What's the point? Article 2: Support participation from members, Australia-wide.

In this second entry of our introspective "whats the point" series, we'll explore article number 2 of the STC Australia Chapter's charter:

"to adopt strategies that support active participation by members, irrespective of their location throughout Australia."

This one is going to be a ripper. For some value of the term "ripper"...





This one is a bit harder than article number one. "Providing a forum" is almost passive, in that once a workable forum has been provided, the committee can pretty much just sit back, and let the discussion happen. Or not. In either case, we can be judged on the provision of forums, rather than their use.

"Strategies that support active participation" is a different proposition. Blog comments, and Twitter interactions are a form of participation. As is conference attendance.

I think a good start would be to try to encourage more attendance to the monthly meetings. Maybe one way we can do that is by making the meeting "headline" something exciting like a presentation from an Australian technical communications expert. Or better still, a presentation from a member!

The Queensland Technical Writers Linkedin (and possibly other groups) occasionally does lunch time meetups in Brisbane. The STC Australia Chapter could facilitate similar, informal lunch time gatherings of Chapter members. This is presuming that most Chapter members are clustered, which is a flawed assumption. But lets not let the perfect be the enemy of the good!

If you are reading this, and are an STC Australia Chapter member in Brisbane, I'd love to meet you for lunch!

 STC India holds a yearly conference. The most recent conference, the 14th annual, had hundreds of attendants.

That, to me, is "active participation" to aspire to.

What does participation mean to you? How can we help you take part in your Chapter?