Blue Sky Update Melissa Tata & Rachael Stedman Nov 1, 2010

2 Agenda Review project wish list update from Rachael and discuss Review actions & notes from BOD2 Potential blue sky idea from BOD2 Value proposition Increasing member retention Increasing member engagement Success/competition visibility Develop action plan with owners reporting back status at BOD3

3 Depiction of what process looks like Page 3

4 Overview Concept: Crowd source projects that would add significant value to the Society, but require resources the Society does not currently have available. Requirements: An interface for capturing and sharing ideas generated by BOD members (or perhaps all SWE members) for improvements to the Society. Process: Professionals or students can volunteer to take on a project and commit any amount of time. Unfinished projects can be taken up by the next volunteer or the Society when resources become available. Volunteers could be rewarded in some fashion for their contributions. Benefits: Good ideas don’t go to waste Provides new opportunities for members to contribute to Society (i.e. members have the flexibility of choosing smaller, discrete projects versus full-blown leadership commitments) Potentially could be a platform for collecting ideas from all SWE members When projects are contributed successfully, the Society benefits greatly from member input Can accomplish a little more towards goals every year

5 Questions Do we believe we have members who will want to lead these projects? Do we want members to pick what they want to work on after we prioritize which projects fit best with our strategic and ops plans? What tools should we use to post these projects for members? Who will scope the total project effort and expertise required? How do we ensure the best projects are resourced? How do we recognize the members that lead the projects? Would we open the projects to CPC members to assign resourecs too?

6 Actions from BOD2 I was remiss and did not follow up on these actions from BOD2 discussion –Evaluate $ for value added projects – Stacey –Project list to members to see if anyone can lead – Rachael share best practices –Member survey – Betty –Brand change reason to RG – Linda/Betty –BOD2020 behaviors structure –P&S template & mega issues to submit blue sky ideas – Melissa –A la carte or package membership – Alyse –Leveraging marketing data – Betty provide data

7 Notes from BOD 2 We will never have enough staff Invest $ aligned to our goals Products for niche Move beyond staff/BOD definitions Risk aversion is an obstacle Emerging market size/opportunity Need to adjust to changing member needs How can we be more effective/practical/simple Roberts rules- how is tool being used Barrier to involvement – what do you need to know/ how much do you need to know Online sales – promote brand Website is key interface with members Use $ to Society advantage Need to stop doing some things to fit in others –Use P&S to look at ROI Consistent member satisfaction Brand strategy vs section model Serving women engineers or members Increase micro-payments Leadership certification Environment for blue sky idea Need activators BOD2020 – address volunteer burnout Customized membership How do we get more $?

8 Potential Blue Sky Idea from BOD 2 Could we have members pay for more services and reduce both membership price and what it includes for free? Would this help increase membership with lower starting rates? What would this do to profitability? For this to work we’d need to be able to clearly understand our member priorities – do we? What happens to life members? What are other member needs we can enable cheaply or free? Mentoring; career center; best practices on retention; global network What parts of SWE do most members enjoy – do they come to our website? Attend webinar? Do specialized offerings help? If yes, what specialties? –How do we find ample resources to develop niche solutions? How can we provide services at the right price and still be profitable? –Digital magazine How do we separate what companies are willing to pay for individual vs what an individual will pay? Leadership training, awards, etc

9 Value Proposition What is our SWE value proposition and does it need to be updated? –How do we communicate it in 7 words or less so it becomes an “elevator speech” for all our members? –How do we articulate the value for international, collegiate, middle mgmt, etc? How do we account for member value and brand in our budgeting and P&S assessment processes? How do we leverage our sections/regions to convey our brand consistently? What services are valued most by members, corporate partners, etc? –PD, conferences, local section meetings, outreach tools, etc? How do we vary our value proposition like for international members? How do we currently meet needs for subsets of membership (products and services)? ―How do we do this better, faster, cheaper, more effectively than anyone else? What tools should we offer virtually? Are there certifications we could provide? How can we get data on what non-members want that would convert them to members? Do we need better adherence to our brand guidelines and are they readily accessible?

10 Increasing Member Retention Does where we spend our energy match our strategic priorities and member desires? How often should we survey members and what should we ask? What is our retention? Why do members stay? Are there factors that affect this like participation? Do we follow up with members who don’t stay to find out why? Is the average time of membership in SWE increasing or decreasing? How do we recognize membership milestones? How do we currently meet needs for subsets of membership (products and services)? –How do we do this better, faster, cheaper, more effectively than anyone else? Why do members decide to become leaders? Why do leaders drop out? How often do members share SWE information? ―What info do they share and how? (forward newsletters, mention SWE online) ―How can we better enable this? ―Does this lead to more participation/membership? How do engage members that don’t go to section meetings?

11 Increasing Member Engagement What can we learn from FIGs? Are these a good method to engage groups of members? Should we set up more FIGs and if yes, how and on what topics? –How do we make them easy to sustain? –Do we need a method to determine their effectiveness so we can pick the critical few to focus on? What should our goals be for participation and how can we drive more? –# people engaged, level of engagement –Is it same people so we need new programs or can we leverage what we have with new audiences? How do we use our Community to better engage members? –Linkage to facebook, linkedin, etc for discussions –Are there ways to make it easier to see who is online, see upcoming events and add comments (should we post all our webinars on facebook), post pictures, etc How can we expound on our successes to engage more members, generate more revenue? –2 nd conference; more webinars?

12 Success/Competition/Visibility How do we better share our successes? Who is our competition? –What do they do better than us? What do we do better than them? –What do their goals look like? What does their structure look like? Are women’s networking groups within companies a threat? –These are on the rise and provide some similar benefits to SWE and are free –How do we make SWE the more compelling option and how do we capitalize on these groups within companies? –Group viewing of webinars Do we have any IP? How do we get SWE to come up more in Google search? How do we get more PR and search engine optimization? Where are there market gaps that SWE can address?

13 Action Plan & Owners We will review any blue sky idea submissions at ASPR meeting What are the key next steps? What individuals or groups can we have start working on these actions? What status can we expect to see at BOD3?