December
Transcription
December
Orange County STC Newsletter www.ocstc.org December 2003 Contents 1 2 EduNotes from B&B: A Successful Grant Writing Session Publication Policies 2 President's Message 3 Next Meeting 3 Editor's Desk 4 Creative Moonlighter Web Site Review 5 2004 OCSTC Administrative Council Positions Available 6 Chapter Contacts 6 Spring 2004 OCSTC Scholarship—Apply Now! Orange Juice: Membership News 8 9 November Meeting Review 10 Society Pages 11 OCSTC Employment Information 11 Grammar Tip 12 Calendar of Events Vol. 42 No. 11 EduNotes from B&B: A Successful Grant Writing Session By Bill Darnall and Brian McCaleb, OCSTC Education Committee Chairs On a gloomy, smoky day with ashes falling from the sky, the Education Committee conducted its first grant writing class, entitled Grant Writing 101, in a classroom at the Mesa Verde United Methodist Church in Costa Mesa. All 12 seats were filled by chapter members who wanted to learn more about the grant writing process and help the Orange County STC chapter develop an education program that will benefit us all. Our chapter is fortunate to have dedicated volunteers who are willing to spend their spare time building the future of the OCSTC. Among the participants were people with hands-on experience writing grants and people who said they knew almost nothing about the topic. The class used Grant Writing for Dummies by Bev Browning (Wiley, 2001) as a textbook. Despite its dubious title, this 300-page book is a highly regarded treatment of the subject and contains a balanced mixture of theory and practical advice. Books and materials for the October 25 class were provided free to participants because the chapter has already received grant money from a local foundation to be used for education. Of course, a one-day class in grant writing does not a grant writer make. The twelve who participated in the class have agreed to continue to work together as they study the book, form teams, and collaborate on grant writing efforts for the chapter. The Education Committee plans to launch a Web-based collaborative workshop where our grant writers can share information, post and retrieve drafts, conduct reviews, and otherwise maximize valuable volunteer time producing grant applications instead of driving around the county to attend meetings. We expect to report details about this innovative work environment in future EduNotes columns. What’s Next? We aren’t yet ready to dig in and start writing grant applications. Participants first have to finish reading the book. Subsequently, they will form teams and conduct research. A critical element of the grant scene is doing good research before writing a single word. to page 8 > Publication Policies President's Message By Jeff Randolph, OCSTC Chapter President The TechniScribe is published 11 times a year as a benefit to the members of the Orange County Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication. The goal of the publication is to reflect the interests, needs, and objectives of OCSTC members. The TechniScribe strives to be an advocate for, and an inspiration to, technical communicators by keeping them connected to each other and to opportunities for professional growth. Articles published in this newsletter may be reprinted in other STC publications if credit is properly given and one copy of the reprint is sent to the TechniScribe Editor. Submission Information The editorial team retains and exercises the right to edit submitted and requested material for clarity, length, and appropriateness. When submitting material please remember to Include a 25-word biography about yourself Send articles in Word format, RTF (Rich-Text Format), ASCII, or in the body of an e-mail message Send material to the editor five weeks prior to the date it will be published [email protected] Editorial Staff Managing Editor Carrie Damschroder Copy Editor Barbara Young Copy Editor Anne Stratford Copy Editor & Proofreader Rosemary Hulce Proofreader Steve Blossom Web Version Jeff Randolph Monthly Advertising Rates ¼ page $40 1 /3 page $45 We are in our second month of our “Season of Giving” for the Friendship House in Laguna Beach. We started the program last year and it was a great success. Janet Larkley, executive director of the shelter, spoke briefly at our October meeting. She thanked us for our efforts last year, and based on how well received they were, encouraged us to donate again this year. Last year, we gave gift bags of toiletries and other essentials to the 29 occupants of the shelter along with a turkey, and the rest as cash for the shelter to buy day passes or monthly passes from the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). Janet explained the mission of the facility: to provide a short-term, positive atmosphere that allows those who became homeless, generally for the first time in their lives, to get back on their feet. The