May/June 2005 | Home

President’s Message

by Becky Rude
EBSTC President

It’s nearing the end of another successful year for EBSTC, which means my tenure as president is also coming to an end. It’s been an eventful and exciting year for both EBSTC and for me. Even though we’re always recruiting more volunteers to help with chapter activities, we have still accomplished an amazing number of things this past year.

We have also managed to uphold our reputation as “the friendly chapter” and to have fun at meetings. We had many new visitors at chapter meetings this year and I continually heard that they enjoyed themselves and felt very comfortable in the group. Thank you to all members who opened themselves to our visitors and made them feel like part of our group.

I’m happy to say that we are applying for a Chapter of Excellence Award this year and are very hopeful that we will win the award. I’d like to share some of the activities that members completed to enable us to apply for this award.

New Initiatives

Following is a summary of our initiatives this year:

• New Reservation System
  We implemented PayPal to serve as our reservation and payment system for chapter meetings. Thanks to Hillary Russak, Janet Bran, and Joe Humbert.
• College Liaison Committee
  The mission of the committee is to “speak to student and faculty audiences in selected local colleges for the purpose of promoting the technical communication profession and STC, influencing and contributing to the content of technical communication curriculum, and developing an ongoing relationship that will benefit the schools and EBSTC.” Thanks to Gwaltney Mountford, Linda Shaltz, Angelina Nachimuthu, Joy Montgomery, Janet Gray, Roz Rogoff, and May McKoon.
• Administration Web Page
  Our chapter web master created a new Administration web page with links to all our administrative documents (strategic plan, budget, meeting minutes, process documents, bylaws, and other documents). Thanks to Joe Humbert.
• Member Survey
  This is the second year we have conducted a member survey to find out about our members’ needs. The participation rate was the same as last year, about 28%. Thanks to the EBSTC council.

The List Goes On

Following is a partial list of other activities the chapter completed to apply for the award:

• Held a membership drive with meeting specials and other activities.
• Linda Shaltz and council members set up new member orientation.
• Melody Brumis arranged excellent monthly programs.
• Liz Miller and Sherry Smith created a member directory.
• Conducted Leadership Day with other NorCal chapters. Thanks to Gwaltney Mountford and Hillary Russak for planning the day. Thanks to Joe Humbert, Sherry Smith, Laura Phillips, Gwaltney Mountford, Patrick Lufkin, and Richard Mateosian for attending the event.
• Held a panel discussion on “Trends in Technical Communication” with the NorCal chapter presidents.
• The chapter newsletter, Devil Mountain Views, won the Award of Excellence in 2004 and 2005.
• Angelina Nachimuthu served as a judge in the international STC newsletter competition.
• Mel Cox and Joy Montgomery served on the Gordon Scholarship committee.
• Judy Herr and Gwaltney Mountford gave presentations at the annual STC conference.
• T. R. Girill heads the Technical Literacy Project, which provides both classroom teaching and materials for teachers of middle and high school students.
• Gwaltney Mountford participated in San Francisco State University’s annual career workshop for the Technical & Professional Writing Program.
• Judy Herr is manager of the STC’s Management SIG; Gwaltney Mountford is on the STC’s Transformation Committee.

Many Thanks

I’d also like to thank our chapter council and program leaders for their dedication this year. They are a great group of people to work with.

Transformation Complete?

In the September issue of the newsletter, in my first column as president, I shared how STC was helping me to undergo a personal transformation similar to the transformation the Society and EBSTC were undergoing. At the end of my presidency, can I say that the transformation is complete?

I can definitely say that the Society and EBSTC transformations are not complete and are indeed just beginning. Andrea Ames and the board have put committees into place and started discussions with members about what we value and need from STC. There is still a lot of work to do to transform STC into the organization that will meet our needs as we change to meet the demands of a changing economy. Similarly, there will be changes in the future for EBSTC as we adapt to the new STC structure, which most likely will mean a smaller chapter membership and a smaller budget. But, I know that the incoming President, Linda Shaltz, is up for the challenge and will be an effective leader.

Is my personal transformation complete? As a technical communicator, I know that I must never stop transforming in a field where information and technology are constantly changing. My tenures as president-elect and president have given me new skills that I am using in my job every day: confidence in my abilities, confidence to speak up about problems and issues, an understanding of current events in technical communication, project management skills, a network of professionals to contact for assistance, and people management skills.

This is just a partial list of the things I’ve learned while being president. I urge you to consider how getting involved with EBSTC could help you with your own personal transformation.

Thank you for the last two years and the chance to serve the chapter and its members. It’s been a great ride!

Becky

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