Program Year Summary
By Jowell Lydon, Vice President of Competitions
They say everything is bigger in Texas. When it comes to our chapter’s participation in the annual technical publications, technical art, and online communications competitions, everything is better. Chapter participation was very good, with a total of 91 entries for all three competitions. But the real story is in the results, which get better every year. Entrants to the technical publications competition won 38 awards out of 62 entries. In technical art, entrants won awards for 7 of 14 total entries. Not to be outdone, our artistic colleagues were spectacular this year, winning awards for 14 out of 15 entries, and 10 of these received top honors with Distinguished awards. The winning entries came from a variety of industries in both public and private sectors, providing clear evidence of the breadth of talent the chapter has in written and visual technical communication.
Of course, a successful competition is about more than winning entries. Thirty members stepped up as judges to evaluate the entries of our trading partner, the Atlanta STC chapter, providing them with valuable information to improve their technical communications skills. The small but dedicated team of Jeremy Hart, Julie Garrison, and Brian Galloway kept the many moving parts of the competition running smoothly. Gracious corporate sponsorship from Jump2 Group and BMC Software gave us one of the best looking competitions in years. Meredith Kramer and Deborah Long pooled their substantial talents to provide us with an innovative, visually appealing, and fun banquet, not to mention a souvenir lava lamp or two. And last but far from least, others too numerous to mention here pitched in and did their part to ensure the success of the competition.
There is much for us to be proud of as a chapter this year. And if the chapter continues on its current trajectory, there will be even more for us to look forward to next year. Congratulations to our winners; I hope that all of you will join the tradition and take part in next year’s competition!
