Another program year has come to the end. This year has gone by so quickly and we’ve accomplished a great deal!
We built on the chapter structure changes we made in 2013-2014 and implemented a few new things like having fewer but, more in depth events through the year. This change resulted in an increase of participants in addition to covering all costs of events and even making modest profits we can use to bring great events to our members next year.
We kicked off the year with a strategic planning meeting in June. One of the decision we made was to reinstate the Contractors and Independent Consultants coffee get together. It’s re-branded as the Tech Comm Café to encompass everyone who attends as it’s no longer a homogeneous group. July was the first meeting and three enthusiastic technical communicators attended. Less than a year later there are between 8 and 12 people each month. The next one is on June 10th.
We had three education events this past year. The first was a sold out instructional design workshop in September. A follow-up event that focused on instructional design for video was requested and we delivered on this request in March. This event was our best attended for the year with 16 participants.
Our main education event for the year occurred in January. This event, called Making Tracks, had two tracks—one for seasoned writers and one for students. Each stream consisted of four sessions conducted by a variety of great speakers. We had 13 participants at this event and received excellent reviews of the speakers and value of the information received.
We were also able to offer our volunteers leadership training with Kit Brown-Hoekstra the current president of the STC. The conversation revolved around what we can do to ensure chapter success. Some of the suggestions have already been part of our chapter activities so it was great to know we are on track!
We were also able to get together just before Christmas for some socializing and food. We met at Guu Garden downtown for some networking and catching up with about a dozen tech comm professionals and friends.
We’ve also had the opportunity to welcome new volunteers to the Membership Coordinator, Job Bank Coordinator and Informational Interview Coordinator positions. Welcome on board everyone!
I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for all the volunteers that donated their time, efforts and skills to help make the past year possible. I’m very happy with what we accomplished and look forward to the coming year. The first event is the Strategic Planning event on June 27th. Come network, voice your perspectives and help us plan the coming year.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your president this past year. It has been an amazing experience and I have learned more than I ever could have imagined.
I hope you see you at events in 2015-2016. Have a great summer!
