STC Lone Star Chapter Winter Seminar--Presentation Abstracts

Subject: STC Lone Star Chapter Winter Seminar--Presentation Abstracts
From: Binion Amerson <aba -at- OC -dot- COM>
Date: Fri, 7 Jan 1994 13:48:07 -0800

"OPERATING YOUR ENVIRONMENT"
Abstracts of Presentations
1994 STC Lone Star Chapter Winter Seminar and Competition Awards Banquet
Sheraton Grand Hotel
4440 W. John Carpenter Freeway
Irving, Texas
January 14-15, 1994

STC Lone Star Chapter, serving technical communicators in the Dallas/Fort
Worth area of North Texas, will hold its 1994 Winter Seminar and
Competition Awards Banquet at the Sheraton Grand Hotel, 4440 West John
Carpenter Freeway (Highway 114 and Esters Boulevard), Irving, Texas,
January 14-15, 1994.

Registration on both days is from 8 to 8:45 am. Friday's sessions run from
8:45 am to 4:15 pm. The Vendor's Exhibit is from 4 to 7 pm Friday; the
Competition Award Banquet starts at 7 pm on Friday. Saturday's sessions
run from 8:45 to 4:15 pm.

SYNOPSIS OF SPEAKERS' PRESENTATIONS:

Natural Environment:

"Technical Communicating in Work, Natural, and Technical Environments."
Friday Keynote by Binion Amerson, Director-Sponsor, STC Region 5. The
Society for Technical Communication and its members have come a long way in
40 years. We have gone from pencil, paper, erasers, typewriters, and
printing presses to desktop and electronic publishing with computers and
laser printers. We work in various environments, and communicate
information about many fields. This presentation uses Binion's
professional experiences over the last 30 years to enlighten you about
writing, editing, and illustrating material from computer manuals to
environmental impact statements.

"Indoor Air Quality." Carrie Ellison with the Environmental Protection
Agency will discuss the air we breathe at the office, its effect on us, and
what we can do to improve it. In addition, she will provide insight on
improved office lighting technologies.

"Health Concepts for the '90s." Do you wish that leading a healthier life
was easier? Lonn Hutcheson of BIOMEC will cover simple things that
attendees can do to improve their health. His presentation includes diet
and excercise for the busy, office-bound professional.

"Ergonomics." During this presentation, attendees will discover how they
can make themselves more comfortable in the office environment, and how
they can present information to users in an ergonomically sensitive way.
Lonn Hutcheson will demonstrate techniques for desk set-up and involve the
class in ergonomic exercises.

"Editing Tips for the Environment." Technical communicators will learn
about writing for the environmental sciences at Cheryl-Lynn Walker's
entertaining presentation. Cheryl-Lynn, of TechEdits in Albuquerque, NM,
will present a humorous look at common errors in grammar, syntax, and
spelling, using cartoons drawn from actual documents. From these cartoons,
Cheryl-Lynn will provide information on solutions to the error, and on the
types of documents that environmental technical writers produce.

"How to Start and Run a Corporate Recycling Program." Marilyn May will
share her experiences in starting an award-winning recycling program for
AT&T. Discover what items are recyclable, which of these are marketable
(and where), and how to motivate others to recycle.

"Current Waves: Electromagnetic Radiation Alternatives." Is your monitor
dangerous? Susan Gregory will provide information on evaluating equipment
that produces electromagnetic radiation and how you can reduce or eliminate
exposure.

Business Environment:

"Project Management." In this presentaiton, Larry Arnold--a certified
Project Management Professional employed by IBM--will discuss the
definition and framework for successfully managing projects. He will
describe the core and facilitating functions of a project manager, and will
introduce professional certification.

"Total Quality Management." Kay Goodier will provide an overview of the
Total Quality Management process she leads for Northern Telecom's Product
Information group. Kay will share the models she has developed for basic
quality control, performance quality improvement, and quality excitement
planning, specifically targeted for the documentation environment.

