Travelling to see a different chapter

By Gwyneth Evans

Membership has its privileges™. OK, so that saying belongs to a credit card company (American Express), but regarding STC membership privileges the spirit of that message is 100% true. One under-exercised privilege is the right to meet up. Meet up with your own chapter! And meet up with local and international chapters!

Recently, I travelled to see what was up at a nearby STC-Toronto membership social event. Like our own STC-SOC chapter events, it was advertised on-line, open to members and non-members, and hosted at a central location in the region - in this case a Milestones restaurant on the subway line and by a highway. After our group of 10 did introductions and ordered a brunch feast, conversation began to flow.

Technical communicators are an interesting group. We enjoy terms like “context of use”, “progressive disclosure”, the problem of “findability” and might use expressions like, “That’s Madcap!”, “I grow my own wiki,” and "Darwin Information Typing Architecture" while debating the future of fine print and internet media as we know them. The STC Toronto council and members did not disappoint. Conversation addressed the place for documentation in mobile application spaces, the finer points of automatic and manual indexing techniques, new CAD and DITA tooling, the managing of it all and more.

Regionally specific topics including talk of local STC events, goings-on in the city of Toronto, mayoral views on public libraries versus the right of the individual to literacy resources, the likelihood and date of a first snowfall or ski season all came up. We found we all could relate to the globally available STC education webinars: Technical Communicator in a Business Process Model World, Organizing Help Content, Document standard for Technical Publications, held high hopes for successful completion of work and wrap-up of documentation projects before the December holidays whether Hanukah, Kwanza, Festivus or Christmas, and hey… the pancakes – they were good. By the time our brunch meet-up was done, I had discovered that while our STC members come from different chapters, we all do and have a lot in common.

Successes & Lessons learned:
Travelling to regional STC events is energizing, is encouraged, leads to new relationships and new ideas to bring back to your chapter. You might, like I did, discover a funny, but good, understanding that under the STC umbrella, wherever you go, you will be welcome within a community that speaks your language.

So, keep your membership up to date, enjoy meeting up with your membership and when you do travel, bring your STC membership card – Don’t leave home without us. ™

See: Upcoming STC-SOC events
Let us know: Share your STC meet-up story
Been away? Renew your membership

What has the STC – SOC Council been up to?

Meeting monthly, Council and chapter members discuss and plan activities that promote the STC mission and help support the chapter’s vibrant membership with events and education evenings.

Briefly, here are the highlights of what has happened over the past two months:

The community partnership with Communitech is now established: Included in this partnership is joint meeting participation, joint website promotion and dedicated liaisons who ensure an ongoing communication link.

The Participation Game criteria will soon be finalised: The game’s objective is to track and reward member and non-member contributions to chapter activities.

The Technology Spotlight: Look for our chapter’s advertisement in the Who’s Who section of this publication.

Social Media: We plan to set up chapter profiles in Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Groups to help improve our visibility and offer you more flexibility in obtaining your chapter updates.

2010/11 STC Regional Competition: We’ve joined with the Toronto chapter again to determine the region’s best technical publications and online communications.

Heidi Thiessen Memorial Award: There are revised rules; promotion will begin in November and the entrant deadline will be set for January 2011. Final details will be advertised shortly.

Education evenings: The November evening will feature Tim Grantham as he talks about how to get all the benefits of DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture) without the pain. The agenda for January’s session is being developed.

Spring Workshop: Planning is underway for our annual workshop in the spring. Think about budgeting for this event now. Stay tuned for details!

As you can see the Council, chapter members and volunteers have been busy getting things done. Check back shortly to see where their hard work and dedication is leading the chapter.

Pondering When to Renew? Renew Now and Enter to Win!

Posted: 09 Dec 2009 11:19 AM PST on STC's Notebook

Ponder no more! If you renew your STC membership by 16 December, you’ll be automatically entered to win an Amazon Kindle or one of five iPod Shuffles! So not only will you get all the great benefits STC has to offer, but you might get a little something-something in the bonus round as well—Wink Martindale, eat your heart out!

Last year STC gave away five iPods, but we’ve upped the ante a bit to include the Amazon Kindle this year. And with the contest ending 16 December, we’ll do our very best to get the winners their prizes as soon as we absolutely can for gifting purposes.

Valid entries must be completed by 11:59 EST PM (GMT-5) Wednesday, 16 December. At that point, we’ll conduct a drawing and notify the winners. What could be better? Renew your STC membership and continue all the benefits, and maybe win some stuff in the process!

Tips for Renewing or Buying an STC Membership

As I was renewing my membership, I found out a few things that I didn't read before starting the online process. I also found out a few things by asking STC Head Office. To help you avoid some surprises, or perhaps to answer some questions before you ask them, here are my personal discoveries (all prices are in US dollars):

• A Basic STC membership no longer gives you membership in a chapter or a SIG. Each chapter membership now costs an additional $25, and a SIG membership costs $10 each.


• If you do not renew your membership by February 28, 2010, you are subject to an extra renewal fee of $15.


• If you do not renew your membership for a year, you are subject to an extra renewal fee of $30.


• When you buy an STC membership for the first time, there is an additional initiation fee of $30.


• If you want printed versions of the publications, the magazine Intercom is $30 + $7.50 for postage to Canada; the journal Technical Communication is $75 + $7.50 for postage to Canada.


• You have the option of paying your total dues in four equal installments over the course of the year.


• If you want to add a chapter or SIG membership to your existing membership, you can do it over the course of the year.

To buy or renew your membership, go to the STC Head Office website.

If you discover something useful about buying or renewing a membership that isn't listed here, feel free to leave a comment.