Re: Proud Non-Member of STC

[Marvin Cochrane <cochrane -at- TSUFL -dot- EDU>]

Gee, I thought this was a great rant: impressive at first read but full of
bloat.

>Although I am a card-carrying member of STC, I do it merely for the job
>listings.  In my five years of experience with STC, I have decided much of
>the same things that Lisa mentioned -- with a few additions. (These are my
>personal, highly biased impressions and opinions.  If my opinions offend
>you -- then go punch a tree or something.)
>
>Hardcore STC followers seem to TALK a lot about writing and write very
>little.  I was always under the impression that writers wrote, not talked.
>It seems to me that the ultimate measure of a writer's abilities is how well
>he/she writes.  Yet, if I listened to most of my STC buddies -- they would
>have me thinking otherwise.
>
>I have yet to see an STC publication that was interesting.  Do I really want
>to read things like  "The World of Apostrophes, Volume II" by I. Emma
>Dullard of Chapter 3, Region 5, Subsector A, Pod 9, Platoon D, Company Q,
>Squad X.
>
>Many STC sponsored events seem to be a forum for collective whining.  "Can
>you believe that those engineers use Helvetica!  My God, when are these
>people going to learn the rules of Serif and Sans Serif?"  There is nothing
>in the world worse than a room full of Amway "distributors" -- except
>perhaps a room full of technical writers.  You know there is a reason why
>most engineers loathe technical writers.  They WHINE!  People -- go back to
>work and WRITE something for christsakes.
>
>$110 to join?  Why not just take my gall bladder also.  For the love of God,
>what does that $110 do?  You can't tell me I paid $110 for that InterComm
>magazine.  The 14 year old goth-teen in my apartment complex puts out a
>better magazine about her friends and Marilyn Manson.
>
>STC seems to condone the holy wars.  And as many of you already know, I
>think the Word/Frame, Micro/Mac wars are LAME! And the religious zealots on
>either side are LAME! All of you zealots should be forced to type out
>transcripts of Tom Synder's Tomorrow show on a 286 with a flickering green,
>monochrome monitor.  I remember a recent STC article that disgustingly
>expounded the immense superiority of Macs and FrameMaker. (Naturally that
>whole market share thing did not seem to bother them.)
>
>Also, Lisa is very much correct about the vendor forum crap.  If I have to
>hear one more inane presentation about the wonders of BlatherMaster 97 or
>FrameJacker 2.0 I'll hurl.
>
>STC is a good idea that just does not work.  There are too many sour apples
>spoiling it for the rest of us who work our ass off and like to write.  I
>say it is about time the lazy, whiners leave STC and the technical
>communications profession!
>
>But these are just my opinions.  I could be wrong. And like I said, if
>you're offended by this -- go punch a tree or something.
>

Of course, my experience of STC is limited. I have been a member for four
years (I like that, "for four", in case you were ready to whine) and only in
(or should be 'of') one, small chapter. Based on my limited experience, STC
members write and edit one hell of a lot. I was hesitant when I first
invested the then $90 to join STC -- would it be worth those big bucks?
Well, the chapter is a small group, and they are all true professionals:
interested in their work, wanting to keep up with changes, curious about
what other technical communicators do and how they do it, and ready to
contribute to community projects. The only holy wars I've witnessed have
been on this list, which I have been lurking for three years and have a few
times contributed to (but not to the wars). I can agree that journal content
usually does little for me, but I have picked up a few useful and/or
interesting articles from them. I have also purchased several other STC
publicatios. and have they have been valuable for practical use and
broadening. Broadening your perspective is the key benefit of a professional
organization (well, maybe second behind help with jobs). Without this
broadening, you sit in your own corner of technical communications, working
hard, and developing and reinforcing your own narrow view of the career. I
have been exposed to a couple of vendor programs, but I only go to those I
have an interest in. I have learned about products at these presentations,
and I others also appeared to be taking the sales pitch in stride and going
for useful information. I've never noticed any jerks giving any signs of
being ready to hurl. Of course, the people I know don't resent paying a few
dollars for the value they receive from the organization, even if that is
only the right to honestly put a professional membership on the resume. I
really hate to join this particular holy war, which is a perfect example of
the kind of interaction that never happens in our STC chapter. But I really
couldn't help getting in. I'll opt for the something.

Marv Cochrane