"Managing People Better in the '90s: The Six Rules." Management consultant
John Cortright believes that managers have a responsibility to improve the
work life of the people with whom they work. In this presentation, he will
share the six basic rules he has developed to make the work environment
conducive to personal and professional growth.

"Managing Your Career." Personal responsibility for your career is no
longer good advice, it is a necessity. Lone Star Chapter President Karen
Steele will assist attendees in assessing their strengths and weaknesses,
developing goals and a master plan, and putting that master plan to work
for them.

"ISO9000--What Does It Mean?" Charles Moncrief will share his experiences
as a technical communicator who assists companies achieve ISO9000
registration. What do the ISO9000 standards mean? Is registration
necessary, or even desirable, for your organization? If so, what level of
ISO9000 is appropriate? Charles will answer these questions and more
during his presentation.

"Team-Created Style Guides." Does your work group cringe at the thought of
developing a style guide together? Judy Skinner and Jean Lindsey provide
an overview of the process, tools, and pitfalls their team used to develop
new style guides at IBM.

Technical Environment:

"Graphical User Interface Design for Technical Communicators." Dr. Susan
Weinschenk will repeat her popular GUI Design session from STC's 40th
Annual Conference. She will explain the role of technical communicators in
meeting users' needs for clear, well-designed icons, and will warn of
design errors and common mistakes.

"Systems and Programming Documentatin Skills for Technical Communicators
with No DP Background." Judy Glick-Smith helps technical communicators
transfer the skills they have developed in writing user docuemntation to
preparing internal systems documentation. The workshop teaches technical
communicators what to include in internal documentation, how to interview
and work with technical people, and how to "read" and evaluate code.

"Editing Workshop." Linda Bell, the Lone Star Chapter's queen of editing,
will explain the tools of editing and introduce three types of edits.
Using interactive exercises, Linda will guide attendees through editing for
correctiveness, editing for simplicity, and editing for completeness.

"Indexing Workshop." Indexing is a basic skill, but it is in even greater
demand as technical communicators jump into the world of hypertext. Make
sure you understand the basics of this complex topic by attending Larry
Bonura's indexing workshop.

"Producing a Nifty Newsletter." This workshop is specifically for those
who participate in the production of newsletters. Mary McWilliams Johnson,
immediate past editor of Technically Write, will concentrate on typography,
design/formatting, and editing. Attendees will carry away a comprehensive
handbook as a reference tool.

In addition to these and other presentations, the STC Lone Star Chapter
Winter Seminar will include:
* Stimulating luncheon discussions led by SIGs and wannabe SIGs.
* Informative Vendor Exhibits.
* Exhibit of award winning Lone Star Chapter's Technical Publications and
Art Competition entries.
* Competition Award Banquet.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION:

Conference Fees:
__ Friday and Saturday $125 (Student $75)
__ Friday Only $75
__ Saturday Only $75
Conference fees cover admission to seminar, lunch, refreshments, and vendor
exhibit.

Awards Banquet (Friday evening):
__ STC Member $18
__ Non-Member $20

To register, send your name, title, address, telephone number and check
(payable to STC Lone Star Chapter) to:
Lori O'Regan
304 Chestnut Cove Circle
Southlake, Texas 76092-9249
Attendees also may register at the door. For hotel reservations, call the
Sheraton Grand at 1/800/325-3535.

If you wish to only attend the Competition Awards Banquet, call (by noon
Wednesday, January 12) the STC Lone Star Chapter reservations line at metro
817/540-5494 to make your reservations. Those that do not pay in advance
or who do not make an advance reservation for the Awards Banquet will be
charged an additional $5.00.

For additional information about the STC Lone Star Chapter Winter Seminar,
please call Lori O'Regan at 214/933-4314.

Binion Amerson, aba -at- oc -dot- com
Director-Sponsor, STC Region 5
****************************************************************************
Binion Amerson, Senior Technical Writer, OpenConnect Systems, 2711 LBJ, Ste
800, Dallas, TX 75234, Ph 214/888-0447; Fax 214/484-6100; Email aba -at- oc -dot- com
Director-Sponsor, Society for Technical Communication (STC) Region 5.
****************************************************************************


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