W HY JOIN ASA? ( AND OTHER SOCIETIES ) Alicia Carriquiry Iowa State University

O UTLINE Benefits of membership Committee structure (somewhat outdated). Opportunities to volunteer and participate. Other professional associations. Personal experiences.

B ENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP Some of the more obvious ones: Stay up to date with the profession through journals, magazines and other publications. Have a say (through your vote) in the leadership of the profession. It matters. Hear about professional opportunities (job announcements, for example). Participate in continuing education: webinars, short courses.

B ENEFITS OF MEMBERSHIP Some not so obvious benefits: Get to meet your future colleagues. Make friends in the profession that will last a life-time and with whom you will spend time at meetings, exchange invitations, etc. Learn how to communicate with a wide range of statisticians. Be part of a community that is broader than your own university, or company or government agency.

T HE ASA COMMITTEE STRUCTURE ASA is a large association with a wide variety of members: Members’ needs and wishes are also varied; ASA must try to meet them all. A large number of committees (~70) carry out a wide range of tasks associated with: Membership issues: opinion surveys, services, expansion… Meetings: where to hold them, how much to charge… Minorities and women in statistics Public policy issues.

O PPORTUNITIES FOR PARTICIPATION Committees are a great gateway into the association. New committee members must be selected each year (~3 per committee so about 200 people). Elector is President-Elect, and election happens early each year. Each committee keeps its own web site. Posted are: Budgets for past years. Membership. Meetings and meeting reports.

V OLUNTEER ! Explore the committee charges to see whether any is doing interesting (for you) work. Check out the membership – are students involved? If not, might students be involved? To go about volunteering, steps are: Find the committees that set your toes on fire. Read the charge carefully and understand their mission. Contact the current committee chair and the appropriate ASA Vice President. If appointed, do the best possible job. You will be remembered!

O THER ORGANIZATIONS ASA is the largest organization of statisticians, but not the only one! Other organizations have less general missions or focus on specific aspects of statistics. Examples: Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS): International scope, more focused on academic statisticians, almost exclusively PhDs as members. East (West) North American Region of the International Biometric Society (E(W)NAR): Domestic focus, but strongly directed toward statistics in the biological, medical agricultural and environmental sciences.

O THER ORGANIZATIONS ( CONT ’ D ) Yet others: International Statistical Institute (ISI): Many government statisticians belong to the ISI. Fully international, headquartered in Holland. International Society for Bayesian Analysis (ISBA): For Bayesians (who have more fun!). National societies: Statistical Society of Canada (SSC): one of the co-sponsors of the JSM. The Royal Statistical Society (RRS). Many others. Many offer free membership to students (IMS, ISBA), others charge a nominal annual fee (ASA).

P ERSONAL EXPERIENCES Member (since I was a student) of ASA, IMS, and for many years of ISI, ISBA and ENAR. Have been in a leadership position in all of them, but served on many committees before that. At ASA, was first asked to be the Program Chair for the Biometrics Section when a hole had to be plugged. After that, I was nominated for other positions in the association. 1999: Overall program chair for the JSM : Vice President of ASA. Lots of work, but lots of visibility as well.

P ERSONAL EXPERIENCES ( CONT ’ D ) Formerly: Past President of ISBA Past Member of Executive Committee of IMS Member of Board of Directors of ISI Past member of Regional Advisory Board of ENAR Through all of those appointments I have had a chance to: Participate in the setting of direction for the profession. Interact with colleagues in other sectors who hire our graduates.

I N SUMMARY … Regardless of your choice of career path, you will benefit from participating in a professional association. Explore the various associations and find the one that suits you best. Become a member, volunteer and build your own professional community.