#26255
Rechartering: Taking the Pulse of Your Community
Rechartering, as many of you know, means examining and refining your community’s purpose, mission, goals, and plan for delivering value to your members. Through the recommendations of STC’s regional directors and of the communities transformation committee, the board approached about thirty communities and asked them to participate in the pilot program. Twenty-four communities (eighteen professional chapters, three student chapters, and three SIGs) agreed to the experiment.
Oestreich, Linda L. Tieline (2005). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#31851
Showcase Your Talents in STC: Reflections from a Leadership Day 2008 Panel 
Once you prioritize time for involvement in STC activities, you have good opportunities to show your talents to your peers. Yes, it is scary. The technical communication community is a very difficult audience. But isn't that a fantastic learning opportunity?
Mardahl, Karen. Tieline (2008). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#24389
Starting a Chapter-Level Special Interest Group 
STC's special interest groups (SIGs) provide a way for STC members to share their interest in particular areas of technical communication. Society SIGs at the international level may have hundreds of members, and many publish a newsletter, host an electronic newsgroup, and sponsor events and sessions at STC's annual conferences. Chapter SIGs usually have fewer members, but, because their members live in the same area, they can meet regularly and address members'local needs.
Taylor, Cheri W. Tieline (2000). Articles>TC>Community Building
#26250
I was having a hard time coming up with a program that would provide tangible member benefits and be easy to maintain at low (or no) cost. I finally found what I was looking for when a friend told me about a book review he was writing for O’Reilly, a technical publisher. When I asked how he got hooked up with O’Reilly, he filled me in on their user group program.
Wigser, Sarah. Tieline (2005). Articles>TC>Community Building
#23676
STC Recognition Helps Build Community
The best benefit of my STC membership and leadership volunteerism is that the STC name recognition helped me get the jobs I wanted.
Byron, Barrie. MetroVoice (2003). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#23390
STC Transformation Project: Focus on Communities
I’m talking with you today because I was part of a three-person team that took the lead on thinking about communities for the STC Transformation Project. The two other members of that team were Fred Sampson and Whitney Quesenbery. Fred, Whitney, and I based our work on the goals and principles that the STC Board established for the Transformation Project. As we worked on the concepts for communities, we thought about how to apply these principles to meet the goals.
Redish, Janice C. 'Ginny'. STC East Bay (2004). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#26256
Strategic Plans: Focusing Chapter Energy
If your chapter has never created a strategic plan, or if it has been a long time since plans were updated, it's a good idea to develop one now. Those first plans can require one or two years to create, but don't be intimidated by the commitment. The phases of the plan are easily broken down into small, manageable sessions for which you can set reasonable or flexible completion dates.
Silvi, Deborah H. and Jamie H. Diamandopoulos. Tieline (2005). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#26254
Strength In Numbers: Forging Bonds with Nearby Communities
Although the economy in Northern California has improved, people are not clamoring to become technical communicators the way they were in the boom days of the late 1990s. Finding volunteers for chapter positions is difficult, and those who do volunteer often have to do more with less. An organization of local chapters can facilitate inter-chapter communication and sharing of resources.
Maki, Victoria J. Tieline (2005). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#31650
TCeurope: A European Umbrella for Technical Communicators 
This paper presents TCeurope, the European umbrella organization for technical communicators and its activities in the past, including lobbying for technical communication at the European Parliament, formulating a European guideline for usable and safe operating manuals for consumer goods, and formulating a European guidelines for professional education and training of technical communicators in Europe.
Fritz, Michael, Michael F. Steehouder and Ursula Wirtz. IEEE PCS (2005). Articles>TC>Community Building>Europe
#24886
Technical Publications, Art, And Video Competition Forum
STC's local, regional, and international-level Technical Publications, Art, and Video competitions provide the society with the opportunity to showcase its members' talents. A great deal of work goes into making these competition successful, and an open dialogue between participants, competition managers and judges is important at all levels. This forum give local, regional, and international competition managers, and anyone else interested in competitions, the chance to discuss all aspects of STC competitions.
Hoyt, Thomas B. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#30749
"Thursdays @ STC Chicago" Provide a Unique Networking Opportunity
In March 2007, the Chicago Chapter STC started a program that has become quite popular with its members. If your community covers a large geographic area, or has a large number of members, this program may work well for you too.
Friend, Russ. Tieline (2008). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#31850
Using Constant Contact to Communicate with Your Members
Using Constant Contact helped us distribute mass emails to (the former Region 4) STC members to promote a regional conference that we held in October 2007. This was a successful and professional-looking campaign. We signed up for a 60 day trial account to evaluate the Constant Contact service. The trial was so successful that our board voted to purchase an account for the NEO STC Community.
Spayer, Tricia. Tieline (2008). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#24924
Virtual Communities: Weaving the Human Web
Muses on the increasing importance of communities in the technical communication profession.
