Karen Rempel, a past president of the Canada West Coast chapter, presented several STC International Summit prize-winning entries at the Sept 10 event.
STC Canada Westcoast’s 2016-2017 Kick-off Presentation was hosted by Karen Rempel on September 10, 2016. This informative presentation featured winners from the video entry category of this year’s STC International Summit Awards.
Karen explained the structure and purpose of the awards as well as the judging criteria. Judges based their decisions on a few key areas: audience, purpose, appropriateness, effectiveness, professionalism, substance, accuracy, and technical complexity.
She made the point that every entry gets feedback from three judges, and individual judges are offered guidance for individual assessing as well as team consensus judging in four categories: informational, instructional, promotional, and user support.
This constructive and professional feedback is valuable for all entrants in improving their quality of writing, and can be applied to further polishing their technical communication skills for future projects.
Argonne Winter Footwear Safety Video (Distinguished Award)
This winter footwear safety video was created by Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois for their employees. It caught the viewer’s attention within the first few seconds and held it for the duration of this short, yet powerful presentation. It was stylish and kept the viewer guessing as the video drew to a close with an element of surprise and humor. The video successfully captured the company’s message in under a few minutes and was extremely successful in changing employee behavior regarding safety in the workplace.
As a result of the video, Argonne has reduced employee injuries in the workplace. Argonne featured their senior management team in the video which provided familiarity to the audience. It also measured up to judging criteria through quality lighting, effective planning, and smooth transitions. The readability and design of each slide was clear and the music selection was appropriate for the content. The overall coherence of the video was strong with the audio and visual elements complementing one another.
Material Hoist Instructional Video (Best of Show Award)
This video was created as a mandatory instructional video for all SolarCity solar panel installers. The filming site was at an active job site in California. Through filming on-site, and with real employees, viewers could relate to what they were seeing and apply it towards their workplace tasks while reinforcing their attitudes around safety.
A Spanish subtitled version was also available for Spanish-speaking employees. This video was praised by judges for being flawless, and setting a new standard for communicating product knowledge, best practices, and safety.
Through viewing the winning entries, it became clear that successful videos must present both visual and audio elements that are engaging, clear, and informative. The presentations must flow smoothly and transitions should not be distracting. In order to achieve clarity, videos should also include a strong introduction of the topic, and carefully consider the audience and tone. Narration, animation, and text are all areas which can heavily influence video quality.
For those interested in a chance to compete in the 2017 International Summit Awards, please submit entries to the ISA Regional Competition by October 28, 2016.
Amy Takeda has a Bachelor of Business degree from Kwantlen Polytechnic University and is completing the technical writing certificate program at BCIT. She plans to specialize in technical documentation for the business, technology, and industrial sectors.