shelter addresses issues of why the persons were in the situation they were, and leads them back to living independent lives once again. In addition to their facility in Laguna Beach, Friendship Shelter operates additional longer-term facilities (for 6-month or 1-year periods) in San Clemente. If you want to give—remember, this is a taxdeductible, charitable donation—please send a check payable to OCSTC, and in the memo section write “Season of Giving.” Send the donation to OCSTC Season of Giving c/o Elaine Randolph 22181 Lantern Lane Lake Forest, CA 92630-4316 We will send you a receipt for your donation. If you want to help, please contact Elaine Randolph at [email protected] or 949.380.6128. ½ page $60 Full page $80 Subscriptions $10/year to members of other STC chapters Printer Unisys Corporation, MissionViejo, CA 2 TechniScribe December 2003 By this time you should have received your STC renewal dues notice, either by e-mail or by snail mail. I went to the STC Web site and painlessly opened up my wallet and paid online. I hope you will do so, as well. If you renew by February 28, 2004, you can vote in the STC-wide election. Among other items, we will be voting for a successor to Bonni Graham, our current Director-Sponsor for Region 8, whose term is expiring. to page 4 > Next Meeting Editor’s Desk By Carrie Damschroder, TechniScribe Managing Editor You Are the Expert—Act Like It! Many of you have probably recently exclaimed, “I can’t believe it’s December already!” or “The holidays have come too quickly!” or “Another year is almost over—oh no!” The next few weeks Speaker: Lance Gelein When: Tuesday, December 16, 2003, 6:00–9:00 P.M. Where: Wyndham Garden Hotel 3350 Avenue of the Arts Costa Mesa, CA 92626 714.751.5100 Cost: Members with reservations $21 Students with reservations $16 Nonmembers with reservations $23 Walk-ins or those registering after deadline $31 No-shows billed $11 Reservations Reservations are due by 9:00 P.M., Monday, December 15, 2003. Registration Options Register at www.ocstc.org/dinres.asp Call Carolyn Romano at 714.894.9221 and leave your name, membership status, and phone number. Directions to the Wyndham Garden Hotel Coming from north and central Orange County Southbound on I-405, exit at Bristol Blvd. Turn left onto Bristol Blvd. Turn right onto Anton, left onto Avenue of the Arts. Turn right into the Wyndham parking lot. Please park in the Wyndham Garden Hotel parking structure. Coming from southern Orange County Northbound on I-405, exit at Bristol Blvd. Turn right onto Bristol Blvd. Turn right onto Anton, left onto Avenue of the Arts. Turn right into the Wyndham parking lot. Please park in the Wyndham Garden Hotel parking structure. will seem to pass even more quickly than the previous ones and soon 2003 will be over. While there are still a few weeks left in 2003, pause from your busy year-end tasks to rekindle old holiday traditions or start new ones. Some simple, relaxing activities that you can participate in alone or with your children include watching favorite holiday movies and reading classic holiday stories (both activities we writers enjoy a lot!). Instead of starting that new mystery novel or biography, pick up a classic holiday story such as A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Polar Bear Express by Edward Packard Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus by Francis Church Gift of the Magi by O. Henry A Christmas Treasury edited by Jack Newcombe After a busy day shopping and cooking, watch one (or two!) of the following movies: It’s a Wonderful Life White Christmas Miracle on 34th Street A Muppet Christmas Carol The Grinch Who Stole Christmas Frosty the Snowman Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer A Charlie Brown Christmas Share your favorite holiday movies and books with friends. Consider hosting a holiday movie review or holiday book club. Take time to not only use your technical and creative skills this month—but to enjoy them. This season of friendship, joy, and surprise will soon be over with—along with 2003—so be sure to fully experience these next few weeks instead of rushing through them. Live each season as it passes; breathe air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. Let them be your only diet drink and botanical medicines. —Henry David Thoreau Happy Holidays! 