Announcements

Initial discussion at STC Annual Conference about creating a Policies and Procedures interest group; eight founding members comprise the group; members begin communication via e-mail.

• STC Board of Directors approves request to form the Policies & Procedures Professional Interest Committee (PIC). The proposal was prepared and submitted by Raymond E. Urgo. Members of the new PIC included the sixty-two petitioners for the formation of the Policies and Procedures PIC. The STC approval announced to the new members in November of 1994.
• Raymond Urgo appointed manager of PIC/SIG (serves November 1994 through June 1998).

• April. First quarterly hardcopy issue of the Policies and Procedures PIC’s newsletter, STEPS & SPECS, is published. Audrey Cielinski-Kessler is the Editor.
• Policies and Procedures PIC makes debut appearance at the STC’s 42nd Annual Conference in the exposition hall and at technical sessions, networking luncheons, and business meetings.
• April through August. P& P PIC membership increases 24 percent (from 170 persons to 210). Membership has increased 200 percent in the PIC’s nine months of existence.

• STEPS & SPECS newsletter receives Merit Award in STC PIC newsletter competition.
• PIC presents at STC Annual Conference.

• STC’s Board of Directors changes name of Professional Interest Committee (PIC) to Special Interest Group (SIG). Thus, Policies and Procedures PIC becomes Policies and Procedures SIG.
• SIG’s first Web site goes online.
• STEPS & SPECS newsletter receives two awards in the STC’s 1997-1998 newsletter competition for SIGs - Achievement and Most Improved.
• SIG presents at STC Annual Conference.
• Michelle Anderson becomes STEPS & SPECS newsletter editor.

• SIG introduces ListServ.
• SIG presents at STC Annual Conference.
• Audrey Cielinski-Kessler accepts position of SIG Manager (serves July 1998 through June 2003).

• STEPS & SPECS newsletter receives Award of Excellence in STC’s 1998-1999 newsletter competition.
• SIG presents at STC Annual Conference.
• SIG membership reaches 840.

• Luette Arrowsmith is STEPS & SPECS newsletter editor from March through December. In December she becomes Web master for the P&P web site and Kathy Craddock takes on the role of the newsletter editor.
• SIG presents at STC Annual Conference.

• SIG draws in international members from Canada, Australia, Israel, Qatar, Belgium, and the United Kingdom.
• SIG presents at STC Annual Conference.

• STEPS & SPECS earns awards of Merit and Most Improved in the 2001-2002 STC Newsletter Competition.
• SIG presents at STC Annual Conference.

• Tenth anniversary of the founding of the Policies and Procedures SIG.
• Membership tops 900.
• SIG presents at STC Annual Conference.
• Audrey Cielinski-Kessler leaves SIG Manager position after serving since July 1998.
• Raymond Urgo, founder of the SIG, accepts position of SIG Manager, his second time as manager.
• Lois Marsh becomes newsletter editor.

• Audrey Cielinski-Kessler receives Distinguished SIG Service Award.
• SIG presents at STC Annual Conference.
• SIG holds contest to rename newsletter. From contest entries, committee selects the name of Direction submitted by Adrienne Escoe.

• SIG publishes its newsletter (2005, Quarter 1) for the first time with its new name, Direction, and in hypertext markup language (html) format from its website.
• SIG re-charters itself and receives approval from the STC board of directors for its revised mission.
• Wayne Glover initiates the first trial of the coordinated listserv discussion group. Results indicate this is not a convenient format for members.
• SIG is rated as superior in Summer of 2005 for meeting all its goals and having all volunteer positions filled.
• SIG is served by 11 volunteers, the most ever in its history.
• SIG works with the editor of Intercom, STC magazine with a circulation of 18,000, to publish the first-themed issue (November 2005) on policies and procedures. (This is the first-themed issue on policies and procedures for any known publication historically.)
• Jeana Hines accepts position of Webmaster and introduces a new design, layout, and major enhancements in content with state-of-the-art features.
• SIG tops membership of 850 after enrollments dropped more than four years earlier due to changes in economy affecting technical communication profession.
• SIG proposes topics for participation in the 53rd annual conference to be held in Las Vegas May 2006.
• SIG membership increases to 949, which represents a 7% increase from October.

• SIG membership increases to 1000 spanning 24 countries.
• Three new volunteers join the P&P SIG for three new positions: Information & Research Manager, Information & Research Assistant, and Volunteer Coordinator.
• SIG P&P makes debut at 2006 STC Conference in Las Vegas. Among topics presented, the following were included: P&P Communications 101, Developing and Managing P&P for Compliance, and P&P table-topic discussions in a progression session.
• Raymond Urgo, our P&P SIG Manager is vested with the STC Fellow award; and Lois Marsh, our Newsletter Editor is honored with SIG Distinguished Service Award.
• STC presents the 2006 SIG Pace Setter Award to the P&P SIG. The citation reads: "For tirelessly promoting the profession in a variety of venues and channels and for populating the November 2005 P&P-themed issue of Intercom with informative, useful, and interesting articles".