Re: [TCP] [stclwrsig-l] Justifying STC
Then let's look at it from a different perspective...it is in your chapter's best interest that you join. Aside from the rebate, every chapter officer takes pride in their chapter and is proud when it grows. If you aren't doing it for yourself, do it for your chapter, which, as you say,is giving you everything you need from the association. If everyone felt the way you do, your chapter would be dissolved. On 3/20/08, Sue Heim [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: You can still receive almost all benefits that a chapter provides without having to belong to the organization. There is a huge difference between joining STC, the org, and attending local chapter events. BTW, when I was active in my local chapter, we had almost everything you've mentioned except for the second meeting of the month. And when I was VP of membership, I did contact those who were late to renew to remind them (and to find out why, if they weren't). I'd bet the reasons then (several years ago) and the reasons now are still much the same... not enough value for the money. While $175 isn't a lot of money, it IS a lot of money if you don't get anything for it.Or perceive you don't. Which is much the same thing. ...sue John Posada Senior Technical Writer NYMetro STC President and Program Chair - Said the Zen master to the hot dog vendor Make me one with everything. __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
Re: [TCP] [stclwrsig-l] Justifying STC
Therein lies the problem... I've seen far too many chapter presidents do it for yourself. The local chapter here has lost members. Several years ago we had over 300 members and used to get something like 60-70 members at dinner meetings. Now, there is about half that number in membership and considerably less than half the number attend meetings. If you could joni locally withoiut having to join the national organization, I'd reconsider. But I don't have a local chapter that I'd want to join anyways, so I guess it's a moot point. ...sue On 3/21/08, John Posada [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Then let's look at it from a different perspective...it is in your chapter's best interest that you join. Aside from the rebate, every chapter officer takes pride in their chapter and is proud when it grows. If you aren't doing it for yourself, do it for your chapter, which, as you say,is giving you everything you need from the association. If everyone felt the way you do, your chapter would be dissolved. On 3/20/08, Sue Heim [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: You can still receive almost all benefits that a chapter provides without having to belong to the organization. There is a huge difference between joining STC, the org, and attending local chapter events. BTW, when I was active in my local chapter, we had almost everything you've mentioned except for the second meeting of the month. And when I was VP of membership, I did contact those who were late to renew to remind them (and to find out why, if they weren't). I'd bet the reasons then (several years ago) and the reasons now are still much the same... not enough value for the money. While $175 isn't a lot of money, it IS a lot of money if you don't get anything for it.Or perceive you don't. Which is much the same thing. ...sue John Posada Senior Technical Writer NYMetro STC President and Program Chair - Said the Zen master to the hot dog vendor Make me one with everything. __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
Re: [TCP] [stclwrsig-l] Justifying STC
On 3/21/08, Sue Heim [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Therein lies the problem... I've seen far too many chapter presidents do it for yourself. The local chapter here has lost members. Several years ago we had over 300 members and used to get something like 60-70 members at dinner meetings. Now, there is about half that number in membership and considerably less than half the number attend meetings. There's nothing wrong with the chapter board wanting to be proud of their chapter. In addition, the larger a chapter, the more they have the ability to weather random goofs. Sometimes you pick a program that dispite all good intentions, falls flat. Size also gives you the ability to take chances. If you are small, with a small checking account, a loss can be damaging. The larger you are, the better you are able to recover. I've been trying alot of things...some are success and some failure. However, in EVERY effort, my mantra has been that anything we do is in the members best interest. For instance. The society is offering four free conference registrations for the chapter in each category who can get the highest percentage of renewals. We happen to be in second place in the second to largest category. If we win? The four packages get raffled to the membership, and most don't even knowit yet, even though I had to get my company to allow me to expense part of the trip, the chaptrer part, and me part (BTW, our chapter last year paid the whole thing for the Pres, but if I can take part of the load off the chaprter, more left over for the membership). We could have applied it to the board, but I thought my membership woulod appreciate it. However, a chapter is handcuffed from trying new things when they don't see the support from the people they are trying to serve, and the best indicaror is membership. If you could join locally withoiut having to join the national organization, I'd reconsider. BTW...there is nothing from stopping a chapter from doing that and we are considering it starting next Sept. John Posada NYMetroSTC President __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
Re: [TCP] [stclwrsig-l] Justifying STC
You can still receive almost all benefits that a chapter provides without having to belong to the organization. There is a huge difference between joining STC, the org, and attending local chapter events. BTW, when I was active in my local chapter, we had almost everything you've mentioned except for the second meeting of the month. And when I was VP of membership, I did contact those who were late to renew to remind them (and to find out why, if they weren't). I'd bet the reasons then (several years ago) and the reasons now are still much the same... not enough value for the money. While $175 isn't a lot of money, it IS a lot of money if you don't get anything for it.Or perceive you don't. Which is much the same thing. ...sue On 3/19/08, John Posada [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Suzette...first, I'm biased. I'm the president of the NYMetro STC chapter, with about 360 members. My position has been that you should not have to decide. If you cannot, or if you are on the fence, your chapter has failed you. I happen to have two volunteers who at this very moment are calling through the list of 2007 members who have not yet renewed. They are calling for two reasons; to remind them that they haven't and if it only takes a reminder, the call ends. However, if they have made a decision not to, we want to know why. In addition, over the last few months, I've anticipated this delema and have specificaly upgraded a number of things we do at the chapter level to earn the renewal. Something must be working, we're currently second in our category on renewal rate. We've doubled the number of monthly chapter meetings (we do two meeting programs per month). We upgraqded our newsletter from four pages to 12-14 pages We upgraded our speakers (Hackos, Gribbons, etc) We've added email job lists. We've started SIG meetings We've brought vendor demos to our monthly meetings We've added some workshops (this month we have one on API/SDK) We've reached out to other associations in releated fields (UPA, BIAA, etc) (other stuff) I don't take membership for granted. I want renewal to be a nobrainer. increased so dramatically, I need to look at it objectively. Other than the $25.00 is not dramatic On 3/19/08, Suzette Leeming [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I get more out of this list (and a couple of others) than I've ever gotten from STC. I like your point that I can always attend a meeting as a non-member. I'll keep that in mind. That's your chapter's fault. __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
