About Us

At more than 12,000 members strong, the Society for Technical Communication (STC) is the largest organization of its type in the world. STC members are technical writers, editors, graphic designers, translators, multimedia artists, and Web and Intranet page developers, developing technical content for a varied audience. For more than 40 years, the Sacramento Metro Chapter has supported professional growth and networking for local technical communicators. After three years of inactivity, the Sacramento Metro Chapter of the STC is experiencing a revival and renewed vitality.

Our Members

We are an active chapter with about 60 percent women and 40 percent men. The majority of members have 9-to-5 jobs, but about 17 percent are independents.

We used to be larger, but like other groups of professionals, the recent recession took its toll. Some left the technical communication profession; some stayed in the profession, but left STC.

Now, the chapter is growing again. Former members are rejoining STC, and new practitioners recognize the value of participating in a local chapter of an international organization.

We have members who work in high-tech, health care, and government. We also have a growing number of student members, and some of us are full- or part-time teachers.

The Market

While the job market is considerably smaller than that of Silicon Valley, it still has numerous opportunities for technical communicators.

The market has improved as companies have settled their outsourcing/offshoring issues. Also, Sacramento has many companies that are big enough to need technical communicators, but too small to consider offshoring.

Our Community

Members live and work here because Sacramento has excellent climate and a special charm. It’s a very small big city.

Sacramento is an affordable place to live, short commutes, and outstanding recreational resources, including the Sacramento and American Rivers, the Gold Country, Old Sacramento, and nearby hunting, fishing, and skiing areas.

Meetings

We generally hold our meetings on the second Thursday of each month. The focus is on jobs, networking, professional issues, and exciting speakers. From these activities we hope to improve our skills, understanding, and opportunities.

Meetings are free to all. See our current Meeting Calendar.

Other Programs

STC Sacramento Metro holds the occasional Saturday seminar to delve into the industry’s hottest topics. We also share sponsorship of the Northern California technical publications competition, Touchstone.

Brief History

In November, 1985, Ellen Ashcraft and Lorna LaVerne mailed out the first STC Sacramento newsletter to all unaffiliated members who lived near Sacramento. Articles included decisions that needed to be made to develop the chapter and the fact that the new chapter would “…need to lay the groundwork for activities…” and entice people into taking advantage of all the opportunities that STC had to offer.

The first meeting was held on December 5, 1985, in a conference room at Hewlett-Packard Company in Roseville, California. Much of that first year was spent getting the chapter going, creating a logo, recruiting new members, and keeping members interested with various presentations at the meetings.

Over 20 years, the chapter has experimented vigorously in providing all kinds of services to members and to the community. This chapter was among the first to introduce free meetings, free job lines, online newsletters, and sophisticated career/resume counseling. With a waning interest and membership numbers down, the chapter went inactive for about two years, in 2008 and 2009. A resurgence of interest and energy have made 2010 a great year with more exciting things to look forward to as our city will be hosting the 2011 Summit, STC’s 58th Annual Conference!

View the Chapter Operations page for basic information about our Chapter; if you don’t find what you’re looking for, you can always find out more about the Sacramento Metro Chapter by e-mailing anyone on the Administrative Council.

Chapter Honors

SacramentoMetro STC chapter has been honored with the following awards:

  • Chapter Newsletter Award, 2006 (Excellence; Most Improved)
  • Chapter Newsletter Award, 2005 (Merit)
  • Chapter of Merit Award, 2004
  • Chapter Achievement Award, 2002-2003 (Excellence)
  • Chapter Achievement Award, 2001-2002 (Merit)
  • Chapter Pacesetter Award, 1995
  • Sacramento is the home chapter for such distinguished members as Lance Gelein, past STC International President.