Search Engine Optimization

Are meta tags just a place to stuff keywords? Where can I get some of that link juice? How do I get to the top of a search engine results page (aka SERP)? By the end of her presentation on search engine optimization, Melissa Mewdell made sure we knew the answers to those questions and many more. Melissa’s presentation was packed full of takeaways to help us achieve high search rankings, whether for web pages, help systems, user interfaces, or intranets.

What about meta tags?

Search engines are much smarter than they used to be. The meta keyword tag is as good as dead, and there is no point in stuffing it full of keywords. Leaving it out of your HTML won’t affect your search rankings. If you keep yours, be warned—keyword tags stuffed full of keywords could lead some search engines to interpret your page as spam.

These days, search engines are more interested in the meta description tag, so craft it carefully. Though the meta description tag isn’t used to determine page ranking, its content is what searchers see as a description of your page on a SERP. Encourage searchers to click through to your site by including your call to action in your meta description tag.

If you don’t want search engines to crawl a page, or follow its links, the meta robots tag is what you need. You can use one or both of the noindex and nofollow attributes in the robots meta tag to communicate to the search engine.

Don’t under-estimate the value of a well-crafted title tag

Although title tags are not strictly meta tags, they are often included in discussions about meta tags. That’s because search engines pay a lot of attention to them. But so do searchers, because they are displayed on a SERP. Include your key words and key phrases in your title tags to help search engines understand what a page is about. But write your title tags in plain English to help searchers.

What about keywords?

When it comes to keywords and keyword phrases, the name of the game is variation. Don’t over-optimize for any single keyword. Vary the keywords in your tags, headings, and content.

Do your research and select your keywords carefully. Which keyword phrases do you tend to use? What about your customers? Which phrases are the most relevant to them? How many other pages are competing for a keyword or keyword phrase?

How juicy is your link juice?

Link juice? Yes, it’s an SEO term, and some incoming links are “juicier” than others. The juiciest links are those from sites with the highest Google Page Rank because they are the links that will boost up your own Page Rank.

How do you get links from quality sources? It’s not always easy, but Melissa suggested asking for links from your happy customers, posting on social networking sites, and using PR channels.

Other tips and tricks

Here are just a few more of the interesting and helpful suggestions Melissa shared:

  • Use heading tags help search engines group concepts.
  • Write descriptive anchor text and image alt tags for images that are links.
  • Make your URLs human-readable.
  • Ensure your navigation is clear and logical, as this helps search engines index your entire site.
  • Use 301 redirects when you replace pages or install a new site. They might be a lot of work, but are worth it if you want to keep the link juice from the old pages or site.
  • Experiment with the document properties in non-HTML documents such as PDFs, as this is the most efficient way to optimize these documents.

What should your SEO KPIs be?

How do you evaluate the success of your optimization efforts? Melissa suggested that increased traffic and conversions may be better key performance indicators and more important than achieving a higher SERP ranking. This is because search and search results are becoming more personalized.

Want to find out more?

There are plenty of good resources on the web including Google, Search Engine World, Search Engine Journal, and SEO Moz’s free beginner guides. Melissa’s presentation was very informative. She is an engaging presenter and an expert in the care and feeding of search engines .As she notes on her Twitter profile @mmewdell, it’s clear she loves SEO.

XML Technology Specialist at Just Systems
To STC Canada West Coast - January 15, 2012
What is XML?
What is it used for?
How is it different from HTML?
Those were the written questions our presenter collected. Unsorted paper scraps became the metaphor for deconstructed data.

Next, Tom displayed page 1 chapter 1 of Pride and Prejudice. We read the opening aloud calling out page parts. Heading! Chapter! Body! Thus, we described document parts in our own words.

So, what is XML?

Most documents have structure and XML specifies how to represent structured data. Content can be processed with very little human intervention. The XML code is both human and machine readable. Except Microsoft XML which is not human readable. XML uses nests and tags like HTML. XML needs a publishing system. XML does styling thru style sheets.

How is XML different from HTML?

Both languages start and end in within tags, although tag names represent different information. Unlike HTML, XML employs a self-describing way of encoding text and data. Encoded text can represent any character in any language including Klingon!

What is DITA?

It’s an architecture for creating standard information types and domain-specific markup vocabularies. DITA is a spawn of Information Mapping and an XML vocabulary. Vocabulary can be well formed or valid. Maps characterize information by topic, concept, task, and reference.

What’s it all used for?

Advantages include reuse, consistency, reduced translation costs, and operating efficiencies. Structured authoring is writing in a way that separates content from format. Let the publishing system make the PDF or help files. In a publishing workflow structured authoring invokes rules that enforce consistent, organized information. The DITA Model provides an XML standard for defining a common structure.

What you see is what?

Desktop publishing gave us WYSIWYG. DITA gives us WYSIWOO, what you see is one option.

Markup, historically

SGML is an ISO standard for defining generalized markup languages. HTML and XML are extensions. A language once ubiquitous in large-scale operations, XML is now adopted by most companies if they use structured authoring. It helped that SGML was suitable for widespread application for small-scale, general purpose use.

Other considerations

• Analyzing content and workflows to understand benefit in cost savings
• Estimating costs of an editing system, a content management system, a publishing system
• Migrating content and transforming it to XML
• Adoption and training on XML.
• Customizing your solution a lot!