2003 December TechniScribe 3 < President's Message from page 2 Creative Moonlighter Web Site Review Yes, you will notice the dues have increased, and that might be a hardship. For some, your employer might no longer pay your STC dues. But the weekly cost of STC membership is roughly equal to one drink at Starbucks. So skip the latté and bank a couple of bucks for STC dues! It’s that easy. By Mark Gaham, OCSTC Member There is a hot new Web site called www.creativemoonlighter.com that has been bringing together talented writers with contract job opportunities. I stumbled upon this site while surfing the Web and being at one with nature (electronic nature?). Anyway, there are many sites out there, but this one has promise, and I will go out on a limb and say I believe in several years it will be very well known within the writing community. OCSTC and surrounding STC chapters offer a number of opportunities for you to flourish and prosper. In addition, STC offers opportunities, including but not limited to the annual conference, telephone seminars, and scholarships. In my introduction at chapter meetings I say, “OCSTC offers networking, personal and professional development, and employment opportunities for those in technical communication and allied professions.” The key word is opportunity. The tight job market, as Andrea Ames, De Murr, John Hall, and William Horton said at recent chapter meetings, offers the opportunity to expand our educational horizons and also requires us to think like consultants. We cannot continue to pursue business as usual. We can either seize the opportunities and expand our educational horizons or be faced with a tougher job search. For example, on our OCSTC Web site, many jobs go begging for months, while a job with the standard documentation specialist profile from the mid-tolate-90s (5 years experience, know FrameMaker and RoboHELP, write software user documentation…) receives over 600 applicants in less than three days. For members, in addition to the standard fare, you have the ability to post your résumé online at the OCSTC Web site. Does it work? Yes. The most recent success story is Victory Crayne’s, who said that an employer called her and asked her to come in for an interview because they saw and reviewed her résumé. STC is a volunteer organization where the volunteers provide the lifeblood. Different people receive different benefits from STC. Some receive invaluable information from attending chapter meetings. Others, like myself, have received employment opportunities because of volunteer work on behalf of STC. Ultimately, the more you put in, the more you win. So why all the hype about one Web site that I am proclaiming to be a "diamond in the rough" among many “scamsites” out there? This site has technical writing jobs—real, contract technical writing jobs—as well as other creative job assignments that pay real money. Before I go into how you can apply and how you get paid, here is a list of the jobs I found posted on the site: Job Description Rate/HourEstimated Grant Writer $25–$40 Proposal Writer $25–$40 Corporate Identity Materials $25–$40 Manual Writing $15–$24 Computer Course Training Manual $25–$40 Corporate Web site Web site Developer Book Illustrator $8–$14 Marketing Materials $15–$24 Graphic Artist $8–$14 News Articles $25–$40 Brochure Design $15–$24 Total Value $5,000 $3,000 $300 Are you excited yet? This was just one day of searching. So now you’re saying, “How do I get started and what is the cost?” Basic membership is free. You can post your résumé, search for jobs, bid on projects that match your expertise, and receive e-mail alerts when employers invite you to bid. There is a 10 percent project transaction fee charged by www.creativemoonlighter.com once the job is finished and you are paid. The Choice-Preferred membership is only $149.95 per year. This allows you instant bidding with a 72hour bidding advantage over basic members and the project transaction fee is only 5 percent. You can also contact employers directly with this membership to page 9 > 4 TechniScribe December 2003 2004 OCSTC Administrative Council Positions Available By Mary Ann Howell, OCSTC Nominating Committee Chair Here’s your chance to get great job experience, add to your professional credentials, network with movers and shakers, make good friends—and eat free pizza! This is the time of the year when the Nominating Committee gathers names to consider for next year’s administrative council elections. Please consider giving back to the OCSTC chapter by serving for the coming year. The experience you gain is the big payback, and an STC position of responsibility looks great on your résumé. The Nominating Committee’s goal is to have at least two candidates (maximum of three) running for each position. If you are good at organizing and keeping track of wandering details, please consider sending in your name. Or if you know of someone who would be a good fit, surprise him or her and send in his or her name. You only need to commit to serve for one year and attend monthly administrative council meetings. These meetings are held at a time and place that works best for everyone. Your term would begin in June 2004. The outgoing council members are happy to encourage, train, and advise you. No experience is required. A brief summary of the administrative council positions is listed below. For more detailed descriptions, go to www.ocstc.org/bylaws.asp. Secretary