stc-jamesriver.org

It’s time to begin preparations for the STC James River Chapter elections. Our goal is to hold the election from April 15–May 2. We will be electing the president, vicepresident, secretary, and treasurer of the chapter. We would also like to elect a second vice-president, but so far there are no candidates.

Okay, first let me explain my presence here in this column. I’m Cynthia Curl, an employee of CIBER, Inc. and until recently I was vice-president of the STC James River Chapter. In February, Don White, the chapter’s 2007-2008 president, resigned his office. Those of us who worked with Don wish him well in his future endeavors. As vice president, I was asked to step into the office of president in accordance with national STC by-laws by which we run our chapter.

Technical Writer to Project Manager

Technical writers can meet project management certification requirements by working on a project team to create a communications deliverable. Often we take a leadership role in designing a document that is integral to the product, such as a help file. Sometimes we come in at the late stage of a project and write a users manual for the product. We interview those who created the “product” as we write the manual, becoming part of that team. Even as lone technical writers we play a pivotal role in the larger team of client and customers; writing documents according to the requirements of the deliverable’s user. We can apply the breadth of our experience to become highly qualified and effective project managers. Project management certification is a natural extension of our skill base and is a way to demonstrate our value to employers.