Author: Yoel Strimling

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This Worked for Me: How to Create an Internal Style Guide that Users Will Follow

by Chelsea Fulton

Part 1: Welcome! Now, please memorize all of this.

I started my technical communications career in 2011. I was hired to document a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system for the contact center of a Fortune 50 company, and my new team had an existing style guide. For a long time, our style guide was a one-page HTML document that outlined frequently used documentation processes and even included sections of code that users could easily copy/paste directly into drafted content. This style guide version worked well for a team of 4–5 people. However, the CRM system transition project and adding several new technical writers meant we needed more extensive documentation guidelines.

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Newbies’ Corner: Monthly TESIG Student Chats

One of the goals of the TESIG is to help technical editing students get more involved in the field. We want to hear some new, fresh voices, especially from those who are studying the subject or just starting out.  It’s important to us to discuss the needs, dreams, and issues of the next generation of technical editing practitioners.

With this goal in mind, we are excited to announce the TESIG Monthly Student Chat series!

These 30-minute virtual chats will be held over Zoom on the last Wednesday of each month, and are a forum for current TESIG student members to discuss editing challenges, as well as share helpful resources, editing tactics and tips, and career advice about finding internships/jobs.

For details, please contact student_outreach@stc-techedit.org.

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Of Interest: Style Guides: Love ‘Em, Hate ‘Em, Gotta Have ‘Em! (Workshop Pt. 1)

You know about public style guides and in-house style guides, but is there other information that might be useful to have in your job-specific style guide?

On 1 March 2023 from 12-1:30 PM ET (click here for your local time zone), join Marcia Shannon in a two-part Zoom workshop that will build on the basics,  show you how to use your style guide as Doc Central. Keeping track of the other requirements of your technical writing and editing assignments can increase your efficiency.

Tickets are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/style-guides-love-em-hate-em-gotta-have-em-workshop-pt-1-tickets-531650108787.

This is a joint event between the TESIG and the STC Carolina chapter. It is open to both STC members and non-members. It is free for TESIG/STC Carolina members, and available at a small charge for non-members. It will be recorded, and the recordings, slides, and handouts are available for a year afterwards.

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Survey: The Current State of Technical Editing

by Kelly Schrank

The May/June issue of Intercom will be on technical editing, so we’d like to get an idea of what you do in your jobs as technical editors, the types of companies that employ you, tools you use, and how you work.

Please take our 5-minute anonymous survey and let us know about your work (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3QMZXDX). 

Note: This issue of Intercom will have articles about the past and future of technical editing, and how to become a technical editor. You may have contributed to those surveys, too, and we appreciate it! This is a new survey for a new article, though, so we'd love to hear your answers to these questions, too!
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Survey: How Do You Become a Technical Editor?

In May/June 2023, the STC is going to publish a special issue of Intercom on Technical Editing (Kelly Schrank, guest editor)!

One of the subjects that they want to cover is “how do you become a technical editor?” To answer this fascinating question, Linda Oestreich has put together a short survey and has asked Corrigo to publicize it so she can get a broad range of answers from technical editing practitioners at various stages of their career. 

Please go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SMSNZQT, and help answer this thought-provoking question!