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 Hello, everyone. I hope you all are having, and continue to have, a great summer. Not long ago, I managed one trip back to the scorching heat of my native Texas. I was so glad to come back to Virginia’s lower temps!
As the weather begins to cool, the STC James River Chapter will be starting up a new program year, one that presents a number of challenges. We continue to need ways to revitalize the chapter, to invite more substantive participation from chapter members, and to ensure the chapter’s future for current and future members. Toward that end, the JRC officers met in June to discuss and approve a new calendar of events among other topics. Many of us met face to face for the first time! Like our chapter members, our officers reside in places that are geographically diverse, and we have a real challenge getting together. Nevertheless, we managed to meet and discuss ways to improve the chapter for everyone.
One thing we have been discussing for some time about how to relate chapter issues to members as a group. Chapter meetings draw a very small percentage of our membership, making that an impractical venue for gathering information and consensus.
We decided it was time we contacted each of the members individually, since we so seldom have the opportunity to meet in person. By now, you should have heard or you will shortly be hearing from one of the chapter officers. I have spoken or corresponded with a few chapter members and found different interests, backgrounds, and concerns about the chapter.
One long-time member with whom I spoke shared several opinions on the general state of chapter membership in professional organizations, as well as ideas for the JRC.
I found these opinions very enlightening, as they clarified some issues directly or indirectly affecting the JRC. One issue we discussed is chapter meeting attendance and how so many organizations face the same challenges that the JRC faces: decreasing attendance figures at monthly meetings.
To clarify this issue, we discussed the real question: What is the purpose of monthly meetings? I had thought the obvious answer was “programs,” but my conversation with this JRC member suggested otherwise. The real answer is something else.
What do we miss the most from NOT participating in the monthly meetings? We might miss a valuable tip, some bit of product knowledge, or familiarity with a new area of expertise, but missing these things is not so threatening that we seek out that monthly meeting to avoid losing out on a program.
What prompts us to go, and what we are missing now, is direct contact with other members, and the opportunities to interact with other writers. There is no substitute for meeting people with like interests and like challenges.
I remember from my years as a member of the STC Lone Star Chapter that I went to meetings even when the program didn’t interest me, just to touch base with other technical writers. I always enjoyed conversing with that freelance writer friend of mine about her latest contract win or commiserating with some other technical writer like me, stuck in a boring assignment. There is nothing like networking to recharge your interest and creativity.
I’d like nothing more than to recapture that atmosphere here with the JRC, but we cannot duplicate those networking opportunities when three or four members live in Charlottesville, several more live in Richmond, and still more reside or work in various parts of the Hamptons or the eastern shore. At least, we can’t do that once a month on a weekday evening.
However, we might be able to take a different approach. It has been suggested by several members that we host a mini-conference or two, and use occasional conferences as a vehicle for member interaction once fostered by monthly meetings. A short conference with opportunities to interact with each other and participate in programs that we ourselves develop might be just the ticket.
I have suggested informally to the other officers that we hold a spring conference in place of the scheduled spring meetings. That means lots of planning over the next few months, and I believe we have the resources to do it. However, we need to hear from YOU!
Would you attend a mini-conference, if we kept the cost low and you could bring a guest? What kinds of programs would you like to attend at a mini-conference? Are you interested in tools and technologies, in writing skills, in graphics, or in other areas of technical communication? We are anxious to gather any ideas you have for programs that are worth your while to attend, whether at a short, virtual meeting or at a relaxing conference with your peers. Whatever the venue might be, the ideas must come from YOU!
 When a JRC officer calls on you, please respond with your interests and questions. Feel free to keep that line of communication open by contacting an officer with any additional concerns you may have. You can always reach me via
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. I want to thank the members with whom I’ve corresponded and encourage all of you to submit your ideas, questions, and concerns to your officers. We cannot, and will not, have a chapter without active members, and it starts with you and your decision to participate.
Member Feedback
- Host a couple of mini-conferences rather than bi-monthly one-hour programs
- Co-locate mini-conferences with another event
- Increase in-person networking opportunities
- Better utilize the web to reach across the STC JRC distributed membership
- Invite & solicit specific contributions from members as well as general ideas and inputs
- Monthly newsletters with email reminders
- Involve employers to post jobs, host events, advertise, post announcements
- Promote technical communications value-added to business
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Award of Merit
(0 vote)
Technical Writer
By: Jeb Hoge (Guest) on 06-10-2008 18:14