STC Montreal

Workshop leader: Jordan Nardone
Where: rad’a, 841 St-André (corner of Gilford, Laurier metro)
When: Sunday, September 26, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Cost: $20 for QWF members; $22 for non-members

This workshop is designed to introduce writers to a simple, effective and practical way to relieve tension, improve posture and breathing, and refresh both the body and mind while at work. With the ancient practice of Yoga as our framework, we will explore techniques and exercises to encourage better posture and relieve the common aches and pains that tend to accompany hours upon hours spent at the computer.

All are welcome! No previous yoga experience is required. Even if you are currently living with an injury you can benefit from this workshop.

Most props (chairs, mats, blankets) will be provided at the yoga studio but please bring your yoga mat if you own one. Please wear comfortable clothing (no jeans please). The workshop will take place in bare feet.

Maximum: 20 participants

Jordan Nardone is a Hatha Yoga instructor and certified Masso-kinesitherapist. She also teaches anatomy to both students and teachers of yoga. Jordan’s extensive training in anatomy and biomechanics has led her to explore the therapeutic applications of yoga, and she delights in teaching others how to use this practice to heal themselves.

To register, call 514-933-0878 and leave a message if there’s no answer. Callers will be registered in order of phone messages.

Concodia University is offering a new course in Travel Writing this Fall. The course begins Thursday, September 16, 2010 (6–8pm), and continues for 10 weeks.

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The Association of English-Language Publishers of Quebec presents an evening about e-book publishing.

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Back by popular demand, Mediaville Montreal is organizing another freelancer meet and greet next month. The last event was a strong success — with about 30 freelance professionals in print, video, radio, web and mobile media attending. The next mixer will be Wednesday, August 18, 2010 at the Irish Embassy Pub.

More than just a social outing, Mediaville intends to is to forge closer ties — especially business ties — between Montreal’s freelance media professionals. As with the first gathering, official attendance is limited, this time to 40 people. The details for RSVPing are below.

Location: Irish Embassy Pub, 1234 Bishop Street (link)
Date: Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Time: 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Cost: Free
Admission requirements: freelance media professional status
RSVP: info [at] mediaville [dot] ca

When replying, please include your:
Name:
Professional association:
Website:
Years of freelance experience:
Media: (i.e., print, Web, radio, video, etc.)
Services: (i.e., writing, graphic design, documentary film, etc.)
Sort of work you’re interested in:

Fall professional development seminar

Last fall, Mediaville, in conjunction with its partners, hosted its first event: a half-day, weekend event, with two panel discussions, a workshop and networking party, attended by over 100 local freelancers. We’d like to repeat the experience, and make it even better. We’re looking for a couple, dedicated and resourceful people to help with organization and staffing (note that volunteers get free admission).

If you’d like to help out, volunteers can apply here.

Helpless Doorknobs & Other Dramatic Considerations

Written by the Playwrights of the QWF Round Table

Atwater Library Auditorium
Thursday, May 20th
7:30 p.m. Admission free.
Doors open at 7:15 p.m.

Quebec Writers Federation
qwf.org

The American Medical Writer’s Association (AMWA) invites you to Voice of Experience, our next exciting networking meeting on Thursday, May 13th at 7:00 pm.

Members and non-members are both welcome to this roundtable discussion with a panel of experienced freelance medical writers to help new or aspiring writers, or for freelancers who could use a little mentoring to get on track. We will be sharing our tips and best practices to help you reach your goals to become a successful freelance medical writer. Feel free to invite your friends and colleagues who may be interested. Of course employers looking for freelancers or employees are always welcome!

Some of the topics we will discuss:

• Examples of how to structure your freelance business including whether you should set up a formal company (individual, incorporate), collect GST and PST, etc
• Finding clients in Canada or the US by marketing through direct mail or via the internet & social media etc
• How to let clients find you including advertising on AMWA Canada, AMWA.org, other sources.
• Should you set up a website?
• Keeping clients happy and coming back to you
• Any other questions you may have for the panel

Panel composed of: Bruce Wilson, Lara Holmes, Peter MacMillan, and Crystal Kaczkowski

Please RSVP to medicalwriter [at] videotron [dot] ca by 12 pm on Tuesday, May 11th so we know how many chairs to tell the restaurant to set up, but note that you will not necessarily receive a confirmation reply.

