2008-09 Technical Communication Competition Seeks Entries

by Patrick Lufkin

Patrick is a long-time STC member, is active in the Touchstone leadership, and is chair of the Kenneth M. Gordon Scholarship for Technical Communication.

Touchstone, the Northern California technical communication competition, has issued a call for entries for the 2008-09 competition.

Touchstone primarily serves Northern California, but also accepts entries from elsewhere. Touchstone is accepting entries in the technical publications, technical art, and online technical communication categories.

For detailed instructions on how to enter go to http://www.stc-touchstone.org

The competition takes is name from "touchstone," a fine-grained stone used by ore assayers. The term has come to mean any test or criterion by which the qualities of a thing can be recognized or measured.

Touchstone is co-sponsored by the Bay Area chapters of the Society for Technical Communication (STC). Proceeds help support chapter activities and the STC Kenneth Gordon Scholarship, which provides grants to students enrolled in technical communication programs in Northern California.

Entries

Entries that win Touchstone's highest award level go on to the STC international technical communication competitions.

Winning an award in an STC competition can bring recognition from professional peers and increased visibility with employers and clients. Toward this end, Touchstone holds public awards ceremonies, and also offers to make awards presentations at entrants' workplaces. These workplace presentations are often attended by entrants' peers, managers, and company executives.

Touchstone also seeks to advance the technical communication profession by providing useful feedback to entrants. Whether an entry wins an award or not, Touchstone's experienced judges provide feedback to help entrants improve their work. Many entrants regard this feedback as a major benefit of entering.

Deadline

The deadline for entries is Saturday, September 27, 2008. Winners will be announced at a ceremony in January, 2009.