By Sheila Loring, Carolina Communiqué Managing Editor

As technical communicators, we spend much of our day reading--deciphering software specifications, reviewing coworkers' writing, and honing our own work.

At home, we read even more, from the latest political thriller to the neighborhood newsletter that we volunteered to edit.

So why take time to read the Carolina Communiqué? Because Carolina Communiqué readers continually work to develop their skills and talents as technical communicators. Carolina Communiqué readers care about how to explain complex topics clearly and concisely.

This quarter, as always, the newsletter addresses topics to help develop your skills:

• Michael Harvey provides sage advice on skills that every technical writer should focus on.
• Andrea Wenger shares her witty top 10 list of grammar and usage errors.
• Terry Smith, our chapter's president, reports on our chapter's role in improving the STC as a whole.
• Aimee Streicher shows us how to create graphics in Adobe Illustrator.
• David Dick tells us how to access the STC annual conference presentations for a fraction of the registration fee.
• Tanya Anderson and Tim Kornegay describe how they benefited from the Duke Technical Communication Certificate program.
• Christina Eftekhar reports on the STC certification program for members.

In other news, I want to thank Meredith Kinder for entrusting me with the role of newsletter editor. Her shoes will be difficult to fill. And welcome to Tim Kornegay, the new production editor. We're excited that he's taken on the challenge of learning the Tiki Wiki language and hope he'll enjoy the work.

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