By Meredith Kinder, Carolina Communiqué Managing Editor

You all love our chapter as much as I do. I've heard from you that you love how the chapter supports your need to network, assists you in learning new technologies, helps you stay tuned to what's happening in the field, and keeps your skills sharp. But you've also said that you want even more from your membership, including the newsletter.

I hear you. So, we are featuring some new ideas and new takes on technical communication in this issue.

• Bea Bailey gives you her first president's message, and this article sets the tone for her presidency: optimistic, honest, and straight-shooting.
• Dear Viv turns serious this quarter and presents some ideas to someone who has been out of the work force for some time. She offers advice on a topic that manay of our members face.
• Information about the August membership meeting makes you feel like you were there, as Christina Eftekhar uses her 125-words per minute typing skills to capture the ins and outs of the night's discussion points.
• Sue Kocher's article is unusual because it addresses sensitive topics without reservation or hesitation.
• Karen Rhodes describes her technical communication internship in which she measured pasture grass density and cultured mycorrhizal fungi from the roots of cover crops. Now that's definitely not ordinary!
• The STC Salary Survey Database article provides information only available on a yearly basis.
• The topic that most independent technical communicators shy away from, publicizing your business, is addressed head-on by Andrea Wenger, in her article that discusses using traditional media and social networking to do so.

With its newest take on topics, I hope that the newsletter is a reflection of the diversity of our field. As we understand the importance of keeping ourselves as diverse as our profession, it's the least I can do to ensure that the newsletter helps you reach this goal.

Meredith can be reached at newsletter at stc-carolina dot org.