News and Notes for Technical Communicators in Michigan
Refer to the Events list on the right side of this home page, which is regularly added to as the registration links become available.
You’ll see virtual lunches, book club, webinars, and even in real life (IRL) meetups. All events are free for STC-MGL chapter members. Non-members will pay a fee for webinars, but other event types are free for everyone.
Our next virtual book club is coming up on Thursday, June 16 in the book_club channel in Slack.
During this event, we will discuss Heroic Technical Writing: Making a Difference in the Workplace and Your Life by Bart Leahy.
Book_club channel in Slack
Registration is available on Eventbrite. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, May 17!
Bart Leahy uses his blog, Heroic Technical Writing, to help technical communicators navigate the working world. His book by the same name summarizes his decades of experience into six categories: Product, Process, People and Politics, Professionalism, Pursuing Work, and Protecting Yourself.
In his words, “I can give you first-hand accounts of what the day-to-day life of a professional technical writer is like—the awesome stuff you can look forward to and the stuff that sucks that English professors won’t tell you about.”
While this book is invaluable to those who are starting out in the field, more experienced writers will recognize their own experiences in Leahy’s anecdotes. His advice on dealing with the non-writing aspects of the job is particularly insightful and pragmatic.
The special topic, “What Should You Learn to Work in the Space Business?” breaks down the subject areas typically encountered when writing for the space industry. Leahy even includes a bibliography of his favorite books and other resources to help technical writers get familiar with writing and space-related concepts.
Bart Leahy is a self-described space geek and notes he is an “English major through and through.” He earned a B.A. in English Literature from Northern Illinois University and an M.A. in Technical Writing from the University of Central Florida. Leahy has worked for Walt Disney, the Department of Defense, and NASA. Freelancing and instructional design experience give him a unique view of the professional opportunities for technical writers. Find him on his blog, https://heroictechwriting.com/, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BartLeahyHeroicTechWriting/, and Twitter @WritingGopher.
Our next virtual book club is just around the corner! We’re meeting tomorrow, Thursday, May 13 from 7–8:30 p.m. in the book_club channel in Slack.
During this event, we will discuss Word By Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper. Please join us if you’ve read the whole book, part of it, or none at all. We welcome your discussion!
We hope you will join us!
Thursday, May 13
7-8:30 p.m. EST
Book_club channel in Slack
This book explores the lives of lexicographers, the people behind the neutral definitions of words like love, cynical, and birdstrike, and describes the various ways they perfected their drafts of said definitions. Stamper’s exposé of what it takes to write dictionaries for a living humorously approaches topics like how to define big and small words (especially the small words), the credentials it takes to work at Merriam-Webster, why lexicographers don’t start defining words at the letter A, why it takes 18 months to define the top 10 most-searched words, or how the beauty of the English language extends beyond its complex grammatical rules (it’s okay to end your sentences with prepositions, people!). If you’ve read Word By Word, you’ll appreciate my use of it’s just there.
Kory Stamper loves, really, really, loves, English. Stamper is a graduate of Smith College, where she earned an interdisciplinary major in Latin, Greek, Norse, Old English, and Middle English. After graduation, she secured a job with Merriam-Webster where she worked for 20 years as an editorial assistant and later as associate editor. Catch her on Netflix’s 2021 series, The History of Swear Words, online at https://korystamper.wordpress.com/, or on Twitter at @KoryStamper.
The STC-MGL fall virtual book club is just around the corner!
Join us on Thursday, December 10 at 7 p.m. for our discussion on Writing is Designing by Michael J. Metts and Andy Welfle. During this event, we’ll talk about the major concepts in the book, discuss how the topics relate to or affect technical communication, and what the ideas covered in the book mean for the future of our profession. It is sure to be a stimulating conversation.
We hope you will join us! Register for the virtual book club here.
Current STC and STC-MGL members
Thursday, December 10, 2020
7-8:30 p.m.
Zoom
Free!
