IEEE ACT, Australia Membership Development Strategy & Plan

IEEE ACT, AustraliaMembership Development Strategy & Plan Sakari Mattila IEEE ACT Membership Chair Australia Capital Territory sakari_mattila@yahoo.com photo

Topics IEEE ACT MD Strategy IEEE ACT Situation IEEE ACT MD Plan and connections to other activities

IEEE ACT MD Strategy 1. Cooperation with local and Australia wide professional organisations, not competition with them 2. Students are interested in membership activities 3. Higher grade members are known to retain their membership more likely than basic members 4. We have a low-profile membership campaign going on all the time when advertising IEEE events 5. E-Notices going to all IEEE ACT members are best way to contact existing members, web page for continuous presence

Membership Situation Australia Capital Territory Large part of IEEE ACT members are employed by the three major universities or Australian government. There are a few high-tech companies in ACT. Graduate and doctoral students are the major sector for new members, especially overseas students needing international recognition Over five hundred members out of total population of about 380 000 is fair share, but the local association have proportionally more members – because of the benefits they can offer and IEEE can not. Special local issue is the IEEE members living outside the area, but working in ACT. Contacting them has been a problem for many years.

Australian Capital Territory Section Total Members Since Year 2000 Formation Date: 18 November 1988

IEEE Australian Capital Territory Section Membership31 December 2011

SWOT – Section’s Member Growth Program

Section MD Plan 1. Keep organising and promoting membership activities to retain members 2. Promoting higher grade memberships 3. Supporting higher grade membership applicants 4. When really appropriate, organising publicity events

Differentiate Audiences – Different Expectations … their needs change throughout a career … they are everywhere. When we do recruit them, 50%+ attrition rate (first-year member strategy)

Opportunities for Engaging Existing Members Visiting lecturers (DL) in cooperation with universities, industry and other professional associations Informal meetings like industry visits or BBQs The exact dates or details of the the events can not be planned, because visiting speakers usually are available only on relatively short notice, a few weeks. Student events are planned to match university timetables.

Opportunities for Engaging Prospective Members Supported student activities Visiting lecturers (DL) in cooperation with universities, industry and other professional associations The exact dates or details of the the events can not be planned, because visiting speakers usually are available only on relatively short notice, a few weeks. Student events are planned to match university timetables.

In Summary… • Section’s Membership Situation • In proportion to the population membership numbers are good • Retaining members needs constant, but not intrusive attention • Too pushy contacts will have negative responses, no telephoning nor individual letters, only private discussions in various meetings • Membership seems to be close to saturation when compared to other professional societies • Section MD Plan • Student events and visiting lecturers support • Higher grade applicant support (upgrading) • Cooperation with Australian professional societies and discreet IEEE promotion in these events

IEEE ACT, Australia Membership Development Strategy & Plan