Guest-edited issues of Intercom are always outstanding and the June issue is no exception. It was a pleasure to work with co-managers of the STC Instructional Design and Learning SIG on this issue. Robert Hershenow is an independent technical communicator living in Berkeley, California, who began working in instructional design by chance, many years ago. Today he also records and edits audio, plays music, and shows people how to create lively presentations. Mellissa Ruryk is a senior technical communicator with over 30 years’ experience in writing for technology, financial, oil and gas, and engineering clients. She is the past president of STC’s Canada West Coast Chapter. Robert and Mellissa are both STC Senior Members.
Robert and Mellissa have acquired five feature articles that provide suggestions and strategies for technical communicators who may be interested in transitioning into instructional design. The articles range from analyzing skill sets, assessing familiarity, and comparing the fields to hands-on advice on working with customers, designing model assembly instructions, and m-learning with smartphone. Thank you to Robert and Mellissa and all the authors in this issue for providing excellent content on instructional design and learning (IDL).
Also in this issue, columnist Scott Abel provides a Meet the Change Agents column with an interview of thought leader Dr. Nitish Singh. And columnists Kit Brown-Hoekstra and Cindy Currie provide career advice in Ask a TechComm Manager. The June Society Pages include information on Summit Playback, on Society-level offices for the 2016–2017 year, and announcements of the recipients for several awards—the President’s Award, the Community of the Year, and the International Summit Awards.
Are you interested in collaborating with me as a guest editor on a future issue of Intercom? Email me your thoughts and ideas at intercom@stc.org.
