One of the local radio clubs I belong to is the oldest in the country, established and meeting continuously since 1914.  A group of members of this club have recreated, as close as they can, the radio room of the USS Indianapolis. It has been a labor of love for the folks involved in putting the project together.  There have been donations of equipment from all over the United States.  Once people found out the needs, it has been amazing to see the kindness people have shown.  One transmitter donated was still in the original oak crate from the 1940s, never opened or used.   It was in absolute mint condition.  Another donated piece of equipment weighing 800 or so pounds was shipped across country at no charge.  Check out the website www.ussindyradio.org to see pictures of this fabulous project.

The open house to unveil this newest permanent exhibit at the Indiana War Memorial is November 7th.    Anyone in the downtown Indianapolis area are invited to stop by from 2-5 p.m.  This is a wonderful tribute to the men of the USS Indy, both the survivors and the the ones who died at sea.   If you want to learn more of the story of what has been called the worst naval disaster in US history, the book In Harm’s Way by Doug Stanton is a riveting chronicle of what the men endured.  I am reading it now, and it is well worth your time.

As a scopist trying to increase my business, I trekked to the county courthouse to see about working for some of the official reporters there. Much to my surprise, I found out there were no steno reporters. The courthouse is equipped with FTR, For TheRecord four channel digital recording. One of the reporters invited me into her office and spent a full hour talking with me, told me a bit about what they did with the electronic reporting, showed me the software for recording and taking log notes, and was generally very informative. I had used TheRecord Player previously for scoping, so was a bit familiar with the playback component. She mentioned AAERT and gave me the name of a local electronic reporting and transcribing firm to talk to for more information.

Teri McDonald, CERT*D agreed to meet me for a cup of coffee. She told me a bit more about AAERT, and she encouraged me to try for the certification and attend the convention. Since the conference was to be held here in Indianapolis where I live, I really didn’t have many excuses not to go. I decided if I was going to do this, it was going to be full throttle, no holds barred: I joined AAERT, signed up for the pre-test seminar offered by Mary Ann Lutz (which I highly recommend), requested to take the digital transcriber certification test, and then registered for the convention. I couldn’t back down now.

I lurk in a couple of court reporting and scoping forums, mainly to keep up on what is going on in the reporting world outside of my home office. The recent spate lamenting the increase of electronic reporting caused me a bit of trepidation. Since most of my work to date has been with steno writers, I was a bit uneasy at the thought of jumping into the middle of a bunch of ERs and ETs. I worried for naught. The folks I met in Indianapolis were extremely congenial, helpful, and supportive in my desire to gain my certification and expand the transcribing side of my business. Also, I must compliment Gail Armstrong and the Board for inviting representatives from the Indiana Shorthand Reporters Association and the National Verbatim Reporters Association to attend and build bridges with all forms of reporting. When all is said and done, we all are in pursuit of the same goal no matter the method.

From the opening reception Sunday evening to the dinner Tuesday to close the convention, I enjoyed myself thoroughly and was warmly welcomed as a new member to the Association. The speakers were enormously entertaining and informative, and they covered a wide variety of pertinent subjects. Each presentation offered a little more insight to what we do and why we do it, a tidbit of information to be tucked away for the future light bulb moment, or just a time to reflect on how advances in technology make our work so much more efficient and productive. I am happy to be involved in this growing segment of the industry. I enjoy what I do, especially the ‘what were they thinking’ transcripts. I hope to get to know more members of AAERT and will stay in touch with the folks I met this year. It is only a few months until AAERT at Sea, and I look forward to another great experience.

K.C. Corbin, CET**D

]]> http://www.kc-scoping.com/bs/?feed=rss2&p=64 http://www.kc-scoping.com/bs/?p=51 http://www.kc-scoping.com/bs/?p=51#comments Sun, 15 Feb 2009 20:29:09 +0000 K.C. http://www.kc-scoping.com/bs/?p=51 One of the pastimes I enjoy is amateur radio.  For Valentine’s Day yesterday, one of the YLs (Young Ladies are any female ham operators) who founded Chick Factor International set up a special event for the day.  When other radio operators contacted us, we logged them, and they were eligible for a special Valentine’s Day Certificate and QSL card.  I spent several hours talking to folks in Texas, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Alabama, Florida (all the way to the Keys).  Also spoke to guys in Canada, Germany, Switzerland. Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, and Spain.  Two other YLs checked in with me from New Brunswick, Canada and Palm Springs. California.  It was a blast.

