Re[2]: Proud Non-Member of STC [Ref:C930507]

[Geoff King <Geoff -dot- King -at- NA -dot- NWMARKETS -dot- COM>]

      Agreed, the initial response was all bloat and blather.  It was clear the
      author wanted to hear (and see) the sound of his own voice more than
      address the issue.  Critiqued as a rant, it is first and foremost
      infantile and demonizing in tone; far worse, however, is the fact that it
      lacks both genuine wit and any vestige of eloquent acrimony.  (Yes, "punch
      a tree..." is so humorous an image and so rich in implications that it
      actually needed to be written twice.)

      I guess that's the inevitable drawback to public forums.

      At any rate, no need (save self-promotion) to apotheosize or demonize STC.
      It has  been useful, it has been tedious.  No more, no less than other
      professional organizations.  One hundred dollars a year doesn't seem
      extravagant to me in 1998 and, at least for the last two years, I 'm sure
      I've gotten that much worth out of my (limited) participation.

      geoff -dot- king -at- na -dot- nwmarkets -dot- com


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: Proud Non-Member of STC  [Ref:C930507]
Author:  INTERNET TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU at Multimessage
Date:    1/16/98 6:03 AM


Gee, I thought this was a great rant: impressive at first read but full of
bloat.

>Although I am a card-carrying member of STC, I do it merely for the job
>listings.  In my five years of experience with STC, I have decided much of
>the same things that Lisa mentioned -- with a few additions. (These are my
>personal, highly biased impressions and opinions.  If my opinions offend
>you -- then go punch a tree or something.)
>
>Hardcore STC followers seem to TALK a lot about writing and write very
>little.  I was always under the impression that writers wrote, not talked.
>It seems to me that the ultimate measure of a writer's abilities is how well
>he/she writes.  Yet, if I listened to most of my STC buddies -- they would
>have me thinking otherwise.
>
>I have yet to see an STC publication that was interesting.  Do I really want
>to read things like  "The World of Apostrophes, Volume II" by I. Emma
>Dullard of Chapter 3, Region 5, Subsector A, Pod 9, Platoon D, Company Q,
>Squad X.
>
>Many STC sponsored events seem to be a forum for collective whining.  "Can
>you believe that those engineers use Helvetica!  My God, when are these
>people going to learn the rules of Serif and Sans Serif?"  There is nothing
>in the world worse than a room full of Amway "distributors" -- except
>perhaps a room full of technical writers.  You know there is a reason why
>most engineers loathe technical writers.  They WHINE!  People -- go back to
>work and WRITE something for christsakes.
>
>$110 to join?  Why not just take my gall bladder also.  For the love of God,
>what does that $110 do?  You can't tell me I paid $110 for that InterComm
>magazine.  The 14 year old goth-teen in my apartment complex puts out a
>better magazine about her friends and Marilyn Manson.
>
>STC seems to condone the holy wars.  And as many of you already know, I
>think the Word/Frame, Micro/Mac wars are LAME! And the religious zealots on
>either side are LAME! All of you zealots should be forced to type out
>transcripts of Tom Synder's Tomorrow show on a 286 with a flickering green,
>monochrome monitor.  I remember a recent STC article that disgustingly
>expounded the immense superiority of Macs and FrameMaker. (Naturally that
>whole market share thing did not seem to bother them.)
>
>Also, Lisa is very much correct about the vendor forum crap.  If I have to
>hear one more inane presentation about the wonders of BlatherMaster 97 or
>FrameJacker 2.0 I'll hurl.
>
>STC is a good idea that just does not work.  There are too many sour apples
>spoiling it for the rest of us who work our ass off and like to write.  I
>say it is about time the lazy, whiners leave STC and the technical
>communications profession!
>
>But these are just my opinions.  I could be wrong. And like I said, if
>you're offended by this -- go punch a tree or something.
>

Of course, my experience of STC is limited. I have been a member for four
years (I like that, "for four", in case you were ready to whine) and only in
(or should be 'of') one, small chapter. Based on my limited experience, STC
members write and edit one hell of a lot. I was hesitant when I first
invested the then $90 to join STC -- would it be worth those big bucks? Well,
the chapter is a small group, and they are all true professionals: interested
in their work, wanting to keep up with changes, curious about what other
technical communicators do and how they do it, and ready to contribute to
community projects. The only holy wars I've witnessed have been on this list,
which I have been lurking for three years and have a few times contributed to
(but not to the wars). I can agree that journal content usually does little
for me, but I have picked up a few useful and/or interesting articles from
them. I have also purchased several other STC publicatios. and have they have
been valuable for practical use and broadening. Broadening your perspective
is the key benefit of a professional organization (well, maybe second behind
help with jobs). Without this broadening, you sit in your own corner of
technical communications, working hard, and developing and reinforcing your
own narrow view of the career. I have been exposed to a couple of vendor
programs, but I only go to those I have an interest in. I have learned about
products at these presentations, and I others also appeared to be taking the
sales pitch in stride and going for useful information. I've never noticed
any jerks giving any signs of being ready to hurl. Of course, the people I
know don't resent paying a few dollars for the value they receive from the
organization, even if that is only the right to honestly put a professional
membership on the resume. I really hate to join this particular holy war,
which is a perfect example of the kind of interaction that never happens in
our STC chapter. But I really couldn't help getting in. I'll opt for the
something.

Marv Cochrane