Education & Training Resources

By Susan Harlan

A thought for the New Year: maybe it's time to expand our scope of what’s happening in technical writing. To this end, a series of STC-sponsored telephone seminars are scheduled in the first three months of 2002. Another training/learning opportunity is the annual WinWriters Online Help conference. Some information about these events and their dates follows.

2002 STC telephone seminars

STC is offering two seminars each month through March 2002. Telephone seminars have been very successful in bringing cost-effective training to STC members seeking to improve their skills and knowledge. Online registration is offered at www.stc.org/seminars.html. This web site also explains how telephone seminars work and provides more details on the subject matter.

The cost for each seminar is $125.00. An additional $10.00 will be charged for registration received less than five days before the seminar. Please contact Buffy Bennett (buffy@stc.org or 703.522.4114 ext. 251) if you have any questions.

Date

Time (EST)

Subject

Experts

Jan. 16, 2002

1–2:30 p.m.

Building a Product, Manual, and Web Site Using Customer-Focused Design

Basil White

Jan. 30, 2002

1–2:30 p.m.

Developing a Strategic Framework for Technical Marketing Communication

Sandra Harner and Tom Zimmerman

Feb. 6, 2002

1–2:30 p.m.

From World-Weary to World-Ready: Usability for International Users

Hans Fenstermacher

Feb. 20, 2002

1–2:30 p.m.

Creating Effective Documentation Plans

John Hedtke

March 6, 2002

TBA

Communicating Clarity: Make Your Technical Marketing Matter

Pamela Selker Rak

March 20, 2002

TBA

Creating Usability Goals: Understanding What Usability Means to Your Users

Whitney Quesenbery


WinWriters 10th Annual Online Help Conference—February 10–13, Seattle, WA

With over 60 sessions dedicated to software user assistance, you'll get the latest on Help for Web Sites and Web Applications, Cross-platform Help, Management, Windows Help, Information Design, Content Development, Usability, Single-sourcing, Dynamic Server-based Help, and Authoring tools. You’ll learn and benefit from exciting keynote speakers, in-depth seminars, and a comprehensive exhibition for products and services. For more details, visit www.winwriters.com.

Susan's note: The WinWriter’s web site has outstanding resources for all tech writers! Check out their Web Resources link which includes web sites of interest to Help authors, technical communicators, and programmers.

EBSTC Employment Survey Results

During the December meeting, East Bay members completed a job survey to determine the current employment situation. The results show that 1/3 of our members are out of work, 1/3 are employed in a secure work situation (contract or permanent), and another 1/3 are in contracts that end in the next three months.

Before getting depressed by these percentages, you might consider modifying your job searching strategy. The survey shows that agencies and web sites assisted approximately half of our members in locating jobs, while networking was successful for the other half of the group. If you've relied primarily on agencies or web sites before, try networking as an alternative approach. Or, if you have always networked for jobs, then check out some web sites and talk with an agent.

Agency representatives are invited to our monthly meetings, so you can bring several copies of your resume. Web sites that have been successful with posted resumes include Dice, Monster, and BrassRing. Networking can be done in any number of ways; exchanging information with fellow STC members was cited as the best way in the survey. Others have found that networking with friends, contacts, or co-workers has also brought job leads. The key to successful job-hunting is to keep trying!

The Devil Mountain Views -- Jan/Feb 2002
(ebstc.org/newsletter/front.html)
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