Chapter Meeting Information

Date

Speaker

Topic

Jan 3

Andrew Davis

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Resumes and Portfolios, But Were Afraid to Ask

Andrew Davis will explain how to optimize your resume and make best use of your portfolio, covering in detail what works, why, and how to get the results you want.

This is the age of black-hole electronic job applications, keyword search tools, and anonymous recruiting generalists. Knowing what hiring managers want from you -- let alone how to present your credentials and work samples to best effect -- has never been more challenging. Andrew will help you parse the job description and accentuate aspects of your resume and portfolio accordingly. He will explain how to make hiring managers eager to speak with you.

If time permits, Andrew will explain how to handle uncomfortable inquiries into your employment history, compensation expectations, telecommuting preferences, and other issues.

Andrew will give a brief formal presentation, to leave time for a lively and candid Q&A. To make the most of this meeting, go to www.synergistech.com/resumes.shtml and www.synergistech.com/portfolios.shtml beforehand to review the resume- and portfolio-related articles there. Bring your specific questions for Andrew to answer.

Andrew Davis runs Synergistech Communications, a local recruiting firm for staff and contract technical communicators. Andrew is a former writer of system administration and software developer documentation for companies such as Oracle (documenting relational databases on minicomputers), IBM (UNIX hypertext authoring tools), Informix (Windows database tools), Network Equipment Technologies (PBXs and routers), and Verity (enterprise text search tools).

He is well connected in Silicon Valley’s software and telecommunication documentation communities. He also recruits technical trainers, instructional designers, medical writers, and user experience (UX) professionals on both coasts.

Feb 7

Tim Bombosch

Mashups and Wikis and Blogs, Oh My! What does Web 2.0 Mean for Technical Communications?

Web 2.0 represents a sea change in how we communicate. In today's communications culture, anyone can be a publisher and become a pundit or expert. Global communities are collaborating to produce products, services, and knowledge with astonishing speed and expertise. Consumers of information demand a place in public discourse that was not available to them before. Consumers of products and services expect more control and influence than was ever possible. What challenges and opportunities do these changes present to technical communications? This presentation will examine the nature and impact of Web 2.0 and suggest paths for technical communicators to adapt, survive, and flourish in a world that can seem exciting, exhilarating, and threatening at the same time.

Tim Bombosch is a technical communications consultant and project manager for Lasselle-Ramsay Information Development Services. He manages projects ranging from bio-medical technology, consumer electronics, computer networking technologies, to semiconductor manufacturing. Tim speaks and writes extensively about project management, technical communications, and Web 2.0.

Tim is a certified Project Management Professional with ten years experience managing technical communications projects at Lasselle-Ramsay, Mindjet, Sygate Technologies, IBM, and Kaiser Permanente. Before becoming a technical communicator and project manager, Tim taught media studies at Stanford University, where he received his PhD in German Studies.