LSC Notes and Committee Reports
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In this section, you'll find the following committee reports by scrolling down:
- LSC Competitions
- Mentor Program Committee
- Scholarship Committee
- Member Recognition
- Volunteer Committee
LSC Competitions
Are Over!
by Kathryn
Poe, Competitions
Manager
Cow design used with permission of the STC Phoenix Chapter
Until next year...
Mentor Program
by Ann Balaban, Associate Fellow
and Manager, Mentoring Committee
Do You Need a Mentor?
Early in their careers, technical communicators in corporate environments often find that technical writing is perhaps the easiest and quickest of the many tasks they perform.
Probably the most difficult, time-consuming chore they face is locating the information needed to perform the writing task. First, the writer needs to find the person with the required knowledge and then find the right way to interact successfully with this individual while navigating within corporate cultures and politics.
How do new technical communicators find the best mentors to help them solve these problems? One way is to take advantage of the Mentoring program from the STC Lone Star community. As a new technical communicator or as a student in technical communication, you have valuable resources available to you through STC.
Research literature shows that mentors provide vocational and psychosocial support to protégés. One researcher found a link between these functions and the career mobility of protégés. Research also shows that technical communicators have relatively high job satisfaction, but that their corporate mobility and career development is relatively low. Mentors can help technical communicators become aware of additional avenues for career advancement because they often know what is required for other positions and how to prepare for assuming them.
Having a mentor can improve your skills in organizational communication and management, as well as increase your overall productivity and job satisfaction.
Resources:
- Henrietta N. Shirk and Howard T. Smith, “Developing Effective Mentorships for Technical Communicators,” STC 1994 Annual Conference Proceedings.
- Gordon, Thomas, Leadership Effectiveness Training, Wyden, New York, 1974.
Why Mentoring Matters
STC is always looking for new leaders. One way to locate and retain our next generation of leaders is by mentoring.
Mentoring can help STC develop new leaders while enhancing your career development and improving your technical knowledge. Besides all these great benefits, it really improves your self-esteem! The mentor’s growth occurs right along with the protégé’s.
The purpose for mentoring is to encourage growth of a less experienced person in their profession and within STC. Your experiences learning about and working with others qualifies you to be a mentor. If you had a mentor when you were starting out, imagine what a difference it would have made—if only I knew then what I know now! This is your chance to share your experiences, your enthusiasm for your work, and your interests with someone just starting out in technical communication.
In a mentoring relationship, the mentor and protégé:
- Identify objectives, goals, and development needs
- Define and establish a plan to accomplish goals
- Meet regularly in person, by phone, or through e-mail to review and evaluate progress
Mentoring is all-inclusive—no one is excluded who wants to participate. You do not have to be a student to be a protégé. Whether you are new to technical communication—just starting out or making a career change—or you have been a technical communicator for awhile and need guidance to jump-start your career, you can be a part of the mentoring program. Success is based on what you want to do. A mentor can suggest methods for advancement, recommend books and other resources, and offer résumé assistance and career guidance. As a protégé, you have requirements to fulfill, too. You should ask questions, listen and be open to suggestions, and keep the lines of communication open.
The STC Lone Star community is continually looking for mentors and people who need mentors. This is a wonderful program that benefits all involved.
Resources:
- About.com: www.about.com
- The Mentoring Leadership & Resource Network: www.mentors.com
- The Resources Agency Mentor Program
- Catheryn Mason and Elizabeth Bailey, “Benefits and Pitfalls of Mentoring,” STC 2005 Annual Conference Proceedings.
Scholarship
Committee – Lucky
Prize Winners for December Meeting
by Robert
Carr Harris, Manager,
Scholarship committee
In
January, the Scholarship Committee held a small silent auction during
LSC’s Awards Banquet. Many bid, yet only three would win.
The lucky bidders were:
- Associate Fellow Ann Balaban top bid on a Spyder2express monitor calibration package, donated by Content Solutions in Denton.
- Member Jessica Stowell, with her high bid, won a Sony Cyber-Shot digital camera, donated by BearCom in Garland.
- Guest Brittany Bailey bid highest on a Camtasia Studio and SnagIt software bundle, sponsored by TechSmith Corporation.
The Scholarship Committee wants to thank the businesses who donated the wonderful auction prizes, as well as everyone who helped make this silent auction successful. All proceeds from last month’s silent auction benefit the LSC scholarship fund.
Remember, this season’s scholarships deadline is coming up.
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The new application deadline is midnight, March 28. We are again offering two scholarships this season:
- The “Traditional Education Scholarship,” which assists students who are pursuing a technical communication degree or certificate and who intend a career in the field.
- The “Continuing Education Scholarship,” which helps professionals enrolled in workshops or courses in the field of technical communication or who are planning a professional conference to advance their professional development in technical communication.
Visit the Scholarship link on the LSC Web site for more information on these scholarships.
Thank you again for your support!
Member Recognition
by Mel
Haughton, LSC immediate past president 
Celebrate our newest BALA LSC Star!
Dale Erickson, 2008 BALA Recipient
Are you a Superstar?
Do
you like making a difference and stepping up to help? Do you need a
few more samples for your portfolio? Do you want to work on your networking
skills? How about get your head around a new piece of software?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then dive in and start volunteering today. You’ll be on your way to becoming a Superstar!
You automatically receive points each time you participate in LSC activities. Points are based upon the activity and its point values and are listed in the table below.
LSC Activity |
Points |
Attend a monthly meeting |
1 |
Attend a council meeting |
1 |
Volunteer at an event |
2 |
Contribute to a community service effort |
1 |
Judge competitions |
3 |
Contribute an article to newsletter |
1 |
Bring a guest to meeting |
1 |
Be a mentor |
5 |
Present at an STC event (Local, regional, or international) |
2 |
Speak to a student group about Technical Communication and STC |
2 |
Convince a guest to join |
5 |
Our Volunteer Wrangler will keep score from August 1, 2007 to June 1, 2008. Collect a total of 20 points to become an LSC Superstar. All Superstars will be recognized at the September 2008 meeting.
So, start volunteering today and become a Superstar and become part of the Superstar team. Winners receive a unique LSC Superstar shirt. The only way to get this shirt is to get involved and earn those points.
Send an e-mail to volunteers@stc-dfw.org to learn more about volunteer opportunities.
Volunteer
Committee: Want to help a little?
by Mel
Haughton, LSC Volunteer
Wrangler
Have you thought about the difference you can make in someone’s life just by offering a bit of your time? How does it make you feel when you need help and someone actually comes through? Does it bring you happiness? Does it feel good to get something done as a team?
Where I come from we have a saying: “One hand helps the other.” If you give a bit of your time to help someone, one day someone will help you out as well. That’s how we like to work here at the LSC. We’re a big happy family, and we’re always looking for talented individuals to help us out!
We currently have the following opportunities that would take a limited amount of your time:
- Edit our Web site (a two- to three-hour job)
- Be a greeter or help at the Registration desk (a 30-minute job) during our monthly meeting
- Write, edit, and print programs for our monthly meetings (a two-hour job)
- Writie articles for our online newsletter, Technically Write. (The time commitment depends on how much you write!)
So it doesn’t take that much time! And if you think you can spare more time than this, think about organizing half-day workshops or serving as an assistant to a committee manager.
E-mail me at volunteers@stc-dfw.org if you want to make a difference in LSC.
What’s in it for you, you ask? Think about how you will increase your network! Think about the additions you can make to your résumé and your portfolio! Think about how many people will appreciate you for your efforts.
Send your e-mail to me right away, and let me know where you can help. I look forward to hearing from you!