We were at this restaurant a few years back and it has its own private room upstairs so will be more conducive for discussion that our last few meetings.

Le Caveau Szechwan
6000, ave. de Monkland
N.D.G.
Montreal, H4A 1G8
Tél. 514.488.2818

(Ask for AMWA reservation)

Crystal Kaczkowski
Freelance Medical Writer/Copywriter
514-585-3077
medicalwriter [at] videotron [dot] ca
www.medwrite.ca

With the recent launch of Creative Suite 5, Adobe is offering free training to orient users with the new features in CS5.

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STC-Montreal members can take advantage of discounted rates for workshops at the Editors Association of Canada 2010 national conference: Editing Content and Culture.

The EAC national conference is three days of lectures and workshops from May 28 through May 30, 2010 at the Grande Bibliothèque in downtown Montreal. You can learn valuable stylistic skills and network with other writers, editors, and translators. The EAC is offering discounts on all pre-conference workshops (English and French) held on Friday, May 28, 2010.

Pre-Conference Workshops

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Haiku Creativity with Emiko

Offered by the Quebec Writers’ Federation in partnership with Haiku Canada and the McGill Institute for Learning in Retirement

When: Saturday, May 22, 1:00 p.m. — 4:00 p.m.
Where: Institute for Learning in Retirement 855 Sherbrooke Street West, 10th floor Montreal, Quebec Workshop
Leader: Emiko Miyashita

In this three-hour workshop with Japanese master poet Emiko Miyashita, you will learn about the world’s shortest and most popular poem form while sipping green tea and enjoying traditional Japanese treats. Miyashita, who writes in both Japanese and English, will give a brief introduction on the origins and fundamentals of the form, then guide you in writing your own haiku. This is not just a workshop for poets. Discover how this three-line, Zen-inspired poem can help you as a writer sharpen your focus, generate new and surprising connections, and teach you that when it comes to words, less is definitely more.

Emiko Miyashita was born in Fukushima, Japan in 1954. A graduate of Doshisha University in Kyoto, she began writing haiku seriously in 1993. She is currently a dojin, a leading member of Ten’i (??), Providence, haiku group lead by Dr. Akito Arima, and also a dojin of Shin (?), Morning Sun, haiku group lead by Dr. Akira O-mine. Since 1997, she has travelled frequently to haiku conferences in Canada, the U.K, the U.S. and India. She is an award winning translator of 10 books and has published two collections of her own haiku. She lives in Kawasaki, Japan.

Space in this workshop is limited to 35 participants.

Workshop fee: $35, which includes green tea and sweets.

For more information, or to register: 514-933-0878 or info [at] qwf [dot] org

Ten for Ten: Perfecting Our Craft

ISC/SCI Conference and Annual General Meeting

May 26–27, 2010 – Dawson College, Montreal

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PWAC Quebec (pwacquebec.wordpress.com) has lots of great social and professional development events in the works, all of which are free for members and either free or very affordable for non-members.

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Join us at the STC Toronto’s Management Day on February 26 to learn three ways to work and communicate more effectively.

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The following are a series of workshops presented by the Quebec Writers’ Federation. Click the titles for more information about each workshop and workshop leader.

Eight-Week Evening Workshops

(Workshop fee: $170, $150 for QWF Members)

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Maya Assouad, marketing manager for Véhicule Press, will discuss the benefits of marketing on the web at the next event hosted by the Association of English-language Publishers of Quebec.

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For the first time, we will be broadcasting the Israeli FrameMaker User Group meeting (#27), for the benefit of members who are unable to attend in person, and in order to open the event to other users world-wide.

