From the President

April 2023

Katie Haggath, smiling. She has long brown hair and is wearing a black top with red flowers on it.

Believe it or not, I first joined the TechCommNZ board seven years ago. It feels like a lifetime and at the same time, not very long ago at all. The board has achieved a lot in that time under the leadership of Emma Harding and Meredith Evans – in my first ‘From the President’ I said I had big boots to fill, and I meant it!

It’s crazy to think I became President only three years ago, at the height of COVID19 in 2020. Despite the craziness that was lockdowns, social distancing, ever-changing ‘traffic lights’ and the uncertainty that we’d ever get back to normal, it was humbling to see you all reaching out to each other, joining our online events, and just staying together to keep TechCommNZ going. I do not have the words to describe how immeasurably proud I am of this organisation and our members.

In the last year alone we have achieved so much, including but not limited to:

  • Our submission to the Plain Language Bill, which has since been passed
  • (Re)Connect 2022, our first conference and first large in-person gathering since 2019
  • We became a gold sponsor of the Plain Language Awards and set up a subsidy to cover entry fees for our members who want to enter their work – entries for 2023 open 1 May, by the way!
  • Launched the student board member position to help our student members and new graduates gain valuable experience
  • We’ve begun a collaborative project with ISTC in the UK and ASTC in Australia on a shared technical communication journal. At this stage we have established a working group to meet once a month and all three organisations have agreed a budget for the pilot. All going well, the pilot will launch this year.

I just want to say a huge thank you to the board, and to you, for making it all happen.

I am going to miss you, but it is time for me to take a step back from the board. I will not be standing for re-election in October and will pass on the presidency to someone else at the October 2023 AGM.

There are other changes coming to the board as well. We can’t do the great work we do without volunteers, so I encourage anyone who finds value in this organisation to step up and join the board. I’m positive you’ll find it as rewarding an experience as I have.

Katie Haggath
President