From the President
November 2021
ConferenceLite is postponed until 2022
As you know, we planned to hold ConferenceLite this year in November.
Unfortunately, we have had to make the decision to postpone our conference until next year.
The restrictions and uncertainty caused by the Delta outbreak have, sadly, made it unfeasible to continue our conference plans this year.
We just want to say a heartfelt thank you to our speakers, both for volunteering this year, and for volunteering to return next year.
The AGM will go ahead as a virtual event.
AGM via Zoom: 7 November
Members are invited to join the TechCommNZ annual general meeting, which will be 11:00am on Sunday 7 November 2021.
This will be a Zoom meeting only (meeting ID is 85854244566 and the password is 595047).
We’ll send the Zoom by email link too, so keep an eye on your inbox.
Read the 2020 AGM minutes (Note: only available to TechCommNZ members, who will need to login.)
The board is proposing a couple of changes to the TechCommNZConstitution this year, particularly around the structure of the board, and we need your vote.
If you won’t be coming to the AGM, please vote online. You’ll receive an email soon with instructions on how to vote online.
If you don’t vote, we can’t make the changes!
If you want to vote but have a question about the remits, feel free to email me at thepresident@techcomm.nz
A reminder about how votes are counted:
Individual members and student members – you get one vote. Vote “yes” or “no” online or attend the AGM to submit your vote on the remit(s). Attend the AGM to vote for board members and any other business.
Corporate members – the “key person” for the corporate votes on behalf of all members in your organisation: Contact your key person to tell them which way you’d like them to vote on the remit(s) and any AGM business, including board members.
- Key people, please make sure you get in touch with your members soon to organise your vote
- If you don't hear from your key person soon or don't know who they are, get in touch with your manager or the person in your organisation responsible for professional development.
Become a board member!
If you’re interested, but not sure what’s required of a board member, here’s the basic breakdown:
Responsibilities:
- Work together towards our 5-year strategy:
- We've divided up the tasks amongst the board members - everyone has a buddy to share the load and offer guidance. And we all pitch in where needed
- It's our priority to work with the resources we have and not overload people
- Attend meetings and discuss / vote on matters discussed by the board:
- Three meetings per year in-person, flights paid for by TechCommNZ
- All other meetings via Zoom
Time:
- You can expect to be involved for a one hour board meeting 11 times a year, the AGM, and on average a couple of hours a week for other activities.
Rewards:
We’d like to think contributing to this awesome organisation and its members is reward in itself, but as well as that:
- You get to know new people in your field from across the country
- It looks really good on your CV
- You gain experience running an organisation and have your say in how TechCommNZ is run
- You have the chance to represent TechCommNZ at events around NZ
Email thesecretary@techcomm.nz to express your interest or just put your hand up at the AGM to volunteer.
Become our social media co-ordinator!
We are looking for someone (or a couple of someones) with social media expertise to handle our Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn presence.
You would have the same rights as a board member, able to vote on matters relating to the running of TechCommNZ, and we’d ask you to check in at board meetings once a month. However, you’d have no other board duties.
You’d be primarily working with the comms co-ordinator.
If this sounds like something you could have fun with, contact thepresident@techcomm.nz to volunteer!
Write for our newsletter!
If you would like to volunteer for TechCommNZ but don’t want to join the board, why not contribute toTechCommWire?
Can you think of something you do or use everyday that other technical communicators might find useful? How about a skill other technical writers may not have, like editing videos or visual design? We’d love to hear about it in the newsletter!
Become a mentor!
Starting next year, we're going to be revamping our mentoring programme, so watch this space if you're keen to share your knowledge as a mentor, or if you're early in your tech comm career and looking for a mentor.
Intrigued? Read this great article by Emily and Manjari about their experience of mentorship through TechCommNZ.
A TechCommNZ mentoring success story
Congratulations to this year’s Plain English Awards winners and finalists!
Huge congratulations, not only to the winners of our sponsored category – Best Plain English Technical Communicator – but to our members who shone in other categories as well!
Best Plain English Technical Communicator 2021
Winner: thinkstep-anz team
Best Plain English Document — Public Sector 2021
Finalist: Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency
Best Plain English Turnaround 2021
Winner: Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency
That’s all from me for now, I look forward to seeing you at the AGM!
Katie