A virtual progression? Why not?

Hello again, IDL SIG members!

We would like to try a new activity and need your support and enthusiasm to participate.

If you have ever been to an STC Summit, our annual conference, you know that there are several sessions called ‘progressions’ where several presenters each do a short talk on a theme-related topic (such as instructional design), sitting at a table surrounded by attendees. After 20-25 minutes, a bell goes off and attendees change tables (progress) to another table where that presenter then repeats his or her presentation. Usually there are three iterations of each presentation, so attendees learn about three different topics in the session.

Because we are a virtual community, we are going to try out a virtual progression. The way we think it will work is: we will have 2-4 presenters who present simultaneously in different Adobe Connect sessions. These would be half hour presentations, with a 15-minute bio break where attendees would log out of the first Connect room that they were in, and log back in to the second Connect room they want to attend. Presenters would stay in the same room and give their presentation again. We would record each session and for the price of attending, attendees (and presenters) would get all recordings to listen later to the ones not attended “live.”

The whole event would be over with within an hour and a half.

We haven’t set pricing for attendees, given that this is first time we’ve tried this. We will likely pay a small honorarium to our presenters. These needn’t be heavy duty presentations – in only a half hour, it would likely be 20-25 minutes of presentation and 5-10 minutes for live questions. Presenters would not be alone: a SIG leader who is familiar with how Adobe Connect works will be in the room to help with fielding questions, etc. (plus we’d likely have a rehearsal so presenters feel completely comfortable with the program and can concentrate on their presentation.)

SIG Members:  would you volunteer to present at this first-ever, ground-breaking event? It would be wonderful if the topic were related to instructional design and learning, but if you had a great idea for another topic we might be able to fit that in! If you are willing to present, does the thought of doing it on December 5 scare you?  It would be nice to get this done before the holiday season really gears up and distracts everyone from work and professional development. (And we would like to use the event for bonus points on the Community Achievement Award application, so it must be done in 2015.)

Because this is our first attempt, we may not invite anyone from outside the SIG… we’ll try out the logistics internally first and then do it again (same or different presentations) in the Spring of 2016. It’s another reason to say YES! to presenting, because you’d be among friends! No judgement, just support!

And those who cannot volunteer to present, does this sound like an attractive event to attend?

Robert and Mellissa really can’t wait to see/hear/read your responses.  Fire away!

November 10, 2015: 3rd Annual STC IDL SIG Virtual Open House

6:00 pm Pacific / 7:00 pm Mountain / 8:00 pm Central / 9:00 pm Eastern
Tusday, November 10, 2015

The meeting was recorded so you can review it again or perhaps see the open house for the very first time.

Here is a link to the recording: http://stc.adobeconnect.com/p4wxu8slitf/

Technical communicators near and far: Join us on November 10, when the welcome mat will be out for our third annual IDL SIG Virtual Open House! Drop in to find out what we’re all about, “meet” our SIG leaders and volunteers, and hear about the many opportunities to be involved with our vibrant, award-winning STC community. All technical communicators are welcome; you do not have to be an STC member to attend. Watch this space for registration information, coming soon. We look forward to your visit!

Register on Eventbrite and plan to join us on November 10th.
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November 10, 2015: Save the date! Next IDL SIG Virtual Open House

6:00 pm Pacific / 7:00 pm Mountain / 8:00 pm Central / 9:00 pm Eastern
Tusday, November 10, 2015

Here is a link to the recording: http://stc.adobeconnect.com/p4wxu8slitf/

Technical communicators near and far: Save the evening of November 10, when the welcome mat will be out for our third annual IDL SIG Virtual Open House! Drop in to find out what we’re all about, “meet” our SIG leaders and volunteers, and hear about the many opportunities to be involved with our vibrant, award-winning STC community. All technical communicators are welcome; you do not have to be an STC member to attend. Watch this space for registration information, coming soon. We look forward to your visit!

Register on Eventbrite and plan to join us on November 10th.
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October 14, 2015 BPMN Basics: What You Need to Know for Your Content Strategy by Dr. Jackie Damrau

Join us for the “BPMN Basics: What You Need to Know for Your Content Strategy” webinar with Dr. Jackie Damrau.
10:30 am Pacific / 11:30 am Mountain / 12:30 pm Central / 1:30 pm Eastern

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Register on Eventbrite.   eventbrite-142

About the webinar

It’s one thing to know content, it’s another to understand the business and how that content works within business processes. This session demonstrates how to model business processes, including documentation processes, using the BPMN 2.0 standard. Learning what a model, a process, and a process model are is critical to determining if a graphical model will represent your content better than traditional words. You’ll learn about different types of process models through a view into the world of graphically modeling your business process content.

Intended Audience

All Audiences. The content will be introductory (e.g., > “101 level”)

About the Speaker: Dr. Jackie Damrau

Dr. Jackie Damrau
Dr. Jackie Damrau

Dr. Jackie Damrau is a Sr. Business Systems Analyst at CBRE. In her role, Jackie models business processes and other department workgroup processes using BPMN modeling notation to use in gathering requirements for automating existing paper-based workflows as well as to help in improving processes. Jackie has more than 25 years of technical communication experience. She is a Fellow of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), member of the STC North Texas Lone Star chapter and the Instructional Design & Learning SIG, and the Book Review Editor for Technical Communication. Jackie’s past international positions have been as a SIG manager for the Instructional Design & Learning SIG; assistant SIG manager of the Management SIG; elected member of the Nominations Committee; and general manager of the STC International Summit Awards (2010–2012). Jackie enjoys spending time raising her grandkids and reading “books” when time permits. Find her on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/jackiedamrau) or on Twitter (@damrauja).
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