved use of the new typeface, called Clearview. According to Don Meeker, the environmental graphic designer responsible for the change, says it will improve readability 20% over traditional highway lettering.

The formerly used typeface, Highway Gothic, was created in 1949. In one recent test, this typeface broke up for viewers at a distance of about 500 feet. According to a test done at Penn State, you can see signs in Clearview for an additional 250 feet.

2008 Word of the Year

Jeanette Evans (jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net)

A previous edition of Line and Letters listed some of Merriam-Webster’s new entries for 2008 according to the print update of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, available in bookstores on September 1, 2008. Malware, netroots, subprime, and webinar made the list.

Now it is time — for me at least — to think about the choices for word or words of the year for 2008 and reflect back some more.

According to the Wikipedia entry for word of the year, the American Dialect Society — a group that include linguists, grammarians, historians, and scholars — began choosing words of the year in 1990 for fun, not in an official capacity to induct words into the English language.

At its recent annual convention, the society chose the 2008 word of the year. The word is “bailout” — in the specific sense of the rescue by the goverment of companies on the brink of failure, including large players in the banking industry.

I thought it was interesting that the 2007 word of the year was “subprime” — the adjective that means a “risky or less than ideal loan, mortgage or investment.” Runners-up included Facebook, green, and waterboarding.

The 2006 word of the year was “plutoed,” in the sense of demoted or devalued, as happened to the former planet Pluto.

Handy hint: Using a macro to clear out Char styles in Microsoft Word

By Barb Philbrick (BarbPhilbrick@caslonsvcs.com)

I had a bunch of corrupt Microsoft Word 2003 documents, and found a handy macro for cleaning them up at http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister/MyFavTip.htm#CharStyl.

To use this code:

  1. In Word, select Tools from the menu bar.
  2. Select Macro, then select Macros. (You can also use Alt+F8 to open the Macros dialog box.)
  3. Type a name in the Macro Name box. (No spaces allowed.)
  4. Click Create.
  5. Copy the following code before the End Sub code:
    6. Sub DeleteHeading2Char()
    Dim styl As Word.Style, doc As Word.Document
    Set doc = ActiveDocument
    Set styl = doc.Styles.Add(Name:="Style1")
    On Error Resume Next
    doc.Styles("Heading 2 Char").LinkStyle = styl
    styl.Delete
  6. Change “Heading 2 Char” to the name of the style you need to remove.
  7. Run the macro.
  8. To clear multiple char codes, I found that it was easiest to open the Macros dialog box again, select Step Into, and change the style. If you had a lot of corrupt documents with the same style corruption, you might want to create separate macros for each.

Of interest: WritersUA survey and new online word processor

2008 WritersUA Skills and Technologies Survey is in progress

http://www.writersua.com/
Please contribute your experiences to help improve the value of the results. No login is required. You can answer as much or as little of the survey as you choose. The results will be freely available to all on the WritersUA web site next month.

New online word processor

Check out Adobe Buzzword, perfect for anything you need to access online or work on with others. It looks and behaves like your normal desktop word processor, but it operates inside a web browser, so there is no installation required. And best of all, it is free. See http://www.adobe.com/acom/buzzword/

Chapter reminders

Amazon.com helps fund STC

Reaching Amazon.com through the portal on the home page of STC’s website (www.stc.org) contributes to funding programs that have no direct revenue stream, such as committee work. STC receives a small percentage from every purchase made through the portal.

NEO STC listserv

To subscribe or change your settings for the Northeast Ohio STC listserv, see http://mailman.stc.org/mailman/listinfo/stcneohio-l.

Please let Kris Henige, the NEO STC Listserv Administrator, know if you have any questions.

Premium pages for members

NEO STC has some Premium pages for NEO STC members only. These pages include links to our very own Wiki, an Employer Directory — a listing of businesses that hire technical communicators — and more.

To enter the Premium pages, you will need a user name and password — this is different from the STC International site. Please contact our Webmaster for password information.

Change of address? Remember to tell the STC office

Send new addresses to the STC office to avoid interrupted delivery of Intercom and Technical Communication. Some members assume that informing the post office of their new address is enough to ensure that all of their mail is forwarded. However, the United States Postal Service forwards only first-class mail, not publications such as Intercom and Technical Communication.

Members may also update their contact and mailing information on the STC website.

Lines & Letters information

Editors and contributors

Managing Editors: Barbara Philbrick (BarbPhilbrick@caslonsvcs.com), newsletter co-chair

Jeanette Evans (jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net), newsletter co-chair

Additional editors and contributors:

Love it? Hate it? Let us know! Contact us: newsletter@neostc.org

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.

You can also submit articles directly through http://www.neostc.org/lines/submit.html.

Lines & Letters archives

www.neostc.org/lines/Archives/index.html. Archives include PDF and HTML versions of the newsletter from 2000 to last month’s issue.

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