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Betsy Kent: One Person, So Many Contributions
By Ann-Marie Grissino
Editor’s Note: To honor Betsy Kent for receiving our chapter’s second[1] Volunteer of the Quarter award, Ann-Marie wrote this article. Congratulations Betsy!
How in the world can one person fill so many roles to make so many contributions?
I don’t know how she does it, but Betsy Kent does.
Betsy has been a long-time STC Carolina Online SIG attendee and volunteer. She has hosted meetings at her place of work, helped with equipment for meetings, and made sure that we had ample food to fuel our activity.
Without Betsy, the Competitions Committee would be lost. For five years we’ve been able to count on her for anything. We always begin our year with the Call for Entries. We used to stuff envelopes with the application forms and distribute them. Who was always in the middle of the stufing and sorting? Yes, Betsy.
Each year, we work toward organizing presentations for our October Judge Team and Training session, where we train from 40 to 60 judges every year. It’s a tremendous undertaking and we often have different committee members and chairpersons each year. If you’ve attended, you probably recall the Judge Surprise bags, which contain goodies from various companies, PC-shaped chocolates, and writing trinkets. Guess who puts those bags together every year. Yes, Betsy.
Betsy has helped enter all the applications and tracked entries; she has been the contact for collecting entries for all three competitions; and she has worked with other chapters when we exchanged entries to track entry whereabouts. During the training session itself, Betsy is a constant source of creativity. We have tried Jeopardy games, board games, and even Star Trek themes to make our training session interesting and fun. Who’s been behind all of these innovations? Yes, Betsy.
Our last event of the year is the March Awards Banquet. You might recall looking under your plate for a special sticker or penny or looking for a special number on your ticket for door prizes. Yes, Betsy planted all of those.
While she was working full-time and volunteering for STC, Betsy participated in Eastern Carolina University’s Distance Education program, working on her Master’s Degree in English with a Technical and Professional Communication concentration. She recently completed the requirements and got her degree. And yes, with high honors.
If there’s one person in our chapter who shows the value of saying “yes” to the volunteer opportunities provided by our chapter, it’s Betsy. If you meet her at one of our chapter meetings, please shake her hand and tell her “thank you.”
Ann-Marie Grissino is a senior member of STC Carolina. She’s led the Online SIG and the Online Communications competition for years. She can be reached at amgrissino at keypointconsultants dot com.
1 Steven Meeks won our first Volunteer of the Quarter award.
Our chapter now has a great way to recognize volunteers: the Volunteer of the Quarter award!
Do you know someone who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in the past three months for STC? Please consider nominating them for the award at http://www.stc-carolina.org/about/nominate.shtml. The form is quick and painless.
Nominations for the next quarter are due June 1, 2005. The winner will be announced to the chapter at the July 14th membership meeting.
By Ann-Marie Grissino
Editor’s Note: To honor Betsy Kent for receiving our chapter’s second[1] Volunteer of the Quarter award, Ann-Marie wrote this article. Congratulations Betsy!
How in the world can one person fill so many roles to make so many contributions?
- STC member
- Online SIG volunteer
- Competitions committee member
- Recent technical writing master’s program honors graduate
- Full-time technical writer
I don’t know how she does it, but Betsy Kent does.
Betsy has been a long-time STC Carolina Online SIG attendee and volunteer. She has hosted meetings at her place of work, helped with equipment for meetings, and made sure that we had ample food to fuel our activity.
Without Betsy, the Competitions Committee would be lost. For five years we’ve been able to count on her for anything. We always begin our year with the Call for Entries. We used to stuff envelopes with the application forms and distribute them. Who was always in the middle of the stufing and sorting? Yes, Betsy.
Each year, we work toward organizing presentations for our October Judge Team and Training session, where we train from 40 to 60 judges every year. It’s a tremendous undertaking and we often have different committee members and chairpersons each year. If you’ve attended, you probably recall the Judge Surprise bags, which contain goodies from various companies, PC-shaped chocolates, and writing trinkets. Guess who puts those bags together every year. Yes, Betsy.
Betsy has helped enter all the applications and tracked entries; she has been the contact for collecting entries for all three competitions; and she has worked with other chapters when we exchanged entries to track entry whereabouts. During the training session itself, Betsy is a constant source of creativity. We have tried Jeopardy games, board games, and even Star Trek themes to make our training session interesting and fun. Who’s been behind all of these innovations? Yes, Betsy.
Our last event of the year is the March Awards Banquet. You might recall looking under your plate for a special sticker or penny or looking for a special number on your ticket for door prizes. Yes, Betsy planted all of those.
While she was working full-time and volunteering for STC, Betsy participated in Eastern Carolina University’s Distance Education program, working on her Master’s Degree in English with a Technical and Professional Communication concentration. She recently completed the requirements and got her degree. And yes, with high honors.
If there’s one person in our chapter who shows the value of saying “yes” to the volunteer opportunities provided by our chapter, it’s Betsy. If you meet her at one of our chapter meetings, please shake her hand and tell her “thank you.”
Ann-Marie Grissino is a senior member of STC Carolina. She’s led the Online SIG and the Online Communications competition for years. She can be reached at amgrissino at keypointconsultants dot com.
1 Steven Meeks won our first Volunteer of the Quarter award.
Our chapter now has a great way to recognize volunteers: the Volunteer of the Quarter award!
Do you know someone who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in the past three months for STC? Please consider nominating them for the award at http://www.stc-carolina.org/about/nominate.shtml. The form is quick and painless.
Nominations for the next quarter are due June 1, 2005. The winner will be announced to the chapter at the July 14th membership meeting.
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