You must convert to XML if you want to fly

Weaving audience Q&A into the presentation helped to demystify markup language. It’s been joked that a set of SGML documentation about the Boeing 747 couldn’t fit on the plane. The manufacturer has since converted to the loftier XML. Yet another advantage to convert to XML.

yes, there’s a reason I’m a technical communicator and NOT a poet… however, lots to share with you. Let’s get started:

Programs

First, our 2013 Programming is coming together.
January: Structured Authoring* or Information Architecture* with Tom Magliery of JustSystems
February: SEO with Melissa Mewdell of City of Vancouver
March: Graphic Design with Dragos Vuia of City of Vancouver
April: Help Authoring* Tools and Techniques (likely going to be a webinar with Neil Perlin)
May: Instructional Design or Technical Editing
June – normally, we don’t have a program night in June but we’re open to being convinced otherwise. It might be fun to have all local presenters and do a progression (4 or 5 presenters stay put and present 15-minute sessions to attendees who change tables to hear different topics). Or, we might combine that idea with the Volunteer Appreciation Event! :-)

Professional Development Opportunities

Early March: Professional Development seminar with Bernard Aschwanden of Publishing Smarter
Early June: Professional Development seminar on Madcap Flare: a workshop session, led by Catherine Girczyc and Beth Haggerty.
* These are lead-in sessions designed to spark interest and raise enrollment at the workshops to follow, about 6 weeks after the Program nights. Enough time to let people find the money to sign up, not too far in advance to allow the glow to wear off.
—-
Bernard can present on a number of different topics. To assess interest and pick the topic of most interest to our audience, we have created a Survey to test the waters. Please click here to take survey right now: - it will only take you two minutes to fill it out and you’ll be helping to ensure a successful workshop for your chapter… even if you don’t attend!

Website:

If you belong to our Yammer network, check out the wireframes that Aaron posted. There is exciting work underway for our new website and much of our current content is being edited. We also plan to have a lot of fresh new content – news – that will be supplied by or facilitated by our Web Editors. Currently, these editors are:
Open, Editor-in-Chief (Aaron Fultz pro tempore)
- Moderates posts
- Checks style
- Liaises with fundraising coordinator for advertising opportunities
- Writes a monthly post: Recap of key blog posts from the past month
- Writes or facilitates four special features a year (for months with five weeks)
- Conducts CMS training
- Backup for department editors

Sam Wink, Design Editor
- Finds photos as requested
- Organizes and manages photo and graphics database
- Creates graphics as requested

Open, Happenings Editor (Mellissa Ruryk pro tempore)
- Writes or facilitates a monthly post (Week 1): Upcoming chapter news and events for the month ahead
- Writes or facilitates other posts (e.g., chapter event follow-ups, as well as STC and community news and events)

Autumn Jonssen, Spotlights Editor
- Writes or facilitates a monthly post (Week 2): Member spotlight
- Writes or facilitates other posts (e.g., non-member and speaker spotlights, other STC chapter spotlights, and community interest spotlights)
- Follow key blogs and sites related to your subject area.

Jacob De Camillis, Career Development Editor
- Writes or facilitates a monthly post (Week 3): Career related topics
- Writes or facilitates other posts (e.g., hot jobs, economic news, new education programs, topics beyond techcom etc.)
- Follow key blogs and sites related to your subject area.

Open, TechComm Editor (Aaron Fultz pro tempore)
- Writes or facilitates a monthly post (Week 4): Feature posts on the latest trends and technologies in techcom
- Writes or facilitates other posts (e.g., technology news, book reviews, product releases, etc.)
- Follow key blogs and sites related to your subject area.
If you would like to volunteer in one of these editor roles (time commitment: ~5 hours a month), please email or call Aaron or me asap. We’re going to post all content on the old site until the new one is ready to launch, so we need to start writing right now!
(And if you’re not on our Yammer network, send info@stcwestcoast.ca an email requesting access. It’s the best way to keep up to date with all the chapter news, and minimize your inbox clutter!)

Logo Ideas

In conjunction with the launch of the new website, we’ll be looking to freshen up our own looks somewhat. STC Canada West Coast has had a couple of different looks but now it’s time to burst forth in colour… in all our glory. Think yellow, red, blue – strong primary colours that are found in our provincial flag. We’ve had blue tints with lots of white… how about bringing in green for the forest and white for the paper we write on?
We would like any aspiring artists (graphic or otherwise) to sit and think about what our chapter means to them. How to express who we are and what we do without using words? There are many different facets to being a technical communicator; we are the West Coast chapter (not just the Vancouver chapter)… our province is diverse and filled with abundant natural resources, such as trees, metals, water and fish. Then there’s the coast and coastlines… mountains and ocean. Did I mention trees? We have sacrificed a few of those in our quest for employment… let’s honour that sacrifice and incorporate a tree in our logo.

Chapter Achievement Award

We are gearing up to submit this application in mid-January. Judy Holt has been working away on the application in the background, and it is shaping up to be a pretty comprehensive report on all chapter activities since last June. Executives: you are warned: there will be some editing to be done early in the new year. This is step one of winning a Community of Distinction Award… the activities noted in the application form have given us volunteers and the executive a framework for applying our efforts and creativity this year. When Aaron picks up the leadership baton in June of next year, he will have the luxury of being able to follow through on the plans we started this year. (Knowing Aaron, that won’t stop him from coming up with one or two Brilliant Ideas in addition to those listed on the application form!)

