Hi Dave,
I object slightly to your statement:
"Over the 12 months I was involved, the committee finally pushed through the
paperwork so that we became a national Society."
If you attended the AGM in 2015, you know that it was the 2015 Committee that
did most of the work to have a national Society. And I announced it at the AGM.
The only thing that was required was for TWIA to send proof to the NSW Fair
Trading that the funds from ASTC(NSW) had been received. So, lets be fair and
say that the paperwork when the 2016 Committee had to finalise was not as
onerous as what had already been done, mainly thanks to both Maha Dune and
Martin Puchert, who I thanked in my outgoing President's report.
I do try to reply to all surveys but there is never anything happening in
Queensland. I am not blaming the Committee - as I said many times, a group of
us in Qld have tried many, many times to start a group going (and this is going
on for at least 10 years). So far, nothing that we do has worked. But ignoring
the rest of the country is also not an answer.
Regards,Ana
On Tuesday, 29 November 2016, 16:56, Xmplar <info@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
As I'm on the ASTC committee for the second year, and that we have plans for
what we'd like to do for our members, I'd like to invite any member who wants
to further their technical communication skills, or even for personal
development, to help out for the greater good of our close-knit tech comm
community. Over the 12 months I was involved, the committee finally pushed
through the paperwork so that we became a national Society. Now, we won't have
as much administration to do, as that achievement is out the way. Two committee
members had to very suddenly - Swapnil was managing the mail-out to members and
Charlotte was the webmaster. I stepped up, not knowing how to prepare a member
mail-out, but I was mentored by Swapnil who did a great job explaining things.
Now, I have recorded a video for any new member coming on to the committee to
do this - it's dead easy. Then I had to take over running the website and
figuring out how to use WordPress. Charlotte provided some really useful
snippets here and there, and once again, I have recorded a dozen short videos
on all the main tasks for adding and editing content - anyone who wants to
learn about WordPress and HTML can do this while being the webmaster (and you
don't even have to book a WordPress course!). And I have also developed a
detailed training plan, which now focuses on organising webinars as our
members' preferred means of learning. For our first webinar with Sarah Maddox
recently, we had a webinar host in the form of Hamish Blunck who did a great
job of actually running the session - all I did was the organising legwork
before and after, and upload to Vimeo. This was a great experience for me to
learn more about Camtasia Studio and producing/editing videos. In the detailed
plan, all the info is ready for a new committee member to pick up and get into
it pretty quickly. We have a few experienced technical communicators waiting in
the wings, busily preparing their material for future webinars, so if you want
to get more organising experience and pick up new tech skills, this is a great
way to do it. And we have next year's conference to organise - there are some
great opportunities for members to actually do something about the program and
people they would like to see presenting, for example.
But all of this cannot happen unless members tell us what they want - what you
really, really want. There is a training preferences survey at
http://www.astc.org.au/2016/04/training-survey. Please respond to this - surely ;
there cannot be just three members who desire training. We need to spread the
work between more general committee members to be able to do these things. I
really want to see the ASTC do some great things and engage with other industry
groups too. Please think about how you can set aside an hour or two each week
to improve our profession, and ask to join the committee - email
info@xxxxxxxxxxx
The plans and "how to do it" are all in place - we just need to implement them
with your help.
Thanks,
Dave Gardiner
On 28/11/2016 9:29 AM, Swapnil Ogale wrote:
Ana,
Thanks for providing your side of the story on the AGM. I was not present
(because I didn't want to vote or nominate), so I have nothing to add, however
I will make a few comments from my time on the AGM committee until earlier this
year.
- I agree with Dave N that not enough members engage for the committee to
take any action towards what can be better done for the members. 1-2 voices
(same ones too) do not really make a good statistical sample in my opinion. We
need at least 4-5 members from each state to provide feedback. The more the
better.
- While I was a general committee member, I have always tried to get the
committee engaged with other organisations and societies, meetups or groups
with similar intent (content, UX etc), but have never heard even a basic
acknowledgement that this might be considered. For some strange reason, the
committee seemed intent on the conference, and the name change than on thinking
of a future direction.
- The committee (collectively) talked a lot about membership drives etc, but
in the 12-18 months I was a part of this, we never ever saw any marketing or
efforts for attracting new members. No cross marketing, no reaching out to
potential members. Nothing.
- With the End of Year parties, traditionally, Victoria has always seemed to
get enough people attend (not sure that happened last year). NSW had a party
last year too. If someone can get enough people interested in attending a QLD
party, I am sure ASTC would be happy to sponsor it.
- As for Dave N's comment in the report, I only read of it as a good
endorsement for David Cross.
- And finally, all this hierarchy (President, VP etc) seems terribly 18th
century. Why not have a flat structure and make everyone responsible for
everything?
I had posted my experiences here too:
https://icreatedocs.wordpress.com/2016/07/13/the-astc-is-failing-us/
(I don't care if anyone from the ASTC committee read it or bothered to give
it a thought)
Swapnil
On 27 November 2016 at 14:36, Ana Young <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi all fellow ASTC members,
As you know, the ASTC AGM took place last Wednesday. I cannot tell you how
many members attended, as I didn't have visibility of the rest of the
attendees, but I must say that I was disappointed to know that only three
people nominated for the Committee: two for President, and one for Vice
President. As I said many times before, the Society can only operate if members
are willing to participate and give their time to work on the Committee. And it
does not take that long. I know that we all have jobs and families but it is
our Society. So, if you think you can spare some time, please consider sending
your nomination. Currently, the role of Secretary is still available as well as
Treasurer even though Janet Taylor agreed to step to the position while the
Committee searches for another volunteer.
The President's report, still available at the ASTC website, had some
statements that I would like to address. One is about Southern Communicator.
Dave Newdick stated that it struggles to get content. That is not quite true.
Yes Southern Communicator relies on some key personnel but so does any other
role in the Committee. When Sue Woolley decided to step out of her Editor's
role, I willingly stepped up. So, please let us not compare the woes that
plagued Context and Southern Communicator. If and when the people that put the
journal together run into problems, I believe it is up to those people to
announce it. In the meantime, Southern Communicator is, as far as I can see,
the only visible benefit of being an ASTC member. And as they say, "if ain't
broken, don’t fix it". But again, it is up to you members to participate in
discussions.
Dave Newdick also mentioned that the Committee would like to engage the
membership in each state. That is not new and is something that some of us in
Queensland have tried to do for many, many years. I mentioned it a number of
times in my communications to you while I was President, and this year I again
asked everyone why are writers and editors so different. I still do not know.
Editors do not seem to have any problems in getting together on a regular basis
in each state. In the meantime, I just received an email announcing that the
Victorian members are being treated to a Christmas party sponsored by the ASTC.
Why only Victoria? Why not the rest of the states? Where is this engagement?
The last comment in Dave Newdick's report is puzzling. He mentions that the
Society needs "a President that is professional and diplomatic, and who will
not offend members or other people in performing their role." In all my years
as a member, Committee member, and President I have never come across such
person. What is Dave trying to imply? Is he possibly saying I was the offender
because I dared to ask questions? Is he saying that asking questions is
offensive? I have always believed and will always believe that it is only by
asking that anything evolves and indeed gets better. In my book, asking
questions is not offensive, what is offensive is ignoring any and all questions
that are asked and simply not answer them. Puzzling indeed.
Please do consider nominating to the Committee. The Society does need you.
For all subscribers of this list that are not ASTC members, my apologies for
the mass email but this is the only way I can reach the ASTC members.
Best wishes for the festive season. May you have a safe, peaceful, and loving
one. Regards,
Ana