Organizes monthly administrative council meetings, prepares the agenda, and keeps the minutes. The secretary also writes chapter correspondence and maintains the non-financial records. Treasurer Pays OCSTC bills, takes care of the chapter checking accounts, presents monthly statements at the administrative council meetings, and presents a yearly financial statement to the chapter. Once a year the treasurer submits an end-of-year chapter financial report to the chapter audit committee and the STC treasurer. In addition to the administrative council positions listed above, there are two Nominating Committee member openings. In this position, members serve for two years. Nominating Committee Member Selects candidates for chapter offices and conducts the annual membership election. Deadlines January 1: Deadline for submitting names for consideration by the Nominating Committee. Although this date is the deadline, please submit nominations as soon as possible. February 1: Nominating Committee announces candidates President Executive administrator; responsible for all chapter operations. March: Online voting First Vice President, Programs Assumes the duties of the president if the president is absent; plans monthly meetings. June: Term begins for all newly elected administrative council positions (except Treasurer) Second Vice President, Membership Recruits and welcomes new members and provides the council and the STC office with membership data. Early April: Election results announced July: Treasurer’s term starts Interested? Contact any Nominating Committee member: Bruce Alexander ([email protected]) Jean Gabriel ([email protected]) Mary Ann Howell ([email protected]) Kathey Schuster ([email protected]) 2003 December TechniScribe 5 Chapter Contacts Spring 2004 OCSTC Scholarship—Apply Now! OCSTC P.O. Box 28751 Santa Ana, CA 92799-8751 Chapter Fax: 949.830.7585 Web site: http://www.ocstc.org By Kathey Schuster, OCSTC Scholarship Chair OCSTC awards up to $500 to the winner or winners of its annual student competition. The contest is open to both Los Angeles and Orange County area college students who are enrolled Fall 2003 and/or Spring 2004 in a degree or certificate program to prepare for a career in technical communication. Administrative Council Jeff Randolph, President [email protected] Don Pierstorff, Immediate Past President [email protected] Jack Molisani, 1st VP Programs [email protected] Adrienne Escoe, 2nd VP Membership [email protected] Julie Dotson, Treasurer [email protected] Suzanne Madison, Secretary [email protected] Carrie Damschroder, TechniScribe Editor [email protected] Benefits Some of the benefits of entering the contest are Money Award for portfolio/résumé Visibility among area employers Critique by professionals Recognition and dinner at the OCSTC Awards Banquet How to Apply Submit the scholarship application form, a sample of your work, and other information according to the competition rules. Request the entry form and submittal rules from the Scholarship Committee chair, Kathey Schuster, by e-mail at [email protected]. Submit applications by March 23, 2004. Elaine Randolph, Public Relations [email protected] Bill Darnall, Education [email protected] Brian McCaleb, Education [email protected] Mary Ann Howell, Nominating Committee [email protected] Kathey Schuster, Nominating Committee [email protected] Jean Gabriel, Nominating Committee [email protected] Bruce Alexander, Nominating Committee [email protected] Carolyn Romano, Facilities [email protected] Kathey Schuster, Scholarships [email protected] Bonni Graham, Region 8 Director-Sponsor [email protected] Mary Ann Howell, Employment Manager [email protected] 6 TechniScribe December 2003 STC Scholarship Applications Available Each year, STC offers scholarships to full-time graduate and undergraduate students pursing careers in technical communication. Four awards of $1,000 each will be granted for the academic year 2004–2005. Application deadline is February 16, 2004. Application forms and instructions are available from the STC office: 901 N. Stuart Street, Suite 904 Arlington, CA 22203-1822 703.522.4114 www.stc.org Which RoboHelp is Right for You? RoboHelp Office RoboHelp for FrameMaker The Industry Standard in Help Authoring The Online Publishing Tool for Adobe® FrameMaker® Easily Create Professional Help Systems and Documentation Easily Publish FrameMaker Content Online RoboHelp makes it quick and easy to create professional Help systems for desktop applications (Windows, Mac, Linux) and Web-based applications, including .NET. RoboHelp for FrameMaker extends Adobe FrameMaker’s capabilities beyond print and PDF into single-source publishing for online Help systems, intranets, and the Web. ✔ Work in Microsoft Word®, RoboHelp's built-in HTML editor, or any popular editor such as Macromedia’s Dreamweaver™ ✔ Designed from the ground up to be