Tugging on Superman's Cape

["Keith Cronin" <kcronin -at- DALEEN -dot- COM>]

I'm normally a big fan of Andrew Plato, if not always for the content of
his postings, at least for their authoritative and entertaining style.
He's definitely one of the "Alpha Males" of this list, and as such,
sometimes writes as if he considers himself to be The Voice Of The People.

He's obviously been very ruffled by having been told that even as a
speaker at the STC Conference, he would need to pay admission. I STRONGLY
agree with him that this is ridiculous.

HOWEVER-

I'll just have to hope that my asbestos bike shorts will protect me, and
go out on a limb and speak out against The Voice Of Andrew in this one
instance.

First, to address some of his claims:

- STC is a racket. 
How so? They clearly explain what you'll get for your money, and deliver
it. I do NOT think they should charge their speakers to attend their own
events, but to me that speaks more of poor planning than of malicious
racketeering.

- STC is disrespected professional society. 
By whom? You, and some others on this list. So what? Chocolate is
disrespected by some vanilla-lovers.

- Most people haven't a clue such an organization exists. 
Why should they? It's a niche market. I don't know what organizations
exist for people who manufacture doorstops, or fly airplanes, or wear
lederhosen.

- I think the entire organization should be dismantled. 
Why? Who is it hurting? 

- But, I sure ain't going to do it.  
Here's where Andrew surprises me, by offering criticism without proposing
a solution, an easy pot-shot approach that is beneath his usual M.O.

- I have docs to write.
But you DO have time to post lengthy, well-thought-out messages on this
board several times a day? Okayyyyy.....


Secondly, to offer some praise for the STC:

When I was entering this profession (without the benefit of being in a
tech-writing Mecca such as the geographic area in which Andrew is
employed), the STC was a VERY helpful source of information about tools,
techniques, and literature. I was able to ramp up quickly using
information I gleaned from STC publications.

As a newbie writer applying for my first entry-level tech writing job, my
membership in the STC gave me some added credibility on paper. (You'll
scoff at that, I'm sure, but when you're a newbie, every little bit
helps!)

When applying for the aforementioned job, I used the STC Salary Survey to
help me negotiate a salary $5K larger than any of the other entry-level
writers the company hired. To me, THE SALARY SURVEY ALONE MAKES MEMBERSHIP
WORTH THE PRICE OF ADMISSION, and they publish it for EVERYBODY to see -
EVEN ANDREW PLATO - on their Web site!

While at that first job, publications that I received from the STC made me
aware of products, solutions, and methodologies that I pitched to my boss,
resulting in raises and promotions for me.

As I've moved up in the profession, I've continued to maintain my
membership, and peruse their publications as time permits. I have not
attended any conferences, due to the time constraints of my job (we ALL
have docs to write).

Is the STC perfect? Nope. Is it useful? For ME it sure is! 


CONCLUSION to this overly-long post:

It's a pity Andrew is so miffed at the STC - they could really benefit
from CONSTRUCTIVE input from a writer of his talent and experience.


-Keith "Please don't hurt me, Andrew - I really DO dig you" Cronin

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