Event Description
As technical communicators, we are always looking for ways to make an impact with our work. Come join the STC Canada West Coast chapter for a day of learning how you can make a difference. The event will have two tracks: one for students and new technical communicators and one for those more seasoned in the field. Topics will include how to find a writing job, writing successful résumés, tricks for writing successful grant proposals, and the benefits of working with a career coach.
During the day, you will have the opportunity to attend four sessions, have lots of time to network with other professionals and win door prizes. For those interested, there will be a networking lunch at Dunn’s Famous next to the VSO School of Music.
About the Event
Date: Saturday, January 31, 2015
Event Registration and networking: 9:30 a.m.
Sessions: 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time (Lunch: 12:15–1:15 p.m.)
Location: VSO School of Music, 843 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC.
Refreshments: Light refreshments will be provided in the morning and afternoon.
Members and Students: $85
Non-Members: $105
If you would like to share the event information, download the poster for MakingTracks created for us by Randy at Made You Look Creative.
[button_icon icon=”none” url=”https://stcwestcoast.ca/registration” size=”middle” colour=”red”]Register Now[/button_icon]
Schedule and Speakers:
TRACK 1: For Seasoned Technical Communicators
Non-Native Speakers of English: Common Writing Errors & the Role of the Editor
Ever work with non-native English speakers and struggle? If you work as a writer in Vancouver, you will eventually need to edit the writing of non-native speakers of English. In this session, we’ll look at examples of common errors, talk about why they occur, and discuss strategies to improve clarity.
Speaker: Mark Matsuno is a technical writer with more than 12 years of experience as technical translator specializing Japanese-to-English translations of engineering and manufacturing documents.
Public Speaking for Technical Communicators
Do you have a presentation coming up at work or school and dreading like the plague? Did your heart palpitate at the mere thought of public speaking? In this session, you’ll obtain tips on how to prepare technical presentations for technical and non-technical audiences and the common rules to follow for a successful public speaking engagement. Includes an introduction to Ayurvedic breathing exercises.
Speaker: Mala has worked in the Software Development industry for over 15 years wearing several hats: technical communicator, documentation manager, trainer, product manager, business analyst, and usability designer. After making friends with her own public speaking fears with help from Toastmasters International, Mala has learned many techniques for conquering on-the-job jitters while preparing for and delivering presentations to customers and colleagues in Canada and abroad.
Grant vs. Proposal Writing Tips and Tricks
Interested in grant writing but, never know where to start? Attend this session to learn some tips and tricks from April Britski. By the end of the session you should have a better idea of how to tackle this type of writing in the future.
Speaker: April Britski is the Executive Director of the Canadian Artists Representation. For the last decade she has been writing grants and proposals as part of her job. Her success is demonstrated by the projects and resources the organization has currently.
API Documentation
Have you ever been confused about API Documentation? In this session, the mystery around what it is, how it’s used and why programmers should care about it will be unlocked. By the end of the presentation you should have a much better understanding of your role as a technical communicator in the world of API documentation.
Speaker: Lois Patterson is Technical Publications Manager at FINCAD. She loves finding new ways to develop, discover, and present information.
TRACK 2: For Students and New Professionals
How to Find a Job in Vancouver
Ever been completely overwhelmed or frustrated by the job search? Come to Heidi Turner’s session to get tips on how to look for in-house versus contract work, where the jobs are (in-house vs. contract), what industries have lots of work and what type of writing is in demand. Heidi will also be discussing the importance of having a niche.
Speaker: Heidi Turner is a freelance legal and medical writer. She runs the free blog vancouverwritingjobs.com, where she posts writing jobs and contracts in the Vancouver area. She has given talks about careers and contracts in writing at the University of the Fraser Valley, the University of Victoria and MagNet (the annual conference for Magazines Canada).
Networking and Informational Interviews Unlocked
Ever been overwhelmed by the job search? Come to this session to discuss how networking and informational interviews can be a powerful job search tool. Autumn Jonssen will share her networking strategy that resulted in success and Wendy Hollingshead will share tips on how to use informational interviews to find your dream job.
Speakers: Wendy Hollingshead is a Technical Writer with a background in Human Resources and training. She has lived in Vancouver all her life and enjoys working with others to develop their job search skills to pursue their career goals. Autumn Jonssen is a Curriculum Developer and current STC CWC president. She spent the first two years in Vancouver freelancing and through networking landed her current position at a local health care college.
Resume Workshop
Maintaining your résumé is essential to landing your next job or contracting gig. In the online world, developing your visibility is critical. In this interactive session, Paul Raworth Bennett will share some tips and tricks for creating a powerful résumé and will briefly address what you need to do to stand out online.
This will be an interactive session, so please email your résumé well in advance to “paul at paulraworthbennett dot com” (you may also wish to bring a printed copy). Laptops or tablets would be handy as well, but are not essential.
Speaker: Paul Raworth Bennett has been a résumé specialist for over 11 years and is currently expanding his practice to include online identity consulting. A former IT consultant and technical writer himself, Paul’s a language junkie and enthusiastic marketeer and has studied online identity and personal branding with industry-leading Reach Communications.
Career Planning Demystified
Have you experienced bewilderment about your career direction? In this interactive session with Lorie Corcuera, she will help you get started on setting your career goals. Identifying the values and aspects of your dream job or industry is essential when planning your career and this session will help you discover which path is right for you.
Speaker: Lorie Corcuera is the Co-Founder and CEO at SPARK Creations & Company Inc., a heart based leadership and empowerment organization that provides highly interactive and fun experiential learning and development, strategic culture visioning, and people and culture programs for individuals, teams and organizations.
Greetings:
Are the four sessions referenced in your event information above, the only ones, or are there different sessions to select to make up the four sessions that one can attend?
Cheers
Hi Cynthia. How are you? Thank you for your question. There will be eight presentations total over four time slots—two presentations per time slot to choose from. The details on a few of the presentations are still being finalized, but the information here will be updated very soon.
Congratulations to Autumn, Melissa, Mark, and everyone else I may be omitting for putting together a nicely organized, informative conference.
Thanks Lois! The event would not have been possible with out the help of the volunteers and of course all the fantastic speakers that presented!