LSC Notes and Committee Reports
In this section, you'll find the following committee reports by scrolling down:
- LSC Elections: Your 2008-2009 Officers
- Member Recognition: Are You a Superstar?
- Scholarship Committee
- Volunteer Committee
- Mentor Program Committee
LSC
Elections: Your 2008-2009 Officers
by Mel Haughton and
Jim Chambless, 2008 Nominating Committee
Your 2008–2009 LSC Administrative Council was voted in during the April meeting. You’ll be seeing and hearing from these individuals real soon.
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Elisa Miller |
Kristin Kirkham 1st Vice President |
Arroxane Ullman 2nd Vice President |
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PHOTO NOT AVILABLE |
Mike Hiatt Parliamentarian |
Chris LaPorte Treasurer |
Rob Brown Secretary |
Member Recognition
by Mel
Haughton, LSC immediate past president
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.
Scholarship
Committee – Member Wins
National Conference Registration
by Robert
Carr Harris, Scholarship Committee Manager
At the April meeting, the Lone Star Community held its last door prize drawing of the program year. Three STC members went home with great door prizes, from sponsors including Yankee Candle, Barnes and Noble, and The Body Shop. One particularly lucky member won registration to this year's STC National Summit, which will be held in Philadelphia from
June 2 through June 4. This wonderful prize was donated by the LSC administrative council.
The following three were the meeting’s lucky prize recipients:
- Kathryn Poe, who won a Spa Wisdom body care gift box from The Body Shop, as well as a stationery set and time capsule kit from Barnes and Noble.
- Carolyn Moore, who won a summer-themed photo album from Barnes and Noble, and a summer candle gift basket from Yankee Candle.
- Linda Klein, who was the grand prize winner of the registration to the national conference. She said, "I'm psyched about going to the conference, I wouldn't have been able to go if I hadn't won this prize."
Linda overcame great odds as many members and guest help contribute to our most successful door prize drawing to date. All the proceeds go to the LSC scholarship fund.
At our May meeting, we will hold a small silent auction as our final fund raising event of the season. Bring your checkbooks and a generous spirit.
Visit the Scholarship page on the community Web site at www.stc-dfw.org for more information on the scholarships that LSC offers.Volunteer
Committee: Want to help a little?
by Mel
Haughton, LSC Volunteer
Wrangler
Do you want to get involved, learn new kills, network, and make a difference? It's your time to shine! Take a look at our current openings and let me know where you fit in! Just email me at mhaughton@gmail.com and let me know where you want to help!
Industry Researcher: Want to help us update the list of companies who hire technical writers in the DFW area? This is a great opportunity for you to find out who is hiring and make contacts in the industry. This job requires about 8 hours of your time. This is a one-time job.
Assistant Treasurer: Want to help our Treasurer, Chris LaPorte, keep track of LSC's finances? This job requires about 5 hours of your time every month, and you'll learn a lot about Quicken and Excel.
Public Relations Assistant Manager: Work with our Public Relations Manager to write and distribute press releases. This job requires about 3-5 hours of your time every month.
Mentoring Manager and Assistant Manager: Help set up programs for LSC mentors and protégées so they can share knowledge, bond with new members in our community, and avoid common mistakes. This job requires about 3 hours of your time every month.
Scholarship Manager and Assistant Manager: Get the word out to students in our area about scholarship and learning opportunities, and help raise money for the LSC Scholarship Fund. This job requires about 3-5 hours of your time every month.
Competitions Managers: We're looking for Online, Technical Publications and Technical Art Competitions Managers and Co-Managers. This job will require about 8 hours of your time monthly from October 2008 through January 2009. Several positions are available. You'll help judge and organize the yearly LSC Competitions. For more information, go to http://www.stc-dfw.org/pages/comp_main.htm.
LSC Fort Worth Satellite Manager: Do you live and Ft. Worth and want to get a group together in your neck of the woods? This job requires about 3 hours of your time every month, and you'll help set up meetings in Ft. Worth.
Mentor Program:
Why Mentoring Matters?
by Ann Balaban, Associate Fellow,
and Mentoring Committee Manager
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.