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Transformation Update...or Introduction?
>> Andrea Ames, STC President <<
Are you a chapter or SIG leader? If so, chances are you've heard of the
STC transformation. If not, there's a good chance you haven't heard of
the transformation. The following few paragraphs will provide a very brief
introduction to the transformation work, and the following resources will
provide you with more details, updates, etc.:
- transform@stc.org-- Get answers
to questions or provide suggestions, comments, etc., and you will get
an answer or a response within 2 business days
- Transformation News listserv (transform@lists.stc.org) -- Opt in
and receive updates and news about the transformation, status/progress
updates, notifications of Web site updates, etc. (sign up via the transformation
Web page, below, beginning Thursday, July 15)
- www.stc.org/transformation
-- Visit often to see the main repository of transformation information,
and sign up for the Transformation News listserv (above) for update
information
What started all this? And what's it really all about?
Frankly, the economy started all this. In short, STC income -- both membership
dues income and conference income that underwrites the cost of memberships
(you might not realize that your dues don't cover the actual costs of
your membership) -- began to drop a few years ago, and the STC Board of
Directors' efforts to cut costs did not solve our problem. When we dug
into the cause of our drop in income, we found that many former members,
for example, were unwilling to renew, because it meant paying for memberships
that their companies had formerly covered. In short, although the economy
moved the Board to act, what we found was that finances were merely a
symptom of a greater problem -- perceived member value. That's what the
transformation is really about: Providing value that members want and
need to develop professionally.
During our research, we confirmed something we already knew: Our industry
and our members are incredibly diverse, with interests ranging from usability
to editing, with skills and experience ranging from entry-level to senior,
working in industries from financial to scientific, etc. We asked ourselves,
"Can one Society really meet the needs and provide significant professional-development
value in all of these areas and industries, to this entire range of people?"
In answering this question, we confirmed something else we already knew:
Our strength is in our "communities" -- what we currently call
"chapters" and "SIGs." The Society does not provide
direct value to members in any or all of these areas; instead, the Society
provides infrastructure, mentoring, financial and administrative support,
policy, etc., for those communities exist and flourish, providing member
value indirectly through those communities. Unfortunately, the Society
support for and representation of communities today -- and the members'
experience across communities -- is inconsistent.
The bottom line
Members want value, and value means something different to each of us.
For the Society to rebuild -- and increase -- its membership ranks, we
need to provide (among other things):
- Consistent, equitably supported and represented communities from
which members will derive their personalized professional development
value (through the Communities, Finance, and Governance initiatives)
- A flexible membership model (through the Membership initiative),
enabling members to opt in and out of various services and community
memberships to customize their professional development experience
- Rich content -- education (through the Education initiative), knowledge
base, research, intellectual property of all types -- that provides
depth of practice in member-identified practice areas (through the Communities
initiative by supporting practice-based communities) and is readily
accessed (through the Technology initiative)
- Richer opportunities to network, within and beyond geographies (through
the Communities initiative by supporting geographic communities and
brand new kinds of communities)
And we need to communicate information (through the Communication initiative)
about the transformation, its initiatives, the changes and status of those,
as well as solicit feedback from members and leaders around the Society,
to ensure that we all understand our options, make informed choices and
decisions, and implement the appropriate changes during the transformation
process.
What we're doing about it: The transformation
Some of these needs are met through today's community success stories
-- of which there are many! In our efforts to improve consistency and
equality of support and experiences across communities, we're not losing
sight of those that are working; instead, we're building on the foundation
of their successes...and planning to go a step further to provide even
more to those communities to enhance their successes. For communities
that are struggling, the support we will provide is designed to help,
not hinder, their progress toward providing as much member value as possible.
The work to meet all of these needs is complex... As we change our community
support model to be more consistent, many changes are required -- in the
financial, governance, and technology (infrastructure) areas, as well
as the expected community policy changes.
We have a high-level roadmap that we're following, outlining what we
need to do at a very high level similar to the bulleted items, above.
We don't have all the answers. We still need your input and your help.
Contact us at transform@stc.org to contribute to the transformation.
Myths and misinformation abound!
If you have heard of the transformation, you might be concerned about
some misinformation circulating. Here are a few of the most tenacious
myths...debunked. For answers to frequently asked questions and more corrections
to misinformation, sign up for the Transformation News listserv (via the
Transformation Web page, starting Thursday, July 15) to get notification
when we add the FAQs to the Web site!
- STC is not a chapter-based organization; it is a member-based organization,
according to our Bylaws.
- The transformation is not about finances; it's about member value.
Although the economic environment and STC's financial situation in that
environment was a symptom that alerted us to the problem, the real issue
was members' perception of the value of STC membership.
- The transformation is not about marginalizing, de-emphasizing, or
eliminating chapters -- large or small. Chapters are communities, just
as SIGs are. The goal of the transformation is to equally support and
represent all communities -- chapters, SIGs, and new, currently undefined
communities.
- We are not taking away any chapters' money. At a Transformation Q&A
session on Leadership Day at the STC conference in May, John Nardone,
our Transformation Consultant, mentioned the well-known fact that STC's
chapters have a greater net worth than the Society, and he suggested
that chapters with large reserves might want to volunteer to donate
some of those reserves to the transformation effort. (Interesting tidbit:
Some chapters have contacted me to volunteer to support the transformation
financially.)
- The transformation was not instigated by STC's Washington, D.C.-based
organization. STC's decision-making, policy-setting body is the Board
of Directors, your elected representatives, who are volunteers and live
and work around the world. STC's implementation and operations body
is the paid staff at the STC Office, located in northern Virginia. Your
elected Board of Directors voted to engage the transformation consultant
(in May 2003) and to adopt the the transformation roadmap (in January
2004) that the consultant and the initial transformation team proposed.
The STC Office in northern VA does not determine how money is spent;
they implement disbursals based on STC Board decisions.
- The current dues rebates that fund chapters are not part of the transformed
financial model. The new financial model has not yet been developed.
Until it is, the Board of Directors will continue with the chapter dues
rebate process: According to STC Bylaws, each year the Board analyzes
the current financial situation -- including the budget, membership
renewals, conference income, etc. -- and determines an amount to rebate
to chapters.
Andrea L. Ames, M.S., is a technical communicator specializing in user-centered
product interface and online information architecture and design, interaction
design, and usability. She has more than 17 years of experience designing,
developing, and producing usable technical and scientific information
for products, software user interfaces, multimedia and online information
systems, and print documentation. You can send e-mail to her at pres@stc.org.
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Volume
1 | Number 2 | Summer 2004