communication department

Volume XIX Number 9

Rechartering: It's Easier than It Sounds to Strengthen Your Community

By Rachel Houghton, Senior Member, Willamette Valley Chapter

Editor's note: This is the first in an occasional series of articles designed to highlight tips and ideas from the Leadership Community Resource (LCR) as well as LCR projects.

Starting the Process
Rechartering. It seems like such a scary concept, but in reality, it's a pretty easy procedure. The recipe is simple—add in a leader and several interested members. While you could conceivably do it by yourself, it's a lot easier with a group of about five to seven interested participants offering a wide variety of viewpoints.

Knowing that you can turn to the LCR if you need help or have questions also makes the process go more smoothly. As with any other sponsorship activity, the LCR can answer questions about rechartering, provide examples, and even assign a mentor to work with a particular community.

Leaders can strengthen their communities by rechartering. As of August 2006, fifty-nine communities (both geographic and virtual) had rechartered. There are over 150 communities in STC, which means that less than half have participated in this enlightening experience. My chapter recently finished the questionnaire and sent it to Sherry Michaels, Region 5 director and chair of the Community Affairs Committee.

It is important to gather member feedback before starting the process. We sent out a year-end survey to our members, with questions specifically designed to help us answer the questions on the rechartering form.

The Questionnaire
A week before our rechartering meeting, the leader of our effort sent the questionnaire to those of us involved so that we would have time to review it and think of potential answers. This foresight was the key to a very successful rechartering meeting. On a bright summer day, we all gathered in one place, and spent two hours discussing and answering questions. The rest of the work was done via e-mail after the meeting, when we received feedback from the rest of the chapter administrative council.

The first two questions concerned the name of our community. We like our current chapter name (and the "chapter" designation, as we are a geographic community), and we decided not to change it. Our chapter name, Willamette Valley, is a defining characteristic of the area we represent in our state.

The third question required a bit more thought and discussion: "Describe the members you hope to attract to your new community." In the end, we decided that we really want members of all levels, including entry- and senior-level writers, editors, and illustrators, to be able to get some benefit from being in our chapter. We also hope to attract technical communication managers, as they are our gateway to a lot of potential members. If a manager has no idea of the benefits of STC membership, he or she isn't going to make information available about upcoming meetings, workshops, and seminars, or encourage employees to attend.

In our area, employment is one of the greatest worries of chapter members, so it went right to the top of our list, under the question: "What are their concerns, professional needs, and interests?" Not far behind this is career and professional development. We also included networking and new tools and technology in this list. Networking is a key reason that a good percentage of our chapter stayed in STC during the economic downturn and recession of the last five years. We have to offer something of value to compete with all the other demands on members' time: family, other professional organizations, clubs, work, and education.

Clarifying Your Chapter's Mission Statement and Goals
Our group decided that the chapter can provide value by supporting local Oregon members, cooperating and coordinating with neighboring communities (Mid-Valley and Puget Sound), offering the annual technical communication competition, encouraging members to publish in the chapter newsletter and Society publications, and bringing in people from outside STC for meetings and workshops.

We clarified our chapter mission statement to include: providing opportunities to network with other professionals in the community, promoting best practices in technical communication, and offering educational opportunities to encourage and support professional growth and career development.

We decided that we have three main goals for the next one to two years: 1) provide more opportunities for interaction, 2) develop a stronger relationship with local educational institutions, and 3) provide meeting programs that foster professional and career growth. Each one of these goals requires the help of several individuals, and working together will strengthen the ties among members of the chapter administrative council. We all have to participate to make a community successful.

While we haven't heard the final word on our charter, we have started toward our goals. In September and October, we had program meetings on networking and the top ten mistakes technical writers make when applying for a job. I saw quite a few new faces at the employment-oriented session, which is a good sign that we are reaching out to an audience we've never managed to reach before.

Resources and Help
Please visit www.stc.org/stcmembers/rechartering01.asp (you must have a member login to view), for these helpful rechartering resources:

• Sample forms for SIGs, chapters, and student chapters
• Community rechartering form
• STC Strategic Objectives for 2006-2007

Please contact Linda Oestreich and Sherry Michaels for help in completing the form.

If you have questions for the LCR, please contact De Murr at (414) 847-4344 (office); (414) 232-7934 (cell); (414) 466-9375 (fax); or by e-mail.