atw: Re: was: Another "rates" query

Great idea, Bruce!

How we start off with you making a more structured version of the below, =
and then we can bash it around on the list a bit to see what comes up. =
Perhaps after some thought some of the pros will become cons, and vice =
versa.



-----Original Message-----
From: bja [mailto:bashley@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, 1 December 2003 9:16 AM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: Re: was: Another "rates" query


It's relevance that matters. We do not have the level of membership =
needed
because the societies are just not relevant to the majority of technical
communicators in this country.

Make the ASTCs relevant and the members will come and with the members =
will
come the additional volunteers.

We don't have to do everything at once. I know about the lack of time =
and
volunteers (having also served on two ASTC committees) but to me, =
starting
the ball rolling is simple.

1. Put together a list of benefits ie central website, newsletter, =
courses,
liaison and education of agencies and potential employers, skill
recognition, certification, salary structure etc etc..

2. Put together a proposal for a merged society ie the states would meet
where they do now and the fees would be standardised (a split between
Melbourne and Sydney fees?

3. Put the proposal to all members.

That shouldn't be too difficult for the committees to start with, =
surely.

Then, once the members' views are known, the committees could either =
drop
the matter entirely (for a couple of years) or set up a new national
structure and constitution based on the current ones and then hold joint
Special Annual General Meetings.

Even if it takes twenty years through lack of time or volunteers, we =
would
still have a start and a new committee could pass the baton along.

Please..... just start.

Regards,

Bruce Ashley




> -----Original Message-----
> From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Michael Lewis
> Sent: Monday, 1 December 2003 8:13 AM
> To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: atw: Re: was: Another "rates" query
>
>
> Andrea Tappe:
>
> > A national body is a great idea - the only question is, how would
> > responsibilities be shared between the national body and
> the various state
> > chapters? Some obvious candidates for centralisation IMHO are the
> > newsletters and the websites. Geoff has pointed out that he
> is currently
> > paying for the ASTCQ website. The ASTC NSW is likewise paying for a
> website,
> > as is the ASTC Vic. I'm not an accountant, but I'd guess
> that the costs of
> > this far outweigh the benefits?
>
> I was President of the ASTC (NSW) for three years, and involved on the
> committee for about fourteen years longer than that. I assure
> everyone who
> has contributed to this thread that the question of a
> national body came out
> for a warm-up lap quite regularly, and always crashed at the
> same bend:
> practicality.
>
> I must emphasise that I'm no longer active on the committee,
> so I'm in no
> position to present any kind of official view -- I'm just
> filling in the
> historical background.
>
> In NSW, we always found it difficult to attract enough
> members to provide a
> sound financial base and an adequate pool of volunteers for
> committee roles.
> As far as I know, that hasn't changed; and I'd be surprised
> if the situation
> has been any different in Victoria. We also saw equivalent
> societies created
> in Queensland and South Australia, only to go to the wall for the same
> reasons. How many practitioners in Qld and SA even know that
> such societies
> once existed?
>
> It's useful to compare the technical communication situation with the
> editing profession. The Societies of Editors in Australia are
> also state
> based, but with a far higher and more active level of
> membership in every
> state and territory. They found a way of achieving some
> national cohesion by
> setting up the Council of Australian Societies of Editors --
> which is simply
> a fancy name for an informal gathering of the presidents of the state
> societies. Any closer collaboration is not a practical option.
>
> The simple fact is that a national body requires resources on
> a different
> scale. Yes, it would be nice to have a single website instead
> of three. But
> each "chapter" would still need its own webmaster ('scuse the sexist
> language; I don't think a gender-free term has been invented
> yet), _plus_ a
> central coordinating role to maintain the single website
> itself. Every other
> aspect of operation would also still be duplicated to some extent.
>
> The local STC chapter can operate nationally because it's
> drawing on the
> resources of the very large STC itself. But I've yet to see
> the STC chapter
> put together a program of monthly meetings for each city in which it's
> represented. That will remain a state activity, requiring the
> same level of
> volunteer labour and the same level of membership
> participation to make it
> worthwhile.
>
> To make matters worse, the level of commitment to the
> societies has been
> falling off. I'm guessing that it's due to the pressures of
> more work for
> less pay; technical communicators don't have a lot of time or
> energy left to
> even attend meetings, let alone take an active part in
> running things. To
> some extent, that's self defeating; members of the Societies
> of Editors are
> under the same pressures, but they recognise the value of
> peer interaction.
> (Editing is probably an even more solitary activity than tech
> writing.)
>
> On top of all that, there's the attitude that only a national
> organisation
> will be big enough to provide members with what they want.
> Maybe -- but it
> would still need volunteers' time and energy, and that's in very short
> supply.
>
> Michael Lewis
>
> --------------------------------------
> Brandle Pty Limited, Sydney, Australia
> http://www.brandle.com.au
> --------------------------------------
>
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