SIGSOFT Viability Report * William G. Griswold Chair *items in italics are new initiatives

Membership and Volunteer Development Continued slow membership drop (10.4% to 2733) Long-term retention rate fairly stable (84%) –1-year retention down from mid 50s to mid 40s –total retention stable at 75% No trouble finding conference volunteers –but some issues under active management (more later) Not clear what to do with volunteer volunteers –most volunteer for conference organization, PCs, etc. –try to redirect into areas of need or personal passion –a few contributing to newsletter, which is a need New town meeting format has energized discussions –digital publication, initiatives, value of membership…

Conferences Diverse conference sponsorship program (~14/yr) –main events: ICSE, FSE, ISSTA, … –a lot of partner events: ASE, MODELS, PASTE, CBSE, SOFTVIS, … –partnering is a challenge due to conflicting cultures, etc. ICSOC switched from co-sponsored to in-coop w/o consultation High student attendance continues (~50%) –healthy on the whole, but are professors overcommitted? –looking beyond having regular attendees subsidize –also increased CAPS, introduced childcare program Most now distributing digital proceedings –trying to publish in DL on/before start of conference

Financials Fund balance increased by $340K to $1M –discretionary funds increased by $221K –twice rate of previous period, mostly from DL ($100K/year) also savings from hybrid paper/digital newsletter (SEN) Conference enrichment program underway –Flexible contingencies –Increase in CAPS, new childcare program –Will probably put DL income back into conferences (e.g., reduce charge for overhead) help keep student registration fees low hard when working with other societies that charge overhead

Publications and Other Member Benefits Bi-monthly newsletter –tip of the iceberg delivered by post –rest in DL (no proceedings issues) ICSE proceedings available as plus package (9%) Member access to SOFT part of DL Discounted registration at conferences Awards –Research, Service, Educator –ICSE MIP, Impact Paper –Frank Anger Student Travel Award Conference attendance programs –childcare (all members) and CAPS (students)

Past and Future Challenges Sliding membership –recruitment campaign now underway having small impact Aged bylaws –finally revised with help of new guidelines; small bit being voted on Getting authors to reference ACM DL rather than self-publish – campaign to conference authors has not been big success –hoping new ACM DL author page will help (but misses things) Involvement of academics from developing regions –new liaisons from north and south Asia (HK and India) –interest in extending CAPS idea –partnering with Indias CSI/SIGSE and their ISEC conference Dist. Paper Awardees re-present papers at conference Rising conference costs –plowing DL revenue back into conferences may be solution –subsidize student attendance, others in need registration fee, CAPS, childcare, developing regions ICSE, our big conference, has become unwieldy –finding organizers, coordinating with co-sponsors –hiring secretariat of some kind; new MOU in works; see previous item