My Thanks, and Charting a Different Course

by Beau Cain, Region 8 Director

In this, my first article to STC Region 8 newsletters, I offer my thanks for your support. Then, I will present a brief explanation of things that have happened, and how those happenings will affect your participation in the Society for the next three years. Finally, I ask for your involvement in changing our Society at the chapter and SIG levels.

Thanks!

First, I thank each of you who voted for me in the Society's election. I expected my remarkably accomplished opponent, Alison Reynolds of Christchurch Polytechnic in Wellington, New Zealand, to win the election. Indeed, the vote was very close. I thank Alison for being an affable opponent, and I particularly thank her for the help she has already given me in office. Thanks, Alison!

Charting a Different Course

Now let me discuss developments that have affected us in Region 8.

Our Society is undergoing a deliberate transformation in order to better serve our members and the profession. The transformation initiative was prompted by a large drop in Society membership. The consequent is a decrease in income, and subsequent surveys have revealed that members were not renewing their membership because they did not perceive value for their money. The transformation initiatives are all aimed to make Society membership more valuable. The Transformation Team has done an admirable job of allaying members' fears about the changes, while deftly designing the transformation as it happens.

Now this need to re-assess the value of what we offer to our colleagues has hit home. This year's Region 8 conference, Charting a Bold Course, was cancelled just a week before the opening keynote speakers' presentations. Further, one week after this expensive cancellation, the 2005 Region 8 conference team withdrew from producing the conference next year.

An admittedly small survey of a tightly targeted group revealed that they did not register for the conference because their employer did not pay for it. Also, they did not see the value of paying for it themselves.

There is that word "value" again.

I believe that in order to find value at the local level, we should question the efficacy of our chapters' and SIGs' operations, and examine ways to make them more attractive to a wider audience.

With our chapters receiving reduced dues rebates this year, it may prove important to examine all chapter expenses. We need to imagine ways to reduce expenses, while trying to improve services to our members and colleagues. What can be changed? Does the chapter subsidize dinners at monthly meetings? Does the chapter lose money on seminars and workshops? Can we adopt a more profitable model? Does the chapter buy services that might be donated instead?

The same frugal perspective can help us avoid planning events that cost more than they earn. It seems that the old model of conferences—a big welcoming event with famous speakers, followed by a day or two of educational sessions, all laced with dedicated networking events and corporate promotional events—may not be the draw that it used to be. Attendance at COMDEX is down, and the Content World conference was, euphemistically, "postponed indefinitely." Also our own Region 8 conference has become an object lesson for future conference management teams.

Further, I have received reports from colleagues that their employers are not spending money to send them to conferences. If the colleagues themselves do not see enough value in the event to pay for it themselves, then the problem is clear: we are not offering value to our colleagues.

So I encourage everyone in Region 8 to rethink how your chapter and SIGs offer value, both to our Society's members and to our non-member colleagues. Are you getting the best return you can for what you spend? Are you getting a return at all?

Please join me in creating solutions to offer more value to membership and participation in STC. Think about the resources we enjoy in our Society and how they might be improved to serve you better. I invite you to e-mail me with your ideas, which are the most valuable resources we share.