Looking for something?
By Andrea Wenger, Carolina Chapter President
On Tuesday, May 17, in Sacramento, CA, STC held its annual Honors Banquet. Despite the rain and chill, attendees arrived in their fancy clothes—men in sports coats or tuxes, women in sleek suits or shimmering gowns. The Society inducted its new fellows and associate fellows, and also recognized communities for their outstanding contributions.
I watched in excitement as three of our chapter’s leaders were honored for their service. One of the 9 new fellows was Michael Harvey. Michael has been a member of STC and the Carolina Chapter since 1988. In 1994, 1997, and 1999, he single-handedly designed, implemented, and analyzed three local salary surveys for the Carolina Chapter. He served the chapter as Treasurer, President, Immediate Past President, Managing Editor of the chapter newsletter, and Acting Treasurer. He received the Distinguished Chapter Service Award in 2004 and became an STC Associate Fellow in 2006. A member of the Usability & User Experience (UUX) community, Michael also taught technical writing at Durham Technical Community College for three years. For over 15 years, he managed documentation teams for Data General and EMC. He now works for SAS Institute.
Among the 25 new associate fellows were Elizabeth Kent and Meredith Blackwelder Kinder. Betsy Kent was recruited to work on the Carolina Chapter’s Competitions Committee in 1999 and has been there ever since. She has won a Distinguished award and two Merit Awards from the Carolina Chapter competition, and an Excellence award from International. She also served three years as the chapter’s Communications Manager. She earned the Distinguished Chapter Service Award for her active and enthusiastic service. Betsy received her MA in English with a concentration in Professional and Technical Communication from East Carolina University in 2004, while working full-time at Progress Software Corporation. Betsy’s main mantra is “Keep paying it forward. That sounds easier than ‘networking’, doesn’t it?”
Meredith Kinder has devoted her entire career to technical communication. Her focus while a two-term Carolina chapter president was the rework of the chapter’s website, providing easy ways for chapter members to access information. As co-manager of the international Technical Editing SIG for two years, she helped manage the SIG budget so all current programs for members were continued, communicating the value of the SIG to its members. She has also served as managing editor of Carolina Communiqué, the newsletter of the Carolina Chapter. A documentation specialist at SAS, Meredith has a BA in English and Technical Writing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MS in Technical Communication from NC State University.
While most of the award winners were notified in advance, the winners of the Pacesetter Awards were not. I knew the Carolina Chapter had been nominated, so I waited eagerly for the announcement at the end of the evening. I was not disappointed. On behalf of the chapter, I was proud to accept the Pacesetter Award “for employing webcasting to enhance community contacts and to enrich programs by presenting speakers from other communities.” This tribute to the innovations of our chapter—and especially our president, Terry Smith—were the highlight of the evening for me. Even more than karaoke at the after-party.
Andrea can be reached at president at stc-carolina dot org.
Carolina chapter members Betsy Kent, Meredith Kinder, Jamie Gillenwater, Michael Harvey, and Andrea Wenger
I watched in excitement as three of our chapter’s leaders were honored for their service. One of the 9 new fellows was Michael Harvey. Michael has been a member of STC and the Carolina Chapter since 1988. In 1994, 1997, and 1999, he single-handedly designed, implemented, and analyzed three local salary surveys for the Carolina Chapter. He served the chapter as Treasurer, President, Immediate Past President, Managing Editor of the chapter newsletter, and Acting Treasurer. He received the Distinguished Chapter Service Award in 2004 and became an STC Associate Fellow in 2006. A member of the Usability & User Experience (UUX) community, Michael also taught technical writing at Durham Technical Community College for three years. For over 15 years, he managed documentation teams for Data General and EMC. He now works for SAS Institute.
Among the 25 new associate fellows were Elizabeth Kent and Meredith Blackwelder Kinder. Betsy Kent was recruited to work on the Carolina Chapter’s Competitions Committee in 1999 and has been there ever since. She has won a Distinguished award and two Merit Awards from the Carolina Chapter competition, and an Excellence award from International. She also served three years as the chapter’s Communications Manager. She earned the Distinguished Chapter Service Award for her active and enthusiastic service. Betsy received her MA in English with a concentration in Professional and Technical Communication from East Carolina University in 2004, while working full-time at Progress Software Corporation. Betsy’s main mantra is “Keep paying it forward. That sounds easier than ‘networking’, doesn’t it?”
Meredith Kinder has devoted her entire career to technical communication. Her focus while a two-term Carolina chapter president was the rework of the chapter’s website, providing easy ways for chapter members to access information. As co-manager of the international Technical Editing SIG for two years, she helped manage the SIG budget so all current programs for members were continued, communicating the value of the SIG to its members. She has also served as managing editor of Carolina Communiqué, the newsletter of the Carolina Chapter. A documentation specialist at SAS, Meredith has a BA in English and Technical Writing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MS in Technical Communication from NC State University.
While most of the award winners were notified in advance, the winners of the Pacesetter Awards were not. I knew the Carolina Chapter had been nominated, so I waited eagerly for the announcement at the end of the evening. I was not disappointed. On behalf of the chapter, I was proud to accept the Pacesetter Award “for employing webcasting to enhance community contacts and to enrich programs by presenting speakers from other communities.” This tribute to the innovations of our chapter—and especially our president, Terry Smith—were the highlight of the evening for me. Even more than karaoke at the after-party.
Andrea can be reached at president at stc-carolina dot org.
Top of page
Staff and authors:
