Events

Administrative Council Summer Planning Meeting. (Speakers: none. Location: Martin Luther King, Jr. Library.) Time: 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. This meeting is required for elected Administrative Council officers and committee managers. This is an open meeting. STC members interested in the administrative workings of their chapter are invited to attend. We will discuss our plans, events, and initiatives for the coming year. Confirm your participation by contacting the Chapter President.

Nothing scheduled.

Administrative Council Meeting. (Speakers: none. Location: NRECA.) Time: 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. This meeting is required for elected Administrative Council officers and encouraged for committee managers and committee members. This is an open meeting. STC members interested in the administrative workings of their chapter are invited to attend. Use the Event Registration form by Sunday, 12 August 2007 to confirm your attendance.

Administrative Council Teleconference, 8 p.m. This meeting is required for elected Administrative Council officers and encouraged for committee managers and committee members. Confirm your participation by contacting the Chapter President.

STC WDCB Open House. (Location: Chef Geoff's Downtown) Hey, newbies! This is your big break. You have a chance to find out what it's all about and break into the big time. Find out how the STC can help you become a star in your profession.

Chapter Competitions: Deadline for Competition Entries.

Administrative Council Meeting. (Speakers: none. Location: Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, Washington, D.C.) Time: 3:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. This meeting is required for elected Administrative Council officers and encouraged for committee managers and committee members. This is an open meeting. STC members interested in the administrative workings of their chapter are invited to attend. Use the Event Registration form by Thursday, 18 October 2007 to confirm your attendance.

Chapter Competitions: Competitions Sorting Day (Location: Leda Farbstein's home.) Time: 7 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Chapter Competitions: Competitions Entries Pick-Up and Judges' Training. (Speakers: competition committee; Location: Connie Morella Library (Bethesda), MD). Time: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Advanced Documentation Project Management Workshop. (Speaker: Charles Fisher; Location: ICFI, Fairfax, VA). Time: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Light breakfast and lunch will be provided. This half-day workshop covers advanced documentation project management techniques and is geared towards experienced documentation managers and anyone who wants to boost their project management skills. It is a follow-up to the Introduction to Documentation Project Management workshop in January 2006. Improve your skills in solving thorny management issues such as working in an agile development environment, escalating and resolving project concerns, building scenarios for best case, worst case, and likely outcomes, and more. Examine real-life business cases developed to justify purchasing and implementing a new content management system. Learn best practices and apply your skills with hands-on activities.

Administrative Council Teleconference, 8 p.m. This meeting is required for elected Administrative Council officers and encouraged for committee managers and committee members. Confirm your participation by contacting the Chapter President.

Chapter Competitions: Competitions Consensus Judging. (Speakers: none; Location: Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library). Time: 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

2007 Holiday Party!. (Speaker: Maurice Martin; Location: Bailey's Pub & Grille (in Ballston Common Mall) Arlington, VA). Time: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Join us for our 2007 Holiday Party! It will be a casual night of fun with dinner and a speaker. Maurice Martin will be presenting on the topic "From Technical Writer to Technical Communicator."

Administrative Council Teleconference, 8 p.m. This meeting is required for elected Administrative Council officers and encouraged for committee managers and committee members. Confirm your participation by contacting the Chapter President.

Cocktails at the Ritz. (Speakers: None; Location: Ritz Carlton at Pentagon City). Time: 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Directions to the event. End your week with an evening of cocktails and appetizers in the company of STC's board of directors, in our area for a board meeting, and fellow chapter members. The entries that won a Distinguished Technical Communication award in our chapter's Technical Publications and Technical Art competitions will be on display. No charge to STC members. $10 charge to non-STC members.

Administrative Council Meeting. Time: This meeting is required for elected Administrative Council officers and encouraged for committee managers and committee members. This is an open meeting. STC members interested in the administrative workings of their chapter are invited to attend. Use the Registration form to confirm your attendance.

Webinar: Cool Tools for Tech Writers for Less Than $100. (Speaker: Nicoletta Bleiel; Location: Anywhere with a phone line and a Web connection). Time: 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Join STC WDCB for our first webinar! Nicoletta Bleiel will discuss and demonstrate a number of low cost (or free) tools that technical communicators can use to perform a variety of tasks, including capturing screens, creating and editing icons and graphics, building a wiki/knowledge management system, creating special font characters, creating text-to-speech audio files for use in demonstrations, backing up files automatically, podcasting, controlling our source files, and tracking bugs. Registrants will receive a toll-free telephone number and a URL to the meeting prior to the webinar.

