Re: STC is broken

[Michael West <WestM -at- conwag -dot- com>]

Beth wrote:

> What other professions do you know of that have
> such a direct impact on 
> daily life in so many industries, 
> but where the public at large, not to 
> mention those employing us, have so 
> little concept of what we do?  Our 
> exact role in projects is supposed 
> to be relatively transparent to the 
> user, but our presence in the workforce 
> should not be.

Beth always makes a good deal of sense around here, but I don't think I 
agree with this. Perhaps I should say rather that my own experience 
(covering over  2 decades in tech comms now) doesn't really accord with 
hers. I think I've had only one or two jobs (out of at least ten) where I 
felt unrecognised or unappreciated as a contributer to the success of the 
enterprise. (And it sure is an awful feeling!)

I don't see how STC as an organization could possibly win "recognition" 
for tech communicators. We have to carry this torch ourselves, 
individually. At best, an org like STC can provide a local forum for 
exchanging ideas and technical understanding, or for "networking" if one 
is inclined toward that sort of thing. 

I'd submit that the usefulness of STC as a communications forum has been 
largely superceded by the Internet. But I've had a low opinion of the 
national organization since the 1980s, when it had one of the dullest, 
ugliest and worst-edited journals ever to clutter my mailbox.

-- 
Mike West
Melbourne, Australia


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