Category: Leaders

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Manager’s Column, Q1 2024

By Maralee Sautter, IDL SIG Manager

Hello IDL SIG members,

Spring has sprung in the Pacific Northwest, and I’m enjoying a day of sunshine after weeks of cold, rainy weather. The colorful flowers, brilliant sunshine, nesting birds, and budding trees all bring hope into view.   

With hope on the horizon, I’m looking forward to May and the 2024 Summit in Bloomington, Minnesota, May 17–19. The conference is conveniently located near the Mall of America and close to the airport. The Mall boasts many fun activities for kids of all ages, special events, food & drink, and shopping. I plan to check out the SEALIFE Aquarium and Nickelodeon© Theme Park to catch a roller coaster ride.

Incidentally, the STC Summit is the premier educational experience and a place to network with folks who love, promote, and share technical communication. 

Continue reading “Manager’s Column, Q1 2024”

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STC 2023 Election: Slate of Candidates

STC's 2023 preliminary slate of candidatesThe 2022-2023 STC Nominating Committee announced the preliminary slate of candidates for the 2023 STC election!

Here are the candidates on the election slate:

    • President (Automatically succeeds from the office of Vice-President) Timothy Esposito
    • Vice President (1 candidate for one position; three-year commitment) Elizabeth (Liz) Herman
    • Secretary (2 candidates for one position; two-year term) No elections for Secretary this year
    • Treasurer (Two-year term) Roberta (Bobbi) Werner

Director (4 candidates for two positions; two-year term)

    • Guiseppe Getto
    • Jennifer Goode
    • Sree Pattabiraman
    • Jamye Sagan

Nominating Committee (3 candidates for two positions; two-year term)

    • Rachel Houghton
    • Zohra Mutabanna
    • Sean Stevenson

The 2023 STC election is scheduled to open in March. 

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Why I joined the Instructional Design & Learning SIG

A personal journey

By Maralee Sautter

Why did I become a member of the IDL SIG? Maybe the IDL chose me, or maybe I was following an intuitive path that clarified when I joined the SIG. The outcome, however, was serendipitous.

What’s My Backstory?

My journey started over 23 years ago when I became a member of the STC. Technical writing was an exciting path into a career full of possibilities. To discover the many facets of technical writing, I nurtured my tech-comm knowledge by attending Willamette Valley Chapter program meetings and pursued a secondary degree in technical writing at the local university in Portland, Oregon—Portland State University (PSU).

Most of my technical writing jobs in the Willamette Valley area, dubbed the Silicon Forest, have been in high-tech; however, a side trajectory unfolded when I was asked to teach Technical Writing in 2007 at my alma mater, PSU. As an adjunct instructor, I was able to teach in-person classes in the evening, which allowed me to continue my day job. Eventually, I created e-learning modules for some of my writing classes, which allowed me to teach online (asynchronously), never having to set foot on campus. These modules were delivered through Blackboard and Desire to Learn (D2L), two online learning management systems. 

As I pursued tech-comm, I developed stronger writing skills, prepared and delivered PowerPoint presentations, and studied the tools of the trade, such as FrameMaker, HTML, RoboHelp, and Flare. I attended as many STC conferences as financially possible—one of the best ways to learn about technical communication. 

In 2006 at the Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada, Jane MacKenzie presented a web-design and user interface session, which was so inspirational that I became her greatest fan. (Jane is a former SIG manager, 2004–2007, and a Performance Consultant and Instructional Design Mentor). In 2007 I joined the SIG’s leadership team as secretary at the Summit in Philadelphia. Then I moved on to the co-manager position along with Jamye Sagan. (Yes. I’m SIG manager for the second time around.) 

What’s My IDL Connection?

In retrospect, it seemed as though I followed Jane, but in reality, there was an underlying connection between my passion to teach, and desire to learn the tools of the trade, plus a willingness to rub shoulders with the IDL knowledge-bearers.

Our SIG’s mission is to help STC members identify and develop knowledge and practical skills to design, develop, and implement technical instruction in electronic and traditional classroom settings. The SIG strives to promote sound design practices and provide information and education about instructional theory and research. 

Our goals are similar to other groups, such as the Association for Talent Development (ATD, formerly ASTD) and the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPSI). While training and teaching are important, the way we design and write our materials connects us to STC, because we focus on technical writing, communication, and the user experience. 

Promoting a practical approach to teaching and virtual learning is why I remain an instructional designer and teacher at heart, because I derived my knowledge through experience and practical application. Over the years, STC and the SIG have provided me with many opportunities to learn IDL practices, and I’m delighted to be a member of both.

