Tips and Recruitment Ideas
Everyone you meet in the process of doing your job is a potential member. They won’t join unless you ask them. So ask them!
Suggested Prospects
- Technical writers
- Usability specialists
- Documentation managers
- Technical editors
- Information developers
- Documentation specialists
- Technical communicators
- Technical illustrators
- Managers of technical communications
- Web designers
- Technical translators
Helpful Ideas
- Invite a coworker to a monthly chapter or SIG meeting.
- Publish the new member’s name and the recruiter in your newsletter.
- Send a letter to all technical communicators at your place of work and invite them to come to a meeting and learn more about STC.
- Talk to your company’s senior management and encourage them to make STC membership mandatory among the staff.
- Have a brown-bag lunch meeting at your office, invite all your colleagues to attend, and then ask them to join STC.
- Give special ribbons to new members at chapter or SIG events.
- Develop a buddy system by providing each current member with a potential new member to contact and invite to meetings.
- Hold new member receptions at events and announce new members and recruiters at every meeting.
- Ask the potential new member if they would like to contribute an article or give a presentation at a chapter event.
- Coordinate the timing of all Reach for the Stars efforts and marketing communications so that members are not overwhelmed.
Brown-Bag Meetings
- Coordinate a lunch meeting at the STC member’s office.
- Ask that everyone bring their own lunch or have a sponsor cater the lunch.
- Invite company colleagues to attend the lunch.
- Hold a one hour brown bag-bag lunch and discussion on a technical communication “HOT” topic.
Meet STC Program
- Conduct a membership recruitment program at your monthly meeting.
- Pass out STC membership information and applications.
- Ask chapter or SIG members to target this meeting to invite potential members.
- Conduct a PowerPoint presentation reviewing the benefits of STC membership.
- Offer special incentives if people join the night of the meeting.
- Alternative: find a sponsor to pay for non member dinners, and offer free dinner certificates to area restaurants as incentive to join.
Fireside Chat Meeting
- Identify a restaurant, or members’ home, with a nice fireplace seating area.
- Have a Sunday night mini-meeting.
- Hold a one hour discussion on a technical communication “Hot Topic.”
- Ask members to invite prospects to attend with them (ask the national office for a list of prospects in your area to invite).
Live Web Seminar as Recruitment Vehicle
- Schedule a live web seminar in a member’s office conference room.
- Find a sponsor and speaker to present a “Hot” educational topic.
- Invite members and non members to attend.
- Follow-up with non members and invite them to join.