Competitions Awards Celebration (Keynote speaker: Mary R. Wise, STC Fellow. Location: the historic Diplomatic and Consular Officers, Retired (DACOR) Bacon House, Washington, DC.) Time: 10:30 a.m. - 1:45 p.m. Directions to the event. Whether or not you participated in the competitions this year, come out and see the winning entries, meet the judges, cheer on the winners, and enjoy a delicious lunch (the menu choices will be Chicken Cordon Bleu with Dijon Sauce and Vegetarian Lasagna with Marinara Sauce). This is a perfect opportunity not only for networking but for getting your eyes and hands on the state of the art in technical communication. Documentation managers, bring your teams to encourage their competitive spirit. Maybe you'll be encouraged to enter the competition next year! For information about the historic DACOR Bacon House – an 1825 Federal-style mansion, see https://www.dacorbacon.org

Administrative Council Teleconference, 8 p.m. This meeting is required for elected Administrative Council officers and encouraged for committee managers and committee members. Confirm your participation by contacting the Chapter President.

Webinar: Modular Writing for Reusability. (Speaker: Debbie Kenny, Information Mapping; Location: Anywhere with a phone line and a Web connection). Time: 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The world of technical communication is changing. Writers need to be able to develop structured, topic-based content that can be stored in content management systems and reused for multiple purposes. This session provides an introduction to modular writing and how to begin to approach this challenge. Attendees will learn what modular writing is, why modular writing is important, and the benefits and drawbacks of modular writing. Attendees will also learn how to create effective, modular content by categorizing information into six types based on its purpose, applying six research-based principles for structuring content effectively, and organizing content into two new units of information to create modular content.

Early Bird registration rate deadline for STC's 55th Annual Conference in Philadelphia, PA
Register on the STC website.

Webinar: Why I Didn't Hire You: Mental Notes From This Side of the Interview Table. (Speakers: Dalton Hooper; Location: Online and on the phone). Time: 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Ever leave a job interview, certain that you "nailed it," only to receive a "reject" letter a few days later? There are many possible reasons why you weren't the candidate selected. Make sure the problem isn't YOU! This presentation focuses primarily, but not exclusively, on the résumé portion of the hiring process. This presentation is designed to help you understand the hiring process from the hiring manager's perspective, and to leverage that insight to improve your odds of being hired the next time. Registrants will receive a toll-free telephone number and URL prior to the webinar. This webinar will be recorded. Access to the recording will only be given to people who have registered and paid by the registration deadline.

Administrative Council Meeting. (Speakers: none. Location: Steve Whitney's house.) Time: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. This meeting is required for elected Administrative Council officers and encouraged for committee managers and committee members. This is an open meeting. STC members interested in the administrative workings of their chapter are invited to attend. Use the Event Registration form by Thursday, 3 April 2008 to confirm your attendance.

Volunteer Recognition Luncheon. (Speaker: None; Location: Rí Rá Irish Pub, Bethesda, MD). Time: 12 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Our chapter's volunteers work hard to increase the value of chapter and STC membership by providing networking and learning opportunities, organizing competitions, communicating career information and job opportunities, and much more. At this luncheon we will thank this Year's volunteers, install our new officers, and reveal the winner of the Distinguished Chapter Service Award. Come celebrate all of these people with us and get to know some of your fellow chapter members.

Administrative Council Meeting. (Speakers: none. Location: to be announced.) Time: This meeting is required for elected Administrative Council officers and encouraged for committee managers and committee members. This is an open meeting. STC members interested in the administrative workings of their chapter are invited to attend. Use the Registration form to confirm your attendance.

Advance registration rate deadline for STC's 55th Annual Conference in Philadelphia, PA. Register on the STC website.

STC's 55th Annual Conference in Philadelphia, PA
Register on the STC website. Each year, the STC conference attracts the world's largest gathering of technical communicators with unique educational and networking opportunities. At STC's 55th Annual Conference, you'll learn new tools and techniques, share ideas, network with peers, and preview the latest software and services from dozens of vendors.

Administrative Council Teleconference, 8 p.m. This meeting is required for elected Administrative Council officers and encouraged for committee managers and committee members. Confirm your participation by contacting the Chapter President.

Webinar: Words, Words, Words: Controlling the Unnecessary Sprawl of Terminology. (Speaker: Michelle Corbin; Location: Online and on the phone). Time: 11:30 a.m to 1:00 p.m. Although there are plenty of words in our language to choose from, our technical environments unconsciously encourage us to create new terms, abuse existing terms, and forget the basics of good technical communication. This presentation will describe why controlling technical terminology is so critical to our success, explain common terminology challenges that writers and editors face today, and discuss tools, tips, and tricks for how you can control the unnecessary sprawl of terminology.