STC Toronto

We had the pleasure of welcoming Ray Gallon to Toronto this evening and speaking with him about the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Information 4.0 and new roles and responsibilities for Technical Communicators. This highly experienced international expert is the president and co-founder of The Transformation Society, a consulting and training company dedicated to understanding and dealing with complexity and digital transformation. Ray has over 20 years’ experience in the technical content industries, including major companies such as IBM, Alcatel, and General Electric Health Care.

Ray is president of The Information 4.0 consortium, a former international board member of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and past president of STC France. He is a frequent speaker on communications topics at conferences and seminars around the world, and currently teaches in the University of Barcelona’s Master of Sound Art programme, and University of Strasbourg’s online Master of Technical Communication and Localization. 

Positive Engagement & Advice

Wednesday, November 7th, 2018, Pamela Paterson, BJ, MS, the bestselling author of “Get the Job: Optimize Your Resume for the Online Job Search” and the founder of the Pamela Jean Paterson bursary, gave a compelling webinar at a deeply discounted rate for student and STC members. The webinar was graced with positive engagement, interaction and questions, and all attendees gained valuable, personal advice and insight into Pamela’s unique methodology.  

About Pamela Paterson’s Job Market Conquering Methodology

Using business analysis techniques, Pamela analyzed the HR system to create a unique step-by-step methodology for conquering the job market. She has been teaching this methodology to HR professionals and job seekers across Canada and the U.S. for over 15 years.  Pamela claims a 90% success rate in helping her clients find jobs through her innovative methods that have been reported in the national media. Pamela is a long-time mentor and supporter of people who strive for positive change in their lives.

Thanks to everyone who attended STC Toronto’s Annual General Meeting!

Meeting summary​

• Reviewed our finances, accomplishments, and challenges from the past year.
• Shared our approaches, goals, and priorities for the year ahead.
• Shared the results of our salary survey.
  • These will be distributed to the rest of our chapter members in the future.
• Welcomed new community council members.
  • More details to come; we’ll be featuring our new members at future brunches.

Thanks to Beth Agnew for her keynote presentation! Beth shared her personal journey through tech comm and offered advice to fellow technical communicators, “the Swiss Army knife” of employees. Some of her key takeaways are summarized below.

Advice for Technical Communicators

• Align your interests and actions with those you enjoyed as a child.
• Be malleable—adapt to the company you work for.
• Be confident—you have somewhat of a sense of even the most unfamiliar things (and can learn the rest through research).

When selling yourself, remember that you possess valuable skills and abilities. Never underestimate the value of understanding users. Good user experiences lead to satisfaction, loyalty, and sales. The ability to increase sales is valued by all employers. 

Skills:

• Multi-stage thinking.
• Curiosity and research.
• Writing, editing, and communication.
• UX Design.  

Abilities:

• Learning quickly.
• Breaking stuff (usability testing).
• Solving problems.
• Asking questions.
• Spotting trends.
• Making suggestions.

When faced with a new task, ask yourself what:

• What you know.
• What you sort of know.
• What you’d like to know.
• What you’re learning.
• What you’d like to try.

On October 10th, we joined Elia Scher of Dundas Business Intelligence to learn about using dashboards as a medium for technical communication.

Information is valuable only when it’s understood, and making it understandable is a role for technical communicators. Dashboards captures the big picture of critical information on one screen, is the online equivalent of a one-page document, and eliminates scrolling.

Elia describe the stages of a dashboard project and the many ways in which we can convey information. Dashboards must use the concept of key performance indicators, use the principles of visual design, and be interactive to provide the maximum amount information in a small area.

Attendees at this event found the information valuable and timely. We look forward to hearing from Elia Scher again!