Many people do not understand the role amateur radio plays in the public safety arena, and it is nothing like the CB of Smokey and the Bandit.  When a natural disaster strikes — whether hurricane, tornado, earthquake or flood — many times it is only ham radio which is still operational when telephone and cell communication is down.  It is also a fact that the various law enforcement and public safety officers cannot communicate with each because their systems are on different frequencies.  They call on hams to assist in getting word to the proper folks when they are unable to do it themselves.

When you hear weather casters talk about spotters during severe weather, these are ham out and about reporting their findings to the National Weather Service.  This is invaluable for NWS to have realtime, on the ground data which cannot be obtained from even the most sophisticated radar.

When you talk to these folks all around the world, you find out we have so much more in common than we are different.  It is a wonderful, world wide community of people who enjoy the simple art of communication and helping their fellow man.

ISRA Newsletter - Winter 2008 Issue

Please see the article beginning on page 10.  There is a missing word (do) that was dropped from the last of the first column to the beginning of the second column during the translation from Word to a .pdf layout, but you get the drift.

I get asked this question quite often.   My answer is:  It can be.

I get the feeling there are many who go through scoping school, put up a quickie Web page, and expect the jobs to come rolling in.  It does not work that way.

First of all, you will get out of the course you choose only what you are willing to put in.  The information is presented, but it is up to you to be sure you understand the general concepts.  Whatever steno theory you learn in class, I guarantee you there is no reporter who sticks to it without deviation.   Each reporter creates their own briefs and outlines to fit their needs and preferences.   So learn the concepts, then be flexible when it comes to working with reporters.  I chose Scoping Careers International with Judy Barrett and was very pleased with the course and the continued support when I have a question.

Secondly, you must market yourself in a professional way. This is your career, your livelihood. Reporters need to know you exist, the software you use, and whether you proof as well as scope. Use e-mail, letters, and posts on forums to showcase your business and skills. When sending e-mail or posting, remember you are going to be judged on your communication, grammar, and punctuation. If you make a bad impression here, they may have doubts about how you will handle their transcript.

You may work with reporters who are very persnickety about being able to cite a rule for any punctuation, and then you may have a client who is more interested in readability and flow.  Bottom line is:  The reporter is paying your salary, so you do it the way THEY want it.   If they want a comma after So beginning a sentence or not; cap after a dash when starting another thought; spaces between periods in an ellipsis or not; dates with a hyphen or slashes; clean up the attorney or judge (if attorneys couldn’t say “Okay” or “All right,” I don’t think they could finish a deposition!); comma after and in a series; and on and on.

Other than following reporter preferences, you MUST return clean transcripts to your reporter by the deadline.  You can be the best scopist or proofer in the world, but if you cause a reporter to be late in getting the transcript returned to their client, you will not be working with them again.  If you are too busy to take a job, tell the reporter.  Conversely, tell them when you will be able to have it completed, and let them decide if they can work within that time frame.

More posts to come on this subject later. Just remember, you represent our profession. When you do a poor job, it reflects across the board to other scopists.

The U.S. will have a new administration in Washington soon.  Whether you voted for or against President-elect Obama is irrelevant at this point.  It is time to put aside petty party differences and finger pointing to truly work on solving the serious financial and social issues we are facing in our country and around the world.  Outside of Washington, we must recognize what we have in common as a people, while still celebrating each person as an individual.  Most of us want the same things:  live in peace, go to work to earn money to provide for our families, go about our daily lives as we choose.

I will get off my soapbox now to wish all a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

We all have the power to make it a great one.

If we don’t want to spend money to attend seminars or take classes, there is plenty available on the Internet to help us learn new things and reinforce what we already know.   http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ this link will take you to the Purdue Owl (Online Writing Lab).  I am proud to say it is from Purdue University in my home state of Indiana.  It is an award winning, highly acclaimed site dedicated to the written English language.

We are asking our reporters to pay us out of their pocket, so we owe it to them to send back the cleanest transcripts we can.

This is one of my efforts to continue my education and become a better scopist.  It never hurts to learn something new and to keep challenging yourself in both your personal and professional life.

I was somewhat disappointed at the scopist representation.  I was the only one from the region, and there was a gal from Wyoming and one from New Hampshire.

One of the greatest moments was when I had the opportunity to chat with Lillian Morson briefly.   She is truly an elegant and gracious lady.