Technical Communication: A Trivial Pursuit?

Over the past 40 years, our profession has gradually become better known to the general public. Although few children would be likely to answer “technical communicator” when asked what they want to be when they grow up, our ranks have increased quite significantly. If we assume that membership in the Society for Technical Communication reflects the overall trend in our profession, the number of technical communicators has grown 750% between 1961 and 1998. And the increasing number of STC chapters and national technical communication organizations throughout the world is testimony that this phenomenon is not limited to North America.