STC Communities of the Future

News from the Board

The January meeting of STC's Board of Directors focused on STC communities—where they have been, where they are now, and where they should be going. Committee leaders from the communities area and STC staff joined the Board in extensive discussions to examine what changes might be necessary in the future. The Board developed a vision for the communities and then continued to the next step by identifying the ideal qualities that STC communities would have in the future. A task force that included members of the Board, the Strategic Planning Committee, the staff, and committee chairs then took the Board's ideas and distilled them into five defining qualities of STC communities of the future. These will be used as guidelines when the Board makes decisions regarding community policy.

How do we envision the STC community of the future? These are the qualities that we determined will allow a community to best serve STC and our members in the future.

1. Self-defining, within STC rules. It might be a traditional chapter or SIG; it might be a chapter with virtual qualities or a SIG that has geographic qualities. A community's purpose is whatever the individual members define it to be, and it may change over time. Don't worry about the old definitions of what constitutes a successful chapter or SIG.

2. Able to provide value from within and adept at reaching out, as needed, to other communities, to related organizations, to industries and companies, and to the international Society to provide value to its members. STC continues to support and promote multi-community initiatives, like collaborative conferences, but it no longer does so through the static geographic boundaries of the old region system. Instead, we encourage communities to work together and form (or dissolve) the appropriate partnerships for each project they choose to undertake. Those partnerships can be based on geography, areas of interest, industry support, or... whatever works. Be creative!

3. An incubator of ideas that can be used to benefit the entire profession. The relationship between STC and its communities is symbiotic (not parent/child)—there needs to be mutual (two-way) support. The Society's leaders are establishing programs to support all community leaders through an integrated set of resources, and it will offer a mechanism to respond to questions, concerns, and ideas that come from community leaders. Don't keep doing what you've been doing. Look for new ways of generating income and generating value for your members.

4. Part of a worldwide profession, to which it makes contributions and from which it derives benefits. To support the profession, the Society is engaged in several programs that affect (or will affect) technical communication throughout the world. Those programs entail standards and research work, revitalizing our job descriptions for the U.S. government (which can enhance worldwide recognition of our profession by industry employers and governments), and initiating statistically relevant and industry-accepted salary surveys.

5. One of many different avenues through which STC serves a typical member. Each member derives value from many different kinds of gatherings—through electronic means, through face-to-face meetings, through traditional formats like the print magazine and journal. The Society and its communities are here to support the best fit for each member.