Help FTC @ UCF students attend the 2023 STC Summit

Hello, everyone!

If you are reading this, I would love your support in changing the lives of five FTC technical communication students. My name is John Clement, and I am an active volunteer in the Society for Technical Communication as well as UCF's Future Technical Communicators club (FTC). This May in Atlanta, GA, several of FTC's student members will be attending this year’s STC Summit, a national conference featuring presentations about technical communication—the field we study and love. Your contributions can help our students take part in this unique experience for the first time and have the most fulfilling experience as they can.

What is our goal?

Each year, the STC Technical Communication Summit conference proves that there are few things more valuable for a student’s future career than the opportunity to learn from and talk directly to professionals in their field. Attending last year’s Summit proved exactly that to me other FTC and STC students. While it took significant effort to get the trip off the ground, the experience was as fruitful as it was unforgettable, in no small part due to the contributions from our community.

This year, FTC will be doing it again. I and the rest of the FTC @ UCF leadership team have a unified goal this year of supporting five of our students in reaching the Summit for the very first time.

Through university funding, we have been able to receive around two-thirds of the total funding we need to make the trip (around $3,000 for our group of six’s travel and lodging; each student will volunteer for free registration). To make ends meet, we plan to cover as much of the rest as we need to through personal contributions. However, through this fundraiser, I hope to alleviate as much of the costs for students as possible so they can attend worry-free.

As an additional goal, if we receive enough contributions, I plan to have us funnel any additional earnings back to the club so that it may be preserved in support of future years’ Summit attendees from the club. In short, the heart of our fundraiser is this: to pay it forward for tech comm students of the present and, if possible, the future.

Who is going?

Our prospective attendees include these five UCF students: Chantal Cyrier, Dominick Chiovari, Cassandra Ortega, Jasmine Boyens, and Delaney Gunnell. Each is a student member of the Future Technical Communicators club and of the STC Florida Chapter. Each is at a different point in their technical communication journey. Some are soon-to-be graduates and others are fresh to the field; some are new to the organizations while others are active members and volunteers who are hungry for more. I and a few additional members of the STC Florida Chapter also plan to attend the Summit and be alongside our student members. The potential for learning, insights, connections, and takeaways among this year’s varied group of students is exciting, and each attendee is enthusiastic about the potential to reach the Summit.

What next?

Please consider contributing to our current FTC students who plan to make the trip to Atlanta for this year’s STC Summit, and consider contributing for the benefit of our future students as well. We are excited to make this trip a reality once more. In our next update on this fundraiser, you will also be able to read bios from each of our group members about their tech comm journeys and hopes for attending the Summit for the first time.

Any amount is appreciated, and sharing this fundraiser is appreciated just as much. We appreciate your consideration, and in two months, we hope to see you at or report back to you from Atlanta!

All the best,

John Clement

Immediate Past President, Future Technical Communicators

Volunteer, Society for Technical Communication