Call to Action! It’s 2016 STC Carolina Chapter Election Season

carolina leadership stc chapter election networking volunteer

By Lindsay K. Saunders, Newsletter Editor & Secretary

Looking for a Way to Get More Involved?

Admin Council Transition Dinner 2015

It’s that time again. We need some fresh faces to be leaders on the Administrative Council of the Society for Technical Communications Carolina Chapter.

What draws you to STC? We can see you already value it because you’re coming to our monthly presentations, checking out those socials, tuning in for the wonderful webinars, and attending our workshops. We’d love it if you could take that enthusiasm for our organization and the technical communication industry to the next step and take a seat on the Board, also known as the Administrative Council.

Benefits of Being a Leader
If you're wondering what being a leader will do for you, here's just a few benefits:

Expand your professional and social network.
Boost your resume! Learn new tools and skills to enhance your career. Get real-world experience managing people and projects.
Get nationally published and seen as an expert by your peers.
Influence Chapter decisions on programming, workshops, and values to members.
Represent the Chapter at the Summit in CA. The Chapter sponsors the incoming President to attend the Summit and Leadership Day.

About the Administrative Council
The Administrative Council Leadership consists of the President, Treasurer, Secretary, Immediate Past President, and several Directors. Let us know if you are interested in serving on the council by completing the short survey at the end of this article.

The Administrative Council meets monthly to discuss chapter business and plan chapter events and activities. A description of each leader's main duties is listed below.

President

As President of the Carolina Chapter, this leader is constantly and consistently engaged in the activities of our chapter, both from an administrative and leadership perspective.

The President’s job is to lead and track the progress of projects and events held by other leaders of the Administrative Council and Chapter committees. While the President’s focus is leading the Administrative Council, he or she may assist in organizing and promoting events. The President represents the Chapter at the annual Summit, leads monthly Administrative Council meetings, and attends all Chapter events.

Heads Admin Council and leads monthly meetings.
Organizes and leads Vision Day & leadership transition activities.
Tracks progress on projects performed by admin council members and chapter committees.
Organizes and submits Community Achievement Award application.
Writes 2-3 blog posts per year informing members of Chapter achievements, milestones, etc.
Attends all events and addresses attendees, promotes upcoming events and member services.
Represents STC Carolina at annual Summit (stipend/reimbursement available).

Our president for 2015 - 2016, has been Christina Mayr. Past presidents include Robert Perry (2014 - 2015), Sheila Loring (2013 - 2014), Andrea Wenger, Emily Toone (2000-2001), Mary Contando (1992), Larry Kunz, Anjela Dukes, Bill Albing, Michael Harvey, and Terry Smith.

I have been a member of the Carolina Chapter for over 20 years and consider STC to be an important and pivotal asset of my career. Being active in the Chapter and serving in various roles has helped me to grow and learn within our ever changing and evolving industry. Over the years I developed a true camaraderie with my fellow writers and STC members that continues to inspire me and promote enthusiasm for our continued work. Serving as President of the Carolina Chapter invigorated me and renewed my dedication to STC.

~Robert Perry (President 2014-2015)

Vice President (Optional)

Our chapter hasn’t had a Vice President in a while, but if you are interested in this position, the following is a description of what that role would entail:

This leader presides in the absence of the President, serves as a liaison between the administrative council and the Local SIGs, maintains documents such as the chapter leaders' position descriptions and the chapter code of ethics, and secures sponsors for the year. The Vice President immediately succeeds to President at the next election.

By working on projects as an STC volunteer, I’ve learned and honed skills – like project management and proposal writing, to name just two – that I’ve been able to use in my paying jobs. Speaking of that, every paying job I’ve gotten since I left IBM in 2002 has been a direct result of the network I’ve built through being an STC volunteer. I’ve met great friends who’ve enriched my life, I’ve developed skills, and I’ve found good jobs. Being part of STC means being part of shaping our profession for today and for the future.

