Fellow Four Lakes chapter members:
On Nov. 20, we will meet for what may be the last time. As of this writing, no members have stepped forward to serve on the board for this chapter in 2010-11. All chapters are required to have a President, Treasurer and Secretary.
As you may already know, STC International is facing a financial crisis due to poor conference attendance and stock portfolio losses. In order to remain solvent, STC made many hard decisions, which include:
- raising dues (Renewal will be $215, plus $25 per chapter and $10 per SIG.)
- suspending pass-through funding to chapters (e.g. none of your dues will go to the chapter–no more “lunch money”)
- taking back all chapter savings (legally, all funds of U.S. chapters belong to the parent organization).
STC leaders estimate that these decisions will result in a renewal rate of 60%–in other words, a loss of 40% of members. This loss is simply devastating to small chapters like ours. If we lose 40% of our members, we will have just 36 members next year. Approximately 40% of members attend at least one chapter event per year, so we estimate just 14 “active” members in 2010-11. Our best guess is that any given meeting would be unlikely to draw more than about 5 people.
Given this “renewal math,” none of us currently serving on the Board has chosen to renew as an STC member. We each feel that the value of the membership is simply not there without a viable local chapter. This is of course a personal decision each STC member must make. If three members choose to serve on the board, we will be happy to assist them transition to this role. However, if this does not occur, we are prepared to dissolve the chapter per STC bylaws. If this occurs, the closest STC chapter will be the Wisconsin Chapter, based in Milwaukee.
Our speaker on Nov. 20, Prof. Dave Clark, is an active member of the Wisconsin Chapter and will discuss its offerings following his presentation on Digital Literacy for Technical Communicators. (By the way, their next chapter meeting is in West Allis on Nov. 11 – http://www.stc-wi.org/newsandevents/eventdisplay.php?id=185.)
We would like to end the meeting with a brainstorming session on ways that we could all keep in touch to share ideas, job leads, and otherwise assist each other in our careers in the Madison area. Please bring your ideas for starting or joining an existing group or online presence.
Whatever happens, this is certain to be a memorable STC meeting! RVSP by clicking “comments” below the meeting description found on this blog entry.
Sincerely,
Your STC 4 Lakes Chapter Board
Chad Beery
Mary Bertun
Amanda Byers
Amy Janczy
Mary Ellen Schutz
I wonder how many people are not taking advantage of their companies membership options…like paying for one professional membership a year. Or, how many people don’t have that option anymore. If you aren’t sure and you are thinking about not renewing, please check with your company. They may be able to help you.
Comment by Sigrid Schoepel — November 9, 2009 @ 4:30 pm
Just wanted to share this for others interested in instructional design/training. The Madison ASTD chapter is running a membership special: $80 for a 2010 annual membership, and receive the remaining months of 2009 membership for free! See http://chapters.astd.org/SiteDirectory/SouthCentralWisconsin/Pages/default.aspx
Comment by Amy Janczy — November 10, 2009 @ 12:48 pm
Official STC blog post about dues increase, where the money goes:
http://www.stc.org/2009/10/answers-to-questions-asked-on-listserves.asp.
Comment by ajanczy — November 10, 2009 @ 2:28 pm
Also, the Association for Women in Communications is running a membership special, as well. $100 for a year membership http://www.womcom.org/Centennial_Membership_Drive.asp. The Madison Chapter is quite active. http://awc-madison.org/web/calendar/
Comment by ME Schutz, your Gentle Editor — November 12, 2009 @ 3:45 pm
FYI: I am willing to hold an office in the local chapter (any: president, secretary, or treasurer) if we decide to continue in 2010.
Comment by Sigrid Schoepel — November 16, 2009 @ 12:05 pm
I wonder if we could keep an informal group going — perhaps looking ahead to better times. My involvement has been limited mostly due to conflicting schedules (excuses, excuses) — but, among other things, it would be good to involve the range of possibly interested students from MATC and from UW (some of whom have told me that STC is too expensive). The 4 Lakes bunch is a good group and a worthwhile community to foster. We live in interesting times — unfortunately.
Comment by Paul Ross — November 18, 2009 @ 9:22 pm