2006 GOLD Congress Break-Out Discussion Topics Lori Hogan Region 7 GOLD Coordinator

How this will work IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON Four discussion groups, four discussion topics/problems

How this will work (continued) IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON Approximately 45 minutes for discussion –Appoint someone to keep the discussion going in the general area of your specific problem, someone to keep track of time (to keep things on track), someone to organize and record the group's thoughts –Be creative, honest and open to other ideas... We need new solutions and ideas that can be implemented!

How this will work (continued) IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON Approximately 45 minutes for presentations –Only one/two presenters per group, about 5 minutes for presentation –Include: Interpretation/insight/better definition of topic Overview of top 5-10 ideas/solutions Possible obstacles Suggested plan of implementation –Five minutes for further group discussion

Topic #1 – Regional GOLD Committee IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON Unsuccessful attempts have been made to start communications leading to a Regional GOLD Committee –Does the Region need such a committee? –What structure should such a committee have? –How would this committee communicate/meet/make decisions? –How would/could this help promote GOLD in Canada?

Topic #2 – Community/Industry Support of GOLD IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON Many successful Regional and Sectional GOLD programs have support and sponsorship from community and industry sponsors –What benefits can GOLD provide to this relationship, and how to prove this? –Who are possible local/national industry partners? –Need to develop a set of guidelines for such relationships?

Topic #3 – GOLD/GSM/SAC/WIE Interaction IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON Often there is a disconnect between SBs and their Sections, and lack of transition. But it's advantageous to AGs to change that, can bring new blood into AG! –What are main similarities between Student Members and “GOLD members”? Differences? –Where do GSMs fit in? –Programs/ideas for interaction with students GOLD AGs and WIE AGs face similar challenges in volunteer/member retention –How can GOLD and WIE work together at the Section level and Region level to help each other?

Topic #4 – Getting the Message Out IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON Currently have Aurum to let members know what is happening with GOLD regionally, is this enough? –What would get members' attention? Non-members' attention? –What is currently being done at the Section level to communicate? –Would a virtual community, message board, wiki, etc. make sense? Would people use it? What info do people want?

Topic #5 – “Making GOLD Relevant” IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON Sometimes non-members don't see how IEEE and GOLD are useful, and even IEEE members don't see how GOLD fits in –What aspects of GOLD are useful and relevant both in the general profession and IEEE-specific? –What promotion can be done to show this to doubters? –What's not relevant? What could be easily changed or added?

Topic #6 – Affinity Group Volunteer Recruitment and Retention IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON We've all seen volunteers go and have trouble replacing them;some of us have seen groups falter because there is no one to take up the slack. –Why do good volunteers leave? –How can we reward and recognize volunteers? –How can we attract new volunteers? –How can we make transition painless?

Topic #7 – GOLD Affinity Group Operations Manual IEEE Canada 2006 GOLD Congress, Toronto ON It's been suggested that creating a standard resource for GOLD AG Chairs and volunteers would be a good way to keep people informed and thus making it easier to run your AG –Is this important? –What format should it take? Document, online resource, wiki, video, etc.? –What work would be needed? –Suggest committee structure to take this on