Re: STC Issues from an interested TECHWR-Ler

[TechComm Dood <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com>]

> RE: loving/hating STC. I've found the conversation interesting, and
> thought that the person who made the comment about not joining an org
> that would have them made several astute observations. As he said,
> nonjoiners tend to abhor organizational activities of any kind. However,
> just because it isn't one person's bag, doesn't mean that the
> organization doesn't have value, and I think that some of the more
> vociferous people on the list need to keep that in mind, and also need
> to ensure that their comments are constructive and specific, rather than
> just crabby...

I think most of the negative feedback has been constructive, and I
believe most, if not all, of the the negative feedback posters are not
"nonjoiners" but are "former members who got fed up and quit". Lump me
in that category. Call me crabby if you'd like, but don't mind if I
then form an opinion of you as close-minded.

> As with anything, you get out of STC what you put into it...

True. I put in blood, sweat, and tears and got blood, sweat, and tears
back. Waddaya know, they were my own right back at me.

Now, before you call me crabby, I'd been involved with the STC for 4
years straight, spoke at several chapters' meetings about online Help
development, single-sourcing, documentation workflow, and electronic
prepress. I'd organized events, pulled vendors in to present at my
local chapter, and kept several local e-mail lists running. I'd
volunteered to judge the local competitions. All without holding an
office. And I got nothing in return. I got the usual "thanks for doing
this" and then saw no follow-through on anyone's part to make use of
the info fromt he event, to follow up on their own to organize another
such event, and saw first-hand the apathy and spiteful backstabbing
that can happen when someone who is proactive about fostering
professional growth in an organization comes up against the old school
legacy senior membership and the do-nothing local chapter officials.

Maybe my experience was extreme, but it certainly did happen and it
certainly wasn't fun. And what gets me is not how the local chapter
behaved, but that the national organization allowed it to continue
year after year. I mean, unless some reports from the local chapter
were heavily falsified, I can't see a national organization condoning
actions like awarding the top two competition honors to the ONLY two
submissions, when both submissions were obviously substandard. (I'd
pushed to give out no awards but was outnumbered by all other judges.)
I can't see a national organization looking at this group over the
past couple of years and not doing anything to help them break their
one-a-year meeting streak.

So does that make me a crabby nonjoiner?

> STC's primary strength is in providing an opportunity to network with
> peers from all over the world and to learn from people who work in
> different industries, etc. 

Like Techwr-L, HATT, and other free resources.

> Cross-pollination and knowledge sharing is a
> wonderful thing. I have never had anyone get snippy with me for asking a
> question or not provide information, even if they work for a competing
> company. With very few exceptions, everyone I've met in the organization
> is a dedicated professional who has a deep curiosity and desire to
> further the profession, is willing to share knowledge, and who loves
> what we do.

I would say that about any of the professional relationships I've made
via lists like this one. I have contacts all throughout the Americas,
and Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Australia. (My
apologies if I left anyone out.) None were through the STC, and I've
only broken out of my time zone by one hour so far in my life.

> As you may have guessed, I'm pretty active in the organization. I have
> learned more from participating in the competitions as an entrant, judge
> and manager than from any other activity I've participated in. Every
> time I present at a conference, I learn something new or gain an
> insight. Participating at both the chapter and Society levels has taught
> me valuable leadership skills that have served me well in my career.

I'm glad you had such a favorable experience. Unfortunately, all I
learned from the STC for all my effort was that there are other,
better avenues for building career skills.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ROBOHELP X5: Featuring Word 2003 support, Content Management, Multi-Author
support, PDF and XML support and much more!
TRY IT TODAY at http://www.macromedia.com/go/techwrl

WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT: New! Document review system for Word and FrameMaker
authors. Automatic browser-based drafts with unlimited reviewers. Full
online discussions -- no Web server needed! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l 

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -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.