From the President

Competitions in Full Swing

by Jocelyn Williams, Independent Consultant

What activity combines skills enhancement with networking forums? STC competitions! On behalf of the Houston chapter, I want to thank everyone who has agreed to serve as a judge or committee member for this year's chapter competitions.

Local Competitions

STC Houston is proud to host its annual technical publications, technical art, and online communication competitions. We've formed a strong judging partnership with the Snake River (Idaho) chapter. We're working closely with STC Snake River to provide exciting competitions-complete with objective evaluations!

Positive Benefits

The professional-level competitions promote and recognize excellence and creativity in technical communication. In addition, the competitions help to:

establish professional standards
provide visibility for the technical communication profession
create leadership and volunteer opportunities
provide a forum for sharing ideas

All judges should plan to attend the November 8 judging workshop. The session will be at the Maud Marks Library, 1815 Westgreen Blvd in Katy, from 2:00-4:00 p.m. This is a great opportunity to meet other judges, receive information packets with instructions, and learn from the experiences of veteran judges. If you are undecided about making a commitment to competitions next year, please join us to learn more about what is involved.

Join the competitions committee as they plan our February Awards Banquet that recognizes the competitions winners, including the Distinguished winners whose entries go on to compete at the international level. To volunteer, contact Phaedra Cook, director of competitions (gecko@gecko-media.com) or Linda King, general competitions manager (linda.king@hp.com).

International-level Judging

In March 2004, Houston will be the site for the international-level competitions. The Society wants to engage members' wide ranges of experiences, so even if you have never judged before, you're encouraged to apply. For judging application information, go to www.stc.org. The application deadline is November 30.

With your involvement, the STC competitions will be a tremendous success!