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Are
you a chapter or SIG leader? If so, chances are you've heard of
the STC transformation. If not, there's a good chance you haven't
heard of the transformation. The following few paragraphs will provide
a very brief introduction to the transformation work, and the following
resources will provide you with more details, updates, etc.:
- transform@stc.org
-- Get answers to questions or provide suggestions, comments,
etc., and you will get an answer or a response within 2 business
days.
- Transformation
News listserv (transform@lists.stc.org)
-- Opt in and receive updates and news about the transformation,
status/progress updates, notifications of Web site updates, etc.
(sign up via the transformation Web page, below, beginning Thursday,
July 15)
- www.stc.org/transformation
-- Visit often to see the main repository of transformation information,
and sign up for the Transformation News listserv (above) for update
information
What
started all this? And what's it really all about?
Frankly, the economy started all this. In short, STC income
-- both membership dues income and conference income that underwrites
the cost of memberships (you might not realize that your dues don't
cover the actual costs of your membership) -- began to drop a few
years ago, and the STC Board of Directors' efforts to cut costs
did not solve our problem. When we dug into the cause of our drop
in income, we found that many former members, for example, were
unwilling to renew, because it meant paying for memberships that
their companies had formerly covered. In short, although the economy
moved the Board to act, what we found was that finances were merely
a symptom of a greater problem -- perceived member value. That's
what the transformation is really about: Providing value that members
want and need to develop professionally.
During our research,
we confirmed something we already knew: Our industry and our members
are incredibly diverse, with interests ranging from usability to
editing, with skills and experience ranging from entry-level to
senior, working in industries from financial to scientific, etc.
We asked ourselves, "Can one Society really meet the needs
and provide significant professional-development value in all of
these areas and industries, to this entire range of people?"
In answering this question, we confirmed something else we already
knew: Our strength is in our "communities" -- what we
currently call "chapters" and "SIGs." The Society
does not provide direct value to members in any or all of these
areas; instead, the Society provides infrastructure, mentoring,
financial and administrative support, policy, etc., for those communities
exist and flourish, providing member value indirectly through those
communities.
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Unfortunately,
the Society support for and representation of communities today
-- and the members' experience across communities -- is inconsistent.
The
bottom line
Members want value, and value means something different to each
of us. For the Society to rebuild -- and increase -- its membership
ranks, we need to provide (among other things):
- Consistent,
equitably supported and represented communities from which members
will derive their personalized professional development value
(through the Communities, Finance, and Governance initiatives)
- Enable members
to opt in and out of various services and community memberships
to customize their professional development experience
- Rich content
-- education (through the Education initiative), knowledge base,
research, intellectual property of all types -- that provides
depth of practice in member-identified practice areas (through
the Communities initiative by supporting practice-based communities)
and is readily accessed (through the Technology initiative)
- Richer opportunities
to network, within and beyond geographies (through the Communities
initiative by supporting geographic communities and brand new
kinds of communities)
And we need
to communicate information (through the Communication initiative)
about the transformation, its initiatives, the changes and status
of those, as well as solicit feedback from members and leaders around
the Society, to ensure that we all understand our options, make
informed choices and decisions, and implement the appropriate changes
during the transformation process.
What we're doing about it: The transformation
Some of
these needs are met through today's community success stories --
of which there are many! In our efforts to improve consistency and
equality of support and experiences across communities, we're not
losing sight of those that are working; instead, we're building
on the foundation of their successes...and planning to go a step
further to provide even more to those communities to enhance their
successes. For communities that are struggling, the support we will
provide is designed to help, not hinder, their progress toward providing
as much member value as possible.
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