Re: Tugging on Superman's Cape

[Andrew Plato <intrepid_es -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

"Keith Cronin" wrote...

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

True. However, there are a fair number of writers who really don't like STC.
STC should make an effort to reach out to those writers rather than just
maintain the status quo. 

> - 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.

Ha ha. Good point Keith. I think one of the responsibilities of any
professional society is to reach out to other professions and promote the
profession.  I think STC should make an effort to form connections with the
various technology and engineering related societies.  The isolation of STC
seems to mirror a bad trend among many tech writers to isolate themselves from
the technical aspect of their job.  
 
> - 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 think STC is to content. The upper-echelons of STC seem to have little
interest in changing anything. This gives STC the feel of a popularity club and
not a professional society. The people on the top are there because they hung
around long enough. Now that they are there, they don't want to threaten their
positions. 

When an organization gets this way, there is really only one way to fix it -
get rid of the existing management and bring in new people with new ideas.  

The solution is change.  Without change things stagnate and become irrelevant.
STC is rapidly becoming irrelevant.  

I cannot do it alone and I am not up to challenging STC. My guess is, my
opinions would not mesh well with theirs. There is more of them there are me. I
have to make a living. There are already too many people who hate me for my
opinions. I don't need any more enemies. 
 
> - 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.....

Always easier to complain than work. :-) 

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

That is all that really matters. If you get what you want out of it, then cool.
STC does not offer me much. I wish it would. I would join and participate.  

> 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.

STC doesn't want writers like me. I am a content-phile. STC is squarely
situated on the "communication" side of tech writing. Until they start working
to deal with content related issues, there just isn't any place for me. 
Meetings about the exciting world of gerunds just don't turn my crank. 

Andrew Plato


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