~Larry Kunz, Past President

Treasurer

This leader maintains chapter accounts, prepares the chapter budget, provides financial reports, authorizes and pays bills, and processes deposits for the chapter. This leader also maintains an electronic ledger of finances, submits all required financial reports to STC, and initiates periodic audits. Past Treasurers include Vince Reh, Betsy Kent, and outgoing officer Lisa Brewer.

Secretary

This leader creates and distributes minutes from Administrative Council meetings. He or she provides leaders with necessary records and forms. Lindsay Saunders has served in this position recently from 2015 - 2016. See what she has to say about her experience:

Being Secretary has given me an intimate look at how the chapter works and suited my interests in being aware of how an organization I care about is functioning. I learned more about the industry and other organizations, which were intertwined with our chapter. This 'view' was invaluable. I found myself even more a part of the 'STC Team' and appreciated that alliance. While being Secretary may seem trivial, it’s not. It’s not a ton of work, but it gives you a great view of how things are going and it’s nice to have that kind of perspective while ensuring there is accurate documentation to support the chapter’s developments and plans.

- Lindsay Saunders (Secretary 2015-2016)

Directors at Large

Communications Manager

This leader coordinates all communications for our chapter, including the newsletter, website, RSS feed, and listservs.

Membership Manager

This leader promotes membership in the chapter, recruits new members, welcomes new members into the chapter, organizes new member events, and checks in members at events.

Programs Manager

This leader collaborates with other leaders to work to provide relevant and educational events throughout the year. This involves being in the appointed volunteer position with a 1-year term; attending monthly Admin Council meetings (remote or in-person); researching, contacting, and scheduling speakers and/or trainings for events such as programs, special days, and workshops; managing all event promotions; and providing event information to Communication Director for announcement emails.

Social Director

This leader plans social events for the STC Carolina Chapter, works with other local professional organizations to plan joint-social events, contacts businesses for event space usage, works with the social directors of other local professional chapters to plan joint events, and writes event descriptions for the Carolina Communique. Additionally, this individual works with the STC Carolina President on social event ideas and posts events on Eventbrite and the STC site.

Competitions Manager & Co-Manager

The STC Carolina Competition is a nationally recognized excellent competition! Joining the Competitions committee is a lot of fun and a great chance to contribute to the technical community. The leaders organize and conduct the chapter competitions, which happen annually in the fall. Learn more on the Standing Committee STC Carolina page.

Student Ambassador/Liaison

The Student Ambassador is the bridge between professional technical communicators and educational institutions and recent graduates of technical communication programs. The Ambassador provides a point of contact for new graduates or career changers, markets the Chapter’s networking and mentoring services, and communicates student needs to the Chapter. This involves coordinating speaking and marketing opportunities with local educational institutions and building a network of educational contacts, including internship program coordinators at local colleges and universities.

Webmaster/Website Editor

This leader maintains the website and social media sites for the chapter and the newsletter. This webmaster manages user accounts, schedules tweets for the program meeting or social, publishes Communique blog articles as an ebook (quarterly), and maintains the website, as needed.

Our longtime Webmaster Rick Sapir is moving on and we need someone to step in. Those are big shoes to fill so don’t feel overwhelmed, but we need someone tech savvy to not only create and manage our pages and sites, but also be ready to transfer our content to the new WordPress site (not yet developed).

Immediate Past President

Obviously this one needs no application, but here’s what the Immediate Past President does:
This leader provides advice and continuity to the Administrative Council. He or she assists in securing future leaders and works on special projects.

Join the STC Carolina Leading Force!
Are you currently job hunting? Being on the board of the STC Carolina Chapter could be the boost you need to become a stronger candidate in your job search. Are you fresh out of your (undergrad or grad) degree and looking to really get some hands on community experience?

Be the next STC member to take charge! Nominate yourself or someone else to run for the Administrative Council.

Express your interest here!
Create your own user feedback survey

Lindsay K. Saunders can be reached at lindsayksaunders at gmail dot com. Learn more about Lindsay and her work on her website.