What SWO Is Doing
Chapter President Louise Tincher cleared her desk and shared these notes with Between the Lines.
Tech Fest
SWO will participate in the seventh annual TechFest program on February 14 and 15, 2009. TechFest is a program of the Affiliate Societies Council (ASC) of Dayton designed to expose K-12 students to career options in science and technology. The Ponitz Center (Building 12), the Center for Interactive Learning (Building 14) and the AIM Center (Building 13) in Dayton, Ohio at Sinclair Community College is the location for this year’s program.
In 2008, 2600 youths during the two-day program. This year’s TechFest includes hands-on, interactive exhibits staffed with volunteer professionals from societies, companies, museums, universities and other technology organizations, including students, providing youth and family members exciting opportunities to investigate and discover a wide range of science, technology, engineering, math and medical (STEM) careers. In addition, a range of fun and captivating presentations and teacher workshops will be offered. This program is free to all with free parking under the Ponitz Center.
We need volunteers to setup the STC booth on Friday night, staff the booth on Saturday and Sunday, and provide portable PCs for our exhibit. For more information about TechFest and ASC, check the ASC website.
SWO-STC February Meeting: Transitioning from MS Word 2003 to 2007
Our February 18 meeting will be a dial-in webinar. Stay warm and cozy while sharpening your skills. Bunny slippers optional.
Mad Anthony Writers’ Conference
To familiarize writers and businesses with technical communication as a profession, SWO has committed to supporting the Mad Anthony Writer’s Conference with a half-day seminar on technical communication Saturday March 14. Our chapter president has been working with conference organizer Nancy Schwab (nschwab@ywcahamilton.com). So far our planned presentations are as follows:
- Introduction to Technical Communication – Dr. Sandra Harner, Cedarville University
- Technical Communication and Your Bottom Line – Sylvia Miller, STC Associate Fellow
- Panel Discussion: Technical Communication as a Profession
We plan to have three or four people (volunteers, anyone?) for the panel discussion. We will also have the traveling exhibit of award-winning technical communications from the STC International 2007 competitions.
Free Madcap Software Webinars
MadCap Software is offering free tool-independent webinars. In this economy, everyone needs to make sure their skills are up to date and they’re current on the latest topics.
Towards that end, MadCap software is running a series of free webinars in first quarter 09. All but one are tool-independent. No sales pitches, no product pitches, just free training to help people update themselves. If these are successful, we’ll do more. It’s something we can give back to the community that makes us successful.
For more information and to sign up for one or more free webinar, go to http://madcapsoftware.com/training/webinars.aspx.
If you’re interested in presenting a topic in the future, contact Sharon Burton at sburton@madcapsoftware.com.