STC Montreal

STC-Montreal held its town hall meeting on April 28, 2008 at the Nouvel Hotel. The highlights:

• Elections for positions on the administrative council are coming up. The chapter is seeking a candidate for vice-president.
• The chapter is financially healthy, with funds in both the chapter’s regular chequing account and in short-term investments.
• President Andy Gural said that improvements were made this year in recruitment, marketing, and attendance at chapter events, all to varying degrees. The volunteer team has new members this spring, and a new web site was launched this year. Chapter events are being promoted through general media outlets.
• A volunteer is also needed as Workshop Coordinator. The chapter hopes to hold two workshops in the 2008/2009 season.

Minutes of the Town Hall Meeting

Welcome – Andy Gural

A Business Meeting is required by chapter bylaws. It is also a requirement of the STC International bylaws. There will be a prize at the end of the meeting for the best chapter improvement suggestion.

Introduction of Past President Manny Gordon, who spoke on the chapter’s traditions, the role of the Administrative Council and elections. Manny’s key point was that members should be networking before they need it, that networks are something to rely on long-term. Andy Gural and Poppy Quintal
also emphasized the value of networking through chapter connections. Manny concluded by describing the Administrative Council as a self-forming organism, one that renews itself through an informal “sidling-up” mechanism to cultivate new officers each year.

Finances – Everett Larsen

The current statement of accounts is approximately $6300 in the chapter chequing account, and an additional $2500 in a 30-day cashable GIC certificate. Both accounts are at the Royal Bank. Another disbursement of chapter dues is expected from STC’s executive office by June, approximately
$1500. This leaves the chapter in a substantially better financial position than it had at the same time last year. There is adequate funding for the upcoming inter-association meeting, and for the end-of-season banquet in June.

The Acrobat seminar was a professional and financial success, and the chapter would like to do two of these events if possible in the coming year.

Question: Should more investments be made with chapter funds, and if so, should higher-return vehicles be explored? After discussion, another GIC for the bulk of funds over the summer was agreed to.

2007-2008 Season Summary – Andy Gural

Andy set three goals for his term as President: recruitment, marketing, and attendance. To varying degrees, all were improved. The programs were well-received and attracted new members; the meeting location was changed to downtown at Hotel Nouvel based on a Google Maps analysis of member density. A new website was implemented thanks to Andy and Jim Royal, the forum was folded into the new page and is no longer separate. We have a new Job Banker (Susan Gerrior) and a new programs coordinator (Laura Jaffrey). Cafe Press swag is now offered through the new website, and a price sheet and sample mug were circulated.

Laura Jaffrey discussed programming activities and plans, invited members to suggest topics and speakers for next years’ events, and described her vision of the chapter as a learning hub.

Charles Roburn is the marketing coordinator, and he spoke briefly on his efforts to develop new contacts and print outlets for event announcements. Andy also mentioned his idea for “Starbucks cards” as an attendance incentive (4 meetings gets the next one free).

Poppy Quintal and Charles Roburn spoke about the planning for the upcoming inter-association event at the Europa Hotel on May 22. STC, PWAC, AMWA, EAC and QWF have all committed to it, and other groups are interested and may co-sponsor as well.

Andy Gural spoke of ongoing efforts to develop an active linkage with Concordia University programming through Ann Waterhouse. There is a good possibility there will again be a certificate program in Technical Communication, and if so, STC Montreal should be an active part of it.

Elections/Volunteering – Andy Gural/Poppy Quintal

A Vice President candidate is needed, and “sidling up” is underway. Everett is running again for Treasurer, as is Paul for Secretary.

A volunteer is also needed for the Workshop Coordinator, and there was discussion of the workshop pricing, and whether a deeper discount for students would be useful.

Ahmed Ibrahim will be coordinating Competitions again in the coming year.

Other (open discussion)

A question was raised on the amount STC HQ rebates to its chapters, and Everett indicated it was 14% ($25/member), not only for Montreal, but also for all chapters.

Member Robert Woodhouse suggested doing a program event on mind mapping for outlining and project management, using Mind Manager/Compendium tools. A detailed tool reference is at www.mindjet.com.