Website for the STC Instructional Design & Learning Special Interest Group, a Community of Practice
By Maralee Sautter, IDL SIG Manager
Greetings! I hope your year-end celebrations have been meaningful and fun, and the recent wicked weather has been gentle on you. As we look forward to a new year, let’s rewind and look back on the year in retrospect.
By Maralee Sautter, IDL SIG Manager
Hello IDL SIG members,
The third quarter is coming to an end, and hopefully, your summer was amazing and full of vacation fun. The following is a recap of our recent SIG events Continue reading “Manager’s Column Q3: Recapping, and looking ahead”
By Maralee Sautter, IDL SIG Manager
The STC Summit in Chicago was awesome! After several years of isolation, it was amazing to hug and talk to STC friends, and wave to those who wanted to keep their distance. Some wore masks, others held their arms out for hugs, and the remaining greeted with a fist or elbow bump, handshakes, or smiling eyes over a mask. The smiles were frequent, and the laughter was abundant. Because the number of attendees was modest, the atmosphere was congenial and intimate. The following recap highlights some of my experiences mainly in the IDL SIG manager’s role. Continue reading “Manager’s Column Q2: Overview of Summit 2022”
By Maralee Sautter
Hello, IDL SIG members!
In the northern hemisphere, colorful leaves are falling and swirling in an earthbound course, signaling the advent of autumn. The days are becoming shorter and scents of pumpkin spice are adrift in coffee shops and neighborhood bakeries. While you may not have the same weather as I do here in the Pacific Northwest, I am relieved that cooler weather is here: the record-breaking heat and wildfires experienced over the summer are gone.
While the crazy weather has affected all of us—from coast to coast—nothing has stopped the IDL team from a flurry of activity. We have been busy planning, preparing, and delivering great programs and virtual activities to benefit you, our IDL members!
The antiquated Mailman system went into retirement last year. Happily, in late August, we began sending IDL announcements using Mailchimp. To be sure you receive these mailings, add managersidlsig@gmail.com to your address book. If you are not receiving mail from the SIG via Mailchimp, check your spam folder. Students and new techcomm professionals may receive additional mailings from the Student Outreach Coordinator.
Are you interested in sharing news, asking questions, or discussing ideas with fellow IDL SIG members? We have a solution: Join our IDL SIG Slack channel and post your ideas or questions. It’s easy! First join the STC Slack channel. After joining, select #sig-instructional-design. Read instructions for joining Slack on our website.
Joint program with STC Chicago & the IDL SIG
Get that Interview! How to Beat the Dreaded Applicant Tracking System webinar with Jack Molisani Wednesday, October 13 at 1 PM EDT. Click here for details
Two-hour Workshop
Zoom-proof Your Presentations with Leah Guren, Saturday, November 6, 2021 at 12 –2 pm EDT. Read more details on our Facebook page. “Like” us while you’re there!
Virtual Open House – Mid-November
The IDL SIG Virtual Open House is open to IDL members and would-be members to learn about our benefits and volunteer opportunities. We showcase the volunteers who make the IDL SIG run as smooth as maple syrup.
Contest
The Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s a contest! Practitioners, bring us your worst technical communication disasters and our students will judge your article, up to 500 words. There are prizes for the most terrifying disasters and winners will be published in our Q4 newsletter. Names can be changed to protect the innocent.
Watch social media outlets, announcements, and our website for more details about this fun social event.
First Fridays at 5
First Fridays at 5 is a virtual social event for students and the Instructional Design & Learning (IDL) Special Interest Group (SIG) members happening the first Friday of the month. You don’t have to be a member to join. Our students always have something brewing. For past events, check out our student page.
Membership Drive begins
Our Membership chair, volunteer Lori Meyer, has a great article elsewhere in this newsletter. One thing is worth repeating: Remember to sign up for IDL SIG on the join or renewal form.
Note: Gold membership includes all SIGs and COIs and does not require signup.
Hello!
Here is my first newsletter column as IDL SIG manager since I stepped up to the position in May. Currently, I’m catching my breath after the flurry of Summit activity. But not me alone; all our IDL SIG volunteers were very busy with Summit virtual events this year. Even as I exhale in my weariness, I can only say that I’m happy to be part of this incredible team.
If you weren’t able to attend the Summit or the SIG’s virtual events, please sit back and enjoy a nice recap of some of our Summit events.
Each of us is YOU-nique! Attendees lauded our SIG virtual event as one of the most fun events of the Summit. We asked attendees to go on a scavenger hunt in their homes, bring back items they found, and share “finds” in the Zoom screen with us. People shared their stories of why the item was special to them, and we learned how each story was unique, but still part of the human fabric that binds us. Behind the scenes, SIG volunteers were surreptitiously spotlighting, learning about, and screen-grabbing photos of the attendees. In the end, a special scrapbook page was assembled and sent to each attendee who participated. If you don’t believe that it was fun, check out the YouTube video,
The STC Summit Honors Event was inspiring for us since not only was our community awarded a Bronze Community Achievement award, we received the Most Improved Community of the year. Of course, there were a lot of other awards and honors given out during the event. Congrats to all! For a list of the STC honors and awards, check out the STC Honors and Awards page. Click here to see this great event in retrospect. Watch now, because this link may not be available for long.
The virtual open house was an opportunity for members and non-members to explore STC SIGs in 15-minute increments and an opportunity for attendees to visit 3 SIG breakout Zoom-rooms. In the IDL SIG breakout room, we had people sign up for a drawing, explore our website, ask about membership status, and find out more about the SIG. In the background, we had a recurring slide deck touting what we do as a SIG. The chat was lively, and we gathered some exciting ideas for future webinars.
Typically, we meet in person at the Summit to conduct our SIG business meeting. Because Summit was virtual this year, face-to-face didn’t happen. We were busy planning the social event and the open house, so we postponed the AGM. That gave us the time to plan an awesome virtual meeting that let us all get to know our community from different leadership perspectives and we had fun with SIG awards, chatting, and drawings. Please check the meeting out on YouTube—it’s well worth your time.
Together with the rest of the volunteer team in the SIG, I hope you have a great summer!
Maralee Sautter