Technical Editing SIG Members:

If you're attending the STC Summit this month, we'd love to meet with you!

Let's get the conference started off right by meeting for breakfast at the hotel's restaurant, o'h American Grill, on Monday, May 21, at 6 AM. Yeah, it's early (!). But, this way, we'll have plenty of time to chat before registration opens at 7:30.

Reservations are not mandatory, but they are appreciated (so that we can let the restaurant know how many people we're expecting). Please RSVP by

• replying in Zerista
• sending a tweet or direct message to @virtual_li or @stc_te_sig
• sending an email to

by Sunday, May 20, at 5 PM CT (UTC-5 hours).

Rick Sapir and I will see you there!

Li-At Ruttenberg
Fundraiser Events Manager
STC Technical Editing SIG

We are proud to announce that our SIG received a 2011 Pacesetter Award, "For broadening our use of MySTC in ways that expand our reach to members, fostering interactive communication, and automating the broadcast of SIG activities to multiple channels—all while promoting the MySTC network."

Woo-hoo! And thank you to everyone who participates in making our SIG a
substantive SIG.

Li-At Ruttenberg
Fundraiser Events Manager
STC Technical Editing SIG

The Technical Editing SIG is offering two scholarships of $1400 each.

The first scholarship assists students who are pursuing an undergraduate degree in Technical Communication (or a related area, such as professional writing or digital media) and the second assists students who are pursuing a graduate degree in Technical Communication (or a related area, such as professional writing or digital media). Students applying for one of these scholarships are expected to be able to demonstrate their focus on topics related to technical editing through their academic studies, current jobs, special projects, or undergraduate/graduate program. The winners will be announced in Corrigo, the Technical Editing SIG Newsletter.

The program materials are now available at the link below for the March 28 TE SIG quarterly meeting and webinar entitled, “Challenges in Editing When English is Not the Writer’s’ Native Language.” The taped webinar is embedded in the page and can be viewed or downloaded. To access the presentation handouts and a downloadable-only version of the webinar, scroll down to the “Access the Handouts” section of the page and click on the file gallery link.

http://www.stc-techedit.org/Challenges+Editing+ESL+Writers

To provide an evaluation of the program please click on the following link.

http://www.stc-techedit.org/survey15

Once again the Technical Editing SIG has the honor of accepting a highly prized award from the Society for Technical Communication. The Award of Excellence will be presented to the SIG at the upcoming annual Technical Communication Summit in May 2012.

In bestowing this award, the STC lauded the Technical Editing SIG's innovation and vitality, noting,

“You are doing a superb job of showing energy and enthusiasm among your dispersed membership.”

The society summed up the SIG's prize-winning accomplishments for 2011 as follows

“For your development of the innovative Watercooler chat sessions, which are an inspiration to other communities, and for your continued commitment to your Scholarship program, plus your continued strong presence in social media, all of which strengthen your focus on quality and add value for members.”

Congratulations to the members and volunteers of the Technical Editing SIG for a job well done!

Election results for the SIG for 2012 are in. Congratulations and welcome to the newly elected board members! The election winners include the following:

• Lori Meyer, Co-manager
• Dan Riechers, Treasurer
• Lara Tellis, Secretary
• Andrea Wenger, Membership manager

These four SIG leaders, together with returning co-manager Carol Lamarche, will work together with a group of talented SIG volunteers to guide and develop the SIG in the upcoming year.

Thanks to the new board members for their willingness to serve the SIG in 2012, and to everyone who voted and helped make it happen!

Here’s to the Technical Editing SIG in 2012!

Carol Lamarche and Jeff Japp
Co-managers 2011

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2011 Diane Feldman STC Technical Editing SIG Scholarship!

The program materials are now available at the link below for the July 20 quarterly meeting and webinar entitled, “Style Guides and Style Manuals: Vital Tools in an Editor’s Toolkit.” The taped webinar is embedded in the page and can be viewed or downloaded. To access the presentation handouts and a downloadable-only version of the webinar, scroll down to the “Access the Handouts” section of the page and click on the file gallery link.
http://www.stc-techedit.org/Style+Guides

The Technical Editing SIG is delighted to announce that all positions have now been filled for its new programming committee.