Christmas Cheer & Holiday Wishes

I’m sure the Executive joins me in wishing you all the best in this holiday season. Whether you celebrate the Winter Solstice, Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa or Ramadan… the sentiment is the same: love and tolerance, peace on Earth.

If you can join us, we will be meeting this Tuesday, December 11 at Piknik Restaurant downtown at 1075 Howe Street, from about 7 pm to 9 pm. Please, feel free to bring a friend, co-worker, spouse (but not your dog. If Saxon can’t come with me, no one else can bring their furry friends either!). I sincerely hope some of our newer members (membership is up to 121 at last count) will be able to come and let us get to know you.
At a cost of $10, there will be food to snack on, and a variety of drinks for purchase. Dress is casual… Mostly we want to celebrate all the hard work that’s been put in so far this year. I especially want to thank my executive members for their support and their dedication to the chapter.

Society News

Summit 2013 registration is now open: http://summit.stc.org/

Please let me know if you’re planning to attend. We need to do something fun with all the Canadians down there and it might need a bit of planning.

Time is running out! Renew your STC membership NOW to save in 2013. http://www.stc.org/renew

STC presents three live Web seminars next week: Using YouTube Videos to Enhance “Traditional” Documentation, How Writers Can Thrive in Agile Software Development, and What’s a MOOC? Exploring the Possibilities of Massive Open Online Learning. Finish up your year with live education from some of STC’s top minds!

Using YouTube Videos to Enhance “Traditional” Documentation
Presented by Fer O’Neil and Ben Johnson
Tuesday, 11 December, 1:00-2:00 PM EST (GMT-5)

The way users consume information is becoming increasingly visual. Technical communicators can address this need and increase user satisfaction by creating video tutorials. Ben and Fer will present some best practices at HP and ESET for choosing topics, creating, sharing, promoting, and measuring the success of video tutorials in YouTube.

How Writers Can Thrive in Agile Software Development
Presented by Gavin Austin
Wednesday, 12 December, 1:00-2:00 PM EST (GMT-5)

Many writers are trying to figure out how to meet deadlines, write quality documentation, and stay sane as their software companies switch from the traditional “waterfall” method of development to the popular Agile methodology. Learn strategies and best practices to help you thrive as a writer in an Agile environment.

What’s a MOOC? Exploring the Possibilities of Massive Open Online Learning
Presented by Phylise Banner
Thursday, 13 December, 4:00-5:00 PM EST (GMT-5)

Have you heard about the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) movement in online learning? This webinar will explore the design, development, and delivery approaches of a variety of MOOCs, while highlighting the instructional theory, design, and technology approaches behind these large-scale learning initiatives. Learn how to leverage the benefits of the MOOC approach to meet the needs of your professional learning community.

Editor’s Association of BC

Early Bird rates still available (to December 21) for EAC-BC Seminar, Saturday, January 12, 2013 (9 AM - 4 PM) @ SFU Harbour Centre. The topic EDITING FICTION is to be presented by Instructor: Caroline Adderson. More info/Registration here: http://www.gifttool.com/registrar/ShowEventDetails?ID=1262&EID=13763

If I don’t see you at the event in December, please accept my wishes for a happy, joyous and safe holiday. See you in the New Year!

2012/13 Executives

Your chapter leadership team always welcomes contact from chapter members, volunteers and friends.
President - Mellissa Ruryk (president@stcwestcoast.ca)
Vice President – Aaron Fultz (vp@stcwestcoast.ca)
Secretary - Rob Hughes (secretary@stcwestcoast.ca)
Treasurer - Mary Metzger (treasurer@stcwestcoast.ca)
Past President - Pam Drucker (pastpres@stcwestcoast.ca)
Volunteer Coordinator/Director at Large - Heather Sommerville (volunteer@stcwestcoast.ca)
Managers
Employer Outreach – Autumn Jonssen (info@stcwestcoast.ca)
Independent Contractors SIG – Linda Farnworth (cicsig@stcwestcoast.ca)
Job Bank – Mary Metzger – (jobbank@stcwestcoast.ca)
Membership Coordinator – Dawn Stewart (membership@stcwestcoast.ca)
Programs – Samantha Wink (programs@stcwestcoast.ca)
Public Relations – Moise Potié – (pr@stcwestcoast.ca)

Awards, Perlin fill the room at September event

What’s up e-Doc?

Plenty, if the energy in the YWCA’s Welch Room was any indicator. About 50 members of the Society for Technical Communication Canada West Coast (STC CWC) chapter met in Vancouver and online on September 18, 2012 to sip, celebrate, and share a Web seminar with Neil Perlin titled “What’s Up eDoc? ” .
Why so festive?
It could be that this event marked Mellissa Ruryk’s new term as President of the Canada West Coast chapter. Though a timing conflict prevented her from attending, newly-named Vice President Aaron Fultz stepped in to ably oversee the meeting logistics.
Members of the Web team including Autumn Jonssen, Ulrike Rodrigues, and Jacob De Camillis chatted informally with arriving members, and new member Helen Choi greeted visitors at the door.


