[Oct 2010] Prez Talk

– Michelle Cherian

On behalf of the STC India Admin Council – 2010.

Just like the words in the poem – The road not taken –  written by the famous American poet Robert Frost, this year we chose the road less travelled by – and we hope our decision made a difference.

Hosting the conference in Delhi has been a dream of many an STC admin council-member, but most well wishers had advocated against. We took up this challenge early this year after a poll that went in favor of Delhi as the venue. The decision, planning, and execution was as difficult as everyone had predicted earlier, but, despite each hurdle we encountered, we have also found support in the form of sponsors and volunteers to help us tide over every one of them. Our panel of judges have tried bringing the best value and variety to the conference with the careful evaluation of over 100+ proposals and workshops.

With the huge hike in STC membership fees, we have tried to add as much value to the member locally. All our learning sessions and conferences are free for members. We also introduced a number of new initiatives, the Special Interest Groups (SIG) being some of the most popular, the Usability SIG being the most popular. We have also successfully run the mentorship program, and a variety of competitions throughout the year. We have tried to introduce the broader scope of Technical Communication, via Corporate Communications, and E-learning. We have made modest beginnings with the Management SIG and Instructional Design SIGs as well. Our Jobs Portal is quickly gaining popularity with jobs posted almost every week. It’s a completely free service for both the writer and prospective employer. The STC India network is the first attempt to have a social-networking and blogging setup to encourage more interaction amongst members for STC India. We have to work to get our members to use these facilities more.

This is the first year that we will have an online election. Many more people have come forward to volunteer for admin council positions. STC is one of the best forums to showcase your technical communication skills. As a council member, it’s a very fulfilling opportunity to serve the community. This year we – the admin council, thank you for the wonderful opportunity to work and take STC India chapter forward.

The strength of our community lies in working together, sharing with one another, to continuously improve the global visibility and recognition of the talent and skills of our members across the globe. Our annual conference is the ideal venue to do this. We do hope to see many of you at our conference which is the culmination of our efforts this year! Do register and participate and make it a resounding success!

About the author:

Michelle Cherian is the STC India Chapter President, and can be contacted via email.