October and December, 2003 NJSTC Meetings

by Rose Webster

The last two meetings of 2003 proved to be successful learning experiences for NJSTC members.

Our meeting in October featured Mr. Calvin Stevens, owner of TACAD Marketing Consultants, LLC, an Atlanta firm that conducts professional and personal development training around the country. Mr. Stevens enlightened and entertained our group, stressing the importance of a positive attitude in our quests through life.

His humorous presentation concentrated on developing a “whatever-it-takes” attitude toward life’s changes, including unemployment, which many NJSTC members are now facing. Mr. Stevens provided the group with numerous ways to respond to change and ten strategies to develop that ubiquitous positive attitude we all seek.

I look forward to reading Mr. Stevens’ book Developing your A.C.E (Attitude, Commitment and Enthusiasm)

In December of ’03 NJSTC was pleased to have Mr. Christopher Kerslake, a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and Systems Administrator, brief our group on ways that document authors and printers can work together to achieve positive results.

Meeting attendees had many questions on how to improve relations with our printers and how to expedite our projects through the printing process. I particularly valued Mr. Kerslake’s input and advice on a painful project I am finalizing for the printer. My client has high expectations for an official report he has written, and my resources are
limited. Per Mr. Kerslake’s advice, I should be using more appropriate software to create the report (such as MS Publisher, instead of MS Word). I’ve also decided, per his suggestion, to use a lesser weight paper and to present my printer with a .pdf file instead of just a hard copy in order to get the results my client requires.

Speakers such as Mr. Stevens and Mr. Kerslake were welcome additions to our speaker roster in 2003. Many of us left these chapter meetings with useful tidbits and advice we can use in our professions. We were also influenced by the positive outlook and professional enthusiasm that STC speakers brought with them to the podium. I look forward to our speakers in 2004!

Let us know if you have any speakers that would be interested in speaking at our future meetings. Be even braver! Let us know if YOU have an interesting topic to present at our next meeting.

For more information on past and future meetings, visit our website at www.njstc.org.

The Information Turnpike, Spring, 2004 Volume 2, Issue 1

The Information Turnpike, the newsletter of the New Jersey Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication is published for the benefit of its membership. Articles in this publication may be reprinted with the permission of the author. The copyright will remain the property of the author. This newsletter invites writers to submit articles to be considered for publication to Mary Kerslake, Editor, at mckerslake@aol.com. The newsletter staff reserves the right to shorten or edit articles as necessary for inclusion in the publication.

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