Looking Back

50th Anniversary Committee Seeks Your Memories

By STC 50th Anniversary Committee

When STC members from across the world gather, a favorite activity is sharing stories about the memorable times we’ve had—the great session at the Annual Conference that changed our lives, perhaps a mentor in the Society who helped with our careers, or the technical communication "firsts" and transitions we shared. During such a storyfest, we also laugh about the fun times and the difficult times that turned out to be fun—the Publications Competition conducted during a hurricane in Tampa, for example.

In preparation for our May 2003 celebration of the STC’s 50th Anniversary, the 50th Anniversary Committee wants such stories from you. We need humorous and inspirational anecdotes that we can collect in an STC archive, and we want to publish some of your most sparkling or inspirational stories in a brochure to be distributed to all members. Whether you’re a Society leader or a chapter member, a member of many years’ duration or one who recently joined, a technical communication specialist or a novice, a U.S. member or one located in another country, we hope you will participate.

Your involvement is easy. Whenever you think of a story you’d like to include, send an e-mail or snail mail to Liz Babcock (lizbab@iwvisp.com or 401 N. Warner, Ridgecrest, CA 93555). Liz is the committee member who has volunteered to serve as the initial collection point for your stories.

Those stories will be most useful to us if they are succinct (250 words or less on any given topic) and entertaining. We would love to receive several stories from you, with each story to the point and on a single topic.

Here are some questions we hope will inspire you:

• What amusing or inspirational story can you tell us about how you joined the profession? How did you overcome obstacles that our members will find educational or amusing?
• What career and/or Society highlight can you share with us? (We will construct a technical communication timeline, so your stories in this area could be especially helpful.)
• What’s your favorite STC memory?
• What mentor or role model inspired you in your career or in the Society? What makes that person memorable? What did he or she do to help you?
• What experiences, humorous or inspiring, have you had with our changing technology—typewriters to computers, red pencils to redlining?
• What can you tell us about a chapter or regional event or accomplishment that changed you, your chapter, or the Society?

This list of questions is intended to rekindle your memories, not to restrict your flow of ideas.

Please communicate with Liz Babcock, 401 N. Warner, Ridgecrest, CA 93555 or lizbab@iwvisp.com, or with other members of the committee, as follows: Georgina Cantoni, committee chair, gcantoni@techcomm-solutions.com; Ken Cook, kenc@kencook.com; Marguerite Krupp, mkrupp@cisco.com; Bill Leavitt, skibilll@aol.com; Ernie Mazzatenta, Jande@a-o.com; and Bill Stolgitis, bill@stc.org. We look forward to your messages!