#13129
Discover Buried Treasure at Your Local STC Chapter Meetings 
You don’t have to be an officer to benefit professionally from your local STC chapter meetings. Start attending your local chapter meetings and discover the many forms of buried treasure. These treasures will result in a new perspective to your writing, an increased library of professional resources, professional writers being hired at your workplace, and the chance to view the “Best of Show” writing. You can reap rewards such as these with a small investment of personal time.
Lunemann, Rhonda S. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Collaboration>Community Building>STC
#31534
Do You Have a Reputation for Excellence?
Your reputation depends on your ability to be a public-spirited, plain-talking professional who serves the interests of your audience rather than your organization.
Olds, George. Communication World Bulletin (2003). Careers>Collaboration>Community Building
#27885
E-Communities, Community Knowledge, and Knowledge Management 
Collaboration and cooperation - real and virtual - among people with commonality of interests and practices have given rise to e-communities and web-based communities. This paper examines some intra- and inter-community communications and exchanges, other than scholarly and business communications, and the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in this context. With particular reference to rural and marginalized communities, it considers positive aspects of ICT applications, such as acceleration of empowerment, creation of a more level playing field, facilitation of expression of and greater visibility to their needs and 'dreams', and utilization of the tacit 'community knowledge' for the greater welfare of society. It presents a few illustrative cases. It suggests that Knowledge Management (KM) ideas usually applied to enterprises can be extended to cover e-communities taking into consideration some additional parameters or dimensions.
Neelameghan, Arashanipalai. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Knowledge Management>Community Building
#20311
What happens when a technical communicator becomes a volunteer advocate for environmental protection? Professional skills like quickly learning new technical subjects, audience analysis, and recasting technical information for popular consumption are readily transferred to this arena. Team-building skills used both in STC and in industry are important to successful advocacy. New skills are called for in areas like public relations and fund raising. Long-range planning for environmental protection requires the participation of an informed and active citizenry. Technical communicators can be a critical link in that process.
Brock, Cynthia J. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Writing>Environmental>Community
#29643
Education: Issues within the STC Academic Community
STC supports students through scholarships, the honor fraternities, and recognition of student chapter achievements. STC members provide a network for information and contacts for employment. The academic community can strengthen its ties to STC by encouraging students to apply for the awards and recognitions and to take advantage of the network of professionals.
Smith, Elizabeth Overman 'Betsy'. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Education>Community Building>STC
#31227
Technological changes keep happening, and every time a new phenomenon occurs, employers seem to react the same way. Questions that were asked about phones, e-mail, mobile phones and blogs in the workplace are now being asked about online social networks. Why do we keep repeating history? In my view, it’s because we can get so overwhelmed by the possibilities of the tools that we lose focus on the basic functions of communication and how these tools can help us with them.
Barbaro, Geoff. Communication World Bulletin (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Community Building>Social Networking
#28158
Finding "A Winning Community" at the STC 53rd Annual Conference
An STC conference is a unique type of education that supplements the formal theory and ideology one can learn in school. It is a place to interact with and learn from people with a range of professions, viewpoints, and expertise. It is a place to experience passion and vision for the field as a part of an international community. But most of all, it is a place filled with resources just waiting to be used by the next eager technical communicator.
Rothwell, Kimberly M. Carolina Communique (2006). Articles>TC>Community Building
#30213
Focused Leadership in a Dispersed Environment 
Society chapters often involve members who live and work in a very wide geographic area. Even members of chapters with smaller physical areas face long commute times from work sites to meeting sites. Often, the time spent commuting is enough to discourage even the most stalwart Society member from participation. Chapter leaders and committee managers are left with the problem of how to offer their members the means to participate in meetings more effectively.
White, Don. Tieline (2007). Articles>Management>Community Building>STC
#27129
The nucleus of building an online community is a popular an well run forum. When building a community using php CMS software the forum is the first thing that should be configured. Unfortunately most opensource php CMS software is lacking in the area that it should be strongest, the forum. For users a lot of time and effort goes into choosing the right software to accomplish the task of building an online community. Missing is the effort by the CMS developers to ensure that the software is up to the job.