instantly familiar to FrameMaker users ® ® ✔ Create cross-browser, cross-platform Help systems, plus printed documentation, from a single project ✔ Generate multiple outputs in popular online formats, including HTML, FlashHelp, WebHelp and Microsoft HTML Help – all from a single project, all with a single click ✔ Generate multiple outputs in popular online formats, including FlashHelp, the revolutionary Flash-based Help format. ✔ Independently customize each output, including conditional text, multimedia, Table of Contents, index, glossary, skin, and more FlashHelp is firewall-friendly, bandwidth-efficient, and consistent across browsers and platforms. Adobe and FrameMaker are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Call 800-281-8216 or download a FREE trial at www.ehelp.com/stc The RoboHelp Family of Products Has Won Over 55 Industry Awards — More Than All Other Help Tools Combined! VBPJ 2000 ® Orange Juice: Membership News By Adrienne Escoe, OCSTC 2nd VP Membership OCSTC Members: 364 STC Members: 19,879 We probably won’t see a lot of OCSTC new member Michael Harnish for a while. A student at Orange Coast College, Mike is taking 30 units of credit and working full time as a machinist. After he completes his AA degree this year, he plans to transfer next fall to CSULB to major in English, specializing in composition and literacy, and to earn the Technical and Professional Writing certificate. Mike commutes from his home in Costa Mesa. You could say that Mike got ‘close’ to writing working on the presses at the Los Angeles Times, where he was inspired to go back to school. He says, “School is wonderful. I can’t think of one class that has bored me.” Mike is another student who has launched a writing career studying under OCSTC member Don Piersdorff. Shannon Clark, a consultant for translation and localization, recently joined OCSTC. Shannon knows that although she has no experience in technical writing, for favorable translation quality, speed, ease, and cost, she needs to put herself on the same level as content developers and understand their processes, methods, and tools. Shannon works for Boston-based ArchiText, Inc. where she attended Boston Chapter STC meetings while she lived in the area. She also participated in a few International Technical Communication SIG meetings. Receiving a master’s degree in Translation (French to English) from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a bachelor’s degree in French from the Universite de Lyon in Lyon, Shannon also studied in Paris at the L’Institut Superieur de Traduction et d’Interpretation. She collects cookbooks—what else?! She has over 200 cookbooks in English and French. But you can ask Shannon anything about football, basketball, or baseball. She is a self-proclaimed sports fanatic. And when you greet Shannon at an OCSTC dinner meeting, first say, “Allo,” and then “What’s for le diner?” Greeters Thank you Mary Ann Howell and Teresita del Sol for greeting members and guests at the October OCSTC dinner meeting. Greeting is a fun way to network and meet new people. Please contact me to volunteer for a 2004 meeting. Call Adrienne Escoe at 714.505.0248 or send an e-mail message to [email protected]. < EduNotes from B&B from page 1 We know that there is money available to support education initiatives like ours. The key to success is matching our needs and expected results to the institutional objectives of grantors. Fortunately, a lot of the information we need is publicly available, so we don’t all need to be detectives to accomplish our goals. A Homework Assignment for You A successful effort also depends on knowing what we have to offer a grantor and having a compelling, persuasive argument that makes us the best choice for funding. Research is important here, too. What value does our profession provide to society? How does Orange County, or California, or even the world benefit from having more and better-educated technical communicators in the marketplace? Why are we important in the grand scheme of things? These may sound like rhetorical questions or topics for debate, but to succeed in grant writing, our team must make a convincing case that what we do as individuals and what we do as a profession really matters. We will answer these questions and more in the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you wish to weigh in on these value assessments with lofty philosophy or gritty realism, we would like to hear from you. Your homework assignment, if you choose to accept it, is this: describe the value proposition of the profession and the STC. What social need do we fulfill? Who benefits, in what ways, and by how much? How would the world be different if we did not do what we do every day? Bill ([email protected]) and Brian ([email protected]) await your response. 