The STC So-Cal Spotlight Awards: An Interview with Allyson Smith

September 16, 2011 Blog No Comments

Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler

In this brief interview with Allyson Smith, Senior Technical Writer at CareFusion in San Diego, we discuss the upcoming Spotlight Awards and why you might want to enter your work into the competition.

TCW: Allyson, thanks for taking time out of your schedule to chat with me. You’re the Awards Manager of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) Souther California Spotlight Awards competition. For our readers who aren’t familiar, what are the STC Spotlight Awards?

AS: The Spotlight Awards competition is a regional competition within the STC that rewards outstanding efforts in the technical communications field. We are located in Southern California and are sponsored by the San Diego and Orange County STC chapters.

Spotlight provides an opportunity for technical communicators to showcase their work in four areas:

Informational materials
Instructional materials
Promotional materials
User Support materials

TCW: Who can enter the competition?

AS: Spotlight accepts entries from anywhere in the world. However, we encourage submitters to search close to home for a competition and if there isn’t a local one, to then consider entering our competition. For more information, see our About Spotlight page or contact our competition manager, Suzy Hosie.

TCW: Who judges the entries?

AS: Anyone is welcome to apply to be a judge; you need not be an STC member. Entries are judged by standards set by STC, with winners at the highest level automatically entered in STC’s international competition. Judging is a wonderful way to see different types of materials produced by other technical communicators and to add a new achievement to your resumé. For more information and an application, visit the Judging section of the Spotlight Awards website or contact our judging manager, Cass Van Gelder.

TCW: When does the competition take place?

AS: Here are the deadlines for this year’s competition:

September 23, 2011 – Early-Bird Entry Deadline (discounted entry fee)
September 30, 2011 – Entry Deadline
October 21, 2011 – November 18, 2011 – Judging Dates
October 22, 2011 – Judges Training (This date is subject to change.)
January 28, 2012 – Awards Banquet at Sarducci’s Capistrano Depot in San Juan Capistrano, with keynote speaker Scott Abel

TCW: Where will competition activities take place?

AS: If you are selected to become a judge, you will need to attend the judges’ training session (day, time, and location are TBD). This will most likely be a webinar. Entries will be mailed or emailed to you. If you are an award recipient, you may either attend our awards banquet in January, where we will return your entries to you; otherwise, we’ll mail your entries back to you.

TCW: How much does it cost to enter?

AS: Entry fees for this year’s Spotlight competition are:

STC Members: $75 for the first entry
Nonmembers: $100 for the first entry

Entries postmarked by September 23 receive a $25 discount. There is no multiple entry discount for early-birds. So, if you’re planning to participate, please submit your entries as soon as possible. For forms and more information on how to enter the Spotlight competition, visit the Entries page or contact our entries manager, Cindy Kratz.

TCW: Wow! We’re out of time already. Thanks for taking a few minutes out of your day to educate our readers about the Spotlight Awards. I appreciate it and look forward to participating in the awards banquet, January 28, 2012 at Sarducci’s Capistrano Depot, in San Juan Capistrano, CA. I’m honored that you asked me to be the keynote presenter. On that note, I better get busy creating a fresh presentation for that night! Being the featured presenter is a lot of pressure.

AS: Thanks for helping us spread the word about the competition, Scott. We look forward to seeing you at the awards banquet. I’m sure you’ll be entertaining, as usual.

Additional Information
You can keep track of news of interest to technical communication professionals in southern California by following STCSoCal on Twitter and by visiting the various websites maintained by southern California chapters of the Society for Technical Communication.