Re: STC memberships?

[guy <guy -at- hiskeyboard -dot- com>]

Hart, Geoff wrote:
> ASUE Tekwrytr wondered: <<Is anyone on this list a student member of STC?
> Anyone have information on the attrition rate of new STC members?>>
>
> I joined when I first entered the profession, without having ever
> gone to school to become a techwhirler, so I can't comment on student
> memberships.  I'm not aware of any stats on attrition rates, though
> STC's office probably has statistics.

Like Geoff, I "came in by the back door" so I have no student membership
experience.  In fact, I was a TW for about 10 years before joining, but
that's another story.  I joined as the economy was turning up, and the
Silicon Valley chapter kept growing until the "dot bomb."

If you ARE an STC member (and know your member number and password), 
there is a page on the http://stc.org Web site where you can find 
membership figures for the last eight months. From the main page, click 
"Members Only" and log on. That takes you to the "Welcome STC Members" 
page, containing a list of links.  The bottom-most link is "STC 
Membership Counts".

That takes you to a page that offers Chapter and SIG counts, in Word or 
Excel format.  A count of each category of membership (Honorary Fellow, 
Fellow, Associate Fellow, Senior Member, Member, and Student) is 
reported, then a total for the chapter or SIG.

Every year, STC sends out renewal reminders in late fall, and anyone who 
has not renewed by about mid-March is dropped from the rolls at the end 
of March.

Silicon Valley Chapter's count just fell from 1135 members to 877. That 
is actually a smaller percentage drop than last year, and a fairly 
typical annual percentage.  Some of the "dropouts" simply have not YET 
renewed, and will come along later.

Every month, each chapter receives a report from STC of New, Renew, 
Transfer-in and Transfer-out members.  Many chapters publish membership 
totals, and some publish names of new members as they come in. I am not 
aware of any chapter actually using the information for more than a 
general report to its leadership or membership about recent changes.

I would certainly hope that STC staff has information about dropout 
rates, but I would not expect them to publish this info.  I WOULD expect 
them to do some followup on dropouts to find out the reason for their 
departure, and report this to the Board.

> ... there tends to be a
> large and stable core of oldtimers, with new faces appearing and
> disappearing regularly and some of them becoming the new crop of 
oldtimers.

This is true of Silicon Valley Chapter as well.

One indicator might be the number of Senior Members--people who have 
been members for at least 5 years.  If you watch the ratio of total 
members to Senior Members over time, which direction is it going?
I do not know.

> Geoff quotes Bruce Byfield:
> <<I suspect that the attrition rate is quite high - if not over
> the first year, then after the first two or three years. It's
> been several years since I was an STC member, but, when I did
> belong, newcomers predominated at meetings.>>
> . . .
> <<To judge from seminar offerings
> and topics at announced meetings, that hasn't changed much.>>
>
> One of the things I certainly plan to bring up at the annual business
> meeting (if I can attend) is just how true this statement is. One
> place where STC tends to fall down is the lack of highly technical
> sessions at their conferences, and I suspect that decreases their
> attraction to many pros.

Not sure yet whether I will make the conference either, but that IS a
matter SOMEONE should bring up at the annual meeting (May 20).
>
> <<I also note that experienced writers tend to be either running
> the STC or not involved in it all.>>
>
> Count me in the former camp.

Yup -- me too.

--Guy K. Haas         gkhaas -at- usa -dot- net
  Software Exegete in Silicon Valley
  http://guy.blogs.at


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