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The American Medical Writers Association invites you to an open roundtable discussion – Professional Uses of Social Media (6:30-8:30 pm, Thursday, January 28, Stash Café, Old Montreal)

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Microtype’s Shlmo Perets is presenting a series of free FrameMaker-to-Acrobat TimeSavers 1-hour webinars early in the new year. All webinars start at 10am PST/PDT:

• Better PDFs with FrameMaker-to-Acrobat TimeSavers, January 14
• Effective PDF Bookmarks with FM-to-Acrobat TimeSavers, January 28
• Form Assistant, February 11
• Navigation Assistant, February 25
• Multimedia Assistant, March 11
• 3D Assistant, March 25
• Presentation Assistant, April 8
• Liven up your PDFs with FrameMaker-to-Acrobat TimeSavers/Assistants, April 22

For webinar description or to register, please visit http://www.microtype.com/ImprovePDF.html#TSwebinars

“Graphics & Video in PDFs” — 1-hour webinar (free)

Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Starting 1pm EST

Brief demonstration and discussion of graphics and video in PDFs and related aspects: livening up static documentation (software/hardware) and engaging readers through interactive graphics, displaying information on demand (popups/rollovers/layers), integrating multimedia (such as video simulations and demonstrations of software processes and functions) & interactive 3D.

Note: this presentation focuses on PDFs and Acrobat, and is not specific to any authoring tool

Register at https://student.gototraining.com/4b34y/register/5808052943743757771

Tuesday November 17
Lion d’Or: 1676 Rue Ontario Est, Papineau metro

Don’t miss English Montreal’s biggest literary party of the year! Witness the unveiling of this year’s QWF Award winners in the Fiction, Poetry, Translation, Children’s and Young Adult Literature, Non-Fiction, and First Book categories, as well as the QWF Community Award, the Quebec Writing Competition, and this year’s carte blanche Quebec prize!

Reception, 7-8pm: Music by Riverside Blues
8pm: Prize-giving, hosted by Stanley Péan

Tickets are $15 ($10 for full-time students), and are available at Argo, Babar en ville, Bibliophile, Clio, Paragraphe, and The Word bookstores as well as the QWF office.

2009 QWF Awards short list: qwf.org/awards/

Effectively managing a technical communication group involves a unique set of skills, such as: the ability to clearly communicate expectations for a project, effectively evaluate performance, develop and communicate a strategic vision for your group, make a business case for proposed projects, and sell the services of your group. STC offers a special certificate program that confirms what you may already be doing and helps you develop the necessary skills.

Noted speaker Saul Carliner promises: “The six sessions for this certificate program present a combination of discovery exercises, which leverage your existing knowledge; formal presentations, which describe the ‘must knows’; and action planning segments, which give you a chance to consider how you’ll apply what you learned back on the job.

“This course was designed specifically for technical communicators who have management responsibilities. It is anticipated that these learners will come from small- and medium-sized organizations, which are less likely to have formal management training than large organizations. The course content will develop the core skills needed for one of the key positions that technical communicators assume—and does so in a way that’s unique to technical communicators (not other professions).”

Comments from Previous Attendees:

“Probably the most immediately relevant and accessible (in terms of information) sessions I’ve attended in years.”

“This [course] provided the in-depth focus that I was looking for. Saul Carliner is an informative and effective instructor who is generous in the material he shares.”

Technical Communication Manager Certificate

27 October–1 December
10:30 AM–Noon EDT/EST (GMT-4/GMT-5)

• Week 1: 27 October—Managing for Effective Performance—Part 1: Writing Job Descriptions, Hiring, and Establishing a Performance Plan
• Week 2: 3 November—Managing for Effective Performance—Part 2: Coaching and Evaluating Performance, and Providing Career Guidance
• Week 3: 10 November—Preparing and Presenting a Strategic Plan
• Week 4: 17 November—Preparing and Presenting a Business Case—Part 1
• Week 5: 24 November—Preparing and Presenting a Business Case—Part 2
• Week 6: 1 December—Marketing Your Group Internally
• Course objectives, session descriptions, and presenter biographies

http://www.stc.org/edu/technical-communication-manager-certificate.asp

REGISTER NOW

http://www.stc.org/edu/technical-communication-manager-certificate-courses.asp

To obtain the certificate, participants must log in for each of the six scheduled sessions. A discount is available for additional attendees from
the same company. For these special prices, please contact Lloyd Tucker.

$595 member / $995 nonmember
Student: $295 member / nonmember $995

Individual Sessions (without certificate):
$149 member / $259 nonmember
Student: $79 member / $259 nonmember