News
October 2002
Catch up on the latest news from the Chapter, Society, and Industry

Chapter News
Professional Web Sites Welcome
Want to be more visible to potential employers? Consider linking your professional Web site from the STC-Berkeley Web site. Check out the Member Home Pages link at www.stc-berkeley.org. If you are a member of the Berkeley chapter of STC and would like to add your home page to this list, please email your name and URL specifying Member Home Page in the subject line. Send to David Alt.

Don't have a professional Web site? Consider publishing an electronic resume and portfolio online to showcase your skills as a technical communicator. Visit some of the member home pages on the STC-Berkeley Web site to get an idea about how resume and portfolio information can be presented. Plan your professional Web site just like you would any technical writing project. It can be easy, fun, and inexpensive. A great resource for beginners to Web development is found at www.webmonkey.com. Click on Beginners for simple instructions and money-saving resources. Want some feedback on your professional Web site? Remember that the Berkeley Chapter sponsors resume and portfolio reviews from 6:00-6:30 PM on the 2nd Wednesdays of the month, just before the chapter meeting. Contact Madeleine Adkins to schedule a review and feedback of your professional Web site.

Welcome New Member
A big welcome to one of our chapter's newest members, Jennie Brandon. Jennie spent eight years as a recruiter with a staffing agency, specializing in the graphics and technical niches. Currently she's not working on the recruiting side and juggles a new position in an East Bay technology firm, a preschooler, and recently completed her first course in the UCB Extension certificate program.

Society News
Region 8 Conference
Great news! The planning effort for the STC Region 8 Conference has been infused with new energy and vision with the appointment of Patrick Morrissey from San Diego as Conference Manager. With sights set on a Las Vegas venue for January or February of 2003, Patrick is recruiting a team and looking for volunteers to create a great program in a fun setting. Sound interesting? This is a great opportunity to get involved with STC members throughout Region 8 and make a contribution to your profession. Volunteers are needed for big and little jobs including:

• Publications and Publicity Committee Managers
• Conference Stem Managers
• Newsletter and Advertising Coordinators
• Webmaster and Web Committee members
• Conference Shopper
• Forms Designer and Database Coordinator
• Room Monitors and Table Hosts
  

For a complete list and description of each job, please contact Volunteer Committee Chair, Kathryn Munn.

Touchstone 2002-2003
The Northern California STC chapters representing Berkeley, East Bay, North Bay, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley, collaborate each year to bring you Touchstone, an exceptional technical communication competition. Entries in twenty-five print and online categories are reviewed with feedback by a panel of judges. Recognition is given to exemplary submissions with the most outstanding entries forwarded to the STC International competition. Writers and companies value the written reviews, particularly when in-house editing or usability resources are not available. Proceeds from the competition support the Dr. Kenneth M. Gordon scholarship.

Volunteering to participate in the competition is a great way to meet leaders in the profession, see outstanding work in the field, and add to your resume. Even if you are not widely experienced in the profession, you can participate as an apprentice judge and improve your skills while supporting a terrific effort.

To submit an entry or volunteer to help in the competition, visit www.stc-touchstone.org and do both online. Dates to remember include October 9, 2002 for submission of entries, and October 19, 2002 tentatively scheduled for a training session for competition judges.

50th Annual STC Conference
STC's 50th Annual Conference will be May 18-21, 2003, in Dallas, TX. STC's annual conference is the largest conference in the world focusing on the arts and sciences of technical communication. The conference includes more than 250 educational presentations. It offers opportunities for networking and a chance to view award-winning entries from STC's technical communication competitions and vendor exhibits. STC is inviting members to submit papers for presentation, sharing your techniques, your research, your ideas, and your experiences—both good and bad. For more information, visit the Conference section.

Industry News
New Editors Salary Survey Released
What should you be earning? The American Society of Business Publication Editors helps you find out with a median salary predictor model. The site reports on the results of a national survey. The average salary for the 541 respondents was $57,605. The more people you manage and the more hours you work, the more money you make. Executive-level staff average $67,170, more than double what junior-level staff earn. Men do much better than women, averaging $66,088 to women's $50,366.

You can read the full report at the site. Subscribers to Writing That Works, Concepts' print-only, monthly paid subscription newsletter, will find a detailed report on the survey in the upcoming October issue.

From Writing That Works.