Updated: January 12th, 2013 08:37 AM (MT)
A Peer Network
One of the best things about STC membership is discussing technical communication with our peers:
"How can I convert FrameMaker to HTML?"
"Where can I find a boilerplate contract?"
"Does anyone have recommendations for how to best work with dispersed teams?"
To have these discussions, we typically go to a chapter meeting. For the Rocky Mountain Chapter, though, this can be difficult. Our members work all over the Front Range, from Parker to Laramie, from Scottsbluff to Idaho Springs. We work a lot of overtime. And sometimes we need answers right away.
Subscribing to the discussion list provides an easy, efficient way to reach local and regional technical communicators. For example, you might ask questions:
- Questions about freelancing
- Questions about becoming a tech communicator
- Requests for brainstorming on technical, editorial, or design problems (we wrote this article by asking list members for suggestions!)
Or you might make announcements:
- Meeting announcements
- Seminar announcements
Nothing can replace the face-to-face contact we get at STC meetings. So we have an additional way to communicate: the STC Rocky Mountain Chapter's discussion list. This list is exclusively for members and student members of the STC Rocky Mountain Chapter.
Electronic Discussion List
We have an electronic discussion mailing list exclusively for STC RMC members and student members. The discussion list is a members-only mailing list used as a forum to pose questions about issues related to technical communication. Any subscriber to the discussion list may post to the list. (Note: You must be a Rocky Mountain Chapter member to participate in the discussion list).
If you'd like to learn more about the discussion mailing list, read these questions and answers. If you're an STC RMC member and you're already familiar with mailing lists, skip to the last question.
A mailing list lets you send e-mail to a whole bunch of people at one time. So with a single e-mail message to techcomm-discuss, you can reach every STC Rocky Mountain Chapter member who belongs to the list.
The STC RMC uses Eric J. Ray's Mailman software for its e-mail discussion list. Mailman lists are closed lists, meaning that e-mail posted from a non-approved address is rejected, thereby reducing the instances of spam.
Any STC RMC member can request to be added to the discussion list. To do so, send an e-mail message to administrator@stcrmc.org. When you send the message, indicate whether you would like to receive messages immediately throughout the day or receive a digest, which sends you one combined message per day.
The list administrator verifies your membership and adds your e-mail address to the list. Mailman sends you a message that includes instructions for signing-on to the administration platform. After the administrator adds you to the list, post messages by sending your message to the following e-mail address: discuss.list.rmc@mailman.stc.org
All you need is plain old e-mail.
To join the discussion list, send an e-mail to the list manager (administrator@stcrmc.org) with the following information:
- Your name.
- Your e-mail address.
- Whether you would like the immediate or digest version of the list.
With the immediate version, you will receive each e-mail message as soon as it is sent. With the digest version, approximately once a day you will receive one e-mail message containing all the messages since the last digest.
The list manager will verify your STC RMC membership and add you to the list.
New STC members: After you submit your STC dues, please wait a couple of weeks before contacting the list manager. This will give STC International time to process your membership application.
Posting Rules for the Discussion List
The following posting rules and guidelines apply to the discussion list. You agreed to these posting rules when you subscribed to this list.
General posting guidelines and a word about netiquette
This list is a professional forum for issues dealing with technical communication. Please treat this forum, the several hundred members it serves, and the volunteers who maintain it with respect.
While this list is unmoderated (your messages are not screened before they are posted to subscribing members), the list manager, STC RMC president, and STC RMC webmaster do monitor the list's activity and have the authority to stop threads that they deem are inappropriate for the forum, as well as to suspend and/or revoke posting privileges.
As a general rule, if the matter is about technical communication and if you wouldn't mind if your next boss saw your post and knew it was from you ... it's probably acceptable to post. When in doubt, ask the list manager.
What is acceptable to post?
Anything related to technical communication is acceptable to post. This includes, but is not limited, to:
- Questions about matters of interest to technical communicators (tools and techniques, portfolios and resumes, encouraging clients to pay on time, freelancing, effectively interviewing SMEs ...)
- Announcements of relevant events (meetings, seminars, workshops, conferences, new product introductions ...)
- Requests for brainstorming on technical or design problems (be prepared to summarize the advice you receive, and post the summary to the list)
- Advertisements for items that you want to sell if the items are related to technical communication (for example, computer equipment, licensed software, technical references ...)
Humor is acceptable, but please put the word "HUMOR" in the subject line.
What is not acceptable to post?
Like most other high-quality mailing lists, our mailing list has rules. List members who violate the following rules will be removed from the list:
- Don't post diatribes about anything.
- Don't post negative comments about individuals or take legitimate topics into personal realms. If you need to do this, do it off-list.
- Don't go off topic. For example, don't discuss gardening.
- Don't be obnoxious. Differences of opinion are encouraged; rudeness is not. If a posting makes you angry, please wait 24 hours before responding. Avoid personal insults.
- Don't advertise non-tech-comm items. For example, do not advertise cars for sale or houses for rent.
- Don't post job leads on this forum. Contact the jobs manager regarding information about jobs.
- Don't reply to everyone on the mailing list if you just want to reply to the person who sent the posting. Please look carefully at your email reply and make sure it is going to the recipient(s) you intended.
- Don't :cc other mailing lists in the postings that you make. If you want to send the same posting to several mailing lists, send them as separate messages. Otherwise, non-members might try to post to our members-only mailing list, generating lots of error messages for the list manager.
A word of caution
Remember that the internet is a very, very public place - and that words posted cannot be revoked. Potential employers do use the internet to investigate the information you present in your resume and cover letter. And current employers do the same.
See you on the list!
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