Helen mentioned that she was inspired to join the chapter just a week previous.
“I found my information interview with Melissa Ruryk very informative.” offered Helen, “It sparked my interest, so I joined!”
Celebrations and celebrities
Over herbal tea, chocolate-layer cookies; and fresh, green grapes, second-year member Cynthia Parkin caught up with future-member and BCIT student Linda Soer. Asked what brought them out, Cynthia said, “I thought the topic sounded interesting. It applies to the work I’m doing right now, plus it’s a night out.”

Former president Pam Drucker stepped forward to recognize and award the efforts of a pair of familiar faces in the room:
• Heather Somerville, who was named Associate Fellow by the Society for Technical Communication for her important work in the field of technical communication.
• Sera Kirk, STC CWC’s Volunteer of the Year for 2011-2012 for her success in building the chapter’s social media and program participation.


Pam also drew attention to the efforts of former president Karen Rempel, who helped the chapter win a STC Pacesetter Award with the community-building Information Interview Service.
Upcoming ways to connect
Before Neil Perlin began his Web seminar, Aaron introduced a few upcoming events and opportunities to meet with colleagues:
• Meet fellow consultants and contractors – the next scheduled special interest group (SIG) is October 2, 2012 at a Vancouver coffee shop.
• Have some Beers with Peers – Ulrike suggested that those who were interested in mingling could meet at a local spot for a get together on the meeting night scheduled for October 16, 2012.Check out the event information in the left sidebar.
• November 20 is our first annual ‘Networking at the Speed of NOW’ event. Join us to hear a presentation on networking techniques and then put them into practice at a ‘speed networking’ event. Sure to be fun, just don’t forget your business cards.

Planning Day report

On July 21, your chapter executive met with several team leads and new volunteers to plan and strategize for the coming year. You will hear many new names mentioned often in the coming year; simply raise your hand (to volunteer) to stand among them.

By using the application for a Chapter Achievement Award as a structure, we settled on a three-part theme whose focus is sharpening as we roll up our sleeves and get down to work.  I started out the year thinking that the theme would be along the lines of “volunteering/membership is rewarding” but it’s turning into communicate, connect, convert! That is, we are going to concentrate on outreach to employers, students and faculty, and new members.

Website Update

Our first order of business is to revamp our most public face, the STC-CWC website. Who among us hasn’t struggled to find a specific item on the site and clicked around in vain? Not to disparage anyone’s efforts that brought our current site to fruition, as I know that many people worked hard and did the best they could with what they knew. But websites and technology evolve… and in 4 or 5 years, I’m sure some other CWC president will be heard saying “we have to get rid of that old website and make an awesome new website”!  Our web team, headed up by Tony Chung and Ulrike Rodrigues, has met once already as a group; is meeting for coffee and discussions and ad hoc get-togethers; and will have a new site in short order (for which we will require beta testers). Another meeting is planned for August 31. Make sure you zap a quick note off to info@stcwestcoast.ca if you are willing to participate in this effort of developing and delivering content that is utterly audience-driven and/or testing when it is ready.

As a part of the website work, several ‘@stcwestcoast.ca’ email addresses have not been working properly. If you recently sent a note to anyone in the executive and did not receive a response, we apologize for any inconvenience you experienced. Please re-send your message to info@stcwestcoast.ca and we will respond as fast as possible.

Sponsorships actively being sought

News from the Society was announced on August 15:
After reviewing the results of a knowledge-based governance survey sent to all Society members, the STC Board of Directors voted Tuesday to approve a new community-funding model described as a “Partial Pass-Through.” Under this model, STC communities will receive funding based strictly on the number of members in a chapter or SIG. During the budgeting process, all communities will receive a fixed amount of funding per member ($15 per chapter member and $4 per SIG member) regardless of projected expenses and income, or estimated reserves at year end. All funding under the newly adopted model will be contingent upon a budget submission by the 31 October deadline and will take effect for the 2013 membership year.

Due to the budget model that has been in place since 2009, our chapter was not eligible for any Society funding in 2012.  As you might expect, our bank account balance is reflecting this… and we are being encouraged to broaden our base of funding sources beyond that of the Society itself. What does that mean?  We need to generate income from other sources, and two of those sources are sponsorships and advertising.

The new website will make room for advertising. However, if you are employed as a technical communicator, please check with your company’s Finance or Human Resources departments to see if your company would like to support our chapter through sponsorship. We warmly welcome the following types of contributions for chapter events and activities:
•      Cash donations
•      Services beneficial to the chapter and its activities, such as free meeting space, sharing a webinar license, photocopying of program materials, etc.
•      Sponsorship of chapter meetings and conference refreshment breaks.
•      Specialty items from your company (company logo-printed bags, mugs, pens, etc.)
•      Products, books, peripherals (such as memory sticks, headphones, mikes) etc.
•      Gift certificates (for books, accessories, products, services, lunches, or ?)
There is more information on our website at http://www.stcwestcoast.ca/index.php/site/about_archives/sponsorship_and_advertising/. Thank you.

Programs still need presenters for Spring 2013

September’s “What’s Next in Tech Comm” kickoff meeting happens on the 18th – a scant three weeks away.  If you haven’t already, please register at http://www.gifttool.com/registrar/ShowEventDetails?ID=47&EID=12914. Neil Perlin is presenting “What’s up, eDoc?” via webinar from Massachusetts and you can attend in person or from the comfort of your home, office, or home office. This is a test run to see if CWC wants to offer more webinars or perhaps offer all our Program nights as webinars as well (format permitting). Whether you pay to attend in person or virtually, you will be eligible to receive a recording of the webinar for future reference.

