2009 Chapter Elections
By admin on Saturday, August 1, 2009
Ben Minson was elected as chapter president
Congratulations to Ben Minson, our new chapter president. 21% of chapter members voted in our election this year. Approval was unanimous. Marj Hermannsen-Eldard was also approved unanimously to continue as chapter treasurer.
Thanks to all who participated. If you have feedback or questions about the election, or if you have suggestions for next year, contact the webmaster.
Other positions will be filled by appointment. If you’re interested in serving in the chapter, visit the Volunteer Opportunities page.
For those who may have missed the election, here’s Ben’s bio for reference.
What values, traits, experience do you bring to the office?
I am an active member of the chapter. I believe that STC can bring a lot of benefits and professional improvement to its members.
I attend nearly every meeting and have co-presented in a chapter professional development meeting. I served in the position of vice president in the Utah State University student chapter several years ago, where in addition to my own responsibilities, I supported the president and filled in for her when needed. As the chapter webmaster over the last few months, I have supported the existing officers and contributed my input when it was asked for.
I’m not afraid to ask for assistance when I need it, and I know that a large part of a leader’s success is involving and relying on those around him. I am volunteering as president in order to assist the chapter and its officers and to give something of tangible benefit to the members.
What is the most important challenge or issue you see facing the chapter? What possible actions or solutions do you see?
Our biggest challenge this last year has been a reduction in participation and leadership. The officers who have hung in there have done a great job in keeping things together, but unfortunately, we found ourselves without a complete set of officers. This struggle may have led to lower participation from the chapter as a whole. The second greatest challenge is one that faces many technical communicators in general—showing indispensable value to employers.
I think the solutions to these challenges consist of the same solution: Getting to know from chapter members what they want out of STC and how it can benefit them and giving them opportunities to interact and learn from each other. Spending membership dues is largely a useless gesture if there isn’t some return on investment. I want to see an effort to get feedback from our members about what they would like to see happen in the chapter and obstacles they have to meeting together. We need to make sure we’re doing all we can to make STC events productive for as many members as possible. As we involve more people and benefit from each other’s experience and ideas, the value of STC will increase dramatically and will help our members demonstrate their professional value to employers.
As president, I would like to act immediately to bring our chapter members closer together and increase STC’s benefit to them.
Tell us about your STC service, awards, and honors.
I served as vice president, USU student chapter; co-presented with Tom Johnson to the Intermountain Chapter in February 2009. Most recently I have served as the website committee manager, or webmaster, for the Intermountain Chapter.
Education, other (non-STC) professional affiliations, awards, honors
I hold a Bachelor’s degree from Utah State University in English with an emphasis in Professional and Technical Writing. I received that program’s Student of the Year award in 2005. I also received the Association for the Tutoring Profession’s Tutor of the Year award that year for the work I did in the university’s Writing Center to increase its effectiveness.
At work, I have received the “Ship-It Award” for contributing to on-time releases of products for four projects.
What’s your professional experience?
I have worked as a technical communicator for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for nearly four years. I have also worked in contract technical writing positions. Deliverables have included online help, quick reference guides, video demonstrations, online and in-person training, and user manuals. I run a blog on technical communication at http://www.gryphonmountain.net.
Adobe Systems has published an article I wrote on managing localized projects using RoboHelp 8. I participate in the online Adobe RoboHelp forums and am classified as a senior member, having posted over 500 times since September of 2005.
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photo from Flickr
