[SBE] activating inactives

[Garrison Cavell]

Chriss

I don't know whether the following is a permitted post on this site since it
isn't purely technical, but I thought I'd lob in a comment to what seemed to
be an emerging thread.

I've been through this sort of issue (chapters fading or becoming inactive)
with similar entities, like IEEE local chapters, local NSPE chapters, and
other organizations, so you could conclude, thankfully, that this is not a
unique "SBE issue". Rather, it is a universal problem that has impacted
almost every volunteer entity and professional organization. So I guess
there's a bit of good news in this - SBE is not in and of itself the
problem. 

The bad news is - it has become increasingly hard to keep people interested
and involved - and particularly if it requires people to leave their homes
and workplaces to "come out" to any event. From my perch, it would appear
that this problem really started occurring over 5-8 years ago, but I am not
entirely sure why. 

My best guess is that an increasing lack of personal time, growing family
pressures, work demands, and little support from employers add up to almost
no spare time for members. Attrition in our ranks hasn't helped any either.
There are fewer of us (one engineer - a half dozen stations or more) so a
group of any size, even in a larger metro area, would have to draw from a
larger territory - compounding the problem.

Curiously, good technical programs often (but not always) bring people out,
but as you know, it is difficult to hit a "home run" every time. And chapter
member interest can be diverse, so keeping it relevant for everyone (so
folks will keep coming out and supporting the chapter) is a big challenge.

The successful local entities (or any sort) always seem to have a core group
of folks who are enthusiastic and seem tireless. More than likely, they have
been the "glue" for the entity for years. The problem here is that a few
retirements, relocations, or deaths can pave the way for a group's demise.
Getting newer members involved and interested in helping to "row the boat"
can be very tough (and especially if the "core" does not "let go" and give
the newbie's a chance, but I digress).

So I can offer no solutions, other than to encourage people who are
interested in reactivating a chapter (and care about what a local SBE
chapter can do for their part of the world) to: 1) try to contact the
members in the region to determine what might be interesting for chapter
activities, services and programs, 2) determine what times of day, days of
the week, would work best for the most attendance, 3) determine what meeting
frequency would be best - whether monthly, quarterly, etc., and 4) find like
minded folks to form a core group that will beat the bushes for programs,
free meeting locations, ideas for shared resources (like a local "idea bank"
or common parts pool), 4) try to learn what would be interesting to
everyone, be it technical or networking, and 5) you really need to bug folks
- keep in touch- drag them in. 

Easier said than done.

Sorry - this was well more than two centavos worth. 

- from a long time SBE member.

-- gary

Garrison C. Cavell 
Cavell, Mertz & Associates, Inc. 
7839 Ashton Avenue Manassas, Virginia 20109-2883 	
703.392.9090 General Office - 703.392.9559 Facsimile
202.332.0110 Washington, D.C. Line
www.CavellMertz.com  www.FCCInfo.com
	



-----Original Message-----
From: sbe-bounces at sbe.org [mailto:sbe-bounces at sbe.org] On Behalf Of
chscherer at everestkc.net
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 12:51 AM
To: sbe member discussion mail list
Subject: Re: [SBE] activating inactives

Help is always appreciated, but there has not been a lack of trying.