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We’re Having Drinks After Work

First Fridays at 5: Join the Conversation

July 2, 2021


By Ruth-Anne Klassen


The July 2nd meeting of First Fridays at 5 was a relaxed get-together, where the only thing on the agenda was catching up with IDL group members. 8 or 9 people tuned in, and some had cool drinks of different kinds (as many attempted to cope with a heatwave in their respective areas). Virtual backgrounds were a recurring theme in the conversation since every picture held a story from someone else’s world. Thus, the group heard about fossil displays, quilting projects, and Indigenous skateboard art. A few had stories about exploring science museums, and others reminisced about their time in the Chicago area, where the 2022 STC Summit is taking place. The group also looked forward to the shorter term, though, as they received reminders about upcoming IDL events, like sessions on internet memes and Slack.

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IDL SIG Newsletter: Editor’s Column

by Paul Scott, Instructional Design and Learning SIG, Newsletter Editor

Hello, and Happy June!

This is our strongest issue since I became Editor of this newsletter. I’m very pleased with it.

It helped that we had some great awards and honors this quarter, both to the SIG and within it. We’ve also had great success with the student outreach and new member outreach programs, which have brought us some excellent new talent, on top of the top talent we already had.

“On Top Of The Top.” New slogan?

This Quarter’s Issue:

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IDL SIG Manager’s Column: Maralee Sautter

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.

Social Networking Event – Mon, June 7, 2021 

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,

Summit Honors – Tuesday, June 8 

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.

STC SIG Open House – Wed, June 9, 2021 

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.

IDL SIG Annual General Meeting (AGM) – Tue, June 29, 2021

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

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IDL SIG Treasurer Report – 2021 Q2

Jamye Sagan, IDL SIG Treasurer

How much money do we have?

As of June 28, 2021, we have $991.92 in our account – $491.21 from community funding and $500.71 in our vested funds. 

Since Quarter 1, we have incurred the following expenses: two speaker honoraria for our March 30 and May 20 webinars, two student STC memberships from our Student Outreach Article program, and Summit registration for our SIG Manager. 

In the next few weeks, we plan to renew our Zoom and Survey Monkey subscriptions. We use Zoom to conduct our educational webinars, leadership meetings, and virtual social events. We use Survey Monkey for our demographic surveys and elections. Since we have a subscription, we’ve enabled other STC groups such as the Community Affairs Committee to host their recent tools survey.

Where do we get our funds?

Our primary source of income comes from community funding and vested funds. Community funding are funds we receive from the STC office, based on SIG membership numbers. We receive a certain dollar amount per member. Since these funds do not carry over from year to year, we must use them or forfeit them. 

Vested funds are funds we have earned through the years. These funds can carry over year after year.

We constantly review our budget to see where we can save costs and, most importantly, how we can use our funds to best benefit you – our members. 

We’d like to hear from you!

If you have any questions about SIG finances, please email me at treasurer@stcidlsig.org.

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Featured Article: 2021 Leadership Program: The STC Superheroes Journey (May 19, 2021)

Mellissa Ruryk

I went to the virtual Leadership event on May 19, 2021, and had an informative, fun time.  “Leadership Day” is usually held in person at the Summit, so it was great to see more people (than just those registered for the Summit) attend. Ann Marie Queeney ran the show and announced the Community Achievement Award winners, the Pacesetter winners , and Distinguished Service award winners. Our IDL SIG won a bronze CAA award and Lori Meyers received a Distinguished SIG Service award for all her valuable volunteer input.

There were 4 breakout sessions in the last half hour of the event, and I chose to attend the one on Student Outreach, run by John Clement. His information centered on student chapters at universities, which was not the info I was looking for or expected. However, he made some good points:

  • In order to increase attendance at your community education events, ask what your members want to learn about (rather than relying on thinking you know what they want).
  • Ask your members what topic in technical communication they can share on, help them learn presentation skills
  • Provide as many networking opportunities as possible, perhaps centering on career readiness, résumé writing, interview tips and techniques, etc.

Even though I’m a senior TW and have held many positions in the IDL and 2 geographic chapters, I still like to attend Leadership day because I can always learn more about how to volunteer more effectively.

Viqui Dill

Congratulations to the STC CAC team for organizing a great Leadership themed event, 2021 Leadership Program: The STC Superheroes Journey recognizing the superhero in all of us. Anne Marie Queenie and her team put together an informative and engaging session. We were encouraged to use the chat to interact with friends, old and new. Then there were the presentations celebrating accomplishments through the year. With so much going on, I barely had time to text with my STC pals as the show went on LOL. Seriously, the CAC caped champions showed us how it’s done!

Anita Matechuk

The CAC virtual leadership program was a great way to learn about STC. As a new member, exploring how to create a successful SIG and chapter has really helped me understand how STC can support me in my journey into a career in technical communication.

I started just taking the free webinars but soon registered to become an STC superhero. Seeing all the awards and the process involved in winning them showed me the possibilities for an active STC member. It was great listening to all the experienced STC members discussing what they probably considered common insights in this new and exciting world.

Jamye Sagan

For the second year in a row, the CAC hosted its leadership program virtually. In only two hours, we got to hear from STC leadership, recognize community award winners, and learn about clever initiatives from Pacesetter Award-winning communities. Our program ended with a choice of breakout sessions; I co-hosted the CAA one. It’s always a treat to chat with my STC friends and meet new ones.

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