From the President

April 2018

Kia ora everyone

Bullet journal example

Welcome to April! I know it’s a cliché but the year really is flying by. My bullet journal is up to page 109 and I’ve managed three months of journaling, so I feel like it’s here to stay. It helps that my work colleagues recognise my love of nice notebooks, and save them up for me! I’ve got a lovely orange one waiting in the wings for when I finish the current one.

Did you enjoy my BLUF style (bottom line up front) report last month? I certainly enjoyed writing it that way! But this month it’s just a short round-up of Board news and other events...

ITx conference 11-13 July 2018

We can finally announce our speakers for this conference, and registrations are open!

This year, Doug Kim (who you may remember from Collaborate2017) is returning to New Zealand as a keynote speaker for ITx, and will also be speaking on our conference day, which is Friday 13 July.

You can choose to attend just one day of the conference (hopefully our day) or choose a 2- or 3-day option.

Our other exciting speakers are Tony Self, Shelly Davies, and Catherine Caudwell. Along with Doug, they will present a great day of Tech Comms-related inspiration.

TechCommNZ will be there all three days with a booth, and some of the Board will be around to chat.

Board and branch news

Our Board’s focus lately has been on the ITx conference, planning workshops and webinars, and running the association.

This month I’d like to give a big shout out to Steve Moss (a past President and Board member) who organises all our workshops and webinars, does all the speaker liaison, and runs the webinars. You’ll recognise him as the voice who introduces our speakers and troubleshoots any technical issues. So thanks Steve! We really appreciate your work.

Branches have been a little quiet this year, with Christchurch being first cab off the rank in March. I was honoured to be asked to present my conference talk “Real users and what to do about them” to quite a decent crowd. It was lovely to meet lots of new faces.

Are you an award-winning communicator?

I’m excited to promote a couple of awards that recognise the great work you all do. I encourage everyone to at least think about entering one or both of them.

We’re all looking forward to the 2018 Plain English Awards and this year’s Best Plain English Technical Communicator. And we’re doubly excited to have the chance to award our first Excellence in Technical Communication award at ITx in July!

Here are the details:

Meredith Evans

That’s all from me this month!

Take care and remember you can always get in touch at president@techcommnz.com. I’d love to hear from you!

Ka kite

Meredith Evans