Each of the candidates for the upcoming STC election were invited to submit a blog post to STC’s Notebook in support of their candidacy. Below is the post submitted by Jane Wilson, candidate for Nominating Committee. Click on her name to take you to her election page, or visit the main STC election page for information about all candidates.
Hello fellow STC members!
I am Jane Wilson, and I am running for STC Treasurer. For those of you who don’t know me personally, I’d like to take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about myself and explain why STC is so important to me and why I am running for Treasurer.
I live in Conyers, Georgia, and work in the heart of Atlanta. When I am not working (or commuting to work), I love to travel, read, and try new restaurants with my family and friends. I also love to quilt—and shop for fabric.
I have been a technical communicator for almost fifteen years. I am primarily an information developer, a content designer, and a project manager. My experience is mostly in documenting software for end users. In my current position, I lead a small team of writers at GE Transportation Optimization Solutions. We document operational software developed for railroads and shippers who use railroads.
I joined STC after I took a job several years ago as a lone writer. I had previously been a member of a large team of seasoned writers, and I found that I missed having that group as a resource for my questions, and I missed the unity of being a part of a team.
STC became an incredibly valuable resource for me—for education, for learning about the profession, and just for meeting and connecting with other people in the profession. I have found that as I have become more active in STC, I have gotten even greater value from my membership. The leadership experience has been invaluable and I have forged friendships with some amazingly talented people.
Because of all I have gained from STC, I want to give back, help make STC stronger, and work to keep it relevant. I am relatively new to Society-level leadership, so I would bring some fresh perspectives to the Board. I have been known to form some strong opinions, and I am not afraid to share them—but I also excel at building consensus and moving forward with practical and productive solutions.
I am passionate about STC and the value it provides for us, the membership. At a local level, I have benefited from the networking and leadership opportunities. At the Society level, I have gotten value from education at the Summit and the promotion of the profession. I believe that doing all we can to expand our membership all over the globe and continue to promote standards and practices is vital to the future of technical communication.
To do that, though, we need a strong and financially viable STC. With a fragile economy and membership down, we are going to have to keep working to improve the Society’s financial position. I have been treasurer of the Atlanta chapter for the past five years, and I have found I have a real affinity for that role. Of course, that’s on a much smaller scale, but I have also served on some Society-level committees, and I have learned quite a bit about the difficulties the Society has faced financially over the past few years. I think we’ve made great strides forward, but we need to continue that progress, and I would love to help make that happen. I think we need to explore additional ways of funding—more educational offerings, possible business partnerships—and continue to look at what’s working for us and what’s not as we refine the funding model for the Society.
The most important thing I’d like to tell you about myself is that I do not make commitments lightly. I don’t make promises I cannot keep, and when I do make a commitment, I give it my all. I think it would be a huge honor to serve as your Treasurer, and, if I am elected, my only promise is that I will work as hard as I can for the next two years to promote the profession, represent the membership with integrity, and improve our financial position.
Thank you for the time you’ve taken to read this, and I look forward to being a part of the new STC with all of you!