Letter from the Editor

by Kevin Cox

Happy New Year!

As you may know by now, The Willamette Galley is now published in even-numbered months, instead of odd-numbered months. Publishing in odd-numbered months meant that the Galley has had a dearth of submitted articles during the busy holiday season, and Galley staff, as well as newsletter contributors, simply do not have the time to meet December deadlines.

This issue's focus is on information architecture, and offers two articles on the subject, in conjunction with the February Program Meeting: Samantha Lizak discusses her experience trying to define Information Architecture and where it fits into the bigger picture of technical communication, in "Information Architecture: Where Does It Fit?". Valerie Ball discusses the pros and cons of attaining an advanced degree in technical communication in her article, "Information Architecture of an Advanced Degree".

STC as an organization is in the process of re-defining and transforming itself; this is discussed in the articles "STC's Transformation Process" and "STC's Vision Model". You will find these articles on the future direction of STC to be very interesting. Please don't forget to read "STC Membership Has Its Benefits"; after you do so, remember to renew your STC membership so you can take advantage of the many benefits STC has to offer.

Also in this issue: Rahel Bailie describes changes in the technical communication market and how to keep pace with them, and Part 2 of Bill Harrison's Technical Communication as a Marketing Tool. Kristy Schnabel's reviews on Get Clients Now! and the Virtual Assistant, will be particularly useful to those who are, or are thinking about, self-employment in tech comm.

The WordPlay, Take Our Word for It, and president's columns round out this issue.

The Willamette Galley needs your writing skills and input! If you're interested in writing an article on any topic related to technical communication for the STC-WVC newsletter, be sure to come to the newsletter volunteer meeting on Thursday, March 4, at 6:00 pm, at the Lloyd Center Mall Food Court; meet by the Wells Fargo ATM machine. The deadline for articles for the April issue is March 15.