I recently received an email that described the demise of the Society for Technical Communicators. The organization went bankrupt. I was saddened on several levels. As a member, the society has been so helpful over the time I have belonged to it. Their job boards were once a great resource. The previous organization I had shared with others was encouraging and a real community.
I did notice over the last several years that there have been less and less vital communication to members. The cost of membership was rising to a point I seriously considered if belonging had any advantages. STC was more like a large organization that lost that personal feel it once had. I’m guessing others had the same thoughts as the email stated a drop in membership as part of its issues: “Despite significant efforts over the past several years by the various Boards of Directors and STC leadership, financial liabilities coupled with falling membership numbers have created a situation where we are not able to offer the education, resources, and outreach that this membership expects and deserves. Various cost-cutting measures and attempts to generate revenue have not been sufficient, and our debt and operational expenses now outweigh our ongoing revenue.”
I wasn’t surprised by this message, just at the timing. As I said, I’m sad to see STC go. Having said that, I am glad I teach in the online certificate program at CSUDH in technical writing. Considering how much STC was charging for their now defunct certification, I think the CSUDH certificate is fully worthwhile. Originally STC was less about classes and certs and more about community and offering resources for all levels of membership. Then it changed. Expensive classes, additional costs for membership perks, and cost increases for their conference were noticeable. When they introduced their cert., I had questions which couldn’t be answered clearly by stakeholders (I’ve compared their curriculum to CSUDH’s), and their cert wasn’t widely supported by organizations.
In comparison, CSUDH technical writing certification focuses on practical portfolio-building content versus STC’s more theoretical focus of the original cert. Then STC created more and more certs with expected additional costs of continuing education units for certifications to (cost-required) STC functions. I was surprised at their approach considering their membership. No one at STC was keeping pay scales for tech writers in mind or other cert costs (such as software or security) that may be required of technical writers beyond a tech writer cert. I believe cost was a big factor for many members, forcing them out. STC didn’t even list CSUDH or other accredited programs that were non-degree bearing in their database, but perhaps that is because they wanted to promote their own certs. This was a complete change from previous years. (They used to promote and discount the former UCLA tech writing certificate program, which I attended.)
It is such a shame that STC didn’t stay as authentic to their original goals and audience of technical writers and communicators. The organization priced itself out of their audience by charging extra for most activities and literally spread itself too thin over time to try and capture interest by increasing: special interest groups, chapters, conferences, certification courses and exams, committee and subcommittee activities, classes (not cert related), recognitions, awards, competitions, events, publications, and activities. It failed to have timely discussions regarding the use of AI and other concerns of technical writers and communicators. I do hope some day a version of STC will resurrect itself to a better streamlined and managed organization with clear vision and mission statement but for now, the sun sets on another memorable organization.
