• Date: Saturday, March 3, 2012
• Time: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m
• Location: Room #140, 11010 142 St N.W. Edmonton (Map)
• Cost: See Event page
• Registration: See Event page
• Contact: Contact the host, Editors’ Association of Canada, Prairie Provinces Branch

MS Word: The Finer Points

9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Baffled by all those Word icons across your screen? Have you ever tried to delete a paragraph above or below a Word table? Have you opened the toolbox to see what’s inside? Did you know Word can add a column of numbers? While Word holds a myriad of mysteries, Margaret Sadler masters many and is willing to share with her fellow editors those she has exposed. Attend a half-day workshop and come away the wiser. Respond to a pre-test and the instructor will tune content to address most challenges.

Bring your own laptop, and we’ll work together to sort out the various versions of Word you have at hand.

Margaret Sadler, an early adaptor, bought her first Mac in 1984. She upgraded each time she’d pushed that model to its limit. MS Word holds many mysteries, and Margaret enjoys maximizing her capacity to enhance Word documents and is proud of the formatting of each document she edits for her clients.

Templates @ Work

1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

All good editors seek to be masters of style, but the styles that cause us the most grief are the ones we use (or fail to use) in Word. Those of us who remain fond of paper edits and red pens (you know who you are) are missing out on the power of styles in Word to introduce consistency in documents. Cindy Hubick’s three-hour Templates @ Work workshop is an opportunity for editors to learn more about using Word to bring beautiful consistency to the documents we create and edit.

Templates @ Work will take you from basics to beauty, in a few clear steps:

• Intro to styles and templates: What they are and how they work
• How to set up and use the styles menu
• How to apply and update styles
• How to use (and not misuse) format painter
• How to generate and maintain a table of contents
• How to use field codes and “Ask Questions” to populate repetitive data
• The best and simplest way to set up a report template

A 10% discount is available for four or more registrants from one institution, business, or organization.

Attend Event

Program Details

• Date: Tuesday, February 28, 2012
• Time: 7:00 to 9:00 p.m
• Location: Stanley A. Milner Library, 7 Sir Winston Churchill Square, Edmonton (Map)
  (bus routes 52, 57 60, 61, 62, 81, 83, 85, 86, 87, 90, 100, and others, and LRT station Central or Churchill)
• Cost: Free for Students (with valid ID), $5 for EAC members, $10 for General Public
• Registration: See Event page
• Contact: Contact the host, Editors’ Association of Canada, Prairie Provinces Branch

Refreshments provided
Door prize: one annual EAC student membership (worth $125)

Our Panelists include:

• Jeannette LaBrie — an instructor in NAIT’s Radio and Television Program and Producer/Anchor at CTV Edmonton for more than 20 years.
• Eva Radford — an editor for over 30 years and has worked in a variety of production houses, from Hurtig Publishers, to Oz New Media, to Grant MacEwan University where she edits online courses
• Mary Lou Roy — the production editor at the University of Alberta Press and winner of the Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence (2009)
• Erinne Sevigny — a graduate of MacEwan’s professional writing program and works as both an in-house and freelance editor

*** Students: Check out our Facebook Page for a EAC PPB Student Membership Discount – Offer valid ONLY until February 29, 2012. ***

Attend Event

The presenter will be Linda Oestreich, an STC Fellow, former STC President, editing teacher, and presenter. Linda will focus on many aspects of editing that will help novices and experienced editors navigate the various communication channels present in the 20-teens.

Think about all the different places requiring editing these days: blogs, Wikis, Web help, online manuals, government reports, digital newspapers, and magazines. Technical communicators edit all these materials, but how has editing changed since the more traditional days of manuscripts and a red pen?

Visit the New Heights page for details and updates. Mark April 20 on your calendar and save the workshop date!

2011 kept up pace with previous years and saw several major accomplishments:

• We’ve had successful Social Media expansion with Twitter and LinkedIn. In fact, we’re number 109 out of 400 of Twitter’s top influencers.
• Our LinkedIn Group is picking up quite the pace with nearly 80 members (as of January). Originally it was an open group but now it’s moderated to ensure no one unrelated to our field joins.
• Adding affiliations increased our reach across numerous professional segments and augment our promotional efforts by cross-promoting events, increasing networking opportunities, and extending member pricing to STC Alberta members. This endeavor won our chapter the Community Pacesetter Award!
• Encouraging membership by highlighting numerous benefits; in 2011, our membership peaked at 174 and it continues upward!
• Streamlining event advertising between Calgary and Edmonton helped to make both cities appear seamless and balanced in their process and promotions. In 2011, we held our first webinar which enabled Edmonton members to connect remotely to our live event in Calgary.
• Since 2009, the JobLink has had a 34% increase in job postings and we maintained this level through 2011, with efforts to increase the amount of jobs in cities other than Edmonton and Calgary.
• Added numerous new volunteers throughout the year including a steady rotation of new copy editors on the newsletter team.
• STC Alberta successfully applied for Ken Schatzke to be awarded the Dedicated Chapter Service Award. An honor conveyed by the Society, his accomplishments and contributions to our Chapter over the past 13 years are published in SuperScript.

Financial Review

Treasurer, Jeanne Gonnason, reported on our financial status. Our Chapter is financially stable and will continue to create and deliver programs and events that will be advertised to non-members and affiliates. For details, contact our treasurer.

