Society for Technical Communication (STC) shutting down¶
Today there was some sad news, which is that the STC is shutting down. They posted a note on their website and other social media channels:
Despite significant efforts over the past several years by the various Boards of Directors and STC leadership, financial liabilities coupled with falling membership numbers have created a situation where we are not able to offer the education, resources, and outreach that this membership expects and deserves. Various cost-cutting measures and attempts to generate revenue have not been sufficient, and our debt and operational expenses now outweigh our ongoing revenue.
— STC Board of Directors & STC Executive Director Tim Shaw
It also got picked up on Hacker News, which had the usual mix of valuable and… divisive comments. I ended up commenting to provide some additional context, which is probably useful to share on the blog:
I’ve been working in this space for a long time, where I’m one of the co-founders of Write the Docs – we focus more on software docs.
The view from the industry is basically that STC was a bit behind the times, and was slowly dwindling in terms of reach and value. They still had some active chapters, magazine, and academic journal that provided value for folks, but membership wasn’t as valuable as it had been.
They have been around a long time, and had a wider purview that WTD, focusing on many different types of technical writing. They had members in industries like Automotive, Engineering, and Aerospace, as well as Software.
The best way to think about them is something like the ACM in the software industry. They have been taken over by more current community approaches in various areas (eg. Pycon), but also still doing some more traditional stuff that adds value but isn’t as relevant to day-to-day practitioners.
— Eric Holscher
It’s definitely a sad day, and sows more confusion and worry in an industry that is already pretty stressed by AI. I wish the STC folks the best of luck trying to shut down the organization, and I hope that Write the Docs can continue to carry the torch in some fashion.
