Can you believe that the poised and productive leadership of Eagranie Yuh as our STC chapter President has come to an end? I scarcely can, and I have been an understudy to Eagranie’s inspiring work the entire year. But the July 1 milestone is long past—that date on which the Vice President becomes President and a new VP steps into the line-up. So Eagranie, though still on the executive, now holds the more advisory role of Past President.
Who’s the new President? I am an independent contractor with clients in Web content management and marketing communication. I belong to STC because I have found there is always more to learn about crafting good communication, by which I mean writing and editing aided by tests of user response. Usability has been my focus since my early days as an editor in non-fiction publishing. It was the foundation of my second career—instructional design for distance education—and has remained a touchstone in my subsequent work in social marketing and corporate communications.
The Chapter Executive 2010-2011
STC Canada West Coast has been fortunate to keep our trusted incumbent, Tracey Martinsen, in the role of Secretary and to have Helen Glavina continue as its competent Treasurer. Further good news for the chapter is that a long-time member, Oliver Sterczyk, has agreed to serve as Vice President.
In key committee roles we’ll benefit from the continued service of Heather Sommerville as Volunteer Co-ordinator and Lois Patterson as Programs head, along with Tony Chung as Coast Lines editor. Happily there has been renewed commitment also from photographer Marika Piehler, SIG leader Ben Hechter and education liaison Rob Hughes. Good sense and good humour always abound when these directors and other leaders meet, with Pam Drucker often adding a further measure of creative and sound thinking.
Volunteer power
I hope I’ve painted our seasoned executive team as the fun and stimulating group it is—maybe as a group you belong with. Our meetings are open to members. Whether you’d like to meet us in person or get involved some other way, we’re always looking for more volunteers. A message to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) will elicit an answer. Guaranteed!
This Year’s Theme: More Value for Members
What benefits does your STC membership bring you? Do you see that value as coming mostly from the activities of your chapter? Could your chapter, or the international organization as a whole, do more to earn your fee? Whatever your answers to those questions, none of us is likely to turn down an offer of more for our membership dollar. STC has been looking hard at how to give more value through its communities—meaning both its chapters and its Special Interest Groups. Greater efficiency is one way. For example, the new zero-based budgeting model means that part of the membership fee does not automatically go to the member’s chapter whether or not it has activities to fund. Consequently, there is no idle money—it’s always doing work! But there are also economies of scale: members of our chapter have suggested, for example, that STC should be able to negotiate a member discount on the software commonly bought by independent contractors in our field.
Last year, the STC Board named a task force to recommend improvements in the funding and support available to STC communities. Tracey Martinsen and I, the sole Canadian participants in the biweekly-or-so teleconferences, were both impressed by the group’s commitment and intelligence as, from February to April, our ideas, controversies and laughter made the circuits buzz from Bangalore to Bangor, Maine. Our short list of recommendations stimulated a lot of discussion and praise at the 2010 Summit in Dallas.
Although the task force delivered its work before the Summit, many participants agreed to continue their involvement so that there would be conscientious follow-through on the wishes that our community members had expressed through us. Keeping “hands on” is possible many ways, including (for me) being an active member of the Canadian presidents’ group who look out for the particular interests of STC members in this country. I intend to hold myself accountable to the other Canadian presidents and to you for action on those excellent recommendations. As well, our chapter has looked into health and dental plans for self-employed technical writers and is spearheading negotiations for a nationwide rate on behalf of all the Canadian chapters. In return, our chapter is set to benefit from efforts by the other Canadian chapters to establish an annual Canadian salary survey.
Momentum from 2008-2009
I also see us working with the momentum that the executive team gained last year with its strategies for building community. The chapter—especially the documentation competition committee—reached out energetically to employers and gathered a lot of information about the job context for our members. We furthered STC’s reputation for collaboration. We offered events of interest to other professional groups, but we also gave support to their plans, knowing that everyone gains when we pool efforts rather than competing for audience.
As Eagranie mentioned in her last message, the chapter has sought ways of giving its own members the best possible access to program events; last year, for example, we did a successful trial of the webinar format. This year’s officers and volunteers are committed to building on all this work and strengthening connections with employers, related professions, and our own members.
So where’d the President go?
I have travel plans for September and October, so I’m grateful that Eagranie will chair our meeting on September 21—and sorry that I’ll miss a presentation from our highly recommended speaker (details here). But there’s an executive meeting and another excellent speaker to look forward to in November. I hope to see you in the fall.
Best professional regards,
Catherine Kerr
