I am now a full member of the Society for Technical Communications (STC)! In college, I had a student membership. Since graduation, I have been debating paying the higher rate for the full professional membership and just found out that my company will pay for any professional association memberships! So naturally, I signed right up!
There is a myriad of benefits for joining an organization such as STC, especially for someone in my industry. The field is ever-changing, and it is crucial to keep oneself abreast of the latest and greatest information. The networking opportunities are endless, the conferences and events are frequent, they offer classes and webinars, and the list goes on and on. For those who are considering it, you may be interested to know that they have a new membership option called New TC Professional for people that graduated less than 3 years ago for only $160 a year! (That is cheaper than my alumni organization’s membership dues!)
I now have access to a large salary database and will get monthly printed journals from STC’s 2 publications, Intercom and Technical Communications. I have seen these journals on the office shelves of my favorite college professors and in the library at school. I have read them and cited them numerous times and can’t wait to fill my own shelf in my office with them as well. These journals have excellent articles. Hopefully someday I will be published in one of them myself!
So, look out STC Boston, your newest member is excited to join the ranks of the well-connected and well-informed! (Only a nerd like me would be this excited about STC membership.)