Updated 03/19/2008

Elections for 2008-2009 Administrative Council

The election will be held during the regular April 8th, 2008 meeting. If you cannot attend, you can print and mail the proxy ballot to STC Houston, as directed on the ballot. Download the ballot proxy ballot.

The following candidates have been nominated for the Administrative Council for 2008-2009. If you would like to nominate someone for office, send an email to Cindy Pao.

President Paul Mueller	Paul Mueller is President of UserAid, Inc., which designs and implements innovative communication solutions. Involved in technical communication for more than 20 years, Paul has designed and implemented embedded help solutions since 1998 and wrote "Designing an Embedded Help Solution" for the Technical Communication journal. Paul has managed information development, usability, and graphic design teams across the United States, Bolivia, and India. He speaks frequently on various topics at conferences and events, including STC and WritersUA conferences, and also leads technology-focused workshops. Paul is currently the STC Region 5 Director, and he has been involved with STC in many ways over the past several years. He is a senior member of the Houston chapter and the “Management” SIG. Paul has held various Vice President and Committee Manager positions in the organization, including 2001 Programs Committee Co-Manager for the STC Region 5 Conference. He also served as Strategic Advisor to the local chapter president and received the Distinguished Chapter Service Award.
Executive Vice President Jowell Lydon	Jowell Lydon has 19 years in the technical communications profession, with a BA in English, which he received from Columbia University. Jowell is currently employed by NetIQ Corporation as a Senior Technical Writer. He started participating in STC Houston activities three years ago and in that short time has held various chapter committee and Admin Council roles, including Competitions Manager and VP of Competitions. His ad hoc participation has consisted of judging competition entries, as well as winning STC Man of the Year award in 2005 for supporting the chapter competition. As First Vice-President, Jowell STC would like to: 1) help the chapter be of greater relevance and bring greater value to its membership, and 2) help the chapter leadership become more efficient and improve processes. In addition to his regular work and his extensive involvement in STC, Jowell also volunteers his time to a local organization that promotes personal and professional development and supports social justice.
Treasurer Alyssa Fox	Alyssa Fox is currently Manager of Information Development at NetIQ Corporation. She works across product teams to coordinate resources, processes, and schedules for agile planning and implementation. She received a B.A. in History from Texas A&M University and has been involved in technical communication for over 10 years. Alyssa enjoys projects that address the entire user experience from beginning to end, and she has an avid interest in usability. She is also interested in developing junior team members and building cohesive, cross-functional teams that work together to deliver a product that is relevant to the user. Alyssa is a senior member of STC and has served the Houston chapter as Executive Vice President, Vice President of Competitions, Vice President of Hospitality, Banquet Manager, Banquet Arrangements Manager, and competition judge. Alyssa has spoken at STC Houston chapter meetings and has won awards in the local STC competition. In her free time, she enjoys hanging out with her husband, two sons, and two dogs. She also enjoys interior design, reading, shopping, and eating.
Immediate Past President Linda King	Linda King is a technology communication program manager and lead writer/editor in the Industry Standard Server division of Hewlett-Packard Company. She earned a double B.A. in English and German from Western Kentucky University and an M.A. in English from Florida State University. Between those degrees, she studied for a year at the University of Goettingen in Germany as a Fulbright Fellow. In March 2007 she earned credentials as a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). Linda has been a member of the STC Houston Chapter since relocating here in 1979. She was very active in chapter activities in the early 1980s (before active parenting claimed all her free time) and she has renewed that commitment in recent years. A strong proponent of the value STC membership offers, Linda wants to contribute personally to making STC and the Houston Chapter strong, vibrant organizations that help members maintain their enthusiasm for technical communication and develop competitive skills to build fulfilling careers. A Senior Member of STC, Linda has served as seminar and STK manager, Programs Director, Competition Committee Manager, Admin Council member, local competition judge, onsite judge in the STC International Publications Competition, and general volunteer. She has won numerous STC publication awards, has been a presenter at the annual STC conference, and presented at the 2006 Pubsnet™ Documentation & Training conference, and has served as on. Linda is a volunteer editor for the Risk Theatre Initiative of Dallas, Houston IEEE chapter, and the STC Evolving Technology SIG newsletter. She is a participating member of American Women in Computing (AWC), IEEE, and PMI.
Secretary Debra Page	Debra Page has been an STC member for nearly five years. She has been a member of IESTC - the Inland Empire chapter, which is located in southern California - since October 2003 and is still its newsletter editor. Debra brings to Texas nearly eight years of experience in the creative services group of a California public agency. She has been working as a graphic designer here in Houston, creating animated PowerPoint presentations, technical illustrations and application icons for the marketing and engineering departments of a data storage company based in San Jose, CA. Debra feels both chapters constantly provide valuable career information and a wonderful way to network and make good friends.

Vice Presidents
We elect seven Vice Presidents to the Admin Council.

