East Bay Chapter Society for Technical Communication
Administrative Council Meeting Minutes
Date: Monday, August 15, 2011
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Location: Max’s Diner, 2015 Crow Canyon Place, San Ramon
Voting Officers Present: Gwaltney Mountford, Joe Humbert, Lori Cooke, and Helen
Cheung
Program Leaders/Volunteers Present: Ken Evans, Patrick Lufkin, Richard Mateosian,
Liz Miller, Jane Olivera, Romy Sinha, and Cheryl Volshin
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Quick Updates: Gwaltney/All
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Meeting convened at 7:02pm.
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Newsletter: Gwaltney mentioned Alliene Turner is retiring as the managing editor of
the newsletter. Until we find a replacement, it was suggested that we not have a
newsletter. Romy mentioned that Gwendolyn Barr from the Berkeley chapter
approached her about the two chapters collaborating on the newsletter. We discussed
exploring the possibility of sharing resources with Berkeley. Gwendolyn uses
RoboHelp to publish the Berkeley chapter’s newsletter. If we collaborate with
Berkeley, Gwendolyn will need to be the one that publishes the newsletter. Jane and
Romy to follow-up with Gwendolyn about the EBSTC newsletter. Someone
suggested that in the interim, we can call our chapter newsletter “Mole Hill” which
would be a bulletin of articles but without editorial messages from the president and
newsletter editor. Joe mentioned that the latest newsletter is ready. Lori to send eblast
to members. [Post meeting update: Jane Olivera will be guest managing editor for
October newsletter.]
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Communication Plan: There is a lot of redundant information (for example, EBSTC
website and My STC). We need to figure out what we want listed at My STC.
Gwaltney mentioned that our chapter needs a social media manager and
communication manager to manage the information we post. What do we want the
EBSTC website, newsletter, emails, and My STC to do? Jane volunteered to research
how it all interrelates and how best to use what is available. Jane to look at all
accounts that we have and research the best approach. When we draft the social
media manager position, we need to add to the description about how the volunteer
needs to understand social media and be able to explain the different types of social
media technologies.
EBSTC Council Meeting Minutes
August 2011
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Webinar: “A Legal-Eye View of STC and Its Communities” scheduled for Thursday,
8/18 at 10am PST. Richard will be attending the webinar and will report back to the
council.
Community Affairs Committee: Richard

Richard reported that there is a new STC org chart but nothing has changed. Richard
is still helping chapters and communities in transitions. Richard can now deputize
volunteers that want to join the CAC. Gwaltney asked Richard to put together the
CAC volunteer job description.
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Richard mentioned the CAC has put out numerous webinars that are recorded and
they are available for consumption. The webinars are available to chapter leaders.
The webinars should be under “Leadership” on the STC website. The STC website is
continually being updated. There are people experiencing issues with the website.
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Gwaltney suggested that we all review the webinars and documents that are available
on STC.
Treasurer’s Report: Joe

The chapter has changed banks from Chase to Wells Fargo. (Background info: Chase
was charging us a service fee since the balance in our account is under the required
balance amount. To avoid the service charge, we decided to switch banks.) We
currently have $5100 in our account.
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Joe to compile a budget report.
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Contract with Crow Canyon Country Club has been signed and the contract takes us
through the end of the year.
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Corporate sponsor: The chapter received $400 from Tech Prose and their logo is
posted on our website.
Membership Drive: Romy
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Romy put together the member survey on Survey Monkey. Survey Monkey allows
you to have 10 questions for free. Gwaltney is reviewing the survey. The survey will
go out to members when it is ready.
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Romy reported that we have two new members. We now have a total of 43 members.
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Romy will confirm with STC that they still offer the“join now and get rest of the year
for free” promotion. If members join in October, they will get the rest of the year for
free.
Website Transition to WordPress: Lori and Jane
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Adrienne was not present at the meeting. Lori mentioned that the project volunteers
got together and tasks were assigned. Next meeting TBD.
