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STC Toronto - Communication Times
November 2004

In the November 2004 Newsletter:

The e-mail part of the newsletter consists of the News and Events section. All links to other articles will take you to our website.

News and Events:
-November Meeting on Nov. 9th: Wayne Debly presents 'Putting a Course Outline'
-Important Reminder to Renewing STC members
-STC Volunteers needed
-Single Source SIG Meeting on Nov. 15th
-Front Runner events & special offer to STC members
-Call for papers: IEEE Professional Communication Society's Conference in Ireland - July 2005

Web Content: Connecting with Customers
Technical communicators have a wealth of skills for creating web content, but are often shunted aside. In the first article in a three part series, Gauri Ahuja examines how technical communicators can play the role of customer advocate, to everyone's benefit.

A Writer's World: Lessons from Star Wars in Information Management
The force is very strong with Andrew Brooke this month. This article read, you should!

September Meeting Report
Susan Webb returns to report on our first meeting of the year. She follows a document as it passes through several desktop publishing tools...

The Wandering Eye: Search Tools
If you haven't made it past the Google homepage, you're missing out. Keith Soltys has some useful tips.

Single Sourcing with XML and XSLT
Alan Houser looks at the capablities of of the W3C standard language XSLT for single-source publishing of XML documents. (Alan will be presenting a course on this topic at Front Runner in November.)

From the President's Desk: It's All in the Mix
Are you continually adding skills to your mix? Robert Milkovich looks at a key to success in our profession.

That was Fun
Sometimes the technical communicator has to play the role of detective, as Keith Soltys found out.

This newsletter is sponsored by
Front Runner would like to offer an STC group discount when three or more register at the same time for Front Runner's upcoming Extensible Stylesheet Language: XSLT Development course on November 10th, 11th & 12th, 2004. Please call (416) 515-0155 or email Veronica for pricing details.


About the STC:

The Society for Technical Communication is an individual membership organization dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of technical communication. It is the largest organization of its type in the world. Its 25,000 members include technical writers and editors, content developers, documentation specialists, technical illustrators, instructional designers, academics, information architects, usability and human factors professionals, visual designers, Web designers and developers, and translators - anyone whose work makes technical information available to those who need it.

The STC Toronto Chapter was founded in 1959 (then the Society of Technical Writers) and is the largest chapter in Canada.

About this Newsletter:

This newsletter is produced monthly by the STC Toronto Chapter and is sent to all registered members. If you have any feedback or ideas, please e-mail editor Philip Kahn at: newsletter@stctoronto.org

Our mailing list comes directly from the STC, so if you want to receive the newsletter at another address you will need to login to their members profile section and update your information. The STC Toronto Chapter will not share nor sell our address list and will only send e-mails with information we believe to be useful and relevant to our members.

News and Events:

General Meeting on November 9th:
Putting a Course Outline
Presented by Wayne Debly

 


This presentation will focus on the process of creating an online course from existing training material. After presenting a brief overview of some of the different choices available for handling print-based training material, I will focus on how this print material can be developed into an instructor led course. The presentation will talk about the rationale for choosing certain activities/tools in developing an online course. I will show practical examples of activities/tools from the different courses I have created and why I chose these activities/tools. Time will be given for questions and discussion.

Wayne Debly has taught at all levels of education-elementary, secondary, college and university. He has degrees in Philosophy, Theology and Religious Education. Seven years ago he completed a year long certificate in Interactive Multimedia. Since then he has been involved in online development of courses and Distance Education. One of his projects was working with technical writers to develop the Technical Writing Certificate at Humber College. He has been a teacher for 35 years and is recently retired. He still continues to work with teachers in developing online courses and is a member of the Distance Learning committee at Humber College. As a developer he acts as the instructional designer, the programmer, and the project manager. His hobby is travel. He has travelled through Europe, Asia, Canada and the USA.

When:
Tuesday November 9th at 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Where:
Gold Room, North York Memorial Hall
North York Civic Centre (beside North York subway station)
5110 Yonge St., Toronto ON


Important Reminder to Renewing STC Members

Don’t forget, the STC has new membership categories for 2005 - when you get your renewal notice, be sure to select the Classic, E-Membership, or Student option, and select the Toronto Chapter as your chapter affiliation. This will ensure that you continue to have access to services that are only available to STC Toronto members.


Your Help is Needed

We need dedicated professionals that are willing to commit a part of their time on an ongoing basis to see that the chapter remains a vital asset to our community. We have an immediate need for two key roles:

  • Chapter Treasurer; and
  • Chapter Web Master.

We also have a number of committees that are seeking members to help share in the success of the chapter as it embarks on an ambitious agenda for 2004-2005.

Please drop us a line and we will get in touch discuss some of the opportunities available.


Single-Sourcing SIG Meeting

When:
Monday November 15 at 7:00 p.m.

Where:
North York Central Public Library (Room 2/3)
North York Civic Centre (beside North York subway station)
5110 Yonge St., Toronto ON

Check the STC Toronto Web site for details.


Front Runner Publishing Solutions Inc. continue to be a valued supporter of the STC Toronto chapter. They are offering a number of courses by software and publishing experts which could be of interest to members ... see their site for more details and contact information.

Front Runner would like to offer an STC group discount when three or more register at the same time for Front Runner's upcoming Extensible Stylesheet Language: XSLT Development course on November 10th, 11th & 12th, 2004. Please call (416) 515-0155 or email Veronica for pricing details.


Call for Papers:
IEEE Professional Communication Society's Conference in Limerick Ireland - July 2005

Communication is the tie that binds people around the world, crossing boundaries of knowledge, cultures, languages, and values. Technical communication connects engineers, educators, managers, and communicators in a global community. Come to IPCC 2005 in Limerick, Ireland, to explore these connections and share knowledge.

This year's theme is Making Connections. For proposed program threads and topics, please visit the website:

Call for Papers

General Information