2006 GOLD Congress Affinity Group Basics Lori Hogan Region 7 GOLD Coordinator IEEE Canada GOLD Congress 16 September 2006

- Local unit of an IEEE entity or standing committee established by petition to parent entity (GOLD, Consultants Network, Women in Engineering, Life members) - Formation petition requires signatures of 6 GSM- grade or higher members in good standing - Activities/meetings reported to both Section and parent entity (remember CCs on electronic L31 form!!) What is an AG? IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON

R7 GOLD AGs and Chairs Canadian Atlantic (recent): Charles Cooke Hamilton: ?? Kitchener/Waterloo: Scott Hafeman Montréal: Jean-Claude Latortue Newfoundland-Labrador (recent): Jon Anderson and Lori Hogan Northern Canada: Shyam Chadha Northern Saskatchewan: Dan Coode Ottawa: Mark Van Delst Southern Alberta: Ahsan Upal South Saskatchewan: Tonia Batten St. Maurice: Alexis Bilodeau Toronto: Aleksandra Jeremic Vancouver: Jin Ng Victoria: Subhasis Nandi Winnipeg: Justin Olivier IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON

What’s the least an AG can do? Two meetings a year reported to Section and GOLD Committee Have a Chair to oversee the group and liaison with the Section and Regional GOLD Committee Communicate with Section executive (and your members) on a regular basis After three years of no reporting, GOLD AG officially dissolved by RAB after trying to contact group IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON

Having and Reporting Meetings Can be administrative, technical, social, professional –A good idea is to mix it up! –Can be joint with Student Branch, Section, WIE/Society Chapter, etc. –GOLD events can be for everyone, not just GOLD members or even IEEE members Reporting done through L-31 form; if doing electronically, make sure to forward to Section secretary and Region GOLD Coordinator! IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON

What does a GOLD Chair do? GOLD members’ representative in the Section Connect GOLD members with the Section Lead and motivate other GOLD volunteers in running IEEE events Coordinate activities for GOLD members Take the opportunity to understand IEEE as an organization and consider volunteering in other areas IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON

What shouldn’t a GOLD Chair do? Be directly responsible for recruiting new members to IEEE –Focus on good events and services and get the word out! Run after members who don’t come to events –Evaluate why attendance is poor, how that can be changed Doing everything himself/herself –More volunteers means more things can get done, transition in leadership when it’s time to move on –If there isn’t anyone volunteering, important to figure out WHY NOT IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON

How to get money for events? Rebate to Section for GOLD Activities –US$200 providing reporting requirement has been met! Quick-Start Incentive Fund - $200US –Also includes funds matching up to an extra $300 US –Can only be received ONCE per Affinity Group Funds from local industry? Section? Region? Explore the possibilities! IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON

Notes on Leadership… Main Challenge: –Inspire recent graduates and general GOLD members to become active Success Criteria: –More young professionals participate in IEEE activities (not just GOLD activities) –More recent graduate volunteers No ‘one size for all’ solution Try to organize a variety of events, not just social events, or events with students IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON

Leadership – Small Section Concerns: –Too few GOLD members in the Section to form a critical mass –Section executives worry that GOLD would fight Section resources with other Section activities Suggestions: –Organize activities intended for all members, but perhaps is of particular interest to GOLD members –Organize activities that may be of interest to members’ family to increase participation rate IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON

Leadership – Small Section Suggestions: –GOLD Chair works directly for the Section –If Section plans 10 events in a given year, instead of asking the Section to have 11 or 12 events per year, keep 10. Just volunteer yourself to organize 1 or 2 of those 10. –The difference is, those 1 or 2 activities now involve GOLD and are interesting to GOLD members! IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON

Leadership – Large Section Concerns: –Too many GOLD members Difficult to identify common interests Difficult to contact GOLD members with a personal touch ( and Web are less effective than Phone or Personal Meetings) Difficult to assess participation rate or plan for event size –Section is too occupied to realize potential benefits provided by GOLD IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON

Leadership – Large Section Suggestions: –Recruit a few GOLD members to form a GOLD committee (like a Student Branch) –Organize activities targeted to a small group (like 10 – 20 people) such as company tours, workshops –Organize activities that the number of participants is unimportant such as hiking, cycling, ski trip, science museum visit IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON

How to plan an event… Determine what kind of event, who the target attendees are, potential dates and locations the event can be held Estimate attendance numbers, contact speaker (if appropriate), confirm time and place and costs, determine attendance fee Publicize!!!! –Wise to get RSVPs or indication of attendance Arrange refreshments, equipment IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON

… and host an event … Take some form of attendance to gauge who is coming (number needed for report) Greet everyone, make available information/short presentation on GOLD and IEEE if event open to non-members Introduce speaker(s) Include time for discussion and questions and refreshments Thank speaker (with gift/certificate) and those who came Announce upcoming event!! IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON

… and “close off” the event Clean up, gather all materials for future use Submit L31 report, update finances –Better to do it while still fresh on mind! Write up event for Section newsletter, Aurum, future GOLD volunteers –Successes and suggestions for similar event in future IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON