About
The HTCE welcomes fellow public relations, marketing, corp comm., marcom, or technical communications professionals who are or have been working in the technology sectors or who want to explore the field.
How to Join
There’s no membership fee, just a nominal fee for each session. Simply add yourself to the mailing list to join and hear about upcoming sessions and job postings.
Mission
The mission of the High-Tech Communicators’ Exchange is to empower practitioners in this field to expand learning and skills through networking, mentoring and sharing information. The group provides a forum through which members learn about all aspects of integrated communications as they apply to the technology industries.
Vision
Professional communicators actively involved in the High-Tech Communicators’ Exchange will be regarded as highly valued assets with the broad range of communications skills required by the technology industries.
Values
We value lifelong learning: We are all at different levels in different areas but each of us bring valuable insights and experience to the table. It is that exchange of information that helps us all learn and become more effective communicators. We value involvement: We believe giving is as important as receiving. Attending meetings, sharing our expertise or volunteering our time is how we build relationships and expand our skills. We believe we can achieve our vision through active involvement. We value informality and accessibility: We believe in reducing barriers to communication by providing a friendly, affordable, open and "pitch free" atmosphere where egos and competitive mantles idle outside the door. We value integrity: Integrity is our foundation.
Membership
The High-Tech Communicators Exchange (HTCE) welcomes fellow public relations, marketing, marketing communications or technical communications professionals who are or have been working in the high-tech and/or biotech sectors or who want to explore the field. The group comprises junior, intermediate and senior professionals who work for companies or agencies or who are independent consultants. To date the HTCE has developed a strong core group and continues to welcome new and enthusiastic members who are willing to get involved. The group meets every six weeks, and exchanges information through panels, discussions, round tables and socializing. While we want to grow a rich network, the HTCE is not a business-generating group. Sure we’ll meet business contacts and may even land an opportunity, but that is not the intent. If you attend HTCE meetings, please do so in the spirit of learning more about the communications field and contributing your knowledge within this context. There is no annual membership fee, however we each pay to attend events. The fee for each event covers the cost of food and refreshments. We order the food based on the number of RSVPs so if you say you are coming and don’t show we need to charge you. See the events section for more information. To become a member, send your e-mail address to us. We’ll send you the next meeting notice and you can come along to see for yourself whether or not the group is of interest and value to you.
History
The HTCE was founded by Catherine Ducharme in March 2001. Having worked in the high-tech industry for more than 20 years, Catherine observed that high-tech communications professionals often work in isolation. Catherine set out to create an informal professional forum to bring communications practitioners together to get to know one another, learn from each other, share common interests and experiences and mentor one another. Today, the group has grown to almost 500 members. Neena Rahemtulla took over leadership of the group in January 2009.
