Many of the best and brightest technical communicators in Florida were once members of the Future Technical Communicators (FTC) student club at UCF. This year, we are pleased to celebrate more than 20 years of student leaders of FTC. We encourage FTC members past and present to join with STC Florida chapter friends for this year’s joint meeting.
Join us this Friday, February 25 from 6:30-8:30 for a panel of outstanding, past FTC leaders as they share their experiences since graduation and answer your questions about what they have learned. To join this free meeting, RSVP on the chapter website and we will send you the link to join on Zoom.
We are welcoming the following panelists:
- Jen Selix
- Bonnie Spivey
- Brittney Cooke
- Rachael Swertferger
- Dana Georgopolous
- R.D. Sharninghouse
- Amy Truong
History of FTC
In 2000, two students founded FTC at UCF. Erica Olmsted, a graduate student, and Bob Whitley, an undergraduate, recognized the need for an organization that could help technical communication students develop professionally. They approached Dr. JD Applen, a professor in the English department, who agreed to serve as the faculty sponsor. Dr. Applen serves as the faculty sponsor to this day.
The original purpose of FTC was to connect students to professionals in the technical communication field and to provide weekend workshops where students helped one another learn the software and skills that were not covered in their courses. The founders wanted to create an on-campus community of students interested in technical communication. Membership in FTC was not limited to technical communication majors; some members were from other majors, such as Computer Science.
FTC Today
FTC thrives to this day, providing helpful information on jobs and internships to students, and hosting educational programming. Most recently, the club presented at Otronicon, the Interactive Technology Expo this past weekend.
The club has embraced all of the social media channels available to connect with members and has an active web presence. Since the start of the pandemic, club president John Clement has set up a Discord server to engage with students near and far.
Check out the new Future Technical Communicators website to learn more about the latest FTC activities!