Board Members & Committee Chairs: 2008-2009

Stephanie is currently a Technical Publications Lead for Fair Isaac Corporation. Fair Isaac is a decision management solutions provider based in Minnesota. Stephanie works with the Collections & Recovery group out of Colorado writing all of their documentation and online help for the Colorado-based products and ensuring that the UI meets company standards. She is fortunate to be able to work from her home in Michigan.

Stephanie graduated with a B.S. in Scientific and Technical Communication from Michigan Tech in 1988 and has worked as a technical writer, with side responsibilities of trainer, product manager, QA analyst, and interface designer ever since. She started in STC when she was in college. This is her first year on the STC board for this chapter.

Tim is a freelance technical writer and building contractor.

Tim has a bachelor's degree in classical languages from Calvin College. He formerly defined and classified construction products for McGraw-Hill, and before that worked as a literature developer in Liberia, West Africa.

At Ferris State University, Sandy Balkema teaches writing at all levels, from developmental and freshman composition to advanced technical writing. She is the coordinator of the Professional and Technical Communication (B.S) Program and teaches editing and project management courses for the program.

Sandy is a Senior Member of the Society for Technical Communication and has won several teaching awards, including the Teaching Excellence Award and Michigan Association of Governing Boards (MAGB) Award.

Peggy is a technical writer at Dematic Corp (a.k.a. Rapistan Systems and Siemens), a material handling company in Grand Rapids. She primarily documents Dematic's software products.

Peggy earned a B.S. in English from Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. She previously was a technical writer and trainer for companies that installed educational technology systems throughout the country.

Jill Bornemeier , Competition Chair, Director of Communications

Jill was an active member of Southeastern Michigan STC for over seven years, serving on the board for five of those years in roles such as Newsletter Manager and Membership Manager. While living in southeastern Michigan, Jill wrote and created web-based user documentation for Avail Networks’ hardware and software products. She also wrote content and designed the layout for product marketing materials, along with maintaining the corporate web site.

After moving to western Michigan, Jill joined the West Michigan Shores STC. She also joined the Media 1 team as a contractor in February 2006. Jill earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Eastern Michigan University in Business Computers.

John works as a technical communications specialist for local and national clients. He graduated from Michigan Tech with a B.S. in Scientific and Technical Communications and has over 24 years experience working in related fields (writer, illustrator, editor, trainer, designer).

In addition (and not completely unrelated to his consulting business), John is a freelance cartoonist with clients ranging from newspapers and magazines to businesses and commissioned work. Check his website at http://www.auchtoon.com.

Harrison is the Production Director at Media 1 Interactive, Inc. in Grand Haven, Michigan. Harrison ensures that the Media 1 content and production teams work together as one. Harrison directs project production usability, quality assurance, and accessibility, all while keeping the project budget and schedule on track; he recently spearheaded an end-to-end process improvement initiative.

Prior to joining Media 1, Harrison worked as eLearning Director for the Domino's Pizza restaurant franchise, where he established a seven-year history of developing and implementing award-winning online learning programs and curricula. A specialist in technology-based learning techniques, Harrison is an often-requested speaker at eLearning conferences and seminars. He holds a B.S. Degree in Scientific and Technical Communication from Michigan Technological University.

Debbie (Shapiro) Hemstreet has lived in Grand Rapids for one year, after living in Israel for 25 years. Immediate Past President of the STC Israel Chapter, Debbie relocated to Grand Rapids last year on the event of her marriage to a local man.

In addition to being an active STC Member for 10 years, Debbie's specialty is writing for the medical device industry, as well as quality documentation. She is currently working as a contractor/free lance writer.

Pat is the founder of The Bishop Company, a Kalamazoo-based provider of technical documentation and training services. The Bishop Company serves world-class clients with a full range of outsourced technical communications products and services. Pat started The Bishop Company in 1980. See more about The Bishop Company at http://www.explainers.com.

Pat has been an STC member for over 15 years and has served as the President of this Chapter as well as the St. Joseph Valley chapter, our parent chapter. His education includes a BS in Mathematics and Chemistry from Central Michigan University and an MBA from The University of Michigan.