Quesenbery, Whitney. Intercom (2005). Articles>TC>Community Building>Social Networking
#29240
What's Civic About Technical Communication? Technical Communication and the Rhetoric of 'Community' 
Although the concept of community has been advanced in technical communication as a moral reference point for civic rhetorical action, this concept is typically used in romantic, redemptive, and essentializing ways. This article argues for a radical and symbolic/rhetorical view of community, regarding it a discursive construct purposefully invoked by technical writers for strategic reasons.
Ornatowski, Cezar M. and Linn K. Bekins. Technical Communication Quarterly (2004). Articles>TC>Community Building>Rhetoric
#31770
Over the last few months as I've settled into my new employment arrangement and my STC administrative duties, I've occasionally reflected on my decision to join STC. I can easily see how much of an impact STC membership has had on my personal and professional life. Further, I can easily see how I will continue reaping the numerous rewards associated with membership in this organization.
Parson, Clyde. Between the Lines (2008). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#13551
Every year, each STC member is given the opportunity to vote twice as a member, once for the next year's Society (international-level) leaders and once for the next year's chapter (local-level) leaders. The Society and its chapters expend much effort and expense each year to recruit candidates and develop and distribute ballots; however, only about 10% of STC's members ever return those ballots. If such a small portion of members participate in elections, why bother holding them? The most fundamental reason is that STC's bylaws and the bylaws of each chapter require a duly elected leadership.
Wing, Liz. Carolina Communique (2000). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#32158
Changing Dynamics, Economy, and Momentum
To reinvigorate the chapter, former chapter president, Theresa Putkey suggested that the chapter move to a member-driven, online community. Instead of the eight volunteers currently pulling the chapter along, the chapter’s 250 members can set the pace, build momentum, and provide more value than a handful of volunteers are able to provide.
Putkey, Theresa. Tieline (2008). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#32701
Getting Everyone’s Foot in the Door with SIN (Shy, Inactive, and New) SIG
In addition to providing a welcoming atmosphere, SIN SIG offers newcomers a jump-start to networking. As a new member, Thuy Vu took advantage of SIN SIG for exactly that purpose. She says, "To have the support and resources of SIN SIG from day one was very valuable to me as a new member. SIN SIG made it much easier to connect with the group and to learn my way around." We've found that the casual SIN SIG meeting with its small group provides an avenue to get to know a few faces and learn about opportunities for involvement without intimidating new people.
Miller, Elisa. Tieline (2008). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#33643
Embracing the Un: When the Community Runs the Event
With the explosion of Web 2.0 come two new kinds of community events: BarCamps and BookSprints. Gentle and Swisher share their experiences with these unconferences.
Gentle, Anne and Janet Swisher. Intercom (2009). Articles>TC>Community Building>Social Networking
#33712
Creating an Online Survey with SurveyMonkey
Surveys have always been a great way to gauge users' opinions and reactions toward new and existing products and services. With SurveyMonkey, an online survey software program, creating a survey has become a quick and easy way to create useful surveys for a multitude of needs. In this reprint of David Farbey's article, originally published in the January 2006 edition of Forward, the newsletter of the UK Chapter, Farbey gives a step-by-step guide on creating a survey with SurveyMonkey.
Farbey, David. Tieline (2008). Articles>TC>Community Building>Surveys
#33714
Breaking Traditions and Taking Risks
Innovation is important in any area of life, and STC communities are no exception. Last year, STC Chicago and STC-NIU (Northern Illinois University) combined their strengths to facilitate innovation and to help revive a student chapter.
Loynes, Ericka. Tieline (2008). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#34519
Dinosaurs, Gazelles, and the Need (or Not) for Organizations
There was a time when organizations did offer a value proposition. Once upon a time, there was some prestige attached to being part of a professional organization. Being a member marked you as a professional. The potential was there for membership in an organization to open a more than a few doors. And organizations offered training, courses, information, and even pointers to jobs that you couldn’t find anywhere else. The Web, though, hasn’t just leveled the playing field. The Web has flattened the playing field, paved it over, and moved the goal posts.
Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#34625
In case you haven’t heard, the STC’s finances are facing crisis proportions. Unless membership stabilizes, it could go out of business in a couple of years. Here are a few recommendations to help solve the problems of the STC.
Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2009). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#34626
In Which I Comment on the STC Issue
STC represents two conflicting groups: academics and actual business world employees. These are complimentary roles for building theory but they are conflicting for actual execution.
Anderson, Keith. MK Anderson (2009). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
#34627
As you may have heard, STC is in a financial crisis. According to the board of directors meeting minutes from May 5, 2009, STC must retain membership "for the next year or STC will be out of business in two years." I believe that STC needs to make some significant changes in the following areas.
O'Keefe, Sarah S. Palimpsest (2009). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC
