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Subject:Re: List punctuation and STC pubs competitions From:Lee Turner <Lee=Turner%Networks%Eng=Hou -at- BANGATE -dot- COMPAQ -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 31 Jan 1994 09:08:43 CST
[Response to LaVonna's suggestion of discussing what could be done
to improve STC publication competitions]
I would expect more from an STC competition, too. This story reminds me of an
IABC (International Association of Business Communicators) competition I entered
once. Although most of the categories dealt with magazine, newspaper, and
newsletter articles, they had one category for technical writing in the
competition.
As part of the entry, I had to write a one-page statement of objectives for my
entry. As LaVonna said, you can't expect to win an award every time, but you
would like to get some meaningful feedback. When I received the judge's
comments, there were lots of suggestions for improving the way I had written the
statement of objectives, and only one comment about my actual entry. And the
comment about my entry had to do with the introduction. I really felt like I had
wasted $40. There was only one judge in this instance, too.
Hopefully LaVonna's STC chapter will find a better group to judge their next
competition, because I have found my STC chapter's competitions to be helpful in
providing valid comments on my technical writing.
Lee Turner
Compaq Computer Corporation
internet: leet -at- bangate -dot- compaq -dot- com
