Re: STC Transformation

Subject: Re: STC Transformation
From: Geoffrey Sauer <gsauer -at- iastate -dot- edu>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 12:45:14 -0500


Hi all,

Eric writes:

There's an email address in the original link of the original post,
transform -at- stc -dot- org or something. How about communicating with them,
also? (Sometimes, I wonder whether the STC guys monitor this list, any
list, know about the Web? LOL!)

Fred replies:

Yes, many STC members and leaders not only monitor, but participate in this list.

And many of the issues and suggestions that have come up in this thread are being addressed in the Transformation. For instance, new membership categories that will allow you to access the periodicals electronically, without receiving printed copies. Greater participation by the SIGs in contributing content to the annual conference. A focus on providing member value, and on communicating and demonstrating TW value to employers.

I can understand both perspectives here. Certainly the early days of the Transformation Team blog at trans4mation.typepad.com met with very limited success. Some of the posts worried me, as they seemed self-absorbed and out of touch with the state of local chapters and community websites in the field (such as TECHWR-L and the EServer TC Library). A number of the early plans seemed to be about generating new revenue for STC International rather than anything else.

But STC is the professional organization we have. I've been a member for years, in the past a member of the largest chapter (and faculty advisor to the largest student chapter), and now a member of a small chapter (and faculty advisor to a small student chapter). I've stayed with it.

So this year I decided I had two choices: criticize from the sidelines, or participate. I chose the latter. I've joined the STC Transformation Team's Technology Committee -- the people assigned to develop the future web services plan for STC (see http://www.stc.org/transformation/newsLetter2.pdf if you haven't been following this), and will do my best to represent the interests I hear on this list, as well as from my chapters and the TC Library website.

I wouldn't be entirely sanguine about the future of the Transformation. The challenges are great, and the STC doesn't have a strong history of outreach to online communities. But it seems to me that their present self-assessment (AKA soul-searching) is probably a Good Thing, and should help us decide how to represent the profession better in the post-dotcom, outsourced, contemporary world of tech communicators.

I wouldn't conclude that STC is either clueless or terrific, but that it's reshaping itself now, and we should figure out how to help it become something better. If you've got ideas how to do this, I'd definitely recommend sending 'em via e-mail to the Powers That Be (I'll let you know if I ever figure out quite who that is).

Just my $.02,

Geoff
--

............................................................
geoffrey sauer . assistant professor . iowa state university
director, the eserver . http://eserver.org/
office 515.294.3085 . cell 515.441.1461

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References:
Re: STC Transformation -- info: From: T.W. Smith
Re: STC Transformation: From: Fred Sampson

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