Hiveminds (2006). Articles>Content Management>Community Building
#30860
Forums for Citizen Journalists? Adoption of User Generated Content Initiatives by Online News Media
The mainstream online news media face accusations of being slow to respond to so-called 'grassroots' or 'citizen journalism', which uses the world wide web, and in particular blogs and wikis, to publish and promote independent news-related content. This article argues that the adaptation of established news websites to the increasing demand from readers for space to express their views is driven as much by local organizational and technical conditions as it is by any attachment to traditional editorial practices. The article uses qualitative research interviews with the editors and managing editors of nine major British news websites to reveal the debates journalists are having about their changing roles, the challenges of meeting commercial expectations and legal obligations, and the innovations taking place in online newsrooms. It provides journalism and interactive media scholars with case studies on the changes taking place in journalism's relationship with its consumers.
Thurman, Neil. New Media and Society (2008). Articles>Publishing>Online>Community
#25645
The modern-day equivalents of the early twentieth-century radio or nineteenth-century railroads are using their power to get the law to protect them against this new, more efficient, more vibrant technology for building culture.
Lessig, Lawrence. Lessig Blog (2003). Books>Intellectual Property>Community Building
#24383
Free Professional Development: Starting a Journal Club
Have you ever wished that someone would offer advanced training for technical communicators in your community? In Winnipeg, we certainly did. However, we found that most training is expensive. Our chapter would bring in workshop leaders, but have difficulty getting enough people to sign up. Those of us who wanted training often had to leave the city, but not all of us could get our companies to pay to send us for training, or even to annual conferences. About four years ago, the Manitoba chapter stumbled upon an easy, cheap solution: We started a journal club. Four times a year, several chapter members meet to discuss the contents of the latest issue of Technical Communication.
Campbell, Alexa. Tieline (2003). Articles>TC>Community Building
#29649
From Starfish to Butterfly ... the Amazing Story of the AccessAbility SIG
This paper describes the remarkable history of the Society's newest Special Interest Group--the AccessAbility SIG--tracing it back to its origins in 1997 as the Special Needs Committee (SNC). The SNC, founded by Judy Skinner, was originally chartered to assist technical communicators with disabilities in the practice of our profession by researching and publicizing assistive technologies and techniques to overcome those limitations. Over its 5-year lifespan, the committee expanded its mission to include a second overarching goal--assisting all technical communicators in developing information products that are fully accessible to end users with disabilities. Its accomplishments included a data-rich yet eye-pleasing online newsletter, an ever-growing comprehensive web site that is becoming a definitive resource on accessibility, and a robust and dynamic listserv.
Voss, Daniel W. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Accessibility>Community Building>STC
#28757
From Starfish to Butterfly: the Amazing Story of the AccessAbility SIG
This paper describes the remarkable history of the Society's newest Special Interest Group--the AccessAbility SIG--tracing it back to its origins in 1997 as the Special Needs Committee (SNC). The SNC, founded by Judy Skinner, was originally chartered to assist technical communicators with disabilities in the practice of our profession by researching and publicizing assistive technologies and techniques to overcome those limitations. Over its 5-year lifespan, the committee expanded its mission to include a second overarching goal--assisting all technical communicators in developing information products that are fully accessible to end users with disabilities.
Voss, Daniel W. STC Proceedings (2007). Articles>Accessibility>Community Building
#28424
The Future Web 2.0 Social Experience
A long article describing a future more connected world-wide-web and a few killer applications that it makes possible.
Hunt, Ben. Web Design From Scratch (2006). Design>Web Design>Community Building
#21186
We often hear how the Web can be used to deliver technical documentation. But have you ever thought about the Web as technical documentation? When dozens, or perhaps hundreds, of people, all using the same product, start posting tips and solutions to problems on different Web sites, the entire Internet becomes a kind of crude users’ manual.