Cathy Bettoney	Cathy Bettoney has been a technical writer since 2000, after retiring from 30 years in the teaching profession. She works for Millar Instruments, Inc. as the lone technical writer, managing government grants, editing the company newsletter, and assisting the Engineering department. Cathy has been an active member of STC-Houston since 2000 and an Administrative Council member for much of that time. As our current VP of Outreach, she is involved in expanding STC-Houston’s community service activities. Additionally, Cathy heads up the “Lone Writer’s” special interest group (SIG), which meets four times a year over lunch during which common experiences are shared.
Martha Dutton	Martha Dutton has been in the Marketing Communications field for 31 years, having received a B.A. in Visual Communications Florida State University. She has worked at Schlumberger for practically her entire career, holding her current position of Marketing Specialist, with previous roles as graphic designer, art director, production manager, multimedia and book manager. Martha also has had entrepreneurial experience as the owner of Wakan Grafix, a boutique design firm. Her STC activities are varied, including working on the Scholarship committee, and judging for STC Regional Technical Publications and International Technical Art Competitions. Martha is a multiple STC competitions award winner, having just won the “Best of Show” Distinguished award for Schlumberger’s "Well Cementing, Second Edition" book at the recent awards banquet. In past years, other STC awards of Distinguished and Excellence were received for sets of posters, catalogues, an oilfield glossary, a book on reservoir stimulation, and an informational booklet for management training. In the coming year, Martha is interested in helping with the competitions activities and banquet presentation. In her leisure time, she teaches Pilates, cares for her two cats, and enjoys motorcycling with husband and his Harley.
Crystal Johnson	Crystal Johnson has 12 years experience in Technical Communication, with a B.S. degree in Professional Writing from the University of Houston Downtown. She has been a Sr. Technical Writer at Litton Loan Servicing since July 1998, where Crystal primarily manages company policies and procedures. She also creates technical documents to support developers in the creation of in-house software. Joining STC as recently as 2007, Crystal did not waste any time – she served her first year as an officer for our STC Houston community and the second year judging competition entries. In the upcoming year, she plans to continue supporting the organization, especially in the area of Member Services. Crystal’s personal life is full as well, with a new 4-month old baby boy and a husband (who was our awards banquet photographer this year). Her favorite past-time is surfing the Internet in-between looking after the baby.
Meredith Kramer	Meredith Kramer is a Senior Information Developer at NetIQ Corporation. She started her technical writing career after graduating from Texas A&M University in 1998 with a B.S. in Journalism. An advocate of usability, Meredith enjoys contributing to projects that provide information to users in a clear and concise way to help make their jobs easier. She served on teams this year that have moved from the waterfall methodology to agile methodology and spearheaded efforts to promote Information Development in that transition. Meredith is a senior member of STC and has served the Houston chapter in many capacities: Vice President of Hospitality, Technical Publications competition judging manager, and competition judge. In her free time, Meredith enjoys spending time with her husband, reading, and watching movies.
Rick Sanchez	In the field for over ten years, Rick Sanchez is currently lead technical writer at Mustang Engineering. Before that, he was employed at Aspen Tech, where Rick was first introduced to STC Houston by a long-time senior member, Lisetta Lavy. Now he is a senior member, himself, and has actively participated in chapter activities that provided opportunities for both professional and civic growth, including judging annual STC competition entries for seven years. Rick then decided to take on more responsibility when he volunteered as the STC Houston Forum Moderators Manager. In doing so, not only did he learn what happens behind the scenes, but he also learned new tools and technologies. Rick next assumed the position of Vice President of Communication, which gave him the chance to nurse back to health our newsletter, Dateline Houston. This proved to be a rewarding role that he is interested in continuing in the coming year. Rick believes that, “The volunteer effort is the keystone for the growing success of the chapter and its members.” Rick is truly an inspiration as he is also pursuing an advanced education as an MBA student. His daily joy is provided by two sons, ages 8 and 5, and his hobbies, which are keeping active and staying in harmony with his family.
Elizabeth Navarro	Elizabeth Navarro is a Senior Information Developer, currently working as a contractor for Brocade Communications. She received a B.A. in Anthropology and French and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Western Ontario (London, Canada). After working as a legislative editor for several years, she transitioned into technical communications. She has been working as a technical writer and editor in various industries for the past 15 years. A member of STC for the past 14 years, Elizabeth has been active in the Houston chapter for the past seven years, serving as Technical Publications competition judging manager and competition judge. She has a keen interest in developing high-quality, usable documentation, and has won several awards in the STC Houston competition. As a member of the Employment Committee, she has regularly posted jobs on the STC Houston job board, and has provided job search materials and assistance to members. For the upcoming year, she is interested in serving as Vice President, Member Services. When she is not working, Elizabeth enjoys traveling with her husband and dog, hiking, scuba diving, and making jewelry.
E. Marlowe Wakeman	Marlowe Wakeman has 14 years of technical communications experience across different industries, including companies such as Schlumberger and NetIQ. Marlowe currently manages the Information Development Group at BBS Technologies, where she is responsible for varied documentation projects across multiple business units. Her award-winning portfolio spans the gamut - from technical marketing materials to API documentation. Marlowe has presented at several professional and academic conferences, including the 2005 STC Annual Technical Summit, where she spoke on how to hone your audience analysis skills. Going forward, Marlowe is interested in expanding her participation in the STC Houston chapter and sees the opportunity to serve on the Admin Council as the perfect way to do that. In the coming year, she hopes to reach out to the academic community of future technical writers and inspire them to become involved in more of the chapter’s activities. Married to a professional photographer, Marlowe also brings an artistic eye to the table.