October’s program is a case study of how to redesign a website from the user’s point of view: What’s In It For Me? led by Tony Chung and Ulrike Rodrigues.

We need your ideas and input for topics and speakers for the November session and those that begin in January. Send your suggestions to programs@stcwestcoast.ca. Feel free to work out the kinks in your Summit presentation before next May in Atlanta by presenting a preview to CWC!

Professional development opportunities

The Content Strategy Workshop series (http://www.contentstrategyworkshops.com) with Rahel Bailie and Scott Abel is being held in Portland on October 9-10, 2012.

CWC is planning to hold a professional development seminar in February or March (or maybe both!).  This is another opportunity to bank a small profit from a successful seminar, but your involvement is needed. Can you think of a great presenter with a fascinating topic you (and another 15 - 25 people) would pay to attend? If so, let me know at president@stcwewstcoast.ca. With this much lead time and a couple of dedicated event planners, we can easily make it a seminar to remember. I’ve heard several people wondering where to get Flare or DITA training; if we build it, will they come?

Volunteer appreciation

One of the best perks of being a president is helping new people see the value in becoming involved as a volunteer, to make a difference in how our chapter is perceived and its impact on others.  Several people are stepping up to take on the challenges we have set for ourselves. Mike Martinescu, who started the Vancouver Technical Writers Meetup Group and regularly welcomes CWC members to lead discussions there, is one such person. Mike has recently graduated from BCIT and is committed to promoting his profession both through the Meetup and also as a CWC volunteer (and if it nets him a job, even better!). Another new volunteer is Autumn Jonssen, recently moved into Vancouver from Ottawa, who found her way to us through Mike’s Meetup group. Autumn is capably strategizing how to update the Employers’ Database that we will use in our efforts to let employers know who we are and how technical communicators can help them capitalize on their information assets. Again, if a side benefit appears in the form of a paying job, her networking and volunteering efforts will have paid off! As Autumn currently volunteers as a techwriter for the Red Cross, her experiences with our organization will benefit her career sooner.

I can’t leave this topic without a nod to Heather Sommerville, our Director-at-Large, who gently informs my enthusiasm with mature wisdom. Thanks, Heather.

2012/13 Executives

Your chapter leadership team always welcomes contact from chapter members.
President - Mellissa Ruryk (president@stcwestcoast.ca)
Vice President – open
Secretary - Rob Hughes (secretary@stcwestcoast.ca)
Treasurer - Mary Metzger (treasurer@stcwestcoast.ca)
Past President - Pam Drucker (pastpres@stcwestcoast.ca)
Volunteer Coordinator/Director at Large - Heather Sommerville (volunteer@stcwestcoast.ca)
Independent Contractors SIG – Linda Farnworth (cicsig@stcwestcoast.ca)
Managers
Membership – Dawn Stewart (membership@stcwestcoast.ca)
Programs – Sera Kirk (programs@stcwestcoast.ca)
Public Relations – Moise Potié – (pr@stcwestcoast.ca)
Job Bank – Mary Metzger – (jobbank@stcwestcoast.ca)

Are you making yourself heard?

(Eagranie Yuh, Chapter President 2009/10, posted this eloquent piece on our current website and I couldn’t say it better:)
STC CWC is an entirely volunteer-run organization, and the leaders’ mandate is to bring value to your membership. We organize program meetings for education and networking purposes, and contractors’ meetings to provide support for the self-employed. This year, we plan to organize professional development sessions to provide skills that benefit you and your employer. We have new listings in the job bank.

We do our best to provide thoughtful programming and membership benefits, but we’re not mind readers. What can we do to bring more value to your membership? Is there a particular topic that you’d like us to focus on? An area of professional development that we should highlight?

On the flip side—do you have a skill that you’d like to share in a program meeting or professional development session? We have a wealth of talent in our membership and we are always eager to put a spotlight on it.

Send a message to me at president (at) stcwestcoast (dot) ca… and make yourself heard.

This issue concludes the 2011/12 program year.

• Outgoing President’s message
• Volunteer appreciation
• Summit news
• Contractors and Independent Consultants meet

Programs at a glance

Report on May program with Hazel MacClement

While not everyone has a knack for telling a good story, broadcast journalist Hazel MacClement does and she shared her 12-storytelling tips that any writer can use. Read the full article, http://bit.ly/JZ0K3S.

The May program concludes our program year. We’re back again in September. Here’s a look back.
September 20 - Job Hunting Secrets That Might Surprise You - Jack Molisani
October 18 - Recruiters and Consultants Panel - Karen Rempel, Mike Cook, Sheila Jones
November 15 - Writing for Translation - Anthony Michael
January 17 Optimizing the Googleability of Your Content - Joe Welinske
February 21 - Chair yoga for the office - Karen Rempel
March 20 - Taxonomy and Metadata - Theresa Putkey
April 17 - Content Strategy - Rahel Bailie
May 15 - Why Storytelling? - Hazel MacClement, and student portfolio exhibit

Thinking you want to present? Ping us at programs@stcwestcoast.ca.

