By Cindy Pao, President, STC Houston
I received word in February that the chapter won a Community Achievement Award. To be exact, we are a Community of Distinction!
Winning a Community Achievement Award is not new to STC Houston. We usually win every year. But, seeing as how I’ve not been president in a while, I want to make a big deal out of it.
It Takes a Community to Win an Award
No one person in our chapter can take credit for this achievement. Volunteers complete these activities, and I’m going to acknowledge those volunteers here.
My thanks, and I hope yours, to these people:
- Lindsey Stirneman (nee White), Julie Garrison, Paul Mueller, Erika Guerra-Ramon, Jowell Lydon, Daniel Maddux, etc. for developing the chapter’s initiatives
- Paul Mueller, Lindsey Stirneman, Erika Guerra-Ramon, and Jowell Lydon for keeping up our website
- Lindsey Stirneman, Erika Guerra-Ramon, Deborah Long, and Merry Foxworth for reaching out to Houston-area technical communicators with publicity, networking lunches, and after-hours networking dinners
- Julie Garrison for compiling and submitting the 2013 budget to the STC office on time
- Daniel Maddux for filing our financial report and taxes
- Yvonne Wade Sanchez for producing our online newsletter and for driving the chapter’s social media presence on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn
- Alyssa Fox and Jowell Lydon for setting up interesting program meetings with memorable speakers
- Alyssa Fox for recruiting today’s chapter leaders
- Linda Oestreich for facilitating our Leadership Workshop
- Cathy Bettoney for managing the Lone Writers SIG
- Erika Guerra-Ramon for working with recruiters to attend our after-hours networking events and networking lunches
- Daniel Maddux and Joy Mullet for moving the downtown networking lunch to UHD so that students could participate easier
- Stephanie Donovan for organizing our 50th anniversary party
Feedback
The CAA Committee sent good feedback on the work our chapter is doing, specifically as it relates to our initiatives. They felt that our initiatives were detailed and covered a wide range of activities. Our 2012 initiatives were:
- Reenergize STC Houston
- Re-establish Dateline Houston Newsletter and Blog
- Engage New Members
- Increase Educational Offerings with Share-the-Knowledge Workshops
- Increase Publicity
Our second initiative, to re-establish Dateline Houston, has been accomplished with the help of a new editor. The committee liked that. New blood can definitely bring new energy!
About our fifth initiative, publicity, the committee said that the chapter’s ability to keep the publicity “machine” active is crucial.
Community Recognition
STC Houston will be recognized at the 2013 Summit in Atlanta. I hope you’ll join us there at Leadership Day and the Honors Banquet so that our pictures show our Houston pride!
Like to See More?
If you’d like to see the complete CAA submission package, let me know! You can always reach me at president.
