Please join us for our first 2011 Town Hall. We’ll be having a free lunchtime meeting held over conference call. Grab you lunch then dial us up.

We are currently changing our webinar provider, so we’ll be adding call-in information shortly. We wanted to get this post up, so you can save the date.

We’ll have two town hall meetings each month in June, July, and August. We hope you’ll attend all of them!

Please join us for our second June 2011 Town Hall. We’ll be having a free lunchtime meeting held over conference call. Grab you lunch then dial us up.

Check back soon to see the call-in information shortly. Save the date!

We’ll also have two town hall meetings in July and August. We hope you’ll attend all of them!

Date: March 24, 2011
Location: Univ. of Utah campus, Student Untion Bldg, Rm 312 (see details below)
Time: 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Cost: Free

Description

Although it is easy to simply make materials available via a website, then call it online education/training, a better approach is to first analyze what is best for students. Many aspects need to be considered, such as topic, resources and end users. A good analysis will lead to an effective design, resulting in a powerful development and valuable offerings. As with face-to-face teaching, distance learning can be as unique as the presenter, but a successful endeavor is always based on sound principles. This event will explore eLearning techniques and best practices.

About Jay Deuel

Jay Deuel was first introduced to the Internet in 1986, while studying at the University of Utah.  Later, he served as the university’s first Content Web Master.  Since then, he has worked on campus as a Database Technical Trainer, Adjunct Professor and currently is the UOnline Program Coordinator for fully online classes.  Jay teaches various software application workshops, including web development .  He also received an Outstanding Instructor Award, as voted by students in the Webmaster Certification Program, within the Continuing Education Department.

Location

We will meet in Room 312 of the Student Union Building on the University of Utah campus. A map is at available here. Enter the East door and notice an Information Desk towards the right. Although you can ask them for help, simply turn left down that hallway. This is actually the second floor, so walk up the first set of stairs on the left to the third floor, as well as Room 312.

Driving Directions

From the North: Take the 400 South exit, using the left lane to the east. Turn left at 700 East, then turn right at 100 South, which becomes North Campus Drive around 1340 East (a.k.a. University Street), then winds around the north side of campus. Turn right at Central Campus Drive and continue to the Student Union Building.

From the South: Take the 600 South exit, continue traveling to the east. Turn left at 700 East, then turn right at 100 South, which becomes North Campus Drive around 1340 East (a.k.a. University Street), then winds around the north side of campus. Turn right at Central Campus Drive and continue to the Student Union Building.

Parking

Campus parking is free after 6:00 PM! This includes a pay lot in front of the Student Union Building. It will be Spring Break, so plenty of spots should be available.

Join us on Friday, Februrary 25, 2011, at 12 noon for a webinar by Char James-Tanny on HTML5 and CSS3. HTML5 and CSS3 are commonly grouped together due to the latest versions of their specifications. However, they are not part of the same standard. You can use CSS3 with any flavor of HTML and you can use any flavor of CSS with HTML5. During this introductory session, you’ll learn about the features that you can implement now and about current browser support. You’ll leave with a list of links for more information.

About Char James-Tanny

Char James-Tanny

Char James-Tanny is president of JTF Associates, Inc. and has thirty years of experience as a technical communicator. She speaks around the world on topics including Help authoring concepts and tools, accessibility, social media, web standards, collaboration, and technology. Char has been a Microsoft MVP since 2002 and is a senior member of the Society for Technical Communication.

Register for the Event

Cost is free. Register below:

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HTML5 photo from Wikipedia.

January Event: Visual Communication Strategies and Tools. Held on Jan. 20 from 9 am- 1pm at the main SLC library.

Join us January 20 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm for an insightful presentation on Visual Communication Strategies and Tools. Kari Chalker and John Pecorelli from SWCA Environmental Consultants will share their experience working on environmental impact statements (EIS). These documents must cover a vast range of topics—from socioeconomics and cultural history to wildlife biology and soils—and do so in a way that is technically accurate, legally defensible, and easily understood by the non-scientific general reader.

Kari Chalker will discuss the challenges of getting science writers to present technical data in an easy-to-read, graphics-oriented manner—and the methodology she employs to make this happen.

