Assessment for Certification

Granting certification means that the applicant has been found to have reached a standard (minimum level) of competence. But how do you know an applicant is worthy of certification? On what basis do you make the judgment? The question goes to the matter of assessment, and any technical communicator interested in—or concerned about!—certification is interested in the answer.Continue reading “Assessment for Certification”

Accounting for Tech Writers

“My other piece of advice, Copperfield,” said Mr. Micawber, “you know. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”
–-Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

As a writer, most of my professional acquaintances are with word people, and by our own admission we word people tend to be number averse. (Did you know there’s a condition analogous to illiteracy? There’s even a word for it: innumeracy. But I give myself away…) So this post will make a lot of eyes glaze over. But financial management of an organization with a multi-million dollar budget is not at all like managing a household budget, and I had to learn new things in a hurry. A little accounting theory is important   to understand STC’s finances, and it’s something I had to learn about to function effectively as a Board member.Continue reading “Accounting for Tech Writers”

Another FAQ on STC’s Financial Situation

Q: How will chapters operate if we no longer have funds to rely on in the future?
A: You are keeping 15 months of revenue, so we’re leaving you in better shape than the Society itself! But anyway, we are committed to ensuring that the chapters do have funds for the future:

  • We plan to resume funding the chapters in 2011 using zero-based budgeting.
  • We are working with individual chapters to ensure that they begin charging (or charging more) for their programs and services. Not only will this help them to recover some of the associated expenses and get closer to self-sustaining programs, but it also will reinforce the value of the programs from which local STC members and other technical communicators typically benefit the most.
  • We are funding chapters that project a deficit through the end of 2010, to ensure their ability to deliver their planned programs and activities.
  • We will fund chapters that experience unforeseen shortfalls throughout the next year, due to situations beyond their control (for example, having to replace a projector or laptop that crashes unexpectedly).

FAQ on STC’s financial problems

STC is using surplus chapter funds to make up for 2009 losses. Here’s a question that’s come up several times:

Q: Next year there will be no more chapter funds to draw upon. What is your plan going forward (2010) to ensure that this kind of financial crisis doesn’t happen again?

A: The economic meltdown was a once-in-a-lifetime event that we don’t think will happen gain any time soon. Nevertheless, next year’s budget, approved in principle, is extremely conservative, and avoids unexpected shortfalls in membership renewal and conference attendance, our two primary sources of revenue, which is what significantly eroded our cash position this year:

  • We will increase dues to fully fund ongoing operations. We did this reluctantly and only after examining all the alternatives, but doing so restores equilibrium to a business model that had grown perilously out of balance.
  • We created a zero-based, balanced budget for 2010 that assumes extremely conservative rates for membership renewal (60% versus the 70% historical average) and conference attendance (only 600). Zero-based budgeting is recommended by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and it’s what we asked chapters and SIGs to do as well. The 2010 budget funds continuing operations from dues, which is a fundamental change in our business model. For next year, we are hoping for the best, but planning for the worst.
  • We have rebalanced our investment portfolio to reduce our exposure to equities and adopt a more prudent risk profile.
  • We have reduced our costs significantly. (You will hear more details soon!)

The bottom line? The 2010 budget, without drawing on further chapter resources, includes a modest surplus that will allow us to begin rebuilding reserves next year and into the future.

The Summer of Embargoed Opinions

This summer has been busy and stressful for me as an STC director at large. Since the Summit in May we’ve averaged a conference call every two weeks as we’ve dealt with the Society’s budget shortfall.

During this period we’ve hear from members through email, the STC Forum (since shut down), the TECHWR-L list, the Management SIG list, the STC Ideas group on Ning (set up by Bill Swallow), the STC LinkedIn group, Facebook, and Twitter. We’ve also reached out in a series of open Web sessions (the “virtual town halls”). In addition to participating in Board discussions and decisions, I’ve specifically concentrated on monitoring TECHWR-L, Twitter, and Ning.

Somehow, all this communicating has given me a case of writer’s block on my own blog. Part of the problem has been that I’ve said a lot on other channels. But another part has been that the Board has tried to craft messages carefully and speak with one voice (as a board should). I think our craftsmanship has been mixed, but I think we’ve stayed on message. A personal blog will inevitably be seen as an extension of the Board, and I’ve thought of, then ultimately decided not to comment on, topics all summer.

All the while I’ve taken grim interest in seeing how messages are received and replayed by members. Sometimes we’ve gotten our message out successfully; sometimes we’ve left room for misinterpretation and indeed seen a message misinterpreted; and sometimes people have chosen to take a message the wrong way. As one of us said, sometimes it’s been like going to a rally of a different political party: You hear things that you barely recognize, and other things that you know aren’t true at all. As a technical communicator, I recognize and accept responsibility where we transmitted poorly. Communicating with technical communicators, we have to bring our A game. But willful misinterpretation…! That’s a different problem.

At least I can pick specific questions we’ve been asked and answer them, which will get things flowing here again.