[TCP] certification (was: ranting STC)

[Ned Bedinger]

Susan Hogarth wrote:
> On 2/28/07, Donald H. White <dwhite at jrtcllc.com> wrote:
>> I still have no idea why the concept of a professionalization program 
>> causes
>> so much ire. ...
> From a libertarian perspective, I think some people might see such a
> program as a first step toward mandatory licensing. It's unfortunate,
> but in so many cases private certifications have supported
> cartelization in this fashion.
 
A tech writing cartel?  Wow.  Cartels are monopolies formed to control 
the supply and price of a commodity.  So now that you mention it, I 
think I do see, that if TW certification was tied to an organization 
that could effectively (through certification) control/limit the number 
of TWs in the field, it would indeed suggest a cartel. This has happened 
in other fields?  I guess I had best google for more.
 
 
While I'm confident that certification alone could never result in TWs 
having cartel powers (cool if it could), still, as I think you say, 
certification could be awarded by a TW organization that somehow comes 
to represent tech writers in the marketplace.  That's a more potent (and 
dangerous) situation, with the potential to control the supply of TW 
(the commodity).  I think I prefer to be an unherded libertine cat, and 
keep my mits on the cream that such an organization would otherwise skim.
 
 
Now soliciting stories of how a professional organization OR 
certification gives back to tech writing are welcome.
This topic has a miniseries inside, but I think it needs a tech writing 
sculptor to bring it out.
 
 
Bon mots.