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Lori Meyer Receives Distinguished SIG Service Award

We are proud to announce that Lori Meyer has received the STC Distinguished SIG Service Award (DSSA). The DSSA, Distinguished Chapter Service Awards (DCSA), and Distinguished Community Service for Students Awards (DCSSA) are given annually by STC to members who have offered extensive service and exemplary commitment to their communities. Each community nominates one or more of its members for an award. The nominations are submitted to STC and evaluated, and nominee recommendations are presented to the STC board of directors for approval.

Lori is the ultimate volunteer.  In her breakout role for the IDL SIG, she volunteered as secretary. Et voilà! A few short years later, she stepped up as SIG co-manager. Whatever the role, she has endeared herself to us all through her charming ways, thoughtful leadership, and love of cats!

Lori is an innovator. She developed a Planning Guide that provides SIG Communities’ leadership with a strategy to meet yearly Community Achievement Award (CAA) requirements. Additionally, she created an internal award program for volunteers who may not meet all criteria for a DSSA (or who may already hold a DSSA), but deserve recognition for their volunteering spirit within the community.

Lori continues to support the SIG through her position as membership manager. And while Lori volunteers for many positions in chapters and SIGs throughout the STC community, we are glad she chose us.

Lori’s citation reads:

For your dedication to the Instructional Design and Learning SIG, your unfailing commitment to leadership, and for displaying compassion and wisdom, in calm and troubled circumstances.

Congratulations, Lori!

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Passing the Torch

By: Lori Meyer, outgoing co-manager

Where did the time go? At the beginning of 2016, Viqui Dill and I started our terms as assistant co-managers of our SIG, became co-managers in 2017, and have had the honor of leading our SIG for the past two years. Now, it’s time to step down, and as my term ends, I want to give my thanks to the incredible leadership team we’ve worked with.

Mellissa Ruryk, you were the first volunteer to welcome me to the SIG leadership team in 2014, when I stepped into the role of SIG secretary. Your support of me has never diminished. As the creator of our first SIG manager handbook, you have left a valuable guide for future SIG leaders.

Jamye Sagan, you’ve been a role model of taking on multiple roles. You have excelled in everything you have done for the SIG, and your love of cats has brought me much joy. As the inspiration behind the creation of our virtual open houses, you helped us provide a creative and fun way to introduce ourselves to the techcomm community and encourage membership and involvement in our SIG.

Robert Hershenow, you supported me through my leadership journey both in our SIG and in the East Bay Chapter. Your impressive skills with graphics and your excellent work on our newsletter provided a strong foundation on which we are continuing to provide this valuable communication resource.

James Bousquet, your impeccable organization as our former treasurer provided an inspiring model of efficient leadership combined with a friendly and open communication style that makes our SIG the special place that it is.

Beth Bailey, your pristine management of our mailing lists has contributed greatly to our ability to communicate with each other efficiency, and has provided a great example of quiet leadership and engagement.

Sylvia Miller, you have demonstrated that you really care about our students. Thank you for leading our successful initiative to provide them with opportunities to have their work published and recognized.

Preeti Mathur, your solid expertise in instructional design has benefited our SIG over the years and has enabled us to offer a training evaluation program for which we were recognized by the STC.

Sara Buchanan, your attention to our members has helped us assure that each new member was welcomed, and your detailed reports made sure that we always knew our membership growth patterns.

Scott McCoy, you have guided our mentoring program for the last several years, enabling us to continue this valuable educational resource.

Marcia Shannon, you hit the ground running, first as our SIG secretary and now as our incoming co-manager. It has been a joy to see you move forward on a leadership path fueled by a sincere desire to serve. We look forward to your leadership in 2019!

Crista Mohammed, you led the re-emergence of our SIG newsletter, IDeal, and never wavered in your effort to provide the best quality content to our readers.

Kelly Smith, as Crista’s successor, your excellent work is enabling us to continue providing a quarterly online newsletter that informs and teaches.

Cindy Pao, you were a co-manager when I began my volunteer journey with the SIG.  Your unstoppable enthusiasm, focus on service, and ongoing desire to learn and grow reminded me that the IDL SIG was a very special community.

Maralee Sautter, your many volunteer activities over the years have helped make our SIG a strong community. Your work as our webmaster this year has made it possible for us to provide an online communication channel that keeps our members current and educates the wider techcomm community about the value we add.

Madison Estabrook, thanks so much for joining the leadership team as our secretary in 2019. We look forward to working with you!

And finally….

Viqui, being your fellow volunteer in two STC communities has been a blessing, but I feel especially fortunate to have been your co-manager over the last two years. Your technical skills, multiple talents, enthusiasm, and genuine spirit of giving have inspired and strengthened us all. You always went above and beyond, taking on the program manager role in addition to being a co-manager. Because of your work, we have had an outstanding lineup of webinar presenters. Thank you for being a leader, teacher, and friend to all.

With sincere gratitude all of you,

Lori

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