Advanced Application:Creating Your Own

Local Initiatives

Paul Wesling, SFBA Council Communications Director and Webmaster

SF Bay Area Council Officer TrainingMountain View, CA

January 25, 2014

Outline

Overview of Session ObjectivesCLP: SCV’s Corporate Liaison Program– John Swan and his Team: How we did it

Professional Engineering Issues– Ron Kane, with suggested approaches

SIGHT (SIG for Humanitarian Technology)– Dan Lottis’s experiences

Other Potential Initiatives– … plus your suggestions

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Moving the local Profession Forward

What now?– You’ve been a local chapter/Section

volunteer for years – know the ropes– That’s gotten tiring/boring– You’d like to develop a “new idea” of your

own that provides our profession with something that’s missing now

What sorts of multi-year projects are there?– With IEEE/Section support– How to get started

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Ideas reviewed

CLP: executive support for local IEEEProfessional Activities, P.E.SIGHTWhat else could you do? – How would you do it?– Who might help? (Pulling your team together)– Resources?

Getting started

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My Story

Brought the GRID into the 21st Century– Was too expensive to print/mail– Editor didn’t have web/HTML expertise

Took over as editor:– Found out what advertising would sell– Built non-member subscriber base– Added features (calendar, RSS, Mobile)– Now adding Android, iOS Apps

Has been a fun project!

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Some Other Ideas for Initiatives

Presentations about starting CLP, SIGHT, Engineering professional initiatives

Then, review my next set of slides, capturing the audience suggestions.

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Some Other Ideas for Initiatives

Interviews of Local Experts– Dovetail with “SV History Committee”– Can approach technologists, leaders who

developed stuff in the past, or who are currently doing interesting things.

– The interviews would be published in the GRID.pdf, and then syndicated to other IEEE Sections, IEEE magazines, etc.

– Maybe develop podcasts, YouTube videos– Examples from SPECTRUM, COMPUTER:

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Interviews

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Interview from SPECTRUM: -- Q & A format -- Appears periodically

Interviews

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COMPUTER Magazine:-- Series of Interviews-- by Chuck Severance -- comes with a podcast -- use your WebCam -- Part is quotations, part is his writing -- covers history topics -- Either people or things -- You could do something similar with locals-- I know Chuck well

K-12, STEM Initiatives

Develop a program, or adopt current oneWork with Junior High schools– Where students (especially women) lose

interest in STEM– Set up Engng Club; do projects; invite

speakers ….

Use available resources– For teacher training– For demonstrations, field trips

E-Book Series

Perhaps you and others can develop a series of e-Books– Either topical or technical– Historical; points of view– Monographs or multi-authored

Publish for Kindle, Android, etc– Publicize– Collect royalties!

I’m doing a series now; will become 5 e-Books this summer/fall

Job Search and Preparation

Some ideas:– Gatherings of unemployed for

networking, support– Resumé workshops, practice, critique– LinkedIn training, support– Find IEEE members/managers in

local hiring companies to promote out-of-work members within.

– Develop a referral system

Wiki on IEEE Improvements for the 21st Century

The GRID is starting a discussion forum to propose improvements to IEEE:– Governance– Staffing vs Volunteers– Transparency and Openness– Fiscal Responsibility– Reduction in Member Dues– Expansion in Member benefits

You could head up a department/thrust

Webcasts of Chapter Meetings

Several chapters do it – but not yet easy:– Some use corporate facilities– Others piece together equipment

You would develop a tried-and-true way that works:– Prepare a Guide– Train chapter volunteers and trainers– Add several new chapters, 25 talks each year

Archive, as Webinars– Edit, add intro and ending, cut dead space

Be a local resource on How-To

OK, What Else?

Write suggestions on chart paper

Suggestions about who’d like to try to take on a local initiative

Open Discussion

CLEProfessional ActivitiesSIGHTInterviewsK-12, STEMe-BooksJob AssistanceIEEE ImprovementMeeting Webcasts . . . .

??????????????

Next?

If you’d like to develop an initiative, I’ll be your Point of Contact:– Help you with ideas– Put you in touch with the right Section

people– Might help build your team

Paul Wesling p.wesling@ieee.org