Student portfolio show

Print Futures: Professional Writing grads class of 2012 Douglas College proudly exhibited their portfolios at the meeting. Thank you Rob Hughes for arranging this and good luck to exhibitors Dana Petric, Dee Noble, Karin Keefe and Claire Preston. Based on the excitement, we’re holding a spot in next May’s program for the class of 2013. http://prfu2012.net84.net/

Outgoing president’s message

Wow, what a year personally and professionally. I felt the tug to give back all that my new chapter had given me—an opportunity to become established, job leads and employment, camaraderie, and not least, enrichment in our professional lives. Without a doubt, you get what your give. If I may quantify the role a bit, in hours it’s a part-time job; in responsibility it’s where the buck stops, in payback it’s pay forward. An organism thrives with momentum. You, the volunteers, have carried forth with ideas we planned a summer ago. Remember? Engage with your chapter! We set out and accomplished these goals:
- Analyze programs and services we want to provide (held 2 remote meetings,  a panel discussion, Contractors & Independent Consultants SIG meetings)
- Devise a strategy to promote efforts as a way to grow the profession (created Director at Large, Social Media Coordinator, held 3 events with Douglas College, added 24 new members to our community)
- Tease out ideas for developing programs and events (added 3 new topics, 2 new speakers)
- Evaluate how an activity will create a profit or at least break even (implemented Information Interview Service, raised program admission, added sponsorship, proposed new location for meeting space).

Signing off, almost…

Volunteer appreciation

Now I think I know what authors stress about when writing a book acknowledgement. There are many people to thank for service and friends of the chapter to thank for a lot more, like Cyberscribe Solutions Inc. http://www.cyberscribe.ca/ who house our archives year after year. Our other physical assets consist of a cash box and a projector. We rely on volunteers to remember these along with cables and refreshments month after month after month. It takes a team to pull off an event. I am ever so grateful for all you do and reminding me what I needed to do.

2012/13 Execs

The new execs take over on June 1 and the lineup shapes up this way:

• President - Mellissa Ruryk
• Vice President - open
• Secretary - Rob Hughes
• Treasurer - Mary Metzger
• Past President - Pam Drucker
• Director at Large - Heather Sommerville

Contractors & Independent Consultants SIG

A big thank you for those who attended the May Consultants and Independent Contractors (CIC) meeting. We’re back again on June 5 and throughout the summer. Linda Farnworth leads the coffee meetings. Whether you need advice on developing a portfolio or a little nudge/encouragement to do your own thing, just drop in. We meet on the first Tuesday of the month. Check the home page for details or join the mailing list, cicsig@stcwestcoast.ca.
Read the minutes, http://www.stcwestcoast.ca/index.php/forums/viewthread/165/.

Summit 2012 stuff

Community achievement

The Pacesetter Award for Information Interview Service was displayed at the Summit. For offering an information interview service for the dozens of people wanting to speak to experienced chapter technical communicators about our profession.
The Information Interview Service pairs aspiring writers for short interviews with senior technical writers. Get paired up, info-interview@stcwestcoast.ca.
Read the article in Intercom, http://bit.ly/Hx91HR

Honourees

Heather Sommerville, Director at Large, was one of nine Associate Fellows inducted this year.
For unflagging dedication to STC and as a model leader bringing honour to the profession. For generous contributions of time, expertise, common sense, tact, and good humour to revitalize and grow the Canada West Coast Chapter.
http://bit.ly/JJjnY2
You make us all proud!

Soft sell

This message reached 699 email subscribers. Thinking of advertising or sponsorship? Let us know, http://bit.ly/wtHAPm.
If you want to subscribe go to http://bit.ly/yUrnoj.
If you no longer want to receive messages let us know, membership@stcwestcoast.ca.

STC vision & mission

Technical communication is recognized as an essential part of every organization’s competitive strategy. Society for Technical Communication: http://www.stc.org
STC advances the theory and practice of technical communication across all user abilities and media so that both businesses and customers benefit from safe, appropriate, and effective use of products, information, and services.

About Canada West Coast

We are a geographic community of the Society for Technical Communication, a worldwide association dedicated to the advancement of the theory and practice of technical communication. Our community represents technical communicators throughout British Columbia. Canada West Coast chapter: http://www.stcwestcoast.ca 
Send general inquiries to: info@stcwestcoast.ca

Find us fast

• Twitter: http://twitter.com/#/stccwc
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/stccwc
• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=122291

Join, get active and engage with your chapter!

Pam Drucker, President 2011/12

An archive can be found here: http://bit.ly/LUqWqY

Perhaps as a result of her journalistic curiosity, the presenter polled the audience about what brought joy to their writing. The recurring theme was enjoying the learning process and then distilling that information to something clear and concise. As journalist, Hazel pointed out that the same qualities are used by storytellers to craft information into direct and compelling narratives.

She grabbed us with the unexpected, a love story narrated by Morgan Freeman. Listen to his compelling intro to March of the Penguins.

She engaged us with footage and revealed techniques that should make technical communication more understandable, interesting, and relevant.

As an example of effective storytelling, she presented her favorite clip from her career in television journalism. “Where’s Ruby?” told the story of a missing dog. The viewer was lead through a series of clues and revelations. The camera followed the dog owner from bystander to shop owner to patrons to the unlocked apartment where Ruby’s barks were heard. A break-in reunited dog with owner, capped with tears of joy—even in the room.

