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The San Diego Chapter hosted the 2005 Southern California Leadership
Forum on October 9 at the St. Tropez Bakery and Bistro, downtown. As
in years past, this was a great opportunity for representatives of the
nine southern California chapters to get together in person to meet
each other and discuss STC policy changes, chapter issues, and how to
better serve our members.
Unfortunately, not all chapters were able to send representatives to
attend this meeting, due to various time and travel constraints. Here
are the folks who were able to attend:
- Beau Cain, STC Region 8 Director
- Linda Oestreich, STC Second Vice President
- Karen Bergen, Past President, Los Angeles Chapter
- Jeff Randolph, President, Orange County Chapter
- Steve Blossom, Nominating Committee, Orange County Chapter
- Deidre "De" Murr, Secretary/Treasurer, San Fernando Valley
Chapter
- Deborah Gill-Hesselgrave, VP Professional Development, San Diego
Chapter
- Lance-Robert, President, San Diego Chapter
These folks had to make last-minute cancellations:
- Elaine Randolph, Past President, Orange County Chapter
- Vanessa Flint, President, San Gabriel Valley Chapter
After all the introductions, we went around the room to talk about
the status of the various chapters in attendance, to highlight any difficulties
any of them might be having, and to share any success stories with the
others.
Jeff reported that the Orange County chapter (http://www.ocstc.org/)
is doing well. They have approximately 300 members, and their meeting
attendance is up. Their chapter finances are improving, and they still
provide a printed newsletter (TechniScribe) by mail to their chapter
members. Because chapters, by their association with STC as a whole,
are also considered 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, Jeff has found
a way to make tax-deductible contributions through United Way to the
Orange County chapter, with his employer matching those contributions.
So far, though, he believes he is the only one in his chapter who has
signed up to do this.
De reported that the San Fernando Valley chapter (http://www.stcsfv.org/)
recently held a very successful book meeting for its members, during
which the attendees discussed and swapped various books related to technical
communications. They do not have a chapter library. Their chapter Web
site includes a list of recommended books, with links to purchase them
on Amazon.com. The chapter gets paid a small percentage if the person
goes on to purchase the books. The chapter has proposed having a one-day
conference, or Salon, in the spring, and is soliciting any ideas for
same. This is the questionaire from Cate Bramble that I sent out to
the San Diego chapter mailing list in October.
Beau recommended that we contact the East Bay chapter (http://www.ebstc.org/),
also known as the Friendly Chapter, for their many ideas about meeting
icebreakers. Given the lukewarm reception my Deadhead joke got at the
November meeting, maybe this is something I should consider!
Karen reported that although their meetings are held in the same building
as a bowling alley, the Los Angeles chapter (http://www.lastc.org/)
averages between 30-40 loyal attendees at each of their meetings, and
have had some very successful but informal local networking lunches
at which some of their members meet on occasion to discuss various issues.
Beau reported that the Sierra-Panamint chapter, based in Ridgecrest,
is on the verge of disbanding, due to lack of membership. At the time,
Beau said the chapter only had two remaining members, including the
chapter president.
I reported that while the San Diego chapter (http://www.stc-sd.org/)
membership is down, our meeting attendance is up, due in no small part
to the many great speakers we had during the last chapter year. I told
everyone about our chapter lending library, and our policy for buying
books for anyone who wants them, provided they (1) Write a review about
the book that can be published in Signature, our chapter newsletter,
and (2) Return the book to the chapter library when they are finished
with it.
Everyone seemed to think that this was a great idea. I told everyone
that financially the chapter is in very good shape, and that we hope
to spend some of that carefully managed money on more "big guns"
presenters in our industry in the coming months. I also mentioned that
the chapter is currently subsidizing the chapter meetings at $1 per
person at the member price, and that we are moving to a new, Yahoo-based
email list. I said that many of our recent presenters have brought in
a number of non-members from SandCHI/UPA and SD/PEN (http://www.sdpen.com),
and that some of these folks were so impressed that they also joined
STC and the chapter. I also mentioned that the chapter saved a lot of
money when it went from a printed chapter newsletter to an exclusively
online version. I also told them about how instead of holding a new
member dinner, due to the incredibly low turnout last year, we sent
invitations and SanDollars to our new members, and to those members
who are new to the chapter.
