The Society for Technical Communication (STC) is a professional society for the advancement of the theory and practice of technical communication

Technical communication

Technical communication is a method of researching and creating information about technical processes or products directed to an audience through media. The information must be relevant to the intended audience. Technical communicators often work collaboratively to create products for various...

.

Overview

Headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, USA, STC is the largest organization of its type in the world according to its website. It includes 108 chapters, 22 special interest groups (SIGs), and about 7,000 members worldwide. STC members work in a wide range of roles, including:

• Technical writing
  Technical writing
  Technical writing, a form of technical communication, is a style of writing used in fields as diverse as computer hardware and software, engineering, chemistry, the aerospace industry, robotics, finance, consumer electronics, and biotechnology....
  
  
• Editing
  Editing
  Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
  
  
• Consulting
  Consultant
  A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...
  
  
• Content development
  Content development
  Web content development is the process of researching, writing, gathering, organizing, and editing information for publication on web sites. Web site content may consist of prose, graphics, pictures, recordings, movies or other digital assets that could be distributed by a hypertext transfer...
  
  
• Education
  Education
  Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
  
  
• Environmental
  Environmental policy
  Environmental policy is any [course of] action deliberately taken [or not taken] to manage human activities with a view to prevent, reduce, or mitigate harmful effects on nature and natural resources, and ensuring that man-made changes to the environment do not have harmful effects on...
  
  , safety
  Safety
  Safety is the state of being "safe" , the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure, damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be...
  
  , and health
  Health
  Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
  
   communication
• Graphic arts
  Graphic arts
  A type of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of art forms. Graphic art is typically two-dimensional and includes calligraphy, photography, drawing, painting, printmaking, lithography, typography, serigraphy , and bindery. Graphic art also consists of drawn plans and layouts for interior...
  
  
• Human factors
  Human factors
  Human factors science or human factors technologies is a multidisciplinary field incorporating contributions from psychology, engineering, industrial design, statistics, operations research and anthropometry...
  
  
• Indexing
  Index (publishing)
  An index is a list of words or phrases and associated pointers to where useful material relating to that heading can be found in a document...
  
  
• Information architecture
  Information Architecture
  Information architecture is the art of expressing a model or concept of information used in activities that require explicit details of complex systems. Among these activities are library systems, Content Management Systems, web development, user interactions, database development, programming,...
  
  
• Instructional design
  Instructional design
  Instructional Design is the practice of creating "instructional experiences which make the acquisition of knowledge and skill more efficient, effective, and appealing." The process consists broadly of determining the current state and needs of the learner, defining the end goal of instruction, and...
  
  
• Management
  Management
  Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
  
  
• Photography
  Photography
  Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
  
  
• Single source publishing
  Single source publishing
  Single source publishing, also known as single sourcing, allows the same content to be used in different documents or in various formats. The labour-intensive and expensive work of editing need only be carried out once, on one document. Further transformations are carried out mechanistically, by...
  
  
• Software development
  Software development
  Software development is the development of a software product...
  
  
• Technical illustration
  Technical illustration
  Technical Illustration is the use of illustration to visually communicate information of a technical nature. Technical illustrations can be components of technical drawings or diagrams...
  
  
• Translation
  Translation
  Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
  
  
• Usability
  Usability
  Usability is the ease of use and learnability of a human-made object. The object of use can be a software application, website, book, tool, machine, process, or anything a human interacts with. A usability study may be conducted as a primary job function by a usability analyst or as a secondary job...
  
  
• Visual design
  Graphic design
  Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
  
  
• Web design
  Web design
  Web design is the process of planning and creating a website. Text, images, digital media and interactive elements are used by web designers to produce the page seen on the web browser...
  
  

Most STC members belong to one or more communities, which are either geographic chapters or special interest groups (SIGs). Most chapters are in the United States, but STC includes members from 14 countries. The largest group outside the U.S. is the chapter in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

STC publishes a quarterly journal, Technical Communication, and a monthly magazine, Intercom.

History

The organization traces its roots to the Society of Technical Writers (STW) in Boston and the Association of Technical Writers and Editors (ATWE) in New York. Both were founded in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in 1953. These organizations merged in 1957 to form the Society of Technical Writers and Editors (STWE). In 1960, this group merged with the Technical Publishing Society (TPS), based in Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, to become the Society of Technical Writers and Publishers. In 1971, the organization's name was changed to the Society for Technical Communication.

The organization's main journal developed from the TWE Journal to the STWE Review to the STWP Review to Technical Communications to Technical Communication. Editors of this journal have included Douglas E. Knight, Allan H. Lytel, A. Stanley Higgins, Frank R. Smith, George Hayhoe, and Menno de Jong.

Other important leaders in the history of STC include Robert T. Hamlett (first president of ATWE), A. E. Tyler (first president of TPS), Samuel A. Miles (president of the Society of Technical Writers and Editors, which became ATWE's New York chapter in 1955), Vernon R. Root, Robert O. Shockney, and Stello Jordan.

Technical Communication Summit (Annual Conference)

In May or June of each year, STC holds the Technical Communication Summit, the largest conference for technical communicators in the world. Conferences have been or will be held in the following locations:

• 2004: Baltimore
• 2005: Seattle
  Seattle, Washington
  Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
  
  
• 2006: Las Vegas
  Las Vegas, Nevada
  Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
  
  
• 2007: Minneapolis
  Minneapolis, Minnesota
  Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
  
  
• 2008: Philadelphia
  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
  
  
• 2009: Atlanta
  Atlanta, Georgia
  Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
  
  
• 2010: Dallas
  Dallas, Texas
  Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
  
  
• 2011: Sacramento
  Sacramento, California
  Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
  
  
• 2012: Chicago
• 2013: Atlanta
  Atlanta, Georgia
  Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
  
  

STC Honors

STC recognizes outstanding individuals by conferring the titles of Fellow, Associate Fellow, and Honorary Fellow. STC's Honorary Fellow for 2009 was "Jimmy Wales

Jimmy Wales

Jimmy Donal "Jimbo" Wales is an American Internet entrepreneur best known as a co-founder and promoter of the online non-profit encyclopedia Wikipedia and the Wikia company....

, the founder and creator of Wikipedia."

STC also sponsors honorary societies for technical communication students with a grade point average of 3.5 or above:

• Sigma Tau Chi recognizes students in four-year or graduate programs
• Alpha Sigma recognizes students in two-year or certificate programs

See also

• American Medical Writers Association
  American Medical Writers Association
  The American Medical Writers Association is the world's leading professional association for medical communicators. AMWA has more than 5,600 members in the United States, Canada, and 26 other countries. AMWA is governed by a board of directors composed of a 14-member executive committee and...
  
  
• Council of Science Editors
  Council of Science Editors
  The Council of Science Editors is a nonprofit professional membership organization. CSE's mission is to serve editorial professionals in the sciences by creating a supportive network for career development, providing educational opportunities, and developing resources for identifying and...
  
  
• IEEE Professional Communication Society
  IEEE Professional Communication Society
  The ' is a professional society of the IEEE.- History :Formed in March of 1957 as the IRE Professional Group on Engineering Writing, the group changed its name to the IRE Professional Group on Engineering Writing and Speech , IEEE Professional Technical Group on Engineering Writing and Speech ,...
  
  
• SIGDOC
  SIGDOC
  SIGDOC is the Special Interest Group on Design of Communication of the Association for Computing Machinery .-Mission:The mission of SIGDOC includes:* Promoting the professional development of its members....
  
  , the Special Interest Group on Design of Communication of the Association for Computing Machinery
  Association for Computing Machinery
  The Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
  
   (ACM)
• Technical communication
  Technical communication
  Technical communication is a method of researching and creating information about technical processes or products directed to an audience through media. The information must be relevant to the intended audience. Technical communicators often work collaboratively to create products for various...
  
  
• Technical writer
  Technical writer
  A technical writer is a professional writer who designs, creates, and maintains technical documentation...
  
  
• Technical writing
  Technical writing
  Technical writing, a form of technical communication, is a style of writing used in fields as diverse as computer hardware and software, engineering, chemistry, the aerospace industry, robotics, finance, consumer electronics, and biotechnology....
  
  
• Wikiversity Technical Writing course

External links

• Society for Technical Communication
• Technical Communication Summit