While not everyone has a knack for telling a good story, Hazel shares her 12-storytelling tips:

1 Use characters: Characters are what draw a reader in. In technical writing, a character can be used to show why a reader might need to perform an action or follow a procedure.
2 Find focus: Most stories can be reduced to three words of less. “Where’s Ruby?” can be summed up as “Man Loses Dog”.
3 Look for surprises: While watching Ruby’s story, the audience watched, nodded, smiled and even laughed a certain points. Watch for the unexpected to occur in your research. If it interests or engages you, it will probably interest or engage your reader.
4 Challenge assumptions: When telling a story or writing a document, be prepared to dig deeper and ask questions about information that you first receive.
5 Remember your audience: Stories aired at 5:00pm would change if aired at 6:00pm and might not run at 11:00pm. A piece on trendy children’s shoes probably relates best with the late afternoon viewing audience. A great piece of writing may never reach a reader if it falls outside of the reader’s needs.
6 Do your homework: Think of every possible question that a reader might have and then find a way to answer it. You may be writing to a reader who is already very knowledgeable about the topic.
7 Write in layers: Onions, like stories, reveal themselves one layer at a time. “Where’s Ruby” would not be as memorable if the story opened with “A man lost his dog and then found it again. Here’s how it happened.” Provide readers the information they need in the order they need it.
8 Use rules of three: Stories should have a beginning, middle and end. Technical writers can use the same format with an introduction (why is this task being performed or what does the reader need to learn), a body (how to perform the task or what content the reader requires) and a conclusion (the reader has reached the goal, what other learning or next steps might be needed).
9 Use clear simple language: The story or information should be enough to compel and engage the reader. Fanciful language can get in the way of this.
10 Read your text out loud: Direct writing should sound like a friend speaking to you. This is an easy way to test that.
11 Love your editor: Many writers fear editors but they are here to help you. A second set of fresh eyes can find new places to improve a document.
12 Enjoy the process: It makes following all the other steps a lot easier.

This issue we highlight events in the news:

• Chapter wins for Pacesetter award
• Members acclaim officers at AGM
• Search extended for VP
• Contractors and Independent Consultants regroup

Programs at a glance

Report on Report on April program with Rahel Anne Bailie

Proper content management allows content to be used and reused in different ways. Rahel presented examples of websites exhibiting good and poor content management. Big budgets don’t necessarily result in better managed content. Content rich entities like air carriers and public utilities come close to failing while offbeat tricycles and robotic vacuums demonstrated some of the best managed content. Read the full article, http://bit.ly/JLwJS6.

May 15, 2012 - Why Storytelling? with Hazel MacClement

This program explains why technical writers must be good storytellers. Hazel MacClement Desharnais knows a thing or two about telling a good story. After all, she produced the popular consumer segment Olsen on Your Side. This session is appropriate for anyone who needs to persuade. Make sure to register, http://bit.ly/IkEQRz
The May program concludes our program year. We’re back again in September.
Thinking you want to present? Ping us, programs@stcwestcoast.ca.

Hot stuff!

Pacesetter award

We applied. We won! The chapter wins Pacesetter Award for Information Interview Service. STC recognized the Canada West Coast chapter:
For offering an information interview service for the dozens of people wanting to speak to experienced chapter technical communicators about our profession.
The award was earned for a successful implementation of a single beneficial innovation that may be implemented by other STC communities. The citation will be read at the Honors Banquet at the STC Summit. On behalf of the chapter, thank you Karen Rempel for proposing the IIS, then implementing this brilliant idea!
The Information Interview Service pairs aspiring writers for short interviews with senior technical writers. Get paired up, info-interview@stcwestcoast.ca.
Read the article in Intercom, http://bit.ly/Hx91HR

Summit

If you’re going to the STC Summit banquet, you have not one but two chances to make some noise for the chapter. Our own Heather Sommerville, Associate Fellow, will be inducted to the hall of honored members, and the chapter will receive a citation for the Pacesetter Award. http://summit.stc.org/

AGM news

Executive positions were acclaimed at our Annual General Meeting ahead of the April program. We heard the President’s report and the Treasurer’s report. Basically, membership is up and revenue is down. To accommodate leadership transition and strategic planning, we’ll continue to work on issues over the summer. The new execs take over on June 1 and the lineup for 2012/13 shapes up this way:

• President - Mellissa Ruryk
• Vice President - open
• Secretary - Rob Hughes
• Treasurer - Mary Metzger
• Past President - Pam Drucker
• Director - Heather Sommerville

Highlights and realities

We are a member organization. You choose to belong. You opt to serve. Right now could be your time. The chapter seeks members and non-members to provide vital services voluntarily. Support and expand your professional interests, volunteer@stcwestcoast.ca.
We are accepting applications for the position of chapter vice president. Members in good standing are eligible to put your own name forward. If the VP position fits with your capacities and interests, reply with your professional biography, your relationship with STC and the direction or ideas you would support. Submit these materials no later than May 31 to president@stcwestcoast.ca

Contractors & Independent Consultants SIG

A big thank you for those who attended the Consultants and Independent Contractors (CIC) meeting. It’s been a while but not for lack of interest for this special interest group. Linda Farnworth lead the coffee meetings and eight CICers helped make the event a fun gathering. Yes, despite the joy of homework, some of us were grateful for the push. Whether you need advice on developing a portfolio or a little nudge/encouragement to do your own thing, just drop in. We hope to see everyone again on June 5. Same place and time. The special interest group regroups on the first Tuesday of the month. Check the home page for details or join the mailing list, cicsig@stcwestcoast.ca.
Read the minutes, http://www.stcwestcoast.ca/index.php/forums/viewthread/165/.

