Community of Excellence Declares 2013 as Year of Education

Post date: Feb 28, 2013 4:16:09 PM

I am thrilled and very proud to announce that our chapter has just received the 2013 Community of Excellence award from the Community Achievement Award Evaluation Committee of the Society for Technical Communication (STC). In their citation, the evaluation committee notes that as "one of the most consistent and active communities" out there, we are continuously "expanding member service, promoting joint activities with other technical communication organizations, and improving chapter administration." Indeed, we constantly look for new and innovative ways to bring you more value throughout the year by collaborating with other chapters and organizations, and looking for good programs to keep you up to date with the latest in the rich and wonderful field of Technical Communication.With this in mind, I would like to declare 2013 the year of education, looking to promote and encourage students of Technical Communication. To kick off this theme, I wrote in December of last year an open letter to Technical Communication educators, proposing to collaborate with leading educational institutions in the New York Metro area. In addition, we have been reaching out to the newer members of our profession, and you may have noticed on the new Members' Blog section of our web site, and highlighted in our newsletter, articles written by and about students of Technical Communication.

I am particularly gratified to report that we are partnering with NJIT, which is offering a Masters in Professional and Technical Communications (MSPTC) to offer joint activities and collaboration between our chapter and the program's students. Special thanks go out to Dr. Nancy W. Coppola, NJIT professor and Director of the MSPTC program, for her enthusiasm, collaboration and innovative spirit! We are kicking off this initiative with a request to all NY Metro members and friends: Send us any ideas/topics/questions related to any aspect of Technical Communication, and we'll pass them along to the MSPTC students to write articles or blog posts about them. The best articles/blog posts will appear on our web site. Do you have any specific questions? Would you like some focused research done on any specific area which will help you or your employer? Fill in our Research Assistance form and we'll pass it along to the MSPTC faculty as a potential research area.

And this is just the beginning. Look for more exciting programs and events in the coming months! Visit our web site often to find out what's new and exciting, or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter to keep informed.

All this would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of our leadership team and member volunteers. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Julie Waxgiser, whose dedication and support have been unmatched and unflagging; to Scott McCoy who takes great care of our new members; to Tim Slavin, Ellen Buttolph, Ed Marsh and Portia Zwicker, who tirelessly help out in our agile task force; to Tom Myers, Mark Yoss, Aiessa Moyna and Lisa Paris-Senna for their continuous advice and support; to Malu Schloss, Carolyn Reynolds, and Karen Levine who made our collaborative, regional competition such a great success for the second year in a row; and to all you wonderful supportive members out there!

Come join us on Saturday, March 16 at the Regional Competition Awards Banquet as we celebrate the achievements of the 2012 competition winners, the dedication and hard work of all the competition volunteers and judges, and our recognition as a true Community of Excellence!!

Nitza Hauser

President