Martin, Maurice. Intercom (2003). Articles>Documentation>Online>Community
#14069
Green Giving: Engagement, Values, Activism, and Community Life
Philanthropic campaigns typically offer value identification and identity rewards for gift giving. These rewards may be increased by engaging the gift-givers within the work and activity of the charitable organization; moreover, fund-raising may reach beyond the limited budget people typically allocate to psychic goods if charitable gifts are perceived as part of the costs of one's way of life and as part of the meanings, activities, and communities within which one lived one's life. In support of these claims, I examine environmental fund-raising in Santa Barbara through interviews with fund-raisers involved with the Community Environmental Council and the campaign to purchase a major coastal property for a preserve. The fundraising for CEC indicates ways in which people's identities and commitments may be drawn on and reinforced and how people's interests in sustaining a way of life can become the basis of funding campaigns; CEC fundraising suggests that activism does not necessarily translate into giving, depending on the nature of the active engagement. The case of the preservation of the Wilcox property suggests how commitment to a community way of life can mobilize extraordinary giving when the community as a whole starts to perceive itself engaged in common endeavor and commitment. The success of the campaign itself then becomes a sign of community strength and community values.
Bazerman, Charles. UCSB. Articles>Rhetoric>Community Building
#26301
Leaving a comment on someone's weblog is like walking into their living room and joining in on a conversation. As in real life, online there are some people who are a pleasure to converse with, and some who are not.
Trapani, Gina. LifeHacker (2005). Articles>Writing>Community Building>Blogging
#31233
Handling Negative Feedback on Blogs
Despite blogs’ potential for creating valuable online communities, many communicators are still uneasy with the blog format. Communicators worry about the possibility of readers posting negative comments and feedback on the company blog. Angry customers leaving stories of poor experiences for all to see or employees submitting bitter public complaints are nightmare scenarios for most communicators. So how should we respond to negative feedback on corporate blogs? The process begins with shifting our perspective to see the risks as opportunities.
Drennan, Scott. Communication World Bulletin (2007). Articles>Web Design>Community Building>Blogging
#30498
Have Chapter Meetings that Members Love to Attend!
To improve your chapter meetings, begin by forming a vivid ideal of how you would like the meetings to be. You can realize your dream if you: (1) find out what chapter members want, (2) form an enthusiastic team to do the many tasks involved, (3) publicize meetings beyond your membership list, (4) ensure good presentations, (5) energize the audience for lively meetings, and (6) keep looking for ways to meet your members' wants. For advice and encouragement in doing these things, participate in a support group with leaders of other chapters.
Dean, Morris. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#19578
Company meetings are often regarded as conservative and uninspired by those who must attend. We all know that meetings are necessary, but we also know that they can be wearisome. Not all meetings need be that way. In fact, meetings can inject some lighthearted fun into the day and stimulate the creative juices. This is a story about how a series of humdrum meetings at one consulting firm evolved into a creative expression that is as varied as the participants themselves.
Zvalo, Peter. Writer's Block (1998). Careers>Management>Workplace>Community
#26251
Hosting the Traveling Exhibits: A Primer
In April 2005 the Vermont Chapter STC hosted the STC traveling exhibits, which include award-winning entries from the five major STC competitions: the international technical art competition (ITAC), international technical publications competition (ITPC), international online communication competition (IOCC), Society newsletter competition, and Society public relations competition. If your chapter, like ours, is in a small market, you probably don’t get the opportunity to network with technical writers from different industries or to see documentation for other markets. Hosting the traveling exhibits is a great way to see what other technical writers are doing in the field.
Myers, Patricia. Tieline (2005). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#30747
How Can We Attract More Members to Our Meetings?
Make the meetings fun--after a long day at work, we need to relax. If you can help them relax at the meeting, you are a step ahead. Some chapters use a relaxation technique at the beginning of their meeting. One California chapter president responded on the listserv that he wears a Santa suit at his chapter's December meeting, so don't be afraid to try something new!
Laurent, J. Suzanna. Tieline (2008). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#31526
How to Avoid Networking Faux Pas
It's no secret that networking is a key factor in career success. And failing to keep an active network can hinder your employment prospects if you suddenly find yourself in the job market with no contacts or references. As a professional communicator, you already know how important connections are. But a network must be continually nurtured, and you may be neglecting yours unintentionally. Here are 10 common networking mistakes and tips to avoid them
McDonald, Paul. Communication World Bulletin (2003). Articles>Collaboration>Community Building
#28236
Online communities can take time to get off the ground. Like small businesses, most fail to thrive due to poor planning and support. John Gladding explains how anyone who can host a great party can start a successful forum.
Gladding, John. List Apart, A (2006). Design>Web Design>Community Building
