Director Sponsor's Message: We've Got Something to Brag About!

by Cindy Currie, STC Region 1 Director Sponsor

I’ve just recently returned from the September STC Board of Director’s meeting* in Denver, where I had the opportunity to meet and work closely with Rob Moran, the STC’s new interim Executive Director. It was a great, productive pleasure to do so. Rob’s a great guy whose advice and guidance to the STC (albeit short-term) will be invaluable as the STC embarks on a new strategic direction into the future of technical communication. Rob will also advise and consult to STC as we continue the search for a new permanent Executive Director.

Rob’s forté is working with associations, such as the STC, on an interim basis to help them bridge the gap between executives and move them in appropriate new directions. He is exactly what the STC needs at this time. Rob is not eligible for the permanent Executive Director position (part of his contract with STC), which is unfortunate for us, but this frees him of personal investment so he is able to focus solely on helping us move forward. And, forward we are going to exciting new places!

Providing Member Value

The STC is making evident its continuing focus on providing member value and membership growth through the following proposed new initiatives:

• Corporate Value Program, a new membership option that is designed for companies that have a number of technical communications professionals. The STC Board approved a pilot of this new initiative last month. The initial pilot company is in New York, so we (Region 1) are the test bed for this new program that provides good incentives for companies to pay for the STC memberships of their technical communications employees. I’ll provide more information about this pilot program as it progresses.
• Localized Dues Structure, which introduces three pricing tiers determined by the market in which an STC member resides. Technical communicators in developing, emerging, and mature markets will pay dues that reflect their local economies and thus their related local costs of living. This will help boost the STC’s membership around the world, allowing many more people to invest in their professional futures as technical communicators, and enhancing the Society’s global presence and prestige. The STC Board is currently surveying its membership (www.stc.org/memberlocal101.asp) for feedback on this proposed program. Look for details regarding the results of our member survey soon.

Nominations anyone?

The deadline for submitting nomination forms for the elected membership rank of STC Associate Fellow is Friday, October 21! It would be wonderful to see new Associate Fellows emerge from this region in 2006! Many thanks to those of you who took the time and effort required to prepare these forms! Thanks also to those of you who have volunteered to be references in support of the candidates put forward. Vetting of candidates begins shortly after the submission deadline. Candidates will be notified after the January Board meeting.

It’s also time to consider nominations for Distinguished Chapter Service Awards. These awards honor a limited number of members from a chapter for outstanding service to the chapter. The ratio of acceptable nominations per year is 1 for every 100 members in a chapter, so 1%. (For communities with fewer than 100 members, 1 nomination is allowable.) If you’ve got a deserving member or two, please consider nominating them for this prestigious award. Visit http://www.stc.org/awards_DCSA.asp for details on the nomination process and a list of past winners. The deadline for nominations submissions is November 30.

Gearing up for the competition

Many chapters are gearing up for their local competitions now. And the international competition committees are preparing to distribute their Call for Judges, which should be out any minute now. I encourage you to consider applying as an international competition judge this year, particularly those of you who have been involved in local competitions previously. It’s a terrific opportunity to ratchet up your STC participation to the Society level, sharing your expertise on a greater scale, networking with members you might not already know, and getting to see what award-winning technical communication looks like from around the globe. If you don’t receive the application form, ask your chapter president about it or visit www.stc.org/competitions and access it there.

Rechartered at last

Lastly, congratulations to both the Rochester and Vermont chapters, whose rechartering documents were approved by the STC Board based on the recommendation from the Rechartering Committee. These two communities are now “officially” rechartered. The Boston Chapter is next as I’ve just reviewed their rechartering document prior to its submission to the committee. I do encourage all of you who have not rechartered yet to do so. We have several good sample rechartering documents for you to review (and my continuing offer of assistance, remote or onsite) during this important activity. And, I will devote my next article to more information about rechartering. Stay tuned …

*The minutes of the September 2005 Board meeting, as well as the January and May 2005 meetings, are available online at http://www.stc.org/chapterResources.asp, and all future Board meeting minutes will be posted as well. I encourage you all to read them as the reports are full of details that both members and leaders seem to be looking for frequently.