Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
Q: Can I enter a PDF file in the competition?
A:Yes, PDFs are welcomed. Enter them in either the Online or the Technical Publications competition, depending on how the entry will be used. See Entrant’s Overview for details.
Q: Will I receive any feedback on my entry?
A: Yes, all judging teams complete judging forms
for each entry they judge. You will receive a copy of the completed
form whether you win an award or not. This peer feedback is considered
one of important benefits of the competition. It is one of the reasons
the STC holds yearly competitions.
Q: Can I be a judge if I am also submitting an entry?
A: Yes, you can both submit an entry and be a
judge. Of course, you cannot judge your own entry. The committee
does make an effort to ensure that judges do not judge their own
entries. However, please let your team leader or a committee member
know if you find yourself on a team assigned to your own entry or
an entry from a company or organization you are associated with.
Q: My company is submitting entries. What happens if I
am assigned to judge something my company wrote?
A: When you register to judge, you should fill
out the Affiliated Companies section. You should enter your current
company, and any companies that you have worked for in the past
few years. This information allows us to assign entries to teams
without creating any conflicts of interest.
Q: Can I judge in more than one competition?
A: Yes, you can judge in the Online Communication,
Technical Art, and/or the Technical Publications Competitions. If
you can meet the time commitment, judging in more than one competition
will give you an opportunity to see what your peers are doing in
different media.
Q: I am new to the technical writing field. Do I need to
have a certain amount of professional experience to participate
as a volunteer?
A: Anyone, including students in technical writing,
can participate as a volunteer. Contact a member of the Online Communication,
Technical Art, or Technical Publications committees to volunteer.
However, to be a judge, STC does require that you have some professional
experience in the field.
Q: Do I have to be an STC member to submit an entry or
to judge?
A: You do not have to be an STC member either
to submit a competition entry or to be a judge. The STC welcomes
both members and non-members in the technical communication field.
Q: When I fill out the entry form, what should I put in
the Audience, Purpose, and Notes to Judges sections?
A: For the Audience, provide information about
who will use the document, and how they will use it. Will it be
used in a manufacturing environment by assembly technicians? Will
it be used by software developers? Will it be used by the general
public? The information you enter here helps judges determine if
the entry meets the needs of the specific audience.
For the Purpose, provide information about what the user will accomplish
with the entry. Is it designed to show users how to use each and
every option in an application? Is it a reference book that will
only be used occasionally? Is it supposed to teach concepts rather
than provide instructions?
For the Notes to Judges section provide any information that you
think will help the judges fairly evaluate the entry. Is it a normally
delivered on CD as a PDF file and you printed it out for the competition?
Is it one book in a set of modular documentation? Is it an internal
document and uses terms specific to your company that might not
be recognized by an external audience?
The more information you provide to the judges, the better they
will be able to determine if your entry meets the needs of its attended
audience.
Online Communication Questions
Q: What can I enter in the Online Communication Competition?
A: Anything that conveys technical information via electronic media within certain guidelines and exceptions. Here's a rundown:
Online Help
This is the classic Online Competition entry. MS Windows users can click on Help from the Start menu to see an example.
Web-Based Help and Other Technical Communications
If your Help system, instructional content, reference source, or other technical communication is accesed through the web, it is eligible for the Online Communications competition.
Other Media
Interactive media, videos, and HTML-based content can all qualify for entry into the Online competition as long as the entry presents technical information. This does not preclude entries whose primary purpose is to persuade or sell; however, we will judge the entry only on how well the technical information is presented and conveyed.
We understand that the lines between persuasive and informative content can often be quite blurry, and that advances in presentation technology can make finding the distinction even more challenging. We are striving to keep up with these changes, and to move and grow our competition with the times.
Q: What are the Online Awards? Which level of awards are
sent to the International Competition?
A: The awards and an explanation of each are as
follows:
- Distinguished—Mostly exceptional
- Excellence—Very good to excellent
- Merit—Very good with no major flaws
Judges select one Best of Show winner from the Distinguished award
entries. Best of Show and all other Distinguished award entries
are eligible to go on to the International Competition.
Q. I am submitting my piece as a Web entry and expect the
judges to review the entry from the URL. Why do I need to submit
a CD?
A: At the end of competition day, all judges assemble to review Best of Show candidates. There is no internet access in the room where we perform this review. We can only do this by way of CDs.
Q: My company recently updated an online help that we submitted
last year. Can we resubmit the piece this year?
