By Daniel Maddux | Member
The Opportunity
One of the trickiest challenges we have as STC members is how to reach out to students.
The problems are myriad. Students have non-standard schedules. They often don’t have the money to pay for events. They’re focused on school, but not necessarily on what they’ll do once they get out. And, maybe more importantly than anything else, it takes time for us to reach out to students.
But we have to build a bridge to the new people coming into our field if we want to thrive as a profession. Students can also help keep an STC chapter fresh and current. They often have new ideas for making things better, and they will one day be the backbone of your chapter.
I am the student outreach coordinator for the Houston Chapter of STC. It’s my job to fashion a connection between our chapter and local students. We meet on campus monthly during the fall and spring semesters, and we meet off campus during the summer. We use informal presentations from local tech comm thought leaders to both provide value to group members and provide group members a chance to give back.
As we’ve learned more about how to reach out to the students in our group, we’ve modified our format and content. We’ve learned plenty of lessons along the way about what to do and not do. Whether you’re trying to build a standalone student group, or simply increasing the number of students in your chapter, all of these guidelines are important.
What To Do
Here are a few of the things to do if you want to grow your chapter’s contingent of students:
1. Communicate frequently and regularly
Students have to know that you’re going to be meeting consistently. You need to communicate the schedule and meeting content ahead of time.
But blanket invitations are not enough. You must find ways to make personal connections with students. This may be through spending an evening dropping in on university classes to tell the students about STC and your group. Or it may be more along the lines of talking with professors you know about which students could benefit from what your group has to offer. Regardless of the method, you’re going to have to go beyond faceless email blasts if you want your group to grow beyond the handful of people who may come just to support you.
2. Include students within the TC community
Even if you have a standalone student chapter, you shouldn’t leave students hanging out to dry.
One of the best aspects to our group on campus at the University of Houston–Downtown is the mix of students and professionals who attend. The array of perspectives allows the students to make connections that will benefit their careers. Nothing compares with real, live tech comm professionals, as well as professors, and even vendors or recruiters at your meetings who will help to convince students that the profession, your chapter, and STC as a whole are valuable commitments.
3. Feed them
Ever heard that free food brings in students? The rumor is true. And they’re not necessarily being greedy. If you meet their physical need for calories, they will be much more likely to support your efforts to grow the group, and your local STC chapter. Free = good when it comes to students.
How to pay for all this, you ask? If you can’t get money from your chapter finances, or make the donation yourself, consider soliciting a corporate sponsorship. This is a little easier if you have a salesperson type or two attending your events.
4. Provide topics of value
For students to really get involved in the group, they’ll want to know that being involved will be a boost for their career. Providing discussions, presentations, or training on content that will affect their odds of landing a job is very important.
However, don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. The students may clamor for training on a particular tool, but few, if any, may actually show up for the training. It’s wiser to provide a broader array of content.
And if the group isn’t made up exclusively of students, make sure to give the other group members something to go home with, too. Regularly poll the group members to see if the format and content you’re providing is still working for them.
5. Use university resources
Making connections on university campuses is a must if you’re going to reach out to students. Not only is this critical, but it also can make your job much easier.
If you can find an STC advocate or two in the ranks of the academics, you’ll be seven steps ahead. They often know about resources you wouldn’t think about, from free parking for speakers to professors who could send their students to your meetings for extra credit.
Just keep in mind, it will always be your job to grow the group. Even if a university resource promises to promote your meetings, keep up your own efforts. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
6. Treat them with respect
If a group of students is willing to make time to get involved in an STC group, they’re not losers. So treating them like sheep is not a good idea. They have valuable talents to contribute.
Here are just a few of the ways in which you can draw students into contributing roles in the group:
- Ask for help with communicating group information to the university.
- Get students to create promotional materials for the meetings.
- Have students promote the meetings through social media.
You can easily transition many of these roles into roles with the chapter at large. Who doesn’t need help with their chapter newsletter, member communications, or website?
7. Take charge
Don’t wait for others to do something. They won’t. If you have a desire to build connections with students interested in tech comm, do it. It’s not that hard to get started. Put in some thought and some elbow grease, and you’ll soon be on your way.
Daniel Maddux (dmaddux@elitedocumentation.com) is the owner of Elite Documentation Inc., a company that solves business problems through expert writing. He lives in Houston, TX, where he enjoys his martial arts training and volunteer work.