Please join us in welcoming these new SIG leaders:

• Ann Marie Queeney - Quarterly Meetings Manager
• Li-At Ruttenberg - Fundraising Events Manager
• Joanne Henry - Watercooler Chats Manager

This is an important development for the SIG, and we celebrate the volunteer contributions of these new leaders. Programming is an essential part of the SIG's award-winning offerings, and we look forward delivering more terrific programming that SIG members prize.

The SIG's programming activities are well underway as we plan for the rest of 2011 and into 2012. Our next program will be a SIG quarterly meeting, featuring a special presentation by SIG member and STC Fellow Bette Frick: "Style Guides and Style Manuals: Vital Tools in an Editor's Toolkit." Please join this webinar on July 20, 2011 (free to members).

Again, a hearty welcome to Ann Marie, Li-At, and Joanne. We're excited to have you on board!

For the second year in a row, the Technical Editing SIG has received an Award of Excellence in the APEX (Awards for Publication Excellence) — a competition for communications professionals. The APEX awards are based on excellence in graphic design, editorial content, and the ability to achieve overall communication excellence. Once again, our website was recognized an an exceptional entry in the website category.

For more information, including a list of all winners, see http://apexawards.com/announcingthewinners_2011.htm.

May Post-Summit Announcements

1. Technical Editing SIG wins a Pacesetter Award
2. Volunteer Meeting this Thursday, May 26
3. MySTC Goes Live
4. Welcome, New Members

The Technical Editing SIG is on the new MySTC social network! It is a great way to meet and connect with others. Our group on the MySTC network is open to anyone — even non-STC members.

So check it out: http://stc.org/mystc/groups/viewgroup/116-Technical+Editing

And don't forget to "like" us!

For background on the MySTC network, see
http://notebook.stc.org/the-my-stc-network-is-open-for-business/

Congratulations to the winners of the 2010 Diane Feldman Technical Editing SIG Scholarships!


Congratulations also to the winner of a special one-time scholarship offered by the Carolina Chapter in honor of Diane Feldman!

The Technical Editing SIG is proud to recognize one of its members with the Distinguished SIG Service Award, or DSSA. Started in 2002, this DSSA recognizes exemplary dedication of a member to a SIG and its activities. Three basic criteria are considered in identifying nominees for the DSSA: length of SIG membership, consistency of service over time, and the variety of service.

Looking for an editing job? In addition to the SIG's Employment page which provides member-to-member leads (SIG members only) and a collection of syndicated jobs from across the globe, the SIG Toolbar now delivers new job opportunities directly to your browser.

Select Resources > Employment to get a continually updated list of Editing jobs.



Don't have the SIG Toolbar yet? You can install it right now (available for Firefox, IE, and Safari).

The Technical Editing SIG was the focus of this week's SIG Spotlight, a weekly feature of the STC Blog that gives a closer look at one of STC's communities.


Read the article at http://notebook.stc.org/sig-spotlight-technical-editing-sig.

There are many definitions of a technical editor. We have created a wiki page that lists definitions as contributed by members of the profession. Click here to view the definitions and contribute your own definition.

We have also created a wiki page to collect the ways that technical editors provide value in organizations. Click here to view the page and to contribute to it.

The Technical Editing SIG renamed its scholarship as the Diane Feldman Technical Editing SIG Scholarship.

The scholarship is named in honor of a dear friend of the SIG, Diane Feldman. Diane Feldman is an Associate Fellow of STC and was the manager of the Technical Editing SIG for 7 years. Her exceptional leadership, selfless contributions, and enthusiasm for the SIG and the technical editing profession helped the SIG pull through society changes, managed to successfully re-charter and re-focus the SIG, and ultimately initiated a thriving and growing SIG. She mentored many of the SIG leaders throughout their tenures, leaving a lasting mark on those leaders and their careers.

Congratulations to the winners of the Scholarship 2009 Society for Technical Communication Technical Editing Special Interest Group scholarships!

This article was originally published in Technically Write, the newsletter of the Lonestar Community. It is reprinted here with permission.

The Technical Editing SIG has nominated and recognized one of its members with the Distinguished SIG Service Award, or DSSA. Started in 2002, this DSSA recognizes exemplary dedication of a member to a SIG and its activities. Three basic criteria are considered in identifying nominees for the DSSA: length of SIG membership, consistency of service over time, and the variety of service.