By Victoria (Vici) Koster-Lenhardt, Director-Sponsor, STC Region 2

STC president Thea Teich sent out a message at the end of October announcing an STC blog at http://trans4mation.typepad.com. She invited you to use it to take a behind-the-scenes look at the STC transformation initiative, and to share your thoughts, ideas, and concerns about what the STC might look like in the future. Only three days earlier, the STC sent you a reminder to renew your membership.

Maybe you had time in October to read these messages, or maybe you are just able to look at them now. Both messages push you to consider the value of your membership.

I believe that significant membership value is created by chapters and their volunteers. My experience with Region 2 chapters only strengthens my view. Here is what they have been doing so far this year:

• Established a new career SIG in Carolina,
• Provided in-depth, low-cost seminars and workshops in Germany, Israel, Italy, Stockholm, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.,
• Fostered cross-cultural exchanges between students in the United States and France,
• Conducted the first survey to find out about the state of technical communication in Belgium, and
• Organized a Trans-European Technical Communications Competition in four languages.

If all of these activities don't add up to a lot of value, I do not know what does.

Consider the value that your chapter adds to your personal and professional life. I hope it is enough to motivate you to renew your membership today. And if it is not, share your opinion on the blog. We want to know what you think!

Victoria (Vici) Koster-Lenhardt can be reached at vici at vkosterlenhardt dot com.