Membership News

by Leanne Rollins, Membership Manager

Incredibly, our chapter membership count jumped to 164 members over the past few months! Welcome to new members Rick Ernst and Nora Bencsics. Welcome also to Lianne Sprigg and David Windfeld, current STC members who transferred to our chapter.

Did you know that there are over 140 chapters within the STC? Many chapters have a web site, publish a newsletter, and hold chapter meetings. The STC International website offers a chapter search form at http://www.stc.org/chapter_search.asp. Perform a search by state or by country, and you have one-click access to all chapter websites. Take a few minutes to surf around and see what other chapters have to offer. If you are a contractor, you can even check out the job banks of international chapters — you never know where you might find a great opportunity. Or, you might have the urge to pick up and move to a new place! What better way to gauge the writing job market of potential destinations?

Most members choose to affiliate with the closest chapter to their location, but there are some who have shopped around and have chosen the Southwestern Ontario chapter as their home chapter (despite living far outside our region). And for good reason. Our chapter is among those that hold the most meetings per year. Beyond that, we do not charge an admission fee to members or non-members.

But why would someone from Europe affiliate with our chapter? (We have several members located far beyond the reaches of Southwestern Ontario). For a select few, it’s because SWO was their home chapter for a long time. For others, it’s because of the quality of our newsletter. The award-winning Quill has always been a huge draw for our membership, and under Margie Yundt’s careful guidance, this publication continues a tradition of excellence.

Membership offers so much more than just the publications. If you are a local member, make sure you take advantage of all that membership has to offer — come join us at the next chapter meeting on Tuesday, April 11th. Hope to see you there!

About Leanne Rollins

Leanne recently became a self-employed contractor, escaping management roles for the first time in years. This newfound freedom has allowed Leanne to take on extra-curricular activities such as a more active role in the STC. When not writing or playing with her kids, Leanne enjoys running and soccer.