Coast Lines, member forums and other news

The chapter’s newsletter blog carries photos and articles about programs. Got something to say? Say it in Coast Lines. Contact the web editor. newsletter@stcwestcoast.ca

Member admission

A reminder: STC members pay $5 with valid ID. The council voted to impose a $5 fee on itself and members effective January 2012. Admission rates for students and not-yet-members remain the same.
However, those wanting to attend but see admission as a barrier consider the Information Interview Service as an option. For a $10 donation, we pair senior technical writers with people wanting to learn how to break in to the field. You don’t need to be a student for this offering. After you meet with the senior technical writer you receive a coupon good for the next month’s program. Read more about the Information Interview Service, http://bit.ly/yTLoze.
Not yet an STC member? Get the scoop on joining, http://bit.ly/f2QHPo.

Photos

We use photos to accompany meeting reports to promote chapter activities on the chapter website. That’s it. When you register for a program you’ll see the photo permission form. We give you a chance to opt out if that’s your wish. Raise your hand before the meeting starts.

STC ID

Dog ate your ID? You can always print it from the self-service area on MySTC. Make sure you’re logged in, http://bit.ly/luInMt.
Job bank, Members forum, Contractors listing
The job bank is a self-service area, open 24/7. Anyone can post. Members can view, http://bit.ly/AqFkgm.
For an intelligent discussion check out the Members Forum. Open to chapter members, http://bit.ly/xrXDik.
When you join the chapter, we ask if you want to be included in the Contractor listings. If you said No but meant Yes just let the membership manager know, membership@stcwestcoast.ca.

Soft sell

We reach 600-700 email subscribers every month. Great news if you’re thinking of advertising or sponsorship. Let us know, http://bit.ly/wtHAPm.
If you want to subscribe go to http://bit.ly/yUrnoj.
If you no longer want to receive messages let us know, membership@stcwestcoast.ca.

STC vision & mission

Technical communication is recognized as an essential part of every organization’s competitive strategy. Society for Technical Communication: http://www.stc.org
STC advances the theory and practice of technical communication across all user abilities and media so that both businesses and customers benefit from safe, appropriate, and effective use of products, information, and services.

About Canada West Coast

We are a geographic community of the Society for Technical Communication, a worldwide association dedicated to the advancement of the theory and practice of technical communication. Our community represents technical communicators throughout British Columbia. Canada West Coast chapter: http://www.stcwestcoast.ca 
Send general inquiries to: info@stcwestcoast.ca

Find us fast

• Twitter: http://twitter.com/#/stccwc
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/stccwc
• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=122291

Join, get active and engage with your chapter!

Pam Drucker

president@stcwestcoast.ca

An archive can be found here: http://bit.ly/JcSVoo

In fact, companies do not agree on what content is. Some think of content as every piece of written material from online help to social media materials. Programmers may think of content as data between tags. To relate, Rahel told of wearing a nerdy T-shirt where the slogan was enclosed in XML tags. Those wandering the conference floor parsed the tags and simply acknowledged “Valid!” Point taken. Content unnoticed.

Cycle v chain
Given that content can have a variety of uses and contexts, it is important that a strategy be in place to measure its full value. Rahel pointed out that many companies treat content like tissues—use once then toss. Proper content management treats content in different ways and uses it several times over. Content management should be thought as more of a cycle than a chain. A system that governs the management of the content through the entire cycle should be repeatable.
Assess and specialize
Since content can be used in so many ways, there can be many specializations. Within content management there is DITA, online help systems, and Rahel likened this to the specializations in medicine. After receiving a basis in medicine, a student may then specialize in plastic surgery, podiatry, or psychiatry. Beyond the general background, there may not be any overlap in what medical specialists offer patients. The common basis shared by content managers should be the ability to recognize good content.
Auditing is not for amateurs
Considering how many ways are available to manage content, it should be assigned to someone with a strong understanding of the goals and strategy for this content. Despite corporate thinking that content management is as simple as training a few employees on CMS software, content management is too complex to leave to amateurs. As Rahel pointed out, these decision-makers haven’t grasped how to use styles in Word.
Since so many options are available an audit would need to be conducted to determine what content is needed. Returning to the medicine comparison, you wouldn’t need to see a plastic surgeon, podiatrist, and psychiatrist for the flu just because those options were available. The audit is also key in defining project deliverables (as deliverables are needed to get paid).

Improving content passionately
Rahel then presented some examples of poor content management from a national air carrier and a public utility, one of which improved after she applied her CM expertise. Good examples of content management included instructional videos, written instruction, and referrals to similar articles and even videos hosted on YouTube. She understood that proper content management was really about serving a customer. Whether designing a system for a home appliance or a public utility, Rahel spoke passionately and engagingly about the need for an overall content strategy. How dedicated is Rahel to all things content? The presentation concluded with image of her licence plate “XML”.