Re: STC blackmail?

["Paul Strasser" <paul -dot- strasser -at- windsor-tech -dot- com>]

I wrote, in part:

> >It's one thing to easily disregard people who are not now, nor have they
> >ever been, members.  It's another to disregard the comments of people who
> >were members but decided that STC wasn't for them.

Kit Nagel responded:

> I'm not sure I see any reason to make that distinction.
>
> Scenario 1
> Right now, I'm considering joining a particular group.
> I decide the organization doesn't fit my needs.
> So...I don't join.
>
> Scenario 2
> Right now, I'm considering joining a particular group.
> I join.
> I decide the organization doesn't fit my needs.
> So...I don't renew my membership.
>
> Either way, my judgement is the same (the
> organization doesn't fit my needs) and the
> result is the same (I am not a member).  Why
> should one scenario give my opinion more
> weight than the other?

Because the term " doesn't fit my needs" is far more nuanced in Scenario 2
than Scenario 1.  The understandable explanation of "I'm no longer a tech
writer" and the far more critical "STC gives me absolutely no help in my
professional life" would, under scenario 2, both be placed under the general
reason "doesn't fit my needs."

These are people who have been in the organization from 1 to 20+ years, and
then they leave.  Why?  They paid dues, went to meetings, maybe went to
conferences and perhaps even gave presentations.  Then they up and left.  If
STC directors have no curiosity why sometimes long-standing members choose
to leave, then they are far too comfortable in their own world.  Should they
give a huge amount of effort to find out why people leave and then mold the
organization to satisfy the unsatisfied?  No, because it isn't
all-or-nothing.

I have gotten the sense from this discussion, though, that STC simply
doesn't care why people end their membership.  They appear - and I grant
that appearances can be deceptive - to be completely uninterested in finding
out.  The idea that STC can learn nothing from a critical examination of
dissatisfaction suggests a mindset that is both naive and arrogant.  As I
suggest above, this might not be true - STC might indeed look soberly at the
reasons people leave.  I hope their examination is a little more studious
than the rather obvious conclusion that it doesn't meet their needs.

If it matters, I have some experience in this.  I'm a director (also the
original incorporator) of a scientific/educational 501(c)(3), and we watch
our total membership closely.  It's never been very large, and when we
noticed quite a few folks leave the other directors and I wondered what was
going on.  We asked them.  The responses were a combo of "I forgot" to "It
no longer interests me" to "we can get all the info we need on your free
website."  And we also got a few good ideas from them.  It never crossed my
mind to think that these people had the same emotional stake in the
organization as folks who never joined.

Paul S.




^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Are you using Doc-to-Help or ForeHelp? Switch to RoboHelp for Word for $249
or to RoboHelp Office for only $499. Get the PC Magazine five-star rated
Help authoring tool for less! Go to http://www.ehelp.com/techwr

Free copy of ARTS PDF Tools when you register for the PDF
Conference by April 30. Leading-Edge Practices for Enterprise
& Government, June 3-5, Bethesda,MD. www.PDFConference.com

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.