IDL SIG Manager’s Column Q4 2021

By Maralee Sautter

Year-end review

The winter solstice has arrived in the northern hemisphere, and 2021 is ending. The days are growing longer, and the nights shorter. The weather is cold with snow predicted in my part of the world—the northwest coast of the USA. Sitting by the fire brings about reflection, warmth, and memories of a year of IDL SIG accomplishments. (If you’re bathed in warmth or heat where you are, you are lucky!)

The IDL SIG team has been very busy during this last quarter of 2021: delivering great programs, fun social events (such as our Virtual Open House), a contest that all STC members could enter, and a 2-hour, interactive workshop. Our student-run First Fridays at 5 meetups have been highly successful, and a great place to chat, learn, and exchange ideas. We have many accomplishments under our collective belt this year because we have an amazing volunteer team with innovative ideas and the initiative to take them into reality. We are already planning for 2022 and have great programs and benefits lined up for you.

By the way, if you haven’t had a chance to renew or join STC, be sure to do it soon. The official deadline is December 31, but there’s still time afterward. To join or renew, click STC Join-Renew and be sure to select Instructional Design & Learning as your SIG of choice. Depending on your membership category, you may have to pay a few extra dollars, but we are worth it!

We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers who are willing to learn. If you are interested in joining our team, please send an email to Anita at volunteers@stcidlsig.org. If you want to explore leadership opportunities (co-manager wanted), please email Maralee at manager@stcidlsig.org.

While we all have been through a lot during the pandemic, I hope that everyone in the IDL SIG & STC family is looking forward to 2022 with optimism. Let’s make it a great year!

December 31, 2021January 1, 2022

Featured: 2021 Year-End Roundup

Members of the Instructional Design & Learning SIG are teachers and lifelong learners to the core, which means we never stop learning and are willing to share our knowledge. For the year-end roundup in this year, a tradition that Marcia Shannon started in 2020, volunteers participated in answering questions about their most memorable learning experiences in 2021, and goals for 2022.

What was your most memorable learning experience with STC or the IDL SIG in 2021?
Marcia Shannon	Yoel Strimling’s Summit presentation: So You Think You Know What Your Readers Want. Yoel presented his research results, which you can use immediately to improve your writing and reach your audience.
Anita Matechuk	STC had many great webinars to offer in 2021. The most memorable webinar I attended was Traci Nathans-Kelly’s presentation, Leveling Up: Maximize Presentation Potential. I enjoyed it so much that I bought her book!
Ruth-Anne Klassen	Volunteering at the 2021 Summit was a great learning experience. It also opened the way for me to meet the IDL group, and what a great group they are!
Lori Meyer	I served my third STC chapter presidency in 2020-2021, and gained much wisdom about working with chapter leaders. I was reminded of the importance of listening, being mindful of leader needs, teamwork, and strengthening support for recognition. I’m thankful to have worked with a great leadership team who supported and challenged me.
Maralee Sautter	STC and our SIG provide many learning opportunities. My favorite was Catherine Wicksell’s article: Original Remote Instructors: ID Lessons from TVs Greatest Teachers and her IDL webinar.
Priyank Aggarwal	The Technical Writing Bootcamp by Leah Guren was my window into the world of technical writing. It acted as an appetizer and I am hungry for more now. Also, the knowledge exchange discussion about the tools Instructional Designers use was very informative. It also allowed me to meet veteran ID professionals.

What was your most memorable personal learning experience in 2021?
Marcia Shannon	Probably learning how to use Slack, at least the basics. Still confuses me but practice will make the difference.
Anita Matechuk	Getting my assignment back after I combined my skills in creating quilting classes with my technical writing. The assignment gave me the option to “write it any way you choose,” so I wrote it for an instructor who needs to confirm the same information for 25 different assignments. The comments of “I just completed a 12-hour day, but I don’t want to put this down” showed me I can focus on the audience experience and still provide solid technical documentation.
Ruth-Anne Klassen	I was so happy that I finally learned to drive and got my license after 8 years of having my “Learner’s” License.
Lori Meyer	I’m continuing a journey of learning more about UX writing and how it can contribute to more usable products. I attended a UX writers’ conference earlier this year, which was a great experience.
Maralee Sautter	Using YouTube videos, I learned how to repair and maintain my lawn mower and weed eater.
Priyank Aggarwal	I am in the process of learning InDesign, and I’m trying to understand how Slack works.