A: If the piece was significantly rewritten, you
can submit it. In particular, you can submit work with a new version
number, since it is actually a new piece. If you did only minor
updates, you should not resubmit the piece. The rules of the International
Online Communication Competition, which we try to follow, state
that the work must be "substantially rewritten."
Q: My company plans to submit several pieces. Can we set
up more than one entry on a computer?
A: No, you cannot enter more than one entry on
a computer. Every Online entry requires a separate computer setup.
Q. My entry is on my company's Web site. Should I submit
it as a Web entry or as an Online entry?
A: The decision is up to you. Remember, Web entrants
must make their Web sites available to judges for several weeks
prior to Competition Day. Online entrants submit their entries on
a computer, which they must bring to Competition Day before the
judges arrive. At the end of Competition Day, Online entrants must
pick up their computers.
Q: It is difficult for me to bring my Online entry on a
computer for consensus judging. Since we are submitting CDs, can
I just submit my CD for the competition instead of setting it up
on a computer?
A: NEW for 2006. Entrants are no longer required to bring their computers to consensus judging and set up their projects. If you are confident that your CD will work on the Judges’ machines, then you can simply send your CDs (3 copies, as always) to the competition logistics manager Steve Straight in advance of the competition.
Note: If the Judges cannot make your CD run, it will not be judged.
Q: In the past, I submitted a scenario with my entry. There
is no mention of it in the entry instructions. Isn't the scenario
still required?
A:Put important information in the Notes to Judges section when you register your entry online. Include information about how to start your entry and about its intended audience. This information is given to the Judges. If you need to include last-minute information, you may print additional Notes to Judges to leave them next to your computer at the competition
Q: Do all Online Competition judges have to attend Orientation?
A: The Online Competition Committee strongly urges
all judges to attend the Orientation. There are two good reasons for all Judges to attend the Orientation:
- More and more non-traditional Online communications projects are being entered in the competition. For example, training, product demonstration, and marketing projects. Different criteria are used for judging such projects. Judges need to be familiar with those criteria and feel comfortable judging non-traditional Online Communications. Judges’ Orientation now includes hands-on training for judging such projects.
- Experienced Judges are always needed to mentor new Judges during the hands-on portion of the Orientation. Participation from experienced judges is considered part of the training process.”
Q: How much of a time commitment is being an Online judge?
A: The approximate time commitment is 10 hours.
For new Online judge, this includes a 2-hour Orientation session
a few weeks before the competition. If you judge on-site on competition
day, the actual judging then takes about 8 hours. If you judge remotely
by URL, you must review your assigned Web sites before the competition,
then attend the afternoon consensus judging sessions on competition
day.
Q: I have never judged anything before. Does it matter?
A: If you are a technical communicator and have
written or contributed to an online or Web project, you are eligible
to be an Online judge. We have specific judging criteria and Online
Judge Training that will help you develop your judging skills. We
will group you with more experienced judges and a lead judge.
Q: I am unable to judge on Competition Day. Are there other
ways I could participate as a volunteer?
A: Although being an Online judge does require
that you attend the competition, there are many ways to participate
as a volunteer. Contact a member of the Online Committee.
Technical Publications Questions
Q: Can I enter a PDF file in the Technical Publications
competition?
A: Definitely! Remember that PDF files will be
judged according to the Technical Publications criteria; no special
considerations are given to PDF files.
Please read the information for delivering your entry. You will
need to deliver three printed, bound copies by the deadline. The
Technical Publications Competition will not accept soft copy entries,
and will not evaluate the online features of the PDF entry.
Q: If I sign up to be a judge, what kinds of documents
will I be assigned?
A: You will receive a variety of types of documents.
You might receive a software guide for a video editing application,
a hardware guide for a medical product, installation instructions
for a software application, and a quick reference card. We try very
hard to make sure no judging team has more than one document from
the same company, and that each team has a variety of sizes of documents.
The variety gives judges the chance to see different types of documents
and reduces the temptation to compare entries. For companies that
submit more than one entry, it gives them comments from many judges.
Q: I've never worked with hardware. How can I judge a hardware
manual?
A: You judge a hardware manual the same way your
would judge a software manual. Are the instructions clear and concise?
Do the steps in procedures follow a logical order? Is the manual
structured logically? Are the explanations clear? Do the graphics
contribute to understanding? Are there unnecessary digressions?
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