2008 Competition now on

It's competition time again... I've been a bit slow getting things rolling again, but now they are.

A couple of things we're doing differently this year:

Entries from Ontario only: last year it was interesting getting entries from all over the place (even as far away as South Korea), but this year we're putting the focus squarely on home-grown talent and thereby better serving what we see as our role in the Ontario technical communication community.

Asking entrants to contact the Competition Manager first: last year we had a bit of confusion around things like payment of entry fees, categorization of entries, use of correct entry forms, and so on. Our best idea for making it easier to do things the right way is to provide more guidance to the entrants. Therefore, we'll be having the entrants contact me before sending in their entry.

For more details about entering or judging, go to the STC Toronto site and click "Competition". Entries are being accepted until November 14.

Second thoughts are often best

Your first thought is a first draft. That's especially true with Web pages, where whoever suggests the first information structure was likely influenced by the paper version. On reflection, you can start using the power of links. Here's an example:

Formats: paper-based vs. online: