February/March 2006

Volume 46, Number 4

You Can't Clean Clutter Without Purging

by Ron Arner

If you want to clean out clutter, the first thing you have to do is purge. Many tech comm employees learned this the hard way when the economy collapsed and we were forced to deal with layoffs, learn new skills, or find more innovative ways to practice our trade. We've recently seen the benefits of purging as an organization with the restructuring of the STC on an International level. Some purging has gone on at the local level as well, and now I think it's time to step back, examine what we're all about, and really decide what we're going to keep and what we're going to get rid of.

Our President, Marella Colyvas, refers to this issue in her current column when she talks about low meeting attendance despite the fabulous slate of presenters lined up for us this year by Martha Sippel and Frank Tagader. Sam Omatseye, a new member of the Technicalities staff, raises this issue on a more national level in his column about the slide in U.S. science and technology.

Is our chapter headed in the right direction? Have the changes that have been made been what you want? What more can we do to continue to be a growing community of the best technical communicators in the Rocky Mountain Region? The important factor in all this is what you, the members of the STC RMC, want from a professional organization, and there's no way for chapter leadership to know what you want without your feedback.

As a member of several STC listserves, it's interesting to see how other chapters operate. One thing I've noticed is that some chapters definitely appear to be stronger than others in regards to enthusiasm, participation, and effectiveness. By effectiveness, I'm referring to what members of the chapter think about it, how well it meets their needs, how often they participate in or volunteer for things, etc. It seems to me that the stronger chapters don't necessarily operate in a strict, business-like fashion (I think maybe we get enough of this elsewhere), but rather function as both a professional development and networking/social organization. Again, the key to chapter leadership's ability to do this is the feedback of its members.

Here are some suggestions as to how you can give some feedback right away:

• Participate in both the STC International and chapter elections. If you don't vote, you're not allowed to complain about the outcome.
• Contact a chapter officer and just let them know what you think about the STC RMC in general.
• Write an article for the next issue of the newsletter about where you think our chapter should be headed, or just send a letter to the editor.

Now before I get down off my soapbox, let me say that I'm no stranger to clutter. After several years of moonlighting and going to school, my house was a disaster. I welcomed Hellen Buttigieg from the Discovery Home Channel's program Neat into my house like she was an angel of mercy. What impressed me about her show is that whenever she goes into a cluttered home, the first thing she has the inhabitant(s) do is purge, or separate their belongings into keep, give away, and throw away classifications. Then comes the re-design, the purchase of adequate storage containers, and, of course, "the reveal," where the recipient of the newly organized space says they've never seen anything so beautiful. I'm taking Buttigieg's advice to heart in my own home, and with some feedback from you, the members of the STC RMC, I think the STC RMC can do the same.