May 21, 2008 Lessons Learned

GC’07 Conference Committee l General Chair: Jorome (Jerry) T. Gibbon, J&BG Consultants, USA l General Vice Chair: Karl Rauscher, Bell Labs, Alcatel-Lucent, USA l Technical Program Chair: Xuemin (Sherman) Shen, Univ. of Waterloo, Canada l Tutorial Co-Chairs: Thomas Hou, Virginia Tech., USA Qiang Zhang, Univ. of Sci. and Tech., HK, China l Workshop Co-Chairs: Ness B. Shroff, Purdue University, USA Xiaojun Lin, Purdue University, USA l EXPO Chair: Adam Drobot, Telcordia Technologies, USA l Design & Developers Forum Chair: Jeff Friedhoffer, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, USA l Access’07 Business Forum Co-Chairs: David Waring, Telcordia and WTC Liaison, USA Dilip Krishnaswamy, Qualcomm, USA l Student Travel Grant Chair: Lin Cai, Univ. of Victoria, USA Nov. 30, l GITC Advisor: Paul Hartmann l Local Arrangements Chair: Donald Rickerson, Personal Satellite Network, Inc., USA l Patronage Chairman: Tim Weil, Booz Allen Hamilton l Exposition Operations Manager: Stephanie Houck, Spargo l Exhibits Sales Representative: Connie Shaw, Spargo l Marketing Chair: Denny Moen l Finance Chair: Douglas H. Holly, JDSU, USA l Treasurer: Bruce Worthman, IEEE Communications Society l Conference Secretary and Local Administrative Support Debra Meale, IEEE National Capital Area l Meetings Managers: June Leach-Barnaby, IEEE Communications Society Gayle Weisman, IEEE Communications Society

Listen to and Utilize ComSoc Staff l We started out wanting to do our own thing. l We lacked the experience l We lacked the staff l About a year into the bid we changed and let ComSoc set the overall direction l They provided great advice l They helped us avoid many pitfalls l Their guidance provided great results

Marketing is a Good Investment l Patron program to secure investors l Find a contact in a company l Network at events l Comsoc member connections l Targeted Advertising in the local Area to drive attendance l Radio, Web, Papers l Local companies

Coordinate and Clarify Expo l The role, and relationship of Expo was unclear l The role, purpose and relationship of Expo was unclear l Patrons are a critical source of income (10% of GC07) l Establishing ground rules and coordinating Expo and Patron programs is key to avoid confusion

Set-up a Volunteer Capture- Coordinator l Over the years we had many people volunteer that we did not effectively follow-up with. l We should have assigned someone to: l Capture contact info and build a database l Captured their interest for later reference l Send out updates to let them know what was happening l Ask them to take specific roles

It Takes A Great Team

One Last Thought l The GLOBECOM 2007 Team would particularly like to thank: l June Leach-Barnaby l Gayle Weisman l Bruce Worthman l Although many people contributed it was their guidance, vision, hard work and faith in us that made this conference a success