Newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter
June/July 2006
| Newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter June/July 2006 |
The Board of Directors meeting at the Society's Annual Conference in Las Vegas marked the end of my second year as a Director, and the beginning of my third and final year in that office. In the two years that have passed, Region 8 chapters and members have made notable contributions to the future operation of our Society. I would like to see Region 8 lead the Society into its next round of changes during my final year as the Director of our region.
I can hardly believe it, but STC's Communication Director Maurice Martin has already posted STC's very first podcast on the Society's Web site.
www.stc.org/stcmembers/podcasts01.asp (member login required)
Although podcasting isn't bleeding edge technology, this deployment of a new communication technology seems to have happened at light speed compared to decades of the Society's seeming technophobia. Not only that, but Maurice is ready to publish the Society's second podcast, too!
More personally, I'm pleased that the Society's first podcast is the audio recording of the Leadership Day presentation Chapter Public Relations Best Practices Forum, presented by my long-time STC buddy, George Slaughter, of the Houston chapter. The second podcast will be the audio recording of the Leadership Day presentation about the new STC-CDX.org site ("STC Communication Department eXperimental website") which was given by TransAlpine chapter's commanding Jang Graat. Cleverly, stc-cdx.org is the site where these podcasts will be available for downloading.
Everyone, please listen and learn, then contribute! Bravo George, Jang, and Maurice!
Over the past two years, fewer and fewer Region 8 chapters have applied for Chapter Achievement Awards (CAA), but more chapters have been contenders for my pick as Pacesetter Award winning chapters. The Society's Pacesetter Award is given to no more than one chapter in each region in a year for successfully deploying innovative operations or programs that can be adopted beneficially by other chapters. It was a tough call to distinguish Orange County chapter for its radically different strategy and plan to make their operation self-supporting.
The Community Achievement Award Evaluation Committee (CAAEC) is now accepting input from chapter leaders to help re-design the CAA criteria to make it more relevant to community operations. I encourage every volunteer who has served as an elected leader to send their suggestions to me before July 1. As well, I thank Berkeley chapter President Joe Devney for already giving me his table of very well-considered suggestions. If you want to read President Devney's list of suggestions, e-mail me.
Separating community sponsorship from the Directors is the most profound and pervasive change that the Board has adopted for the Society in decades. Members now elect their Directors at large rather than by region, because by law Directors of non-profit organizations must represent all members, not just members in their region.
But the Board of Directors recognizes the importance of chapter and SIG activities in the Society's operations, and realizes that these entities deserve Board-level attention. We now have the Leadership Community Resource (LCR), a standing committee of volunteers that communicates with all the chapters and SIGs, and that reports directly to the Society's Executive Director.
The truly great aspect of the LCR is that since it is a committee, it allows far greater volunteer participation in chapter and SIG assistance than did the old Director-Sponsor model. Now you can volunteer to assist communities, and not just your chapter or your SIG, but all STC communities, through participation in the LCR. Contact the LCR through De Murr (deirdre.a.murr at disney.com) to get involved and become known as a great servant leader in our Society.
There's not a chapter or SIG officer among us who doesn't recognize this: community funding is changing. The old system of rebating a small portion of a member's dues to the chapters and SIGs to which he or she "belongs" is under scrutiny. In fact, the Board of Directors now avoids using the word "rebate" when speaking of community funding. Instead, they use the word "funding" to help them keep an open mind about how member money might reach chapters and SIGs.
What does this mean for your chapter? I believe it means that every chapter must examine its operation to determine how it can become a money-maker, and then prepare to charge for its services. I hope that each and every community identifies the value they provide their affiliates, determines an attractive price for that affiliation, and sells it. Do you know what your chapter can sell that would pay for its operation? What services are you willing to pay your chapters or SIGs for?
And how does this align with the Society's operation? Isn't STC a non-profit charitable organization? Are we allowed to sell services in order to accumulate financial reserves that help us assure our continued operation and service to members and the community at large?
Read on.
I encourage every chapter leader to examine the Society's new strategic plan.
www.stc.org/ppt/orgChart0506.ppt
In particular, pay close attention to the new strategic objectives chart in slide 6, and the explanatory slides 7 through 12. In keeping with the nature of our craft, even the design of this strategic objectives chart is different from our old Strategic Plan. There are concentric circles that identify our core values, surrounded by objectives stated in segments.
The core values are:
The objectives are:
This is radically different from recent strategic plans in that it is strongly business and marketing oriented. Our communities need to be strongly business and marketing oriented now, because we are recovering from losses related to the struggling economy.
To that end, I ask you to contact Presidents Jeff Randolph and Adele Sommers in order to get solid ideas about how to make your chapter a well-marketed, money-making business. I urge you to do so this month, as we begin our last year of serving Region 8's members and colleagues together.
Orange County STC Web site: www.ocstc.org/
San Luis Obispo STC Web site: www.slostc.org/
As well, I urge each chapter officer to read STC President Paula Berger's slideshow, The New World of STC:
www.stc.org/ppt/orgChart0506.ppt
Pay close attention to slides 14 through 22. They are the graphic depiction of the managing entities that will drive STC's operations this year, and they name the people you will want to contact in order to get answers or give service.
Two down, one year to go, colleagues. Let's make Region 8 lead the way in beneficial changes for STC, our craft, our colleagues, and ourselves.
Copyright © 2006 by the Society for Technical Communication, San Francisco Chapter (www.stc-sf.org). This article may be reprinted in another STC publication under the provisions of the chapter's copyright policy.