Intercom: March 2008

Intercom, the magazine of the Society for Technical Communication, is published to provide examples and applications of technical communication that will promote its readers' professional development.

No theme this issue.

Feature Articles

The Flexible Intranet: The key to efficient and effective user support is an intranet site that supports employees in performing their tasks. However, most intranet sites offer an overload of information that users often must interpret on their own. Van Mansom outlines a useful approach to creating corporate intranet sites.
Audience Matters: By incorporating usability techniques—more commonly used in product design—writers can better understand their audiences and the ways they use (or have problems using) the content. Read on for tips on how to incorporate usability techniques into your work.
Keep Your Site Competitive [ FREE! ]: To gain a competitive edge—or even survive—in a world gone flat, a company must assert a level of uniqueness. Companies creating global Web sites can use competitive analysis and landscape analysis to analyze the market; Lee-Kim details how to add cultural analysis to this mix.
Good Money—and Good Causes: Grant writing is a high-paying market for talented writers, and knowing the "rules" for writing grants makes the task easier to manage. Discover ten strategies for winning the grant award.

Departments

Community Spotlight
IDL SIG Offers Unique Programming to Reach Members Virtually: Providing services to members through a virtual community presents challenges different from those associated with serving members of a geographic community. Learn about how the Instructional Design and Learning (IDL) SIG has successfully and creatively responded to these challenges.
Cut & Paste
Cut & Paste: Learn firsthand from Adobe how the technical communication community has responded to the release of the company's Technical Communication Suite.
F.Y.I.
F.Y.I.: Check this listing for upcoming events of interest to technical communicators.
My Job
Making the Outdoors User-Friendly [ FREE! ]: What does technical writing have to do with selling hunting and fishing licenses? James Evins details his job as the testing and documentation specialist for the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Society Pages

Employment Information at the Summit [ FREE! ]: Whether you're looking for a job or looking for technical communicators, the employment information booth at the Technical Communication Summit is a helpful resource.
Fun Philadelphia on the Cheap [ FREE! ]: Take advantage of your free time during your visit to Philadelphia for the Technical Communication Summit in June and check out the numerous free or low-cost activities the city has to offer.
2008 Election Guide: Intercom's guide to the 2008 STC election presents candidates' responses to questions posed by the Society nominating committee. Read candidates' responses and learn how to submit questions of your own.
Convincing Your Boss to Pay STC Dues [ FREE! ]: Consider finding out about how to get your STC membership paid through your employer's corporate training budget.
Chapter Renewal Challenges Offers Complimentary Conference Registrations as Prizes: STC's chapter renewal challenge pits STC chapters in a competition to garner the highest renewal rates in 2008. Keep reading for the full details.
U.S. Members: Deduct Your STC Dues: STC dues are tax deductible for members who pay taxes in the United States. Consult this article for more about how to claim your dues as a deduction.

Columns

Teaching Technical Communication
Using Humor in the Technical Writing Classroom: Humor in the classroom is about engagement and involvement. Learn some new techniques to use and when to tread carefully.