If you’re a student in a technical communication program in your final year of study, you should apply for the 2009/2010 Julia Broderick Scholarship Award. The recipient of the award receives $750 for professional development costs: tuition, STC membership, workshops, and other programs. The application deadline is March 31, 2010, so don’t delay! Find out more about the Julia Broderick Scholarship Award here.

STC CWC has one complimentary ticket for the MadCap Software 2010 Roadshow. It’s up for grabs - all you have to do is write a quick blurb about the event afterwards for Coast Lines. Leave a comment in the Madap 2010 Roadshow forum thread. We’ll pick one person at random at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 26.

Eagranie Yuh
President, STC CWC

All you have to do is attend the January program meeting, where we’ll be raffling off this great prize. See you there, and good luck!

Renew your STC membership online before midnight on December 16th and be entered to win an Amazon Kindle or one of five iPod Shuffles. Renew online here.

The STC is also offering support for 400 members affected by the recession. There is a Full Recovery Package (worth ($215 U.S.) and a Subsidy Recovery Package (worth $65 U.S.). More information about these packages is available here, along with eligibility requirements and application details. All applications must be received by 5 PM EST (GMT-5) Thursday, 31 December 2009.

We’re pleased to be bringing back professional development workshops, starting in October with Tak Ishikawa’s workshop on conflict resolution.

We’ve also brought back the documentation competition. This recognition of the best technical documentation in the region is a great way to highlight the talented technical writers working in British Columbia. The competition is being organized by Liessi Haussler of Cyberscribe Solutions, with the assistance of our chapter advisor, Pam Drucker. Cyberscribe Solutions is also the food and beverage sponsor of our program meetings, for which we are very grateful. Thanks, Liessi!

If you’re a contractor, prospective contractor, or just want to meet some really great technical writers in an informal setting, be sure to check out a contractors special interest group (SIG) meeting. The contractors SIG meets the first Tuesday of each month at St. Augustine’s (formerly The End Cafe) on Commercial Drive. The next meeting is on Tuesday, October 6th at 7:00 p.m. 

Our newsletter team has been hard at work. Check out the latest issue of Coastlines for insightful articles, program meeting reviews, and other news. I talk about the chapter theme and goals for the year in my welcome message.

STC CWC is your community. Whether you’re a member, a past member, a student in a technical communication program, or someone thinking about becoming a technical communicator, we welcome you to join us.

Eagranie Yuh
President, STC CWC
president@stcwestcoast.ca

Darren Barefoot, an expert in social media and more, will be speaking at the September 15 meeting. See his website at http://www.darrenbarefoot.com.
Takuro Ishikawa, who has worked extensively in this area in his native Colombia, is presenting a conflict resolution workshop in downtown Vancouver on Oct. 24. Pricing and registration information will be available soon. See his blog at Kettles of Fish.
Doug Burns, a business coach and motivational speaker, will present at our November 17 meeting. We will be meeting at a different venue than our usual one. His web site is at The Power of Two.

Rahel Bailie, who was recently awarded the title of STC Fellow, will present a workshop on content strategy in November.

For our January meeting, we have Karen Rempel, past STC West Coast president, guiding us through “Yoga for the Office”, which will provide a refreshing opportunity for a new beginning after holiday indulgences.

For February, during the Olympics, we may choose to have a virtual meeting. Your input is welcome.
Eagranie is working on an interesting concept for our March meeting, which will likely involve member participation.

We are still considering options for other months.

Our lineup looks great, and we want you to be a part of it again. Thanks again for your support in 2008-2009.

The first step to success is to visit our competition page. Good luck!