Newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter
February/March 2006
| Newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter February/March 2006 |
This fall, for the first time since 2002, we had a technical communication competition in the Northern California area. The Berkeley Chapter sponsored the competition, and the STC Kenneth Gordon Scholarship committee managed it. We had 21 entries, resulting in proceeds of approximately $2,000.00 for the scholarship fund. Two entries (one print, one online) earned Distinguished awards and went on to the international competitions. You can find the list of winners on the Berkeley Chapter Web site (stc-berkeley.org/Berkeley_Pubs_Competition/includes/Awards_Text.htm).
We announced the competition winners and displayed their entries at the Berkeley Chapter meeting in January. The display is available to other chapters. The San Francisco Chapter displayed the entries at their January meeting, and the East Bay Chapter plans to do so in February.
Up until 2002 we had an annual competition called Touchstone. Because of the long-term economic downturn that followed the dotcom bubble, the 2002 competition was only moderately successful, and we were unable to put on a competition in 2003 and 2004. In 2005 the local chapter presidents, led by Susan Becker, tried to revive Touchstone. They worked valiantly, but they were unable to assemble the considerable resources needed to put on a full-scale Touchstone competition. At the end of July they announced that they would not go forward.
The STC Kenneth Gordon Scholarship depends upon competition proceeds to support its scholarship program. In August, the scholarship board decided to put on a scaled-down, no-frills competition to fill the gap. The Berkeley Chapter agreed to sponsor this competition. By holding expenses to an absolute minimum, we were able to earn a substantial amount for the scholarship fund, even though the number of entries was much smaller than in prior competitions.
The STC Kenneth Gordon Scholarship thanks the Berkeley Chapter board and the following volunteers: Nancy Baltz, Melody Brumis, Joseph Devney, Jim Dexter, Judith M. Herr, Jessica Livingston, Patrick Lufkin, Richard Mateosian, Joy Montgomery, Gwaltney Mountford, Sue Phelan, Hillary Russak, Marc Smircich, Vince Swanson, Linda Urban, and Anne Wilson. Without their support the competition would not have taken place, let alone been the success it was.
Copyright © 2006 by the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter (www.stc-sf.org). This article may be reprinted in another STC publication under the provisions of the chapter's copyright policy.