From the Editor

By Crista Mohammed

Readers, we are late with delivering our Q1 2017 newsletter and for this we humbly apologize.

We are experiencing some challenges with our website.

For the PDF version of IDeaL: Design for Learning, I thank Lori Meyer for all the layout work. I could not have done it without her! Where we fell short in delivery time, we make up for in great content.

In this issue, we have begun reaping the rewards of our student outreach competition: We are thrilled to publish the first of several student essays, which our esteemed judges found to have clear value to our readership.

• Leland Stoe, reading for a degree in Technical Communications & Professional Writing at Metropolitan State University, shares ten tips for engaging the reluctant learner. We thank Leland for his sage recommendations and congratulate him on having been selected for publication. Read Engaging the Reluctant Learner.
• Viqui Dill, in her co-manager’s column, reminds us that it is that AMAZING time of year…SUMMIT time! It is hard for Viqui to suppress the programs manager in her, as is evidenced by the event highlights in her column. Viqui lists presentations by IDLers; sessions with an IDL focus; sessions that are of general interest; and gatherings that promise FUN—like the Rough Drafts performance: She just made your scheduling easy. Read more.
• Lori Meyer, in her co-manager’s column, talks about how you can become involved in our vibrant, award-winning community. Read more.
• Marcia Shannon uses her Secretary’s Column to urge you to join our effort— through volunteering; connecting at the summit; and at our meetings. Our monthly meetings are held the 4th Wednesday of every month. “See” you at our next meeting. Read more.
• Mellissa Ruryk, our Jacques Cousteau of Word™, takes us on another voyage into the depths of this sometimes plague-some but indispensable software. In this second part of a three-column series, Mellissa describes how to manipulate sections. My fav bit is a tip on how, armed with an understanding of sections, to recover a corrupted document! Read more.
• Viqui Dill lets us know what’s hap, hap, happening. In an IDL SIG outreach activity, Viqui shared a case study of a training programme with InfoDevDC—a group of Information Developers (technical writers, training designers, information architects, and project managers) who gather in the northern Virginia area. This is but one more example of how your SIG supports our community of IDL practice. Read more.
• Meet Kim Lindsey in our return to Member Spotlight—a pre-WordPress feature of IDeaL: Design for Learning. In a midlife career change, Kim moved from technical writing to instructional design. Read more.
• Jamye Sagan reviews Bette Fricke’s Webinar School: Planning, Producing, and Presenting your Training Webinar. The book is a collection of wisdom that is well overdue, as online training has, for some time, become a mainstay of the IDL arsenal. Jamye assesses Fricke’s offering to be useful in general and particularly so for its webinar planning and execution checklists—isn’t planning half the work? Read more.

Read the full newsletter as pdf here.

All links:

Co-manager’s report: Go Summit 2017!

Co-manager’s report: Opportunities are waiting for you – learn and grow with us!

SIG News Roundup

Engaging the Reluctant Learner

Part 2 of Page Layout: Understanding Sections in Word

STC IDL SIG shares with InfoDevDC

Member Spotlight: Meet Kim Lindsey

Book Review: Webinar School: Planning, Producing, and Presenting Your Training Webinar

About IDeaL: Design for Learning