As an STC member have you felt you’d like your voice heard in STC governance? Would you like to share or gather information about metrics, talk to other communicators about their lives, or ‘meet’ communicators virtually? As of now, you can! To register just go to http://forum.stcforum.org/index.php. You’ll need your membership number and your password for accessing the www.stc.org site.

Do you have questions about the STC Forum? Here are questions and answers regarding its purpose:

What is the business objective of the STC Forum?
The business objective of the STC Forum is to raise the awareness of technical communication. The Forum achieves this by providing a resource that discusses the hot topic of the day in a Web space that is indexed by search engines like Google, thereby exposing STC to technical communicators who are not members of the Society. Additionally, the forum provides opportunities for greater member involvement through volunteer opportunities by becoming part of the Forum team as a developer or moderator/leader.

How does it fit into the technology and communication plans of STC?
The Forum provides a communication capability the organization has been missing. With areas like “STC Governance” we are adhering to one of the Board of Directors’ goals of a more open and transparent organization. As a result conversations that might not have received adequate attention are now able to take place in an open environment where all members have an opportunity to contribute.

How will it be managed and moderated?
The forum is being moderated and managed by volunteers with knowledge in the areas they are overseeing. Formal instructions and help files for the moderator/leaders are being worked on by Destry Wion, one of the forum team members. The role of the moderator/leader is to periodically visit the forum, answer questions, and ensure that the rules that each registered user has agreed to are followed.

How will we know if it is successful?
We will be introducing an evaluation system which will survey members at least once a year for feedback on the use, accessibility, and relevance of the forum. The survey will also cover other areas of their membership including Intercom, Technical Communication, educational programs, etc. Additional measures of success will also be found in the quality of the conversation on the forum and the growth generated by members requesting the creation of new topics.

The STC Member Forum is just one of many member-focused changes you’ll see in STC this year. Sign in, and take part starting today to help shape the STC of tomorrow!