Senior Members

During 2011, the following members achieved Senior Member status (5 consecutive years as an STC member):

• Jennifer Fitzgerald
• Deanne Wilson
• Stephanie Ferguson
• Jenny Nelson
• Serena Beck
• Kate Christie

New Heights

Jeanne Gonnason, our New Heights Manager for 2012, announced Linda Oestreich as our speaker. For more information, visit our New Heights page.

Volunteer Awards

During the past year, the president has taken notice of several volunteers who deserve some extra recognition for their contributions to our Chapter. The following recipients were given framed certificates with the following citation. Congratulations to you all!

• New Volunteer of the Year – Mitch Willis. STC Alberta thanks you for building our Twitter presence. You volunteered your time to tweet about our events and accomplishments, and along the way managed to grab the attention of MindTouch who awarded STC Alberta as one of the top 400 influencers in the Techcomm and Content Strategy categories. For your efforts to enhance communication with our members, we thank you.
• President’s Award – Victoria Clarke. Over the last 3 years, you managed our ever-important webpage for jobs by providing timely turnaround on job postings, communicating with employers and recruiters, and securing a backup for your role to ensure efficiency. After your first year volunteering, you decided to take on double-duty and you managed the popular Salary Survey. You tackled both tasks head-on and your contribution to two of our Chapter’s most helpful offerings is most appreciated. (During the event, Victoria also managed to secure volunteers to restart our Mentorship program!)
• President’s Award – Jeanne Gonnason. A regular volunteer over the years, you returned last year to run our annual New Heights event and put on a stellar affair with two events featuring Rahel Anne Bailie, one of our Chapter’s favorite speakers. In addition to putting on one great New Heights, you decided to do it all again in 2012. Along the way, you performed a major rescue mission for our Treasurer role. At a critical time, you offered to fill this critical role which is both appreciated and respected by your peers.
• Dedicated Chapter Service Award – Ken Schatzke. In recognition of your exemplary leadership and outstanding contributions to the Alberta chapter for nearly 13 years—for your wisdom, dedication, enthusiasm, and vision.

Newsletter Award

Kelly Parks contributed an article on “Networking for New Technical Writers” published in the November 2011 issue of SuperScript.

• Saying Goodbye to our friend Brian Thompson
• Searching for Work in Different Cities - what’s the payoff?
• Editing Tip of the Month: Quality Over Quantity

Happy new year!

Jennifer Burgess, Lead Newsletter Editor

Program Details

• Date: Tuesday, February 7, 2012
• Time: 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. (Sign-in at 7:00 p.m., Program starts at 7:15 p.m., Refreshments and Networking until 9:00 p.m.)
• Location:
  • Calgary: McDougall Centre Media Room, 455 6 Street S.W. (Map)
• Cost: Free for STC Alberta members as affiliates of CAFE, $5 for non-members
• Registration: Email by Friday, February 5. Walk-ins are also welcome.
• Contact: calgaryeditors@gmail.com

About the Presenters

Martin Kratz leads the intellectual property practice for Bennett Jones. His practice is focused around intellectual property and technology law. Michael Whitt is co-leader of the firm’s information technology practice.

In this one-man show, Doug Gibson will tell stories about the authors he got to know well in the course of his career as an editor and publisher at McClelland & Stewart. Each of the 21 authors he discusses will appear on a central screen behind him, in a lively caricature. Bursts of music also enliven the 65-minute show.

Almost 20 versions of the show have been given across the country in the fall of 2011. David Cheoros, the Director of Edmonton LitFest, calls Gibson “a living link to the foundation of our country’s literature and also an impish and charming performer. His lifelong passion for these writers is contagious.”

The evening has been described as “unique”, and “hilarious”, and “full of great stories”. It could only come from someone who has had a long and fascinating career working behind the scenes with some of the most memorable men and women of our era, for example during his time as the publisher of McClelland & Stewart.

At the end of the show, there will be a question and answer session, followed by an autographing session, as Doug Gibson signs his new book, which by a strange coincidence is named STORIES ABOUT STORYTELLERS.

Program Details

• Date: Friday, March 2, 2012
• Time: Reception at 5:00 p.m., Lecture begins at 6:00 p.m.
• Location: Haar Theatre at the Centre for Arts and Communications at MacEwan University, 10045 156 Street NW Edmonton (Map)
• Cost: Free event hosted by the MacEwan School of Communications
• Registration: There is no need to RSVP
• Contact: For further details about this event, visit the MacEwan event URL or contact Sherrell Steele, manager of the School of Communications at steeles2@macewan.ca

About the Presenter

Doug Gibson was an editor and publisher at McClelland & Stewart from 1988 to 2004. More details about the show and the book are available on the website www.douglasgibsonbooks.com.

Program Details

• Date: Thursday, February 16, 2012
• Time: 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
• Location:
  • Edmonton: D’lish, 10418 124 Street (Map)
• Cost: Free
• Registration: Email.
• Contact: Wendy Hanlan, Program Manager

MindTouch Most Influential Techcomm

MindTouch has declared @STCAlberta to be one of the top 400 influencers on Twitter in the categories of #Techomm and #ContentStrategy. Mitch Willis and his enthusiastic tweeting as our Twitter Manager has earned us the 109th position.

Check out the entire list.

Brian, you will be greatly missed.

Goodbye from the STC Alberta Web Team