This year our chapter is bringing an exciting new information interview service to the technical writing community in Vancouver.
The information interview service connects volunteer senior technical writers with people who are requesting information interviews, whether they are tech writing students who are required to do interviews for their programs, or people considering entering the field of tech writing. The service offers a 30- to 60-minute interview (length is at the discretion of the senior writer). It could be in person or on the phone, depending on what the two people decide. This service will raise awareness of our chapter, bring new people to program meetings, and hopefully generate new memberships for the chapter.
As information interview coordinator, I will match up the requesters with senior writers, by going sequentially through a roster of volunteers. This service will be advertised on our STC CWC website starting in September, and I also invite you to advertise it or link to it on your own websites, as I’m sure many of you get requests for info interviews each year.
We are going to ask for a donation of $10 for the service. The donation will be optional, so that money is not a barrier to those seeking an interview. In return for the donation, the requester will receive the interview and possibly admission to the next program meeting after the interview.
Requiring less of a time commitment than mentorship, this is an opportunity for you to share your valuable experience and insights with people who are new to the field of technical writing. It’s also a chance to help raise money for our chapter. I hope you will see the value in this service and be willing to offer your help. At this point I am estimating that each volunteer senior writer might be requested to do one or two information interviews per year.
I’d like to thank the chapter executive and program team for their support in working out the details of this exciting new service. We’re almost there now! And though all the nitty gritty details haven’t been totally ironed out yet, we’ve already got 10 volunteer senior writers and have two interviews completed or in progress. Clearly this service is answering a real need in the community.
Please let me know if I can add your name to the roster of senior technical writers for this service. Either reply here in the forum, or send me an email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). I am excited about this opportunity to strengthen our chapter’s bonds with the Vancouver community at large, and I welcome you all to be a part of it.
Warmly,
