Re: Copyright transfers?

Subject: Re: Copyright transfers?
From: eric -dot- dunn -at- ca -dot- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2004 12:18:10 -0400


bounce-techwr-l-106467 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com wrote on 07/26/2004 06:02:03 PM:
> I don't begrudge academic publishers not paying for
> publication; it's the lack of even a small stipend
> for speaking that I had an issue with--and a "discount" on
> conference fees doesn't qualify in my book.

What I found amusing, is that if you want to give a workshop after the
conference, you are required to register for at least a day.
Do you get money for providing half-day or full-day workshops? Do
participants have to pay extra? Or, are they effectively forcing you to
pay to provide them with content?

Granted the STC may be non-profit, and the conference does seem to make
very slim margins. But the conference could be a major fund-raiser for the
year if it provided superior value and was marketed more outside the
general membership. Considering the time that it takes to prepare a good
presentation and that the conference would useless without content, you'd
think they'd be a little more generous to the people they depend on.
Perhaps the slim margin of conference profits ($173,968 according to
http://www.stc.org/PDF_Files/AnnualReport.pdf) could be divvied up between
the presenters. That would be $1,700 (more to add to the current
deduction) each for a hundred presenters. ;) How many presentations are
there at a conference? According to the list at
http://tc.eserver.org/publishers/STC_Proceedings there are 109 papers in
the 2003 proceedings. How many more presenters are there that didn't
submit to the proceedings (or are there a number missing from the list I
counted)?

Then, perhaps there would be competition for the available presenting
opportunities as opposed to having to extend the deadline for submissions
and hoping the conference will have a full schedule. Is there an
accompanying tradeshow? Vendor participation and sponsorship could be
another revenue stream. It would also make it easier to be up-front and
let participants know which items are sponsored events and which are
selected presentations.

Given that giving any kind of presentation at the STC conference is
currently going to cost you, what kind of presentations do they have now?

Certainly, if attendance at the conference continues to decline and the
STC continues to bleed $266,947 a year it may soon be too late to change
anything. Personally, unless the STC has more to offer me than a few
publications (which I can borrow at work) and free attendance at the local
meetings (which I can go to selectively at little cost) I don't see myself
joining anytime soon.

Why doesn't the STC run a website and list like TECHWR-L? We're all in
Raycomm's debt for allowing this resource to exist, but why isn't such an
important technical writer/communicator resource not run and funded by
those that purport to be the leading organisation for the profession?

A general discussion board or e-mail list plus different lists for the
various SIGs would certainly be a cost effective way of increasing
participation and visibility.

When's the TECHWR-L conference? :)

Eric L. Dunn
Senior Technical Writer

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