Update: This is part 1 of the “What I Expect from STC” series. The second part is about fragmented communities in our profession.
We know that STC is in a financial mess and has increased the membership fees drastically to address the problems.
There have been many arguments about the relevance and benefits of becoming a member of STC. I pick one such discussion from Sarah O’Keefe blog post, A mercenary view of STC. I’ve read tons of such views and comments. I’m fighting the same battle as many others while trying to convince myself to renew my STC membership this year. Here’s my take on it.
I switched to full-time technical writing about fifteen months back. I think about STC’s role in bringing me visibility and helping me find another job in such a short time. I realize that I could’ve blogged, volunteered and networked without being a member of STC. I think the benefits had more to do with the STC brand than anything else. As folks have said, maybe it makes more sense for freelancers/business owners to get involved with STC and make good money.
The bulk of the discussion has revolved around the fact that STC is great for networking and to find good jobs/business. No doubt about it.
Why is no one talking about the core – the art and science of technical writing? Is facilitating knowledge and helping the community develop better documentation not the focus of STC? Sure, there are STC journals/newsletters/forums/blogs. I know it is for each of us to take home the lessons from the webinars/seminars/conferences and apply them. Don’t we have a lot of these resources – and arguably better ones – outside of the STC purview?
Shouldn’t someone think about the guidelines and processes for making help better for the users in the years to come? What is being done to improve the standard of help systems? Who is thinking about the users and how/where/when they want to access help? Why should R&D be left to the corporate centers? I would love to become a member and contribute to an organization which tries to answer these (and more fundamental) questions and ensures that the users of help systems actually benefit.
I’m afraid that STC in its current form has become a networking medium for a few and is led by a bunch of old timers who mostly progress/benefit individually (or in select groups); rather than take the young generation and the profession to where they ought to be. That’s how I feel about it.
Update: This is part 1 of the “What I Expect from STC” series. The second part is about fragmented communities in our profession.
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Tags: STC
“Don’t we have a lot of these resources – and arguably better ones – outside of the STC purview?”
It would be interesting for someone to set a topic of interest and importance to technical communication, crowdsource an annotated bibliography, and then see what we get from within and outside STC’s purview. Would you consider that a good test of this quoted statement?
Milan Davidovic´s last blog ..Slides are not all evil
@Milan Yep, that would be a good test. Considering the number of non-STC resources, I think this test stands a good chance to prove the quoted statement.