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Gwaltney asked about the timeline of a draft website. September/October is not likely
to be ready. October/November might be more realistic. Gwaltney will follow-up
with Adrienne for the project spreadsheet and to get another meeting scheduled for
September. Currently, Adrienne is the keeper of the assignment list. Jane volunteered
to help update the list.
EBSTC Council Meeting Minutes
August 2011
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Gwaltney suggested that the team get volunteers to help review what is already done.
Programs: Gwaltney & All
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September program will be Rich Maggiani. Rich will be coming from Vermont so
EBSTC and Sacramento will be sponsoring Rich. The two chapters will split Rich’s
travel costs, and Gwaltney will find sponsors to cover the East Bay chapter’s portion.
Topic is on “Listening.”
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December program will be called “Don’t quit your day job but…” This is on
published fiction books and the two sides of writing (fiction and professional). We
are bringing in three writers (Bruce Robinson will be one speaker). We will still do
our yearly book exchange at the meeting. Also, we will try to raffle off the books
written by the three speakers. Melody is organizing this meeting.
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October and November programs TBD. Gwaltney has some ideas and waiting for
responses.
Actions for the Year: Gwaltney & All
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Leadership – Gwaltney mentioned that we should not assume current leaders to sign
up for another term. We need to find new candidates for all positions, if possible.
Gwaltney suggested that Richard talk to people at the September meeting to scope
out candidates for the positions. Joe to send Richard a list of past attendees. We need
to start recruiting because the ballot must go out in November so election results can
be tallied in December.
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Strategic Plan – Kick-off meeting occurred on 8/21. Gwaltney, Don Benesh, and Lori
Meyer are on the committee to help with this task. The Strategic Plan will cover the
next three years.
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Chapter Bylaws Review –This task is to review how the chapter is structured and to
see if the structure makes sense (for example, officer term limits). It was decided that
since we are late in the year, we will hold off on reviewing the bylaws until next year.
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Job’s Day – We have three volunteers but we do not have an event leader. The event
will be in the spring. Gwaltney will contact Gina Gotsill to see if she wants to lead
the event.
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50th Anniversary Celebration – The chapter is turning 50 in February 2012. We need
a committee to coordinate the party. We have volunteers but no event leader. The
celebration will take place between February and June 2012. It was suggested that
June might work better.
Critical Tasks for Rest of Year: Gwaltney
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Leadership: We need to make sure we have a slate of candidates. All of us need to
brainstorm ideas and talk to people at meetings to recruit for the positions.
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Website Transition: Once we have our website over to WordPress, this will allow us
to get more members involved. It will also lighten the load of maintenance.
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Anniversary Celebration
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Jobs Day: This is a good service for our members.
EBSTC Council Meeting Minutes
August 2011
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Strategic Communication Plan: This could be a focus for next year. This plan will
cover how the chapter will utilize social media.
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Communication Manager and Media Manager Roles: This will be a focus for next
year.
Action Items, Next Steps:
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Jane: To follow-up with Gwendolyn of the Berkeley chapter about our chapters
collaborating on the newsletter.
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Lori: Send eblast to members about the latest newsletter being available. [Done]
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Jane: To research how social media interrelates and how best our chapter should use
the technology. [No time constraint for this.]
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Richard: To attend webinar: “A Legal-Eye View of STC and Its Communities” on
Thursday, 8/18 at 10-11am and will report back to council.
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Richard: To write up information/job description of CAC responsibilities.
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All: Review webinars and documents that are available on STC and attend if
interested.
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Joe: To compile budge report for the council members with actuals to date.
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Romy: To follow-up with STC that they still offer the “join now and get rest of year
for free” promotion starting in October.
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Gwaltney: To follow-up with Adrienne for WordPress project spreadsheet and to get
another meeting scheduled for September.
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Richard: To scope out slate of leadership candidates.
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Joe: To send Richard a list of past attendees. [Done]
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Gwaltney: To contact Gina Gotsill to see if she wants to lead the Jobs Day event.
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Next Council Meeting – Late September/Early October
EBSTC Council Meeting Minutes
August 2011
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