Re[2]: STC Competitions

[Bonni_Graham_at_Enfin-SD -at- PROTEON -dot- COM]

Kelly mentions:
"Volunteer organization"?  Not in my book.  STC dues were pretty steep,
last time I checked.
end of inclusion

1) Please don't confuse "volunteer organization" with "free".  STC is
primarily run by volunteers (trust me, as a SDSTC board member for the
past three years, I _know_ we're working for free), which makes it a
_volunteer_, non-profit organization.  Believe me, the dues may seem
"pretty steep," but as one who has tried to manage a chapter budget, they
don't go all that far for what we're expected to provide.  Certainly not
far enough to pay for all the different chapter services the VOLUNTEERS
provide.  Heck, we can't even pay our meeting speakers -- they VOLUNTEER.

People (not necessarily Kelly) seem to think that meeting places
grow on trees for free, that newsletters produce themselves and are
reproduced and mailed for free, that job hotlines are updated
magically by elves in the night for free, that the other services
I've listed below happen automatically and for free, that
camcorders walk themselves to meetings and run themselves and then
duplicate and mail the tapes for free, etc.

They don't.  They cost money and time.  STC dues provide what money
is necessary sometimes (for example I'm fronting the tape service
myself, becasue my chapter doesn't have enough money to do that AND
provide the other services members demand but won't help with), and
VOLUNTEER time makes up the rest.

So yes, paid dues aside, STC is a volunteer organization.

2) If you've checked out other professional organizations, you've
(hopefully) noticed that $85 is actually pretty cheap.  For that
money you get:
* a quarterly journal
* a monthly national newsletter
* (usually) a monthly chapter newsletter
* a fairly good BBS
* (usually) a local job line or reason facsimile thereof
* unlimited SIG membership
* if Lance Gelein is successful in his attempt to gain an internet
node, internet access for only an hourly usage charge (as opposed
to having to pay for TCPIP hard- and software, AND a monthly
service charge, AND an hourly fee)
* access to chapter meetings, conferences and seminars you might
not otherwise find out about
* local and national document and video competitions

Last I checked, IEEE is $70, but that's _just to belong_.  If you
want a publication you pay extra.  If you want to be in a SIG you
pay extra.  NADTP is $95 and you get membership and a magazine (I
think that's all -- feel free to correct me, anyone who's a
member).  ACM is similarly pricey.

NOTE on the above -- this is not, repeat NOT, to say that I don't
think these organizations are worth their dues.  I'm only noting
that STC's dues ain't that bad, really.

Plus, they're tax-deductible.

Bonni Graham                               |
Technical Writer                           | Most software is run by
Easel Corporation, ENFIN Technology Lab    | confused users acting on
Bonni_Graham_at_Enfin-SD -at- relay -dot- proteon -dot- com | incorrect and incomplete
President, San Diego STC                   | information, doing things
                                           | the designer never expected.
NOTE: apparently my email address needs    |
to be typed exactly as it appears here,    |          --Paul Heckel, quoted
punctuation and all, or the system gets    |            by William Horton
upset.                                     |