What is your goal to advance your career in 2022?
Marcia Shannon	Modify my status to semi-retired by finding part time writing or editing gigs.
Anita Matechuk	My first goal for 2022 is to submit a grant proposal.
Ruth-Anne Klassen	If all goes as planned, I will finish my Certificate in Technical Writing and move away from retail work.
Lori Meyer	Three, actually: 1) I plan to continue building my skills in UX writing. 2) Learn Markdown, which some of our developers use for internal documentation. 3) Do what is necessary to put together a solid proposal for Summit 2023, and submit a clear and well organized proposal.
Maralee Sautter	I’m looking forward to the STC Summit in Chicago, because I always learn a lot at the conference. And networking is a great way to find jobs, so I hope nothing stands in the way of meeting in-person in 2022.
Priyank Aggarwal	I plan to continue building my skills in Tech Writing by learning InDesign followed by Camtasia. I have also enrolled in a writing bootcamp starting in January.

What new or special activity would you like to accomplish in 2022?
Marcia Shannon	Travel to see my family in Maryland and Pennsylvania and New York. I look forward to meeting my new great-grand-niece.
Anita Matechuk	I want to learn how to make lefse.
Ruth-Anne Klassen	Make more friends in my city!
Lori Meyer	I’d like to learn how to draw something more sophisticated than little stick men.
Maralee Sautter	I want to take a hot air balloon or glider plane ride in the upcoming year.
Priyank Aggarwal	I want to build a side business and promote myself as an online language teacher. I would also like to learn how to doodle on paper.

December 31, 2021January 1, 2022

Gold membership: A great value proposition for STC members

By Lori Meyer

This year, I joined seven STC Special Interest Groups (SIGs). Normally, the total cost would be $55.00. The cost to me? $0.

This year, I attended three STC live webinars. Normally, the total cost would be $90.00. The cost to me? $0.

This year, I added an STC chapter to my membership. Normally, the cost would be $25.00. The cost to me? $0.

Why? In one word (or perhaps in one color): Gold. Because I am an STC Gold member, I was able to save $170.00 on these educational and networking opportunities. STC Gold membership is available to technical communicators of any professional level. A Gold membership provides several valuable benefits. Here are just two of them:

Free membership in all STC SIGs

STC provides two types of SIGs, each of which focuses on a specific subject area.

Communities of Interest

COIs provide channels for discussion and networking via Slack and other social media outlets (for example, Google Groups). Each COI is run by one or more facilitators, who monitor discussions, encourage member participation and information exchange, and help members find additional resources about the subject area.

STC currently offers these COIs:

Academic
Accessibility
Agile
Application Programming Interfaces (API)
Contracting and Independent Consulting
Health & Medicine
Solo Technical Communicator
UX and User Experience
Women in Technical Communication

Communities of Practice

COPs provide a wider range of networking, educational, and skill-building activities, including webinar presentations and workshops. Each COP has a leadership structure that offers a variety of volunteer opportunities and recognition, along with a budget that funds special presentations, contests, conferencing tools, and (depending on funding available) stipends for leader attendance at the STC Summit conference. COPs manage their own websites that keep members up to date on the group’s activities and provide opportunities for both student and professional members to contribute articles.

STC currently offers these COPs:

Instructional Design and Learning
Policies and Procedures
Technical Editing

For more information about these SIGs, go to https://www.stc.org/communities/.

Free registration for all STC live webinars

STC offers several live webinars each year, presented by seasoned technical communicators. Each one-hour webinar is recorded, and attendees are given access to the recordings and (if provided by the presenters) handouts.

For descriptions of the live webinars coming up in early 2022, go to https://www.stc.org/education/live-webinar/.

Additional benefits

Gold membership also offers these benefits:

Free membership in one STC chapter of your choice
A printed version of the STC Intercom magazine (8 issues)
A 20% discount on STC online courses
Free access to the Salary Database
Extended early-bird registration deadline for the STC Summit conference

I’ve been a Gold member for six years, and its benefits have enriched my membership experience. Over the years, Gold membership has given me added incentive to participate in more STC communities and activities, and has strengthened my membership. If you’d like to experience the same added value, consider going Gold! For more information about how to join or renew as a Gold member and take advantage of all of its benefits, go to http://stc.org/membership.

Lori Meyer is the immediate past membership manager of the IDL SIG. She also volunteers for several other STC communities, including the Rochester and Florida chapters, and serves as an ad-hoc director for the STC Community Affairs Committee. Lori works full-time at a cybersecurity firm in Northern California.

December 31, 2021January 1, 2022

First Fridays at 5: Student Liaison Report

By Ruth-Anne Klassen

Our IDL Student Liaisons enjoyed working on the First Fridays at 5 program in 2021. First Fridays @ 5 offered students a chance to practise presenting and hosting a meeting. Those who challenged themselves to take on this opportunity met a friendly audience and learned from a supportive community.