Re: [TCP] [stclwrsig-l] Justifying STC
STC has a top-down, and top-heavy structure that has caused it to become prohibitively expensive for me to justify paying for another year. So, I've done a little searching and found a few resources. I have included the e-mail link to the techcompros.com list serve. This is one resource. I'm still attending the local chapter meetings as a non-member. It only costs a few dollars more to attend as a non-member. Are you familiar with MeetUp.com? Visit their website and see if there is a local group meeting to discuss technical writing or your field of expertise. The meetings are usually free, or very low cost. Teresa Trujillo Book Workshop/Mighty Designs 1501 E. Orangethorpe Avenue Suite 130 Fullerton, California 92831 Phone (714) 525-0882 Fax (714) 879-7156 Cell (714) 926-8343 -Original Message- From: Dan Gallagher [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 7:54 am Subject: Re: [stclwrsig-l] Justifying STC Hi Teresa, I'm interested in the free resources. Thank you. Dan--Ft. Lauderdale Just in case your boss comes to the same decision I arrived at, there are free resources that can help you overcome the void that not belonging to STC brings to your bag of skills. If you are interested in learning more about this topic, please contact me off of the list. Good Luck! Teresa Trujillo __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
Re: [TCP] [stclwrsig-l] Justifying STC
Thanks for the free resources, Teresa. I have been sitting on the fence on this one for a few months now. To pay or not to pay... Some would say tis an easy decision to make - the company that employs me has always paid my dues. However, the people who own the company that employs me are related to me, and I've no wish to cause them unnecessary expense. It wasn't that big a deal before, but now that the price has increased so dramatically, I need to look at it objectively. Other than the magazines (which I just realized I collect more than read), STC is of little benefit to me. Plus I'm unable to attend their meetings, because of distance as well as a timing conflict. I get more out of this list (and a couple of others) than I've ever gotten from STC. I like your point that I can always attend a meeting as a non-member. I'll keep that in mind. Suzette Leeming Stouffville, Ontario On 3/19/08, [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: STC has a top-down, and top-heavy structure that has caused it to become prohibitively expensive for me to justify paying for another year. So, I've done a little searching and found a few resources. I have included the e-mail link to the techcompros.com list serve. This is one resource. I'm still attending the local chapter meetings as a non-member. It only costs a few dollars more to attend as a non-member. Are you familiar with MeetUp.com? Visit their website and see if there is a local group meeting to discuss technical writing or your field of expertise. The meetings are usually free, or very low cost. Teresa Trujillo Book Workshop/Mighty Designs 1501 E. Orangethorpe Avenue Suite 130 Fullerton, California 92831 Phone (714) 525-0882 Fax (714) 879-7156 Cell (714) 926-8343 -Original Message- From: Dan Gallagher [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wed, 19 Mar 2008 7:54 am Subject: Re: [stclwrsig-l] Justifying STC Hi Teresa, I'm interested in the free resources. Thank you. Dan--Ft. Lauderdale Just in case your boss comes to the same decision I arrived at, there are free resources that can help you overcome the void that not belonging to STC brings to your bag of skills. If you are interested in learning more about this topic, please contact me off of the list. Good Luck! Teresa Trujillo __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com -- What I like to drink most is wine that belongs to others. - Diogenes Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail Need affordable web hosting? I recommend 1 1 - that's where I'm hosted! http://www.1and1.com/?k_id=6815038 __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
Re: [TCP] [stclwrsig-l] Justifying STC
Suzette...first, I'm biased. I'm the president of the NYMetro STC chapter, with about 360 members. My position has been that you should not have to decide. If you cannot, or if you are on the fence, your chapter has failed you. I happen to have two volunteers who at this very moment are calling through the list of 2007 members who have not yet renewed. They are calling for two reasons; to remind them that they haven't and if it only takes a reminder, the call ends. However, if they have made a decision not to, we want to know why. In addition, over the last few months, I've anticipated this delema and have specificaly upgraded a number of things we do at the chapter level to earn the renewal. Something must be working, we're currently second in our category on renewal rate. We've doubled the number of monthly chapter meetings (we do two meeting programs per month). We upgraqded our newsletter from four pages to 12-14 pages We upgraded our speakers (Hackos, Gribbons, etc) We've added email job lists. We've started SIG meetings We've brought vendor demos to our monthly meetings We've added some workshops (this month we have one on API/SDK) We've reached out to other associations in releated fields (UPA, BIAA, etc) (other stuff) I don't take membership for granted. I want renewal to be a nobrainer. increased so dramatically, I need to look at it objectively. Other than the $25.00 is not dramatic On 3/19/08, Suzette Leeming [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I get more out of this list (and a couple of others) than I've ever gotten from STC. I like your point that I can always attend a meeting as a non-member. I'll keep that in mind. That's your chapter's fault. John Posada NYMetrroSTC President and Program chair. __ Author Help files and create printed documentation with Doc-To-Help. New release adds Team Authoring Support, enhanced Web-based help technology and PDF output. Learn more at www.doctohelp.com/tcp. Interactive 3D Documentation Parts catalogs, animated instructions, and more. www.i3deverywhere.com ___ Technical Communication Professionals Post a message to the list: email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, unsubscribe, archives, account options, list info: http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com Subscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe (email): send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Need help? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Get the TCP whole experience! http://www.techcommpros.com
