Re: memberships
Caveat: I'm getting suckered into defending STC in *another* anti-STC discussion. (I should know better.)
Please note that it's not a case of defending the STC or attacking it. I admitted an anti-STC position because I was trying to be as fair as possible, but my position - I hope - has very little to do with what I was getting at.
My goal in talking about presentations was to find a way to establish with some objectivity, at least, whether the belief that the STC was not technically oriented was justified. What other good the STC does, or whether it should be more technically oriented are topics for another day.
Your list of presentations and articles tends to support the idea that it is not technically oriented.
STC is a *generalized* organization for a broad base of technical communicators who practice in many varied fields. I do not expect, nor even ask of, STC to provide specific training, seminars, whatever on specialized topics. If I want training on C++, radiography, chip design and manufacture, security, SQL, to name a few, I would look to another source, just as I do not depend on my family physician for the specialized care I need for a chronic illness, I go to a specialist.
What I find interesting about this defence is that it is just about unique in the high-tech world. There are at least 25 local networking associations for people in various jobs in high tech in my local area. Naturally, all of them focus more on the area that they are devoted to. However, almost all of them mention events that are not directly connected with their main area. However, the STC does not. That suggests to me that the STC is not interested in furthering the general technical background of its members. Furthermore, its members are apparently not asking for technical information, or else the local chapters would at least post news of non-writing events. And this defence itself seems to validate the assertion.
(As an aside, the analogy given above falls down for me, because a hyphenated job title such as "technical-writer" suggests a generalist approach more typical of a family physician than of a specialist - but that's another matter, and one I see no point elaborating upon).
By my count, the totals so far are 2 STC local chapters uninterested in technical matters, and 0 interested in them. I'm curious whether any chapters with a technical interest. Surely, there must be some?
--
Bruce Byfield bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7177
http://members.axion.net/~bbyfield
"Pity the poor policemen, pity the boys in blue,
Always rushing about, they have got a job to do,
Blowing their whistles, chasing the likes of you,
Waiting on glory now."
- OysterBand, "Waiting on Glory"
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Purchase RoboHelp X3 in April and receive a $100 mail-in rebate, plus FREE RoboScreenCapture and WebHelp Merge Module. Order here: http://www.ehelp.com/products/robohelp/
Help celebrate TECHWR-L's 10th Anniversary starting this month!
Check out the contests at http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/special/contests/
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday TECHWR-L....
---
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.
References:
Re: memberships: From: Andrew Plato
Re: memberships: From: Bruce Byfield
Previous by Author:
Re: Principles for procedure writing
Next by Author:
Re: About responsibility and fault
Previous by Thread:
Re: memberships
Next by Thread:
RE: memberships
Search our Technical Writing Archives & Magazine
Visit TechWhirl's Other Sites
Sponsored Ads