8 TechniScribe December 2003 < Creative Moonlighter Web Site Review from page 4 level. They also have a Choice-Premium membership for $249.95 per year. This provides you with two unique profiles, 16 guaranteed project leads and a 5 percent project transaction fee. A little history about the company. It was launched in August of 2000 with the mission of connecting top freelance and contract talent both locally and globally. The company is based in Pittsburgh, PA. They have over 280,000 professional writers signed up on their site and they have over 20,000 employers. Some of these employers are nothing to laugh at either: Del Taco, Delta Education, Fujitsu, McGraw Hill, and others. The site is self-explanatory. You post your profile by stepping through a series of questions on your skills and talents. You then select your membership level. Then just search for jobs and bid on those projects that match your skills. You’ll also receive e-mail alerts when employers invite you to bid on projects. If you are selected to do the job and you perform the job, you will get paid through the site’s SafePay system and you will receive feedback on your work. The company will even keep track of your 1099 work and send you a total of money earned through the site every January for tax purposes. They will ask you to fill out, sign, and fax back a W-9 form one time for their records, but once that is done you are not involved in the payment transaction. The employer will pay through SafePay either by check or credit card. Mark lives in Los Angeles and works for Dawson Company in Altadena as an Outside Sales Engineer. He is currently finishing the spec screenplay, “Cadet.” Mark has been a member of OCSTC for almost one year and has written two previous articles for the TechniScribe. November Meeting Review By Clive Soden, OCSTC Member Dr. Harold Stolovitch gave the OCSTC an entertaining presentation at November’s meeting. The subject was Telling Ain’t Training. It was not what you would call your normal, everyday presentation. He led members in exercises throughout the presentation, and at the end gave the audience a final exam. As the title of the presentation suggests, people learn more from experience rather than what others tell them. This phenomenon is because learning is the capacity to adapt to changing conditions. “Telling does not work,” Dr. Stolovitch said. Telling is a oneway means for transmitting information. But information that is “told” is meaningless until the person receiving it uses it. On the other hand, training organizes the information and the person who receives it to produce the change that results in learning. Dr. Stolovitch said that learning is difficult if a topic is presented in a way that is abstract, novel, or complex. Therefore, we must change Abstract items into something concrete Novelty items into something familiar Complex items into something simple According to Dr Stolovitch, there are six principles for transforming telling to training: The more learners do—that is meaningful to them—the more they learn and the better they feel about it. If you feel competent and confident about something you learned, you’ll most likely use it. Focus on the performance and don’t dwell on the details. Provide learners with the essential information and include details in reference documentation. The main job of the trainer is to organize information for the learner. You don’t have to transmit a lot of information to learners; it is more important to organize information for easy storage, perception, and recall. Challenge increases motivation and thus performance; however, too much challenge can create anxiety and reduce performance. Link new learning to prior knowledge. Use analogies, mnemonics, and familiar examples. You can visit Dr. Stolovitch’s Web site at www.hsa-lps.com. You can contact Clive at [email protected]. 2003 December TechniScribe 9 Society Pages STC Mission Statement Creating and supporting a forum for communities of practice in the profession of technical communication. Positioning Statement STC helps you design effective communication for a technical world through information sharing and industry leadership. The Society for Technical Communication (STC) is the world’s largest organization for technical communicators. Its more than 20,000 members include writers, editors, illustrators, printers, publishers, photographers, educators, and students. Dues are $140 per year. Membership is open to anyone engaged in some phase of technical communication, interested in the arts and sciences of technical communication, and in allied arts and sciences. Society for Technical Communication 901 N. Stuart Street, Suite 904 Arlington, VA 22203-1822 703.522.4114 (voice); http://www.stc.org TechniScribe Copyright and Trademark Statement OCSTC invites writers to submit articles that they wish to be considered for publication. By submitting an article, you implicitly grant a license to print the article in this newsletter, and for other STC publications to reprint the article without express permission. Copyright is held by the writer. In your cover letter, please let the editor know if this article has been published elsewhere and if it has been submitted for consideration to other publications. Unless otherwise noted, copyrights for all newsletter articles belong to the author. The design and layout of this newsletter are copyrighted as © STC, 2003. Some articles might refer to companies or products whose names are covered by a trademark or registered trademark. