Why the Connecticut Chapter BOD Says No to "Auto Assign"
An email just went out to the STC members in Connecticut from the STC. And, how you vote is up to you.
However, the Connecticut Chapter BOD has a position that each and every member have manual control over which chapter they are affiliated with, and thus the Connecticut Chapter recommends that you vote as follows:
If you, as a member, change mailing addresses within Connecticut, that the STC NOT automatically change your affiliation. That any change in affiliation should only be performed if you, the member, specifically ask for the change.
If you need words that reflect our position with which to answer the STC, please feel free to choose these:
On the issue of both questions, as a member of the STC in Connecticut, please disable "auto assign."
If I change my address, especially within the state of Connecticut, I understand I will have to deliberately and manually change my chapter affiliation. I do not want my chapter affiliation changed unless I explicitly make the change.
About the Questions in the Email
The questions in the email are worded in a way that they might seem confusing.
It is the position of the Connecticut Chapter Board of Directors that "auto assign" is poorly implemented and damages the chapter. Furthermore, it seems "auto assign" might only be of benefit to members who frequently change their physical address during the year and provides no real benefit to those who don't change their address often.
We recommend you vote against auto assign for members who live in Connecticut.
What Is Going On
A few years back, the STC created "auto assign" and turned it on for all members without telling the members.
"Auto assign" automatically drops your STC membership to your current chapter and assigns you to another chapter if you change your mailing address within a set of zip-code-like parameters.
You are not notified of the change in affiliation. You are not asked to confirm the change. Until the Connecticut Chapter provoked the email you received from the STC, "auto assign" and your change of membership from one chapter to another would have been a complete surprise to you.
Whereas, it is the position of the Connecticut Chapter BOD that members should control the chapter to which they are affiliated, and it is our belief that having to manually change your affiliation deliberately is better than having it changed for you without notification.
Why "Auto Assign" Is Especially Bad for Connecticut
It is the position of the Connecticut Chapter BOD that "auto assign" is especially bad for the Connecticut Chapter.
You see, if you change mailing address in Connecticut, you risk having your affiliation changed and being dropped as a Connecticut Chapter member and being affiliated with a New York Chapter.
In other words, the STC uses "auto assign" to change your affiliation away from the Connecticut Chapter even if you stay in Connecticut. This is not just about moving from Connecticut to California, it's about moving from Vernon to the Bridgeport-Fairfield town line.
(The STC email tells that the change affects members moving close to New York, but in practice, the change actually affects some addresses that are closer to Hartford than New York City.)
Furthermore, this "auto assign" feature only serves to take members away from the Connecticut Chapter when they move within Connecticut. For example, STC members in Massachusetts who move away from Boston and closer to Connecticut, such as Springfield, do not have their affiliation changed to the Connecticut Chapter.
Now, bear in mind, all along, the Connecticut Chapter BOD has been moving meetings around Connecticut, principally in the I91 corridor, New Haven, plus Orange, out to the Route 8 corridor, and Trumbull to better serve the various Connecticut counties. We were unaware that members were being "auto assigned" away from us in some of these regions.
Please Consider
The Connecticut Chapter BOD only wants to put change in chapter affiliation in your hands, especially if you change addresses within the small state of Connecticut. We do not want to "auto assign" members away from any chapter, including New York, just as we do not want members "auto assigned" away from us.
Additionally, you cannot log on to your STC account and turn off "auto assign." There is no such control; you don't have access to it. Reportedly, when you renew your membership, there is an "auto assign" control, but this author has yet to find anyone who remembers it.
And, ask yourselves, how useful is "auto assign"? How often in a year do you change your mailing address that "auto assign" is worth not having control of your chapter affiliation.
My Goodness, What Happened?
"Auto assign" has actually caused harm, as you would expect any software feature that alters a users preferences in a significant way without asking or notifying the user.
The factual story goes like this:
"Once upon a time, at the beginning of April, 2007, the Connecticut Chapter President wanted to change the address at which he (we've since elected a new President) received his STC magazines. So he did.
The Connecticut Chapter President was a member of the Connecticut and Boston chapters.
So, the CT Chapter President changed his mailing address (there's actually only one address) to a town that's marginally closer to Hartford than New York City (closer distance to Hartford and significantly closer to Hartford based on time driving to NYC or time driving to the train and taking the train to NYC).
So, unbeknownst to the CT Chapter President, the STC dropped him from membership of the Connecticut Chapter, added him to a New York chapter, and left his Boston membership alone.
There was no notification. No decision by the CT Chapter President to drop the chapter of which he was president. No nothing. Imagine his surprise when a shocked Connecticut Membership Manager called him to ask "what happened? why'd you leave?"
Since then, as you can imagine, a host of silliness has ensued and the Connecticut Chapter BOD was unable to resolve anything until the STC decided to send an email to members living in Connecticut ....
In Conclusion
I, the former Connecticut Chapter President (author of this article with agreement of the current chapter President), have a bunch of funny stories related to this whole situation that will make for good after-meeting conversation. Hopefully, this issue will have a happy ending.
Please join me in supporting the Connecticut Chapter BOD when voting:
On the issue of both questions, as a member of the STC in Connecticut, please disable "auto assign."
If I change my address, especially within the state of Connecticut, I understand I will have to deliberately and manually change my chapter affiliation. I do not want my chapter affiliation changed unless I explicitly make the change.
Hey, and please stop by and BLOG your thoughts on this!!
The Result
The STC emailed us the result. Nothing changes chapter-wide. See the blog for more information, http://stcct.wordpress.com.