Re: Copyright transfers?

[eric -dot- dunn -at- ca -dot- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com]

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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