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Reference to a specific product does not constitute an endorsement of the product by OCSTC or by STC. 10 TechniScribe December 2003 Society Pages OCSTC Employment Information Grammar Tip: Dangling Modifiers Our job listing is entirely online at the OCSTC Web site, and the pages are updated as jobs are submitted. Dangling modifiers are primarily verbal phrases that do not modify any particular words or phrases in the sentence. Although any misplaced word, phrase, or clause can be said to dangle, words in the sentence can be rearranged, or words can be added, to make the meaning clear. Staff Jobs www.ocstc.org/employme.asp Contract Jobs www.ocstc.org/contractme.asp If you have an inquiry or a job to post, e-mail Mary Ann Howell at [email protected]. A limited number of printed copies of the OCSTC Web site listings are available at monthly chapter meetings. Society Level Job Listings STC maintains job listings on the Internet. You can download the listings from the STC Web site at www.stc.org/jobsdatabase.asp If you do not already receive e-mail announcements of upcoming meetings, visit http://lists.stc.org/cgibin/lyris.pl?enter=stcocc-L and click Join. This list is not spam and will only send out monthly meeting and other STC-related announcements. Dangling Participial Phrases Should be Revised Dangling: Tuning the television to CNN, the State of the Union speech reached millions of voters. [no clear word for Tuning the television to refer to] Revised: Tuning the television to CNN, millions of voters listened to the State of the Union speech. [referent supplied—millions] Placed after the main independent clause, the participial phrase in the revision below refers to the subject. Dangling: The afternoon passed very pleasantly, lounging in the shade and reminiscing about our childhood. [An afternoon cannot lounge or reminisce.] Revised: We passed the afternoon very pleasantly, lounging in the shade and reminiscing about our childhood. [subject supplied] Excerpt from Hodges' Harbrace Handbook, 14th Edition, p. 325. Colophon The TechniScribe was produced using Adobe PageMaker 7.0 for PC. Modern and Palatino were used for text and heading fonts. The PDF on the OCSTC Web site was distilled from an EPS using Adobe Acrobat Distiller 5.0.5. 2003 December TechniScribe 11 Calendar of Events December 2 OCSTC Administrative Council Meeting, 6:00 P.M., ProSpring Inc. December 9 LASTC Meeting, 6:00 P.M., Ramada Plaza Hotel, Culver City December 10 STC Telephone Seminar, "Adding Panache to Your Procedures," 10–11:30 A.M. December 10 San Diego STC Meeting, 5:30 P.M., Red Lion Hanalei, Mission Valley December 16 OCSTC Chapter Meeting, 6:00 P.M., Wyndham Garden Hotel, Costa Mesa December 18 Inland Empire STC Meeting, 6:30 P.M., Marriott Inn, Riverside OCSTC December Meeting Topic: You Are The Expert, Act Like It! Have you ever wondered why you don’t get recognized for your efforts? Or why you are always looked at as “overhead” instead of a vital part of the process? We will focus on ways you can start your new year off right with a new attitude. This session focuses on the technical communicator—a how-to on becoming the authority and expert to clients and employers. The presentation will cover how to make a great first impression, speak and communicate with authority, use effective body language, dress to impress, act in meetings, gain recognition, move up the corporate ladder, and become known as the expert. It includes self-tests and demonstrations to show how you can become the authority and expert you need to be. Lance Gelein, STC Past President, is an international speaker who has been a technical communicator for over 20 years. He is currently involved in technical and marketing communication, usability testing, Web site development, project management, and change management. His list of clients is a who’s who in industry including Medtronic, McKesson, Abgenix, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Palm Inc., Kaiser Permanente, Apple Computer, and Pacific Bell. OCSTC Mailing Address P.O. Box 28751 Santa Ana, CA 92799-8751 NONPR OFIT NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Address Service Requested Postage Due Trust Acct. No. 999231 Santa Ana P&DC, CA 92799-9702 SANTA ANA, CA PERMIT NO. 1767