John Pecorelli will discuss necessary tools for this project, which blends such programs as ArcGIS, Google SketchUp, and Adobe’s Creative Suite—and possibly tests Microsoft Word to its full potential.

In addition, Ben Minson will demonstrate basics of using Adobe Illustrator and show you how to get started creating professional graphics for your technical communication products.

[Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/galacticsheep/ ]

Event Details

Date: Thursday, January 20
Time: 9:00 am to 1:00 pm
Location: Main SLC Library (210 E 400 S, SLC, UT)
Cost: Free
Lunch: Yes, lunch will be provided!

Event Schedule

• 9:00-9:30 am: Welcome
• 9:30-10:20 am: First Session — Kari Chalker
• 10:20-10:30 am: Break
• 10:30-11:20 am: Second Session — John Pecorelli
• 11:20-11:30 am: Break
• 11:30-12:20 pm: Third Session — Ben Minson
• 12:20-1:00 pm: Lunch

RVSP

To order the correct number of lunches, we need an accurate headcount of participants. If you’re planning to attend, please add a comment to this post with your name.  The last half-day event we held was extremely successful. We hope to see you on January 20.

It’s often a mystery to practitioners what Utah’s technical communication programs offer. Hiring managers are unaware about the knowledge and skills they can expect program graduates to have. And educators often struggle to understand workplace trends and realities. At this event, a panel of educators will describe their programs and discuss with practitioners the effectiveness of the coursework. Professionals in the audience will provide insight into current trends in the field. This discussion will be enlightening for all professionals, educators, and students in technical communication programs or fields.

Event Details

Date: November 18, 2010
Time: 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Location: Room 104 at the Weber State University Davis Campus in Layton, Utah. See directions.
Panelists: Representatives from USU, Weber, UofU, BYU, Westminster, and UVU technical writing programs will form the panel. (Each of these schools offers different levels of technical communication education.)
Cost: Free

Are you planning to attend? Let us know by answering this quick poll.

Event Recording

We recorded the event. Hooray! You can listen online or download the MP3 and load it onto your iPod.

Download MP3
Length: 65 min.

For our August Town Hall meeting, we are going to start the hour by giving you an overview of the bylaws that we (the Chapter board) are proposing. In the September business meeting, chapter members will be voting to adopt the bylaws for the chapter. This town hall is your opportunity to hear what the bylaws are, and how they will affect you as a chapter member (or as a non-chapter participant in chapter activities).

All are invited to join the town hall (regardless of your location or membership status); chapter members should attend to have an opportunity to provide feedback before the vote actually occurs in September.

We will also discuss details regarding the September business meeting, including the format and how you can participate.

As with all our town halls, the format for this meeting is casual. We will begin the hour discussing the chapter bylaws and business meeting, but we will follow wherever the discussion leads us. Call in with your questions about the topic, or about anything else!

See you on the call! Please register below to get the conference call information, and to let us know you are planning to attend.

Please join the Intermountain Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication for our July Town Hall webinar. This free event is a lunchtime conference call where we will be discussing the topic of technical writer portfolios.

Everybody is welcome to join us; you don’t have to be a member of our chapter, or even live in our area.

Town Hall meetings follow a very relaxed format. Generally we start discussing the specified topic for the month, but we follow where the discussion goes. If you have questions or simply want to interact with other technical communicators, please join us.

Let us know that you are interested in the event by registering for the event using the form below. When you register, you will get an e-mail with a personalized link you can use to join the conference. You’ll also have the option to add the calendar item to your Outlook calendar.

We look forward to talking to you on July 21st!

Attention Intermountain Chapter members!

On September 17, 2010 we will hold our annual business meeting. This annual meeting is required by STC bylaws, and will be a place where we conduct official business of the chapter.

This year, we will hold the business meeting at a the Sizzler restaurant on 9000 South and State Street in Sandy. Everybody is welcome, but only current chapter members will be able to vote on chapter business.

The most important item of business will be adopting new chapter bylaws. We will present these bylaws for a vote at the business meeting.

Please make every effort to attend this meeting, as it is a time that you get to make your voice heard.

More details are available here.

Please join us on Tuesday June 29th for our next phone conference-based Town Hall meeting.

We will discuss Tech Writer Certification, as it was announced at the recent STC Summit conference in Dallas.

Use the form below to reserve your spot, and let us know you’ll be attending: