I am writing to introduce myself and tell you a bit about the plans for the chapter for the coming year.

I was vice president of the chapter in 1998-1999, and treasurer the year before that. I didn’t feel confident enough to step into the role of president at that time, which is the usual progression after serving as vice president. When Theresa’s calls for a president kept arriving in my Inbox this spring, it seemed an invitation to complete the cycle. So here I am, with another 10 years of technical writing and life experience to contribute, as well as a recent master’s degree in ecopsychology. I was in the first Print Futures class at Douglas College, graduating in 1993, and have been working as a technical writer since then. I became an independent consultant in 1995, and have enjoyed the freedom of working at home, often on my land near Merritt, BC, although I also spend a lot of time at my apartment in Vancouver.

We Are Virtual!

As many of you know, our past president, Theresa Putkey, has ushered our chapter into a new era of connection and responsibility through guiding us to become a virtual chapter.

Theresa’s call for change and ensuing discussion by chapter members occurred on our forum. There is a lot of support for the change to being a virtual community, for several reasons:

• Flexibility of participation: It is easier to participate in discussions when people have time to go online, rather than setting aside a particular time-slot to meet at a physical location.
• No geographical limitations: Anyone can participate, regardless of physical location.
• Sustainability: Less travel time, especially for remote members, means less strain on the earth’s resources.
• Wider participation from membership and less dependence on the chapter executive: It was becoming difficult to find volunteers willing to make a year-long commitment, and the burden on the existing executive was becoming too heavy.

People also expressed a desire to continue to have opportunities to meet and network face-to-face. Volunteers have stepped forward to fill most of the named volunteer positions, and there is an additional pool of volunteers who have offered to help out as needed.

Therefore, 2008-2009 is a year of transformation, in which we will continue to offer up to five programs and additional networking events for people to meet in person, and at the same time we are going to provide support for the membership to take the initiative in holding events for specific interest groups and in areas outside of the Lower Mainland. Clearly there are many tools and venues for providing programs, professional development, and networking events to a virtual community. The membership as a whole has access to these tools (assuming that each of you has a computer). The chapter will provide support for individuals and groups to initiate events that are of interest to you.

The primary resource for our virtual chapter is the web site, which already provides many services to our membership. The web site will support the interactive virtual chapter through these functions:

• Forums that provide a place for discussion and exchange of information.
• The Wiki that provides all the information needed to run the chapter, including information about putting on do-it-yourself (DIY) events. For access to the Wiki, please send an email to the .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
• Information exchange through adding the ability to post comments in response to Coast Lines articles.

But what will really help our virtual chapter flourish is your participation. Do you have an idea for a podcast, webinar, or web conference? Maybe you have a great topic for a newsletter article. Or would you like to invite a speaker to hold an event in your area? There’s money in the budget for DIY events, information on the Wiki about how to do it, a volunteer pool that is willing to help, and an executive team here to support you as well. And if you see a need that is not being met, we want to hear about that too.

If you have an idea you want to put in motion, please, we want to hear from you! You can create a discussion topic on the forum, to see if your idea generates interest from others. Or feel free to contact the executive team if you’d like to talk it over with someone in person. http://www.stcwestcoast.ca/index.php/site/contact

Canada West Coast Chapter Vision Statement

From our strategic plan:

“STC CWC is innovative in serving our communities with excellence, responsively evolving to meet the changing needs of our membership. We support technical communicators to contribute their gifts to the world in the most optimal way, earning a rewarding living and knowing the satisfaction of making a difference in the world.

“The CWC chapter theme for 2008-2009 is making money and making a difference. We are here to support our members to earn a rewarding living and to also make a difference in non-monetary ways. Through our connections with each other we are part of a global community, interconnected with each other and the earth. The impact we make as individuals in the chapter adds up to an inspiring whole-one that we celebrate.”

The chapter executive met in June to discuss our vision, budget, and strategic plan for the year ahead, and we also had a volunteer appreciation lunch in July. At both these events the attendees talked about ways they are making a difference in the world. In addition to contributing in their work lives, our members are taking public transit, recycling, growing their own produce, introducing city dwellers to outdoor winter sports such as snowshoeing, teaching yoga and meditation, helping feed the homeless, working at the farmers’ market, doing sound setup for church services, engaging in Jewish-Muslim dialog at a synagogue, raising children and teaching grandchildren, revolutionizing the teaching system, supporting cancer research, buying items second-hand to reduce the strain on the earth’s resources, supporting musicians and writers by promoting their work, and more…

I created a forum topic for our members to add to this discussion: http://www.stcwestcoast.ca/index.php/forums/viewthread/29/

Please take a moment to log in and share some of the ways you are making a difference in the world. Each of us makes a difference, however small it might seem. Taken as a totality, the 250 to 300 members of this chapter make a world of difference.

You might wonder what this has to do with technical writing. Why is this the theme for the year? Because I believe that earning a living is not enough for a meaningful life, and I believe that by sharing and talking about the ways we are making a difference it will enrich the lives of everyone in our chapter and give us renewed energy to continue. And I believe that’s important. Those of us in the technical writing profession are fortunate to have the skills to earn a very good living. The freedom from struggle for daily survival gives us the chance to contribute in ways that others may not be able to. But what’s more, I believe that people want to make a difference in the world, and are happy to do so when they have the knowledge and ability to contribute. Do you agree, or do you disagree? I’d love to hear your voice in the discussion on the forum.

A Glance at the Year Ahead

The programs team has been hard at work already, and has some great events planned for the fall and spring, in keeping with our theme of making money and making a difference. Some topics to look forward to include how to earn six figures, an introduction to the Adobe Technical Communication Suite, and yoga for technical writers. We’ll be having a networking evening that will introduce the volunteer executive team to you and you to us. [Deleted: There’ll be a documentation competition this year.] The contractor’s group meets most months. And hopefully, there’ll be some great events put on by our membership, too!

Watch the web site for dates and times. And if you’re on LinkedIn, add our chapter logo to your profile! See http://www.stcwestcoast.ca/index.php/forums/viewthread/28/ for details.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Karen Rempel
President, STC CWC

P.S. If you would like to see the chapter’s 2008-2009 strategic plan or budget, please let me know.