I was asked to share our "big gun" contact information with
the other chapters, which I agreed to post on the STCSoCal Yahoo list
(http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/stcsocal/)
as appropriate. I have been providing that information all along to
anyone who asked for it.
De said that the San Fernando Valley chapter has a potential speaker
database that is available to all. Beau confirmed that the Silicon Valley
chapter (http://www.stc-siliconvalley.org/)
has one as well. I remarked that there is also the beginnings of one
on the STCSoCal Yahoo list.
There was a general discussion about what the various chapters could
do to increase their membership. The general consensus was that not
everyone can attend the regular chapter meetings, so it's up to the
chapter leaders to find other ways to reach out to the membership, and
to hold various events that those who cannot or do not attend meetings
might have a better chance of attending. Some things that various chapters
have had success with include networking lunches, happy hours, chapter
level SIGs, or Local Interest Groups (LIGs). Chapters that have had
them reported that these LIGs typically consist of less than two dozen
members, but that those who do attend are very loyal to them. Some examples
of LIGs included a New Member LIG, designed to work with and assist
newcomers to STC and/or the industry, an Indexing LIG to work with and
guide indexers at the local level, and a Biotech LIG, for writers who
work in the biotech industry.
Beau suggested that we all talk to Adele Sommers, president of the San
Luis Obispo chapter (http://www.slostc.org/),
to hear her ideas about using positive public relations to increase
chapter and STC membership.
We had a discussion about what the chapters can do to raise capital,
if needed. In addition to the Amazon links mentioned above, someone
suggested that we could put Google advertising links on our chapter
Web sites to generate some additional income. Someone suggested that
STC itself should consider doing that to offset the membership and annual
meeting dues. Karen said that for the Los Angeles chapter to raise money,
they sold their famous "We do it the Write Way" T-shirts at
the local and international meetings (I own two of them), and actually
have held local bake sales.
We had a general discussion about rechartering. Many chapters still
have not submitted their rechartering documents, and Linda offered advice
for any chapters that have not completed theirs as of yet. She recommended
that we not approach the chapter's role as "business as usual,"
and use it instead to find new and innovative ways to support the ever-changing
needs of the membership. She emphasized that the chapters, or geographically-based
communities, as the STC likes to call them now, must do all they can
to both serve the profession and its members. This can only be done
by everyone agreeing on a viable strategic plan that the chapters actually
follow through on.
Linda and Beau brought us up-to-date on the STC transformation effort.
One of the more recent topics that the Board of Directors has decided
to work on is the tiered dues structure, designed to increase membership
among second- and third-tier nations by charging them lower annual fees
than STC charges first-tier nations, such as the United States. STC
sought everyone's opinion on this issue in a poll that was sent out
to all members a couple of months ago, and although they received a
high number of responses, the subject continues to be debated.
Linda and Beau talked about other general issues, and gave us some insight
as to how the high-level decisions are made. We were told that the board
constantly re-evaluates its decisions, and that each motion requires
a minimum two-thirds vote for that motion to pass.
We wrapped up the discussion by agreeing to continue these and other
discussions at the next SoCal Leadership Forum, which is tentatively
scheduled for March, 2006. The Orange County chapter has tentatively
agreed to host that event, and we're all hoping that the more central
location will draw more folks from the nine chapters to that meeting.
I will be attending, and will invite the other members of the San Diego
council to accompany me. If you have any issues or suggestions you would
like me to ask about or propose at that meeting on your behalf, please
let me know by email (president@stc-sd.org).
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