At May’s meeting, Megan and Anita talked about the benefits of joining the IDL SIG as student members. Student members have access to career-building resources like free webinars, competitions, and volunteer opportunities. Along with joining the conversation on Slack, students can participate in the IDL community to learn from other technical communicators.

For the June virtual gathering, Anita shared her experience converting her in-person quilting guild to a digital group. She described how she engaged people who were not previously familiar with online formats, hosted a flipped classroom (in which participants review material before class and work on assignments during class time), and created effective quilting manuals for the class.

July’s First Friday was a time to network, often drawing from Zoom virtual backgrounds to give inspiration for the conversation. We talked about past experiences with science museums and hobbies and looked forward to future STC events.

Anita hosted the August meeting with a presentation about how to use Slack effectively. She addressed topics like how to create or edit a profile, how to manage notifications, how to manage availability status, and how to send a message to a channel or individual.

In September, Ruth-Anne led us in showing parts of our lives in Zoom Virtual Backgrounds. We witnessed travel pictures, admired pets or family members, and got to know both new and familiar attendees better.

Kristie talked in the October meeting about the need for precise communication in technical writing and in life. Based on her experience as a patient in the healthcare system, she spoke about how words like “treatment” can have ambiguous meanings, so it is important to choose words wisely.

Ruth-Anne led November’s meeting with insight and ideas about working in a multi-generational workplace. Diverse age groups contribute to the workforce, and this diversity presents the possibility for conflict, but also for respect and collaboration. In the conversation that followed, we discussed how we respect people, such as by using their preferred name and being aware of our unconscious biases.

At the December get-together we told personal and professional stories, ranging from funny to embarrassing. Some stories involved mistaken 911 calls and the struggle of finding the right winter boot size. Folks also exchanged stories of faulty tech comm translations to other languages and unpleasant clients.

This past year, students have enjoyed improving their skills and learning from other members as they work to become better technical communicators. Next year, we are welcoming anyone interested to present at First Fridays @ 5 meetups. If you would like to get involved in this way, contact studentliaison@stcidlsig.org to discuss further.

Signed,

Ruth-Anne Klassen

Student Liaison, IDL SIG

December 31, 2021January 4, 2022

Spread the Word—IDL SIG article writing competition deadline February 18, 2022

Your SIG runs a competition twice yearly to award students with a complimentary membership and bring in fresh new perspectives on the world of Instructional Design. Help us attract a wide range of entrants by publicizing the competition at your workplace, local STC chapter, library, or university.

You could be published before you graduate!

The Society for Technical Communication’s IDL SIG invites undergraduate- and graduate-level students to submit articles related to instructional design to the Student Outreach Article Competition for a chance to be published in our quarterly newsletter IDeaL: Design for Learning.

Winning the Student Outreach Article Competition and having your article published can help you increase your chances of being hired after graduation. It might be just the edge you need to land a great job in technical communication or instructional design!

By having your article published, you will:

Get your article in front of hundreds of practicing professionals.
One-year complimentary STC student membership.
Membership in the IDL SIG.
Link your article to your resume and LinkedIn.

And that’s not all!

Judges in our competition also recommend whether you should submit your article to the Technical Communication Body of Knowledge (TCBOK). If the TCBOK publishes your article, you earn an additional one-year STC/IDL student membership (or its equivalent value)!

You can also insert another link to your article in the TCBOK in your résumé or online portfolio, which is available for reference by thousands of professional technical communicators.

One winner said, “I printed the published article and showed it as I interviewed for a new position as a technical publications writer just last month. I got the job and definitely feel that the published article helped me.” (Read the full article at http://www.stcidlsig.org/engaging-the-reluctant-learner/.)

How to enter the Student Outreach Article Competition

Download the complete Entry Package 2021-11 from this page. (Navigate to stcidlsig.org/students if you are reading this in hard copy.) The package contains:
- Contributor Guidelines.
- List of topics in Instructional Design. Note: if you choose a topic not listed, you need pre-approval of your topic.
- Frequently Asked Questions. If the FAQs do not answer your question, email us at StudentOutreach@stcidlsig.org.
- A final checklist to help ensure your article meets all the requirements.
Write an article between 1,000 and 2,500 words. Use the final checklist in the entry package to ensure your article adheres to all guidelines, improving your chances for success.
Complete the 2022 Submission Form before submitting your article.
Send your article, the submission form, and any graphic files to StudentOutreach@stcidlsig.org by Friday, February 18, 2022.