In a recent tax return (I believe it was 2009), the line item for STC spending on research was $5000 of a multi-million dollar income statement. Do you think that's enough? What will you do to ensure the STC spends a larger amount to promote research in the technical communication field and disseminate the results of that research?

Over the past several years, STC has been working hard to ensure we have our financial plans and resources in order. I can definitely understand why research spending was limited during that timeframe.

Content is king, and STC should be the organization known for helping everyone design, develop, and deliver quality content. Research into content design and delivery is an important part of this goal. I would like to see STC support research in areas that advance our profession, and for STC to share the results of that research with its membership. To achieve this, I believe strong partnerships with companies and the academic community are vital. Partnerships with companies can help STC identify areas where research is in demand, increase funding for that research, and more widely communicate the value of both STC and the technical communication profession.

Research is an important part of STC's mission, but on that has received less attention and funding in the past few years. Research helps us create better content for our customers and to devise best practices, create standards, and to measure what we do. All of these things help companies see content as a business asset rather than a cost center, and help our profession mature globally.

To support research, we need to have partnerships with industry, academia, and other professional associations. We also need to make it easy for members to contribute to scholarship and research funds, if they have a particular area of interest.