Local luminaries in technical communication, usability, and social media will share how they stay successful! Each speaker will spend 10 minutes describing the top five things that contribute to their
career success. Come get answers to questions such as:

• Which association or society memberships do you maintain?
• Which clients or employers enhanced your career?
• Has social media played a part in your success? How?
• Which in-person and online networks are essential to your career?
• What are your daily must-reads?
• Is a Masters degree valuable?
• Have mentors played a part in your success?

Meet the Speakers

	Merry Bruns Principal, ScienceSites Communications Program Committee Co-Chair, DC Web Women Bio
	Shonali Burke Principal, Shonali Burke Consulting President, IABC/Washington Adjunct Faculty, Johns Hopkins University Bio
	Andi Narvaez Social Media DC Department of Communication, University of MD Bio
	Ginny Redish President, Redish & Associates Bio
	Mary Wise Senior Customer Education Specialist IV, Fannie Mae Bio

Agenda

6:30 - 7:00pm: Hors d'oeuvres and networking
7:00 - 8:00pm: Panel discussion
8:00 - 8:30pm: Q&A

Food

Hors d'oeuvres and assorted beverages

• Black bean spring rolls
• Vegetable spring rolls
• Sweet potato puffs
• Baked spanakopita
• Beef teriyaki sate
• Spicy beef empanadas
• Breaded artichoke and goat cheese
• Chicken coconut skewers
• Chicken Nassau skewers (breaded with coconut sesame seeds)
• Thai peanut chicken skewers
• Chicken empanadas
• Stuffed baguettes (smoked turkey, fresh basil, roasted red peppers, and mesclun greens)
• Assorted cold canapes (turkey, ham, salami, vegetable, and shrimp)
• Smoked salmon on pumpernickel
• Belgian endive stuffed with Boursin cheese

Location

Holiday Inn Arlington at Ballston, Ballston Room

4610 N. Fairfax Dr.
Arlington, VA 22203
(703) 243-9800
Located 3 blocks from Ballston Metro (Orange Line)

Directions

Speaker Bios

Merry Bruns - Bio

Merry Bruns is an internationally recognized content strategist and leading Web Writing trainer who focuses on customer-centered content, and strategic web writing and editing skills.

Merry has taught "Writing and Editing for the Web" classes to hundreds of students worldwide since 1997. She holds open classes at the National Press Club in Washington DC, and provides in-house training to organizations, governments and businesses, customized around their content and goals.

Producing and editing web sites since 1994, she brings a background in communications, media and journalism to her work. As principal of ScienceSites Communications (http://www.sciencesitescom.com), she has produced and edited sites for numerous business, government, educational, and science organization clients.

Her clients for content strategy and training have included Accenture, American Red Cross, National Academy of Sciences, BBC London, Porter-Novelli, National Wildlife Federation, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Towers-Perrin, Westat, First Coast Service Options, International Monetary Fund, University of Westminster (London), American Chemical Society, the World Bank, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Georgetown University, American Petroleum Institute, Textron, EPA, Jackson Laboratories, Seton Hall University, Harvard Medical School, and many more.

She's frequently published and often interviewed about content strategy and web writing issues, and has been an invited speaker and trainer at web conferences, meetings and events nationwide.

Shonali Burke - Bio

Shonali Burke is Principal of Shonali Burke Consulting, "an agency of one" based in the Washington, D.C., area. She is in her 14th year in the communications field, and her experience includes working at small and large agencies, as well as a stint as the ASPCA's Vice President, Media & Communications, where she recreated the communication function for the country’s oldest animal welfare organization and instituted its award-winning measurement program.

An *accredited business communicator, Shonali was named a measurement maven by KDPaine & Partners in 2006, named to PRWeek's first top "40 Under 40" list of US-based public relations professionals in 2007, and one of the Institute for Public Relations’ three Jack Felton Golden Ruler Award winners of 2008. She is Adjunct Faculty at Johns Hopkins University's M.A. in Communications program, where she teaches a course on non-profit communication in the digital age, and also edits Network Solutions’ Women Grow Business community blog. Shonali is President of IABC/Washington and serves on IABC's International Accreditation Council as Director of Marketing.

Shonali is frequently invited to speak on several topics related to public relations and integrated marketing communications, including crisis communications, measurement, effective integrated marketing and public relations, cause marketing, PR on a budget, and social media. She has been cited several times in PRWeek and The Measurement Standard for her cutting-edge use of media communications and emphasis on measurable communications. In 2010, the highly-regarded TopRank’s Online Marketing Blog as one of 25 Women That Rock Social Media, and her effective use of Twitter as a communications tool during the 2008 Mumbai terror siege was noted by both bloggers and mainstream media.

Andi Narvaez - Bio

Andi Narvaez is a public relations and social media professional. She is a co-founder of The BMPR: Business, Media, Public Relations. Founded in San Antonio, Texas, BMPR is an open community with a focus on social media technology and the adaptation of its uses in the business, media and public relations industries. The community gathers every month to discuss application of social media and emerging technologies and is now the largest socia media gathering in San Antonio. Andi is also founder of Social Media Breakfast DC chapter. This event takes place every month and invites members of the social media community, regardless of profession or level of proficiency, to eat, meet, share, and learn. Andi is an officer of Social Media Club-DC, where she helps develop and promote community events. And as an ambassador of Social Media Club Education Connection, Andi is part of a nationwide initiative that aims to build bridges between higher education and social media uses and applications. Andi recently moved to Washington, DC to pursue a Master's degree in Public Relations at University of Maryland.

Ginny Redish - Bio

Janice (Ginny) Redish is President of Redish & Associates, Inc. in Bethesda, Maryland. For more than 30 years, she has helped clients and colleagues communicate clearly. Ginny is an STC Fellow, former member of the STC Board of Directors, winner of the STC President's Award (2004) and of the Ken Rainey Award for Excellence in Research (2008). Ginny's most recent book, Letting Go of the Words – Writing Web Content that Works, won best of show in the STC Washington DC Chapter's competition in 2008. Ginny helps clients through training and consulting on creating usable and useful web sites – especially assuring great web content.

Mary Wise - Bio

Mary Wise manages the instructional design team for Fannie Mae's secondary marketing curriculum. In her role, she analyzes, designs, develops, and evaluates both e-learning and classroom courses to help mortgage lenders do business with Fannie Mae. She is a Fellow and Past President of the STC, and currently serves on the Fellows Nominating Committee and the Chapter Achievement Award committee. She has published one novel, Girl Clown, which draws heavily on her experiences as a circus clown. Although no longer in show business, Mary feels that her years in the circus prepared her well for her current career in the business world.

*You can get 10% off if you register within ten business days before this event (code: tenbusinessdays)-http://top5things.eventbrite.com