Jesse fell last night while roller-blading, and immediately complained that his right wrist was hurting. (Actually, the complaint was that it hurt "inside the bone".) We iced it and put an ace bandage on for stability.

It still hurt this morning, so we headed to the doctor's office. He has a buckle fracture of his right radius. (I found an x-ray that looks similar to his.) Also known as an incomplete fracture and a greenstick fracture, it means a minimum of three weeks in a cast and more x-rays while they verify that it's healing correctly.

It also means no playing in the soccer tournament this weekend, no more soccer this season, no bike riding, no swimming, no karate...and lots of complaining about how he can't write ;-)

It's gonna be a long three weeks!

At Palimpsest, Sarah O'Keefe (Scriptorium Publishing) has recapped the issues on Quadralay and their now revamped EULA. Read Water from a a stone? for the introduction, and Update: ePublisher Pro license.

(This reminds me...at least a little bit...of the brouhaha that took place when eHelp quietly revamped the license for WebHelp back in 2000. I can't remember the entire story, and all the old sites that I'd use for reference are gone now, but I do remember that the license was changed pretty quickly after the issue was pointed out.)

What a week! The Conference Program Committee team outdid themselves, and I expect next year's conference to be even bigger and better. This year, more than 1400 people attended the conference, and the 79 exhibitors made it the biggest exhibition ever.

Some of the highlights:

Read more!

Trying to build a business case for XML where you work? Check out Sarah O'Keefe's presentation, Building a Business Case for XML.

And if you have any questions, and if you'll be at STC's Technical Communication Summit in Minneapolis, stop by Scriptorium Publishing's booth. (Or stop by just because you want some chocolate. Dark, of course!)

The Bylaws Committee and the Board of Directors have spent an enormous amount of time working on the new bylaws. The old bylaws were out of compliance with New York laws (where STC is incorporated) and are overly complicated from years of additions.

The current and previous bylaws are available, along with a comparison/rationale document. These documents provide historical background and the reasons why specific changes were made.

On Sunday, May 13, at 3:00 pm, there will be a Bylaws Forum at the Technical Communication Summit. This is your opportunity to hear about the bylaws, ask questions, and provide input. In addition, you can send email to Mary Wise, Bylaws Committee Chair for 2007-2008, by June 15 with any feedback. (Her email address is available through the above link.) (Note: if you want to provide anonymous feedback, send it to me and I'll pass it on.)

This is an unprecedented opportunity to take part in STC's governance process.

If you're going to be in Minneapolis, please consider stopping by, even for just the first half-hour. Listen to the conversation, participate if you want, and feel free to leave at any time. (There's no requirement that if you show up at the beginning, you must stay until the end.)

The Board of Directors (current and future) must follow the bylaws when making decisions and voting. The bylaws will be best if they include feedback from members who question why something was changed or who ask for something different to be included. All changes have to be approved by STC's legal counsel, but unsubmitted changes cannot be considered. ;-)

STC will run a special election to approve the new bylaws later this year.

Thank you.

Several HAT vendors have been making plans for STC's annual conference, the Technical Communication Summit. Be sure to stop by their booths!

• Author-it Software, booth 316, will be providing demos of Author-it Live and a sneak peak at Author-it 5.0. Stop by their booth to register to win a set of BOSE headphones.
• ComponentOne, booth 202/204, will be previewing the next generation of Doc-To-Help. Stop by their booth to register to win a Nintendo Wii.
• MadCap Software, booth 300/302, will be providing in-booth demonstrations and providing sneak previews of the new Feedback Server and some of the new features in Flare 3.0. They will also be announcing a new product.
• Adobe Systems (Platinum Sponsor), booth 306, will be providing technology sneak peaks of features in the next versions of FrameMaker, RoboHelp, and Captivate.

See you in Minneapolis!

STC posted IRS Form 990 today for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006 (FY 2005). An extension was required for various reasons, which the IRS granted. The IRS uses this form to assess the non-profit organization's compliance with the Internal Revenue Code.

Form 990s list assets, receipts, and expenditures. All 501(c)3 organizations that are required to file IRS Form 990 are also required to make their Form 990 available for public inspection upon request. STC has made it easier to see Form 990 by posting it on the site.

This year, STC has documented some background information about the 990 in general (including links to Guidestar, "Connecting people with nonprofit information"). In addition, you'll find information related to this year's Form 990.

Tom Johnson of Tech Writers Voices posts weekly podcasts devoted to technical communication. (For example, he recorded an interview with Brenda Huettner, Kit Brown, and I on April 29 about our book, Managing Virtual Teams: Getting the Most from Wikis, Blogs, and Other Collaborative Tools. He's also posted podcasts with George Hayhoe, editor of the Technical Communication Journal, on technical writing in China and Korea; Making Help More Human, and with Susan Burton, Executive Director of STC.)

He's currently running a "spring membership campaign" in the hopes of purchasing an EDIROL recorder so that he can record podcasts at the STC Annual Conference, the Technical Summit.

If only 20 people donate $20, he can get the new recorder. Please consider supporting Tom and Tech Writer Voices!

Lots of folks have done an immense amount of work this year to pull STC's Technical Communication Summit together. Here are eight reasons why you should attend:

• President Paula Berger has awarded former Vice-President Al Gore's Oscar-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth the President's Award because it conveys "complex technical concepts in ways that people can understand and use".
• Five certificate programs, which include a pre-conference seminar and full conference registration. Choose from Basic Technical Communications, Undiscovered Country: Taking Your Information Design to the Next Level, The Science and Art of Effective Interface Design, Moving to Content Management: From Justification to Implementation, or Managing Culturally Diverse Teams and Successfully Managing Geographically Dispersed Teams.
• More than 100 educational sessions, in 11 tracks, over three days, for novices through experts. A PDF copy of the day-by-day schedule is available, along with session search functionality.
• Keynotes by Simon Singh and Ze Frank. Singh, author of three books (including the first book about math to become a number one bestseller in the United Kingdom) speaks on Monday, May 14. Frank, a high-tech humorist, speaks at the closing session on Wednesday, May 16.
• Bylaws Forum. The bylaws have been reworked to bring them into compliance with New York laws (where STC is incorporated) and association best practices. Held on Sunday, May 13, after Leadership Day, the bylaws discussion is the place where you can make suggestions on the proposed changes before they go to the membership for a vote.
• Leadership Day. An annual Sunday event for many years now, Leadership Day is the place where current and new leaders can get valuable information for use when planning their upcoming year.
• Leadership Community Resource (LCR) launch. The LCR is STC's new structure for providing support and guidance to communities, including community outreach. If you are a community leader, come learn how the LCR can help you.
• The largest exhibition ever at an STC conference. Over 65 exhibitors will be setting up their booths, announcing new products, and helping you with current issues. The exhibition hall also includes the employment booth, the book store, a massage area, vendor showcases, the awards area, and more.

Hope to see you in Minneapolis!

Last weekend, Tom Johnson of Tech Writer Voices (and I'd Rather Be Writing) interviewed Brenda, Kit, and me about our book on virtual teams.

The podcast is about 30 minutes long, and we cover challenges with virtual teams, holding meetings, selecting tools, economics, and more.

Get a cup of coffee (or tea), put your feet up, and head over to Tech Writer Voices to listen to our podcast.