TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
| One thing to consider about this thread: most of the people who are
| putting down the STC are non-members. Most of those who have
identified
| themselves as being members have also been supportive of the
organization.
Well, just for the record then: I am an STC member (a senior member, in
fact), having joined sometime in the 1980s. I have been a frequent
presenter at industry conferences, including WinWriters, Help
University, HTC, and so forth, and also at STC chapter meetings (where,
oddly enough, I am never charged an entry fee and almost always am
provided with a free meal and have occasionally even been provided with
overnight accommodations). I do not even consider presenting at STC
conferences because, frankly, I find it insulting to have to pay an
entry fee to a conference at which I am a presenter. (I did once make an
exception to this rule because the region 8 conference was being held in
Honolulu and I thought that would be fun; unfortunately, I got the flu
and couldn't attend.) I understand that STC is not WinWriters, and I
would not expect STC to pay me a cash stipend; however, having to pay an
admission fee is just over the top, AFAIC. I'm not seeking to change
anyone's opinion here, and I'm well aware that STC can easily pull off
its conferences without my participation. This is just another data
point in the discussion.
| If you were a national officer of STC and had to decide between making
the
| members happy or making non-members happy, which would you choose?
If I were a national officer of STC, I suppose I would be concerned with
a lot of things: making the members happy, attracting new members, and
putting on the best possible conferences would all be concerns. Why
should I have to choose among these instead of taking them all on as
goals?
| I'm not denying anybody perceptions of problems in the organization
| (though I do think that some of "problems" amount to a difference in
| peoples' vision of STC's role), but what I am saying is that attacking
it
| from the outside is a lot less likely to cause any significant change
than
| working from the inside to improve it would.
I'm not really interested in working from the inside to improve the
organization. I don't have the time, really. But if STC should ever
change its policy on presenters at conferences, I would change mine, as
well.
WebWorks and RoboHelp Certified - RoboHelp MVP
Member, JavaHelp 2.0 Expert Group
Moderator, HATT & wwp-users
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Are you using Doc-to-Help or ForeHelp? Switch to RoboHelp for Word for $249
or to RoboHelp Office for only $499. Get the PC Magazine five-star rated
Help authoring tool for less! Go to http://www.ehelp.com/techwr
Free copy of ARTS PDF Tools when you register for the PDF
Conference by April 30. Leading-Edge Practices for Enterprise
& Government, June 3-5, Bethesda,MD. www.PDFConference.com
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
