Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone!

It has been an interesting year. When this year started, I had no idea I would not be at EarthLink anymore. I did not know how difficult it was to run an STC Chapter. I did not know how difficult it was to get someone to run the chapter newsletter. I didn't know how difficult it was dealing with difficult people as a chapter president.

Now on to the new year. Do you make New Year's resolutions? I do sometimes and sometimes I don't. I believe, if I am not going to keep them, then why make them? Comment on this blog and let me know.

Here are some of my resolutions for this year:

• Play more golf!
• Help make this year's Currents conference the best conference ever!
• Find someone to run CommLink! Someone who will consistently put out monthly issues.
• Show appreciation to the wonderful people that help run our chapter!
• Thank my wife for allowing me the time to attend STC events and for supporting me in my position as chapter president.
• Figure out the best way to provide assistance to Howard (and the other officers) as he takes over as chapter president in June.

I'm sure I will have more over the next few days as the New Year approaches. Until I see you next year, I hope you and yours will have a wonderful New Year and that all of your resolutions will be easy to keep!

Until next time ...

Once more with feeling!

I can't believe it has been this long since my last post. Whew! too much going on! I have had seven interviews in the last three days. Almost too much to take in. Still unemployed, though I have some interesting prospects.

Much is happening in the world of STC Atlanta.

First, I would like to congratulate Dr. Michael Hughes for his nomination as 2nd VP for the Society! I hope all of you will join me in congratulating Mike and in supporting his candidacy! His expertise, foresight, and sense of humor will be an asset to the Board of Directors for the Society. He has been an academic and a working stiff, and will bring a unique perspective to the office. (And having a representative from the Atlanta chapter on the board will be cool!)

Our last chapter meeting was a joint meeting with the Atlanta interactive Marketing Association (AiMA). If you missed it, you missed an excellent panel. I know there were at least nine members of the chapter there. Several of them remarked as to how this was a great idea and opened up a side of technical communications that has long been ignored. If you are a consultant or independent contractor, you missed an opportunity to learn much about generating leads and the entire nurturing of leads process. Thanks to Robert for arranging this meeting.

Our next chapter meeting will be on Tuesday, November 20, and will be back at our usual location in the Mirant building in the Perimeter area. Please see our website for more information: www.stcatlanta.org. In this chapter meeting, Dr. Mike Hughes will present on "The Anatomy of a Help File: An Iterative Approach." Mike always provides very interesting presentations. So don't miss it!

Our Holiday party is coming up on December 18th. The details are being worked out by Robert as we speak. I will post the details as soon as they are available. But it will be a very festive affair and I look forward to seeing all of you there. It will be in Alpharetta and we will be supporting the same charity as last year. Julie Brock is handling this part of the party, but if you bring a new, unwrapped gift, the $10 cost of attending the event will be waived! What a great deal!

In January, Mark Wallis will present on "How to Run a Successful Pilot Project for DITA (or Any User Assistance Project)." Long title, but very useful and timely information. I know a lot of us are getting into DITA. Come and learn!

We have a tentative schedule for the rest of the chapter year that includes Scott Abel, the Content Wrangler; Paul McKeon; the Awards banquet in April; and much more. Stay tuned!

And don't forget the Currents conference! It is scheduled for March 14 and 15 at SPSU in Marietta. Check out the information at: http://www.stcatlanta.org/currents.htm. The Call for Presenters is currently available at: http://www.stcatlanta.org/currents08/callforpresenters.htm.

Do you have something you would like to present? Get out there and present! Send us a proposal!

Are you preparing a presentation for the STC Summit in June? What better way to rehearse your presentation than in front of a friendly Atlanta area audience?

If you have questions that aren't answered in the above links, contact our Currents conference manager, Dirk Bender.

Well, I hope to post on a more consistent time frame for the rest of the year. I hope to see some of you at Consensus Judging Day this Saturday. BTW, I would like to thank Roger Siegel and Macy's for allowing us the use of their facilities for this event.

Until next time!

STC Council Meeting

Last evening was our monthly council meeting. I really enjoy these meetings. We get to enjoy time around others with like minds. And we get to discuss issues concerning the future of STC Atlanta Chapter.

Many exciting things are coming up. Our next few meetings are coming together nicely. In two weeks we have a 3-way Development Team Showdown. Learn how the "three heads of the development monster" battle it out!

In September, we have Alison Reynolds, from Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology in New Zealand. She will discuss the results of her STC Academic-Industry Collaboration committee study relating to job skills. She is presenting this report in Houston to an STC Academe-Industry Summit. We will be the first to hear the results.

September 28 is our deadline for accepting entries into our annual technical communications competition. We are accepting technical publications, online communications, and technical art entries. If you have something that you are especially proud of, submit it now. Check out the website at: http://www.stcatlanta.org/compete.htm.

In October we will have a joint meeting with the Atlanta interactive Marketing Association (AiMA). This will be focused on B2B content. How it is created and how it is used.

In November, our own Dr. Michael Hughes will present "The Anatomy of a Help File: An Iterative Approach." I know we will all want to be there for that.

In December we are planning our Holiday Party! After the success of last year's holiday party, where we enjoyed food, music, and networking, and where we collected toys and other items for distribution to the Children's Restoration Network.

Next year we have many things coming up that deserve mention here. We have Jean-luc Duomont of Belgium speaking at Currents. We will have a golf tournament in conjunction with Currents for the first time this year. The golf tournament will serve as a fundraiser for our chapter.

We will have a booth at the 2008 conference in Philadelphia advertising what to see/do in Atlanta when STC comes for the international conference in 2009.

So exciting things are coming up. I'm sure you don't want to miss any of this! I am very excited!