From the Goodreads summary:
Without words, apps would be an unusable jumble of shapes and icons, while voice interfaces and chatbots wouldn’t even exist. Words make software human-centered, and require just as much thought as the branding and code. This book will show you how to give your users clarity, test your words, and collaborate with your team. You’ll see that writing is designing.
Our next virtual book club is just around the corner! We’ll be meeting on Thursday, May 21 from 7–8:30 p.m. in the book_club channel in Slack.
During this event, we will discuss Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss. If you haven’t grabbed your copy of the book yet—there’s still time! Even if you don’t finish the book, you’re more than welcome to join in on the discussion. What better way to spend your quarantine than discussing grammar and punctuation with other tech comm professionals?
We hope you will join us!
Thursday, May 21
7–8:30 p.m. EST
Book_club channel in Slack
Please register by 5:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday, May 20. We will send you instructions on how to join us.
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You guessed it: this book is all about punctuation and grammar. In her book, Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, Lynne Truss takes us on a journey to discuss the history of italics, hyphens, commas, apostrophes, and more. She uses humor and hyperbole to explain how vital accurate grammar and punctuation are to our understanding of information. Her philosophy is replete with comical examples, so even if you don’t find yourself a strict grammarian, you might get a laugh out of those who do.
Throughout her career, Lynne Truss has been a journalist, author, broadcaster, editor, and more. Although she claims not to be a “grammarian,” she cares deeply about the state of the world’s grammatical literacy and continues to fight the good grammar fight. For more information, you can visit Lynne Truss’s website.
For our next STC-SM virtual book club, we will be reading Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, by Lynne Truss.
Truss is an ardent grammarian, and her book, Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, is all about how vital accurate grammar and punctuation are to our understanding of information. Her philosophy is replete with comical examples, so even if you don’t find yourself a strict grammarian, you might get a laugh out of those who do…and if you are disturbed that the Oxford (serial) comma is missing from the title, you are not alone. This book is sure to spark off much debate!
You can purchase this book online wherever books are sold.
Thank you to all of you who participated in the vote. We look forward to reading this book alongside you (virtually) over the next couple months.
Our discussion will take place on Thursday, May 21, at 7 p.m. in our Slack book_club channel. We’ll post registration details closer to the date of the event.
Happy reading!
Our next virtual book club discussion will take place on Thursday, May 21. If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to read more (and learn more in the process), this is a perfect opportunity for you!
For our book clubs, we choose books that are written by esteemed thinkers in the fields of writing, design, and communication. We take concepts covered in the book, discuss and analyze them, and then identify connections between the content and our own experiences. This is a great opportunity to learn something new about our profession, but also to discuss it with other professionals in the tech comm community. Continue reading “The Next Virtual Book Club is Coming Up in May!”
Mark your calendars! Our next virtual book club takes place on Thursday, November 7, from 7–9 p.m. Join us for an edifying discussion about Peter Morville’s book Intertwingled. Morville was the keynote speaker at the 2019 STC Summit in Denver, Colorado, and we are thrilled to take a deeper look at one of his recent books. During this discussion we’ll explore various points covered in the book as well as analyze how the topics influence technical communication of the past, present, and future. Continue reading “Book Club: Intertwingled”
Mark your calendars! Our next virtual book club takes place on Thursday, April 18, at 7 p.m. During this event, we will discuss Alan Alda’s book: If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face? My Adventures in the Art and Science of Relating and Communicating. This virtual book club event is open to anyone—whether or not you’re a member of STC or STC-SM—so even if you’re just interested in some edifying discussions, you’re welcome to join us! Continue reading “Virtual Book Club—April 2019”
STC-SM will be hosting its first virtual coffee meet-up on Tuesday, December 18 from 7–9 AM! We will be using a new channel in our Slack workspace called coffee_club to initiate a phone call. Join us to discuss STC, STC-SM, technical communication, industry trends, or whatever else may come up! The facilitator will initiate the call at 7AM, but feel free to join at any point during the two-hour timeframe—for as little or long as you like! This is a great opportunity to network with other technical communicators or council members and discuss tech comm. Continue reading “Virtual Coffee Meet-up”
