May/June 2005 | Home

Leadership for the Emerging Future

by Patrick Lufkin
STC Senior Member

Patrick Lufkin is a Senior STC member of both the East Bay and San Francisco chapters. He is currently co-chair of the Kenneth M. Gordon Scholarship.

On March 12, about thirty STC members met to discuss the future of STC and to develop the leadership skills needed to meet today’s challenges and deliver value to the STC membership. The all-day convocation was held on the Mills College campus in Oakland, and included members from five of the six Northern California STC geographical communities (Berkeley, East Bay, NorthBay, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley).

Members in attendance from the East Bay Chapter were: Becky Rude (President), Joe Humbert (Treasurer), Sherry Smith (Database Manager), Hillary Russak (V.P. Programs), Gwaltney Mountford (Hospitality, College Liaison Committee), and Laura Phillips (DMV Associate Editor). Also attending from the East Bay Chapter were Patrick Lufkin, Guy Haas, and Richard Mateosian.

Organized under the title “Leadership for the Emerging Future,” the one-day conference was the third in a series of NorCal leadership days that have been held over the past several years. The first leadership day was held in December 2002, the second in April 2003.

The first two meetings found the profession coping with a deep recession, and explored such topics as “reducing volunteer burnout” and “alternative jobs for technical communicators.” With the economy showing signs of recovery, and the Society in the midst of a transformation, the current meeting focused primarily on building for the future.

One Day, Many Sessions

STC NorCal Director, Viki Maki, welcomed everyone and got the day off to a rousing start by leading the group in singing “Happy Birthday” to Region 8 Director Beau Cain, who acted as Master of Ceremonies. Marie Highby set the tone for the day with a keynote talk on “New Definitions of Effective Leadership.”

The day consisted of a series of breakout sessions. Session subjects varied from the theoretical—the qualities of great leaders—to such practical matters as developing impromptu speaking skills. Other sessions dealt with such topics as the Touchstone Competition, the Gordon Scholarship, development of an inter-chapter speaker database, and the ongoing Society Transformation.

A New Community in the Works

Gwaltney leads a session

Over the course of the three leadership days, those who have participated have come to develop a genuine sense of community. During the present meeting, this sense of community manifested itself in a decision to explore the possibility that NorCal might become a chartered STC community that could serve STC in ways that are not really possible at the chapter level. In addition to its role as a leadership incubator, with some development, NorCal might also help with Touchstone, the Gordon Scholarship, conferences, and other regional activities.

Several factors entered into the decision:

• A great deal of leadership expertise lies in people who have held offices in the past, but who are not currently holding an STC chapter position. Among other things, NorCal could provide a venue for these people to continue to participate and share their expertise with those who are just starting their careers as STC leaders.

• The collective STC membership in Northern California has long recognized itself as a unique geographical community with a commonality of interests that extend beyond chapter boundaries, but are often narrower than the boundaries of Region 8. Over the years, the combined Northern California STC membership has repeatedly formed ad hoc committees to manage various area-wide activities, including Touchstone and NorCal itself. While these ad hoc entities have often demonstrated a great deal of creative energy, they have also been plagued with the problems that come with having to continually “reinvent the wheel.” NorCal may be able to help with such efforts by being a repository of knowledge and resources.

Whether STC NorCal can, or should, pursue certification as a recognized community, and if so, what form that community should take, are questions that will require long and thoughtful discussion. A meeting has been tentatively scheduled for June 12 to explore the issues.

DMV Home | EBSTC | STC | Contact Us