[Editors] MIT Editors' Club Minutes: May 2012

[Elizabeth A Thomson]

MIT EDITORS' CLUB

*Meeting Notes from May 18, 2012*

*READ THIS*

In my opinion the most important thing to come out of this meeting has nothing to do with editing or communications: it involves your health. Robyn Fizz of Information Services and Technology got us talking about the ergonomics of our computer workstations. Next week a gentleman from MIT's Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Office will be dropping by her office to do an analysis of her workstation setup. This is a free service available to all of us, and it could potentially spare you from repetitive strain injuries (RSI) or other problems related to a poor computer setup or bad posture/typing habits.

To arrange an EHS analysis, send a note to <environment at mit.edu>. Emily Ranken of EHS was also at this meeting, and alerted us to two other useful resources related to this topic. First, EHS offers  a computer ergonomics course that you can take on the web. For a link to this course and answers to many other questions about ergonomics, go to: <https://ehs.mit.edu/site/content/ergonomics>.

Emily also recommended the MIT Assistive Technology Information Center (ATIC). Through ATIC, you can try out a number of different assistive technologies like alternative keyboards; you can even take them back to your office for a period of time. For more: <http://web.mit.edu/atic/www/>.

I'm personally a fan of all of these services, having used them over 15 years ago when I had a bad case of RSI--shooting pain up both arms when I tried to type. I'm fine today, thanks in large part to a great manager, what I learned from the EHS and ATIC folks and the resulting changes I made to my computer habits and workstation.

*Social Media*

Social media is becoming a common topic of Editors' Club meetings, and we *always* have questions, so we missed Stephanie Hatch at today's meeting (what exactly is yammer? how do you access an archived tweetchat?). 

For those of you who don't already know her, Stephanie is the Social Media and Email Marketing Specialist through MIT Communication Productions Services. It's her job to help us in these areas, and she's very good at it. For example, she writes a social media blog that you can follow at <http://mitsocialmedia.wordpress.com/>. Recent topics include Pinterest, Qwips, and Storify. (Note to the club: she tried to come to this meeting but got caught in an earlier meeting.)

*WebPub MIT*

Another great resource for MIT Editors: WebPub MIT, a user group for web professionals at MIT. For more about WebPub AND more information on two upcoming talks on web design and content strategy that you might want to attend, go to: https://webpub.mit.edu/

*Video Interns*

Robyn Fizz (IS&T) has now worked with two video interns from Bunker Hill Community College, and highly recommends the program. It's free; you simply have to write a review of the intern's work so he/she gets course credit.


*Thank You*
Many thanks to Denise Heintze, who hosted today's meeting in the land of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.


*Next Meetings*

MIT Editors' Club meetings are always from 12-1 but in different locations around campus. Our final meeting this semester is:

Monday, June 11
66-360 (Chemical Engineering)

We'll regroup in September; later in the summer I'll send out the schedule for the fall.

Elizabeth

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Elizabeth A. Thomson
Associate Director of Communications
MIT Resource Development
Office of Communications
600 Memorial Dr., W98-300
617-258-5563, 857-756-9457
<thomson at mit.edu>, giving.mit.edu
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