By Katherine (Kit) Brown-Hoekstra | STC President
Editor’s Note: Kit Brown-Hoekstra was formally installed as STC President at the Annual Business Meeting during the Summit on Monday, 19 May. Below is an early draft of her planned remarks, provided to Intercom to share with the entire Society.
I am honored and humbled by the outpouring of support that I have received from all of you. Thank you! I would also like to thank the Board, the staff, and all of our volunteers throughout the Society who help support our activities and keep us a vibrant and supportive organization. It is truly a privilege to serve you this year as President and to give back to the organization that has given me so much in my career. I look forward to working with all of you.
This past year—our 60th anniversary—was a year of reflecting on how far we have come and of planning for the future. With the hiring of Chris Lyons as our CEO, we have seen a year of renewal—of our mission, of our membership, and of our view of ourselves. I’ve sensed, too, a renewal of energy, positivity, connection, and growth amongst the members, volunteers, and staff.
This year, we will use this momentum as a catalyst for acting on our strategic plan and making changes that support our members in their professional development and that position STC to thrive in a world where the speed of change is accelerating rapidly.
As the speed of change increases, our skills—the ability to transform data into usable content, to explain, to organize, to structure, to teach, to adapt—become even more vital. These skills are foundational to the success of every product, process, and service on this planet (and, if you count the Space Station, off of it). Our innate curiosity and ability to ask beautiful (and sometimes impertinent) questions allow us to be change agents who bring order to an increasingly chaotic world of data and information overload.
As STC members, we have the advantage of a community of colleagues who support, mentor, and guide us in our quest for knowledge. This collegial environment has always been one of our greatest assets, albeit it one that is difficult to market because of its intangibility.
And, because we want to build on this strength, we are making changes to the infrastructure to better support our activities. We are aligning our educational offerings to provide more continuity across media and to identify clearer paths for members to grow professionally. We are building partnerships with sister organizations to strengthen connections and learning opportunities with related fields. We are actively seeking ways to support our student and young professional members as they grow into their careers by providing networking and mentoring opportunities, continuing education, and job search advice.
As we contemplate each change, we ask ourselves, “What is in the highest and best interest of the Society, its members, and technical communication as a discipline?” Sometimes, the choices are difficult ones and the process of implementing change can get messy, but ultimately, we are a better, stronger organization for having gone through these efforts.
On behalf of the Board and the staff, I want to thank you, our members (especially our volunteers), for your continued dedication and support. This is going to be a great year!
