Initiative for Strengthening Sections, through Expanded Communications and Revenue: -- for Medium to Large Sections Paul Wesling, IEEE Life Fellow Past Communications Director, IEEE SF Bay Area Council Past Editor, e-GRID nsltr and GRID.pdf Magazine San Francisco Section Oakland/East Bay Section San Francisco Bay Area Council, IEEE Santa Clara Valley Section The IEEE GRID Magazine

Origin of this 2015 Initiative S.F. Bay Area Council, serving Silicon Valley: –Three Sections (SF, OEB, SCV) –17,000 IEEE members plus 15,000 non-members –48 chapters/groups (+30%); ~25 meetings/month –Revenue of ~$70k/year; Expenses of $38k/year –The surplus funds events, officer training, Sections Our GRID Magazine was started in 1953 –Printed as a monthly magazine until 1998 –Now Web, eNotice, ListServ, Calendar, blog, Apps We can now teach other Sections how to do it

The Program We will review your current communications: –Size; structure; chapters/groups –Entrepreneurial philosophy (vs “caretaker”) –Gather ideas, for consideration –Plan to do it a few steps at a time, 2-3 years –Help guide selection of your editor –Getting you started with revenue generation –Implement what works in your locale Full set of ~80 online tutorials, step-by-step at learn.e-grid.net

The End Result, for These Sections Develop a powerful publicity utility/service: –As a monthly PDF – the Magazine –As a twice-a-month to Members & others As a website (events come up in Google searches) –As a web log (blog) and RSS feed - Google indexing (<30 minutes – –As a Google Calendar that people can integrate into their own Calendar –As iOS and Android Apps, for needs of younger engineers (look for “IEEE GRID” in App/Play Stores) –Aimed at both Members and non-Members (to encourage non-members to attend, get involved)

Growth, for your Section While USA IEEE membership is declining: –Our non-member ListServ Dlist is increasing: <1,000 (2004), 8,000 (2011), 15,000 (2014) -- 5% CAGR –Adding 3,000 each year (non-members) –From ASME, ACM, unaffiliated engineers –Drawn by the services that we provide to the profession in our locale

Where is the Money? Major Sources (results from SFBAC GRID: 2010) –IEEE Conferences (18) US$ (24%) –Non-IEEE Conferences (19) (46%) –University/Extension Classes (3) ( 8.5%) –Employment Ads (2) ( 2%) –Chapter Seminars, Wkshops (4) ( 7%) –“Marketplace” (9) ( 7%) –Misc (7) ( 5%) TOTAL, for 2010: $ Of 37 conferences, 29 were “local” and 8 were out-of-area: San Diego, Anaheim, Beijing, Portland, Dallas, Boston

What can your Section Offer? You are the electrotechnology franchise for your geo area Key to developing a community, loyalty, readership is having content: –Several Chapter Meetings each month –Maybe Section technical seminars, etc –Frequent free Webinars from SPECTRUM, CS, ComSoc and more –Local IEEE MeetUp groups; forming new Chapters

Region 6 Initiative for 2015 Being funded by Region 6, for use worldwide On-site Workshops last year (2014): for Dallas, Orange County Sections Plan to expand to two more Sections in 2015 For detailed information, attend one of my Tutorials on Saturday (11 AM or 1 PM)

Your Take-Away Is your Section the type that would benefit? –The VISION – can you do this locally? –What RESOURCES do you already have? –Are you ENTREPRENEURIAL or caretakers? –Do you have (can you find) a CHAMPION who can lead this, and maybe be your Editor? To get started: Review with your Section team, to assess readiness –Then contact our S.F./Silicon Valley Office: Paul Wesling