Society for Technical Communication Transformations

30 June 05

Finding my place in a large organization.

As a relatively new member of the Society for Technical Communication, I have not really been involved with the organization yet outside of paying my dues and reading the complementary publications that come from it. I seemingly made it even more difficult to find ways to contribute when I moved from Seattle, where there’s no less than two STC Chapters in the city alone, to Strasbourg, France, where the entire country is the only chapter (France Chapter), and headquartered in Paris.

Even more, the France Chapter is heavily oriented around technical writing, almost solely (technical communication and technical writing are pretty much synonymous in France right now). Since I am a new media designer, not a technical writer, there is seemingly not much I can offer the France Chapter, nor much the chapter can offer me in return. The lack of a more regional chapter to my location is another problem, as it makes attending regular meetings impossible.

I had pretty much reached the decision to not renew my dues when they expired, but then something wonderful happened within STC that made things a bit more interesting for special-case members like me; the Transformation initiative made it possible to belong to three Special Interest Groups (SIGs) instead of having to enroll with a local chapter. With no less than 21 active SIGs to choose from, it might be easier now for me to find value with my membership, and perhaps find ways to get involved a little more.

At the moment, I am still enrolled with the France Chapter and belong to one SIG, Online Information, but I will likely be changing my STC status to drop chapter enrollment and add two additional SIGs, most likely the Illustrators and Visual Desingers and Information Design SIGs. Many of the SIGs seem to still be thinking about their Web site objectives so perhaps I can help in that respect and learn a few things from special interest members in return.