STC-Phila. Metro Chapter

Society for Technical Communication

Student Membership Registration OPEN!

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The Society for Technical Communication – Philadelphia Metro Chapter (STC-PMC) is offering free student memberships and a $500 scholarship for 2023!

This sponsored membership and scholarship program assists students who are pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree and intend to seek a career in technical writing, technical editing, graphic design, interface design, UX design, web development or some other job in technical communications.

The program has two parts:

Multiple STC-PMC student memberships ($75 value), awarded based on an application form, and a short essay or video response.

One $500 scholarship to a selected student’s university. This cash award is based on a student’s demonstrated participation in and contributions to the STC-PMC community.

Who Is Eligible?

  • Full time undergraduate and graduate students attending college in the greater Philadelphia area (Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia, Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Mercer, or New Castle Counties).
  • Students who have completed the first academic year of their undergraduate or graduate program and have at least one semester remaining before degree completion.
  • Students who have an interest in the technical communication field, which includes technical writing, technical editing, UX design, content development, content strategist, information technology, document management, digital library services, social media strategists, data analysts, digital marketing, communication managers, even marketing specialists.

How Do I Apply for the Sponsored Student Memberships?

Prepare the following items:

  • A 300-500 word essay or 3-5 minute video response to the question, “Why do you want to join STC-PMC, and how do you expect to benefit from your membership?”
  • A résumé or equivalent information.

Complete the the STC-PMC Student Membership Application Form.

When Is The Deadline?

Applications must be submitted by February 25, 2023. The STC-PMC Membership Committee evaluates all applications.

How Will I Know If I Won a Student Membership?

Winners of the sponsored student memberships will be notified via email by the end of March.

How Do I Compete for the Scholarship?

Winners of the sponsored student memberships are eligible to compete for the $500 scholarship based on their participation and involvement in STC-PMC activities from April through June 2023. Throughout the spring, the STC-PMC Membership Committee evaluates student members’ contributions to STC-PMC activities for scholarship consideration. A list of suggested activities and specific opportunities to volunteer will be provided to sponsored students.

Good luck!

Reframing Accessibility for the Web

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Every one of us needs the internet to be accessible. Our needs may not surface today, but they will in the future. Do we know enough about what accessibility needs look like — beyond the stereotypes of people with disabilities that we’re all too aware of? And how do we get from “I know my site has problems” to “I know how to approach them?” This talk, based on Anne’s 2014 articles “An Alphabet of Accessibility Issues” and “Reframing Accessibility for the Web,” will frame accessibility through the lens of 26 people who need accessibility considerations. It will also identify three top concerns in accessibility, and approaches to handling them. Register NOW. $5 for members. $10 for non-members.

Presenter:

Anne M. Gibson is a UX designer and general troublemaker just close enough to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to think a wander through a revolutionary battlefield is not noteworthy. She’s best known for writing An Alphabet of Accessibility for The Pastry Box and Reframing Accessibility for the Web for A List Apart. In addition to designing websites, she writes science fiction and fantasy, runs a small publication about web design, plays competitive pinball, and watches the Jack Russell terriers destroy things.

Learning and Adapting – at the Heart of Technical Communications!

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So I just finished “Black Box Thinking,” the 2015 book from Matthew Syed, in which he explores the power of failure as part of a growth mindset. It’s masterfully written.

Using countless examples from the aviation industry, healthcare, and other industries, Syed makes a convincing argument that “trial and error” experiences are the best proving ground for improvement. He makes a case that all organizations – and individuals – must learn fast, then adapt, if they want to improve a product, a process, a skill, etc.

One of my favorite cases is the Unilever laundry detergent “nozzle” problem. In the 1960s, Unilever was making a successful laundry detergent, but in the production process, constantly clogged nozzles were causing numerous quality and downtime headaches. After a team of math wizards couldn’t fix the issue, Unilever executives turned to company biologists. They came up with several variations of the nozzle. But only one of the variations had mild success. So the biologists created variations of just THAT nozzle. And then they created more variations. Finally, they came up with a nozzle that no longer clogged, but not before 449 nozzle prototypes were designed.

Syed notes that biologists think in “evolutionary” terms: conduct tests in a real-world setting – learn fast, then adapt – and gain incremental improvements.

So how can technical communicators embed this “trial and error” approach into our daily projects?

Well, I have been fortunate enough to build several online help systems that are never static. We can see where users are still stumbling. Maybe it’s a single term that has not been defined. Maybe we missed a question that most users have about saving their data.

Sometimes it’s a big change. Sometimes it’s a minor tweak. So how do we gain this insight? We study user comments when they reach out to our Customer Service team. We capture their search terms in the Help Center. We use heat maps to gauge trouble spots.

Interpreting this data – and acting on it – does take some time. That’s why some teams don’t invest in this feedback. Or maybe an organization puts too much stock in “getting it right the first time?” I’m not exactly sure why incremental gains can’t be made. But in our case, the gradual improvements we make to improve the user experience has led to happier customers, and stronger relationships.

If you have a similar “continuous improvement” experience, please share them with us. E-mail me at president@stcpmc.org or join us at next month’s STC-PMC holiday event – December 7th, at Flanagan’s Boathouse, in Conshohocken! You can register here.

See you all there!

Rob

Meet up in Cherry Hill – Saturday 11/12 at 1 pm

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Thanks to those who joined us at Forgotten Boardwalk Brewing Company in Cherry Hill on 11/12! I really loved two of the beers in my flight, including “Miss Nomer.”

If you have an idea for a location to meet up in the Philly/NJ area in 2023, please let me know at president@stcpmc.org!

Rob

And if you want to visit Forgotten Boardwalk Brewing Co, it’s at 1940 Olney Ave, Suite 100, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003

Recap: Oct 26 Webinar: Building the Customer Experience

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Today’s tech writing teams can strengthen their content if they craft proper learning objectives to ensure that documentation really addresses audience needs. Tech writers must also work closely with UX designers to make sure that in-product user assistance meets the same objectives.

During this STC-PMC event, held on October 26th, members of the team behind the book The Product is Docs shared their insights into developing effective learning objectives and discuss how to drive closer collaboration with product designers.

Authored by Christopher Gales and the Splunk Documentation Team, The Product is Docs is one of today’s most practical and definitive guides to the cross-functional work it takes to create great documentation and user assistance in a software development environment. Christopher Gales, Robin Pille, Matt Ness, and Mike Glauser presented some highlights from the book, such as crafting smarter Learning Objectives and working with the UX Team. For example, Robin encouraged tech writers to embed learning objectives with “action verbs” rather than using “understand” or “read about”, leverage more goal-oriented verbs such as “backup,” “locate,” “send,” and “optimize.”

Interested in viewing the webinar recording? Contact us at president@stcpmc.org

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