Industry Report: Overview of the Technical Communication Industry (Part 4 of 6)

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Industry Report:
Overview of the Technical Communication Industry (Part 4 of 6)

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Networking and Professional Development Opportunities

In this Section
The Must-Join Professional Associations
The Must-Read Publications
The Must-Attend Events
The Most Widely Acknowledged Forms of Recognition
Other Examples of Saul Carliner's Advice and Insights
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The Must-Join Professional Associations

As they do in other fields, professional organizations give technical communicators an opportunity to meet people who do the same work and to create a professional community. But which organizations? Check out the following list to identify ones that best meet your needs. Note that some of these organizations cater almost exclusively to technical communicators. These organizations include:

Organization	and Its Charter
The Society for Technical Communication (STC)	The largest professional organization for people in the field and has approximately 22,000 members in 140 chapters in Asia, Europe, and North America. The chapters serve people in a given geographic community. STC also sponsors Special Interest Groups (SIGs) that are like non-geographic chapters and let members who have similar work responsibilities and interests exchange ideas and techniques. PICs address issues such as online communication, independent contracting and consulting, visual communication, and scientific communication.
tekom	A professional organization of approximately 3,000 members for technical communicators in Germany.
The Professional Communications Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE-PCS)	A special interest group of the largest professional organization for engineers and has approximately 2,000 members in the Europe and the Americas. The member of this organization primarily specialize in communication related to engineering disciplines.
The Special Interest Group on Documentation (SIGDOC) of the Association for Computing Machinery	A special interest group of the largest professional organization for people working in the field of computers and has approximately 1,000 members in North America. SIGDOC members specialize in preparing communication products about computers and computer software.
Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW)	A professional organization for people who teach technical communication in community colleges, colleges, and universities. The organization has approximately 700 members in North America.
INTECOM	An organization of technical communication organizations, which includes the STC, IEEE-PCS, and tekom, among its member organizations
Technical Writer’s List (TECHWR-L)	Not a membership organization perse, this Internet LISTSERV is a popular "meeting spot" for technical communicators and often the source of much-cited conversations in the field

Other professional organizations that attract technical communicators focus on narrow segments of the community. These organizations include:

Organization	and Its Charter
American Society for Training and Development (ASTD)	An organization of approximately 20,000 members who design, develop, and deliver training and other development programs for workers
American Medical Writer’s Association (AMWA)	An organization of approximately 4,000 members who write about medical and health care topics
Council of Biology Editors (CBE)	An organization of approximately 3,000 members who write about medical and health care topics
International Association of Business Communications (IABC)	An organization of approximately 12,000 members in various aspects of general business communications, including employee communications, marketing communications, and press relations
International Interactive Communications Society (IICS)	An organization of approximately 2,000 members who are involved in all aspects of developing interactive communication products, including writing, designing, and programming programs, marketing the programs, and representing the legal interests of the creative talent and publishers
International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI)	An organization of approximately 10,000 members who design and develop training and other programs that are intended to improve the performance of workers

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The Must-Read Publications

How do you keep track of changes in the field? Consider the following publications, which help inform technical communicators about current practice and theory. This publications include:

Scholarly journals are those whose articles are reviewed by a jury of at least 3 experienced reviewers before acceptance. The reviewers assess the importance and validity of the claims in the articles. Those scholarly journals read by technical communicators include:

Technical Communication (published by the STC)

IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication (published by the IEEE PCS)

Technical Communication Quarterly (published by ATTW)

The Journal of Technical Writing and Editing (published by Baywood Publishing)

The Journal of Business and Technical Communication (published by Sage Publications).

Professional magazines are publications whose content is primarily selected by an editor-in-chief (or someone in a similar role). Those read by technical communicators include

Intercom (published by STC),

Editorial Eye (published by Editorial Experts, Inc.)

WinHelp Digest (published by WinWriters, Inc.)

Writer’s Digest and The Writer (two general magazines for all types of writers)

Wired

New Media (magazines about various aspects of using and communicating with computers)

Trade publications are also publications whose content is selected by an editor-in-chief, but whose focus is usually outside of technical communication. Those read by technical communicators include:

Computerworld and Datamation (general publications about the computing field)

Publish, (intended for people who concerned about desktop publishing issues),

PC Magazine

TRAINING (published by Lakewood Publications, an industry publication about the training industry)

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The Must-Attend Events

Where do technical communicators have power meetings? Conferences provide the opportunity, as well as additional opportunities to learn about the latest practice and theory. Among the many conferences are:

STC Annual Conference
Regional STC conferences, which typically include:

Region	Conference
Europe	Quarterly day-long meetings of the France chapter
New England	interchange, early Spring
Rochester, New York	Spectrum, March
mid-Atlantic states, US	STC Region 2 Conference, early fall
Tennessee	Practical Conference on Communication (PCOC), mid-fall
Atlanta	Currents, late winter or early spring
Orlando	Annual Florida Conference on Technical Writing, October
U.S. central mid-west	STC Region 4 Conference, fall
U.S. Southwest	STC Region 5 Conference, fall
Dallas	STC Lone Star Chapter Annual Winter Seminar, January
U.S. upper-midwest, Canadian central mid-west	STC Region 6 Conference, early fall
Rocky Mountain States and Provinces	STC Region 7 Conference, early fall
California	STC Region 8 Conference, mid-fall
Tokyo	STC Tokyo Chapter Conference, October

IEEE Professional Communications Society Conference usually held in conjunction with the ACM SIGDOC Conference (same week and location, different days)
ACM SIGDOC Conference, usually held in conjunction with the IEEE PCS Conference
Forum, a conference sponsored by INTECOM and held once every 5 years in Europe
WinWriters, an annual conference (also held in Europe and Australia) that focuses on the techniques and technologies needed to prepare help for Windows-based products
TECH/COMM, an annual conference that focuses on advanced issues in technical communication and information design
AMWA Annual Conference
CBE Annual Conference

Certainly technical communicators read other publications and attend other conferences; these are the publications and conferences primarily intended for them.

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The Most Widely Acknowledged Forms of Recognition

How do technical communicators recognize outstanding achievements of their peers in projects and careers? Following are some of the most common ways:

Involvement in the professional societies. Some offer services in which experienced members review the work of others. For example, the Marketing PIC within the STC offers a peer review service and the STC often sponsors a manual evaluation workshop at its Annual Conference.
Publishing articles in journals and delivering presentations at conferences.
Winning awards in competitions sponsored by STC. STC sponsors four major competitions. The International Online Communication, Technical Art, and Technical Publications Competitions are two-level competitions. Participants enter at the local level; entries that win top honors at the local level continue for recognition at the International Level. Competitions can be competitive; some local competitions have over 500 entries vying for recognition. The International Video Competition only operates at the international level.
Receiving recognition for career achievements. The STC recognizes members for outstanding achievement through by electing members to the ranks of Associate Fellow and Fellow. IEEE-PCS recognizes achievements of its members through the XXXXX award. All of these awards require a special nomination and approval by the organization’s Board.

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In this Industry Overview
1. Beginning of the Overview
2. An Introduction to the Work of Technical Communicators
3. (previous) A Brief History of the Field
4 Networking and Professional Development Opportunities
5. (next) Common Beliefs and Practices
6. Assess Your Knowledge about Technical Communication