Running a Chapter Meeting

Schedule and Venue

We have a standard schedule for each chapter. This schedule is also included at the end of the OpCom minutes. The schedule guarantees that each chapter can book a speaker without the risk of stepping on another chapter. It is possible for a chapter to hold a meeting on a different day if required, although it needs more coordination.

It’s very important to settle on a place and date (e.g. last Wednesday of the month for EMBS), and stick to it. People get in the habit of “just showing up,” and if there is no one there, the habit gets broken and your meeting attendance drops off fast. The pandemic has certainly disrupted this goal, but we hope to get back to this cadence eventually.

There are many avenues finding a venue for an event.

  • Hub101 has been graciously allowed us to use their facility. We have a designated volunteer within IEEE-BV who acts as our representative to Hub101.
  • A local library will often offer free access to their meeting rooms.
  • We have also use Thousand Oaks’ Los Robles Golf Course clubhouse for chapter and section activities. The City of Thousand Oaks used to underwrite the cost of the facility (including food service) for non-profit organizations such as IEEE.

Finding Speakers

Once you have a reasonably solid idea about the venue, you can reach out to the speaker and give him or her a suggested date. If possible it is nice to give them a selection of dates.

Speakers have rarely declined our invitations, even with the long drive that some of them have. The IEEE organization has a very good reputation, our audience is a delight to interact with, and our speakers are very gracious and interested in sharing their work.

One challenge can be with coordinating our meetings with the speakers’ schedules. At one point, some chapters were able to book speakers 12 months in advance.

There are several avenues to find speakers.

  • Local companies. Found on the internet by searching corporate listings or searching the internet on key words and a geographical location. LinkedIn is also a good resource.
  • Local colleges. The information is often on the schools’ website. By searching for the professors working in the field in each school, names and areas of specialties will surface.
  • Local conferences and events. Save the speaker lists and topics of conferences you attend.
  • IEEE Distinguished Speakers. Many technical societies have lists of distinguished speakers who can be invited to come to your speaker events. (CS example)
  • Your audience. Ask them to suggest speakers.

Publicity

Here are a few of the tools we use:

  • Section newsletter. The newsletter comes out at the end of each month, and a summary of upcoming section events is sent out each Sunday. Newsletter guidelines are on our web site.
  • IEEE vTools. IEEE vTools Events and vTools eNotice are the standard IEEE tools for reporting and publicizing events. IEEE has tutorials on how to use vTools. All section and chapter officers should have access. The events calendar rolls up to other IEEE tools, such as “e-Lynx” (put together by a volunteer to summarize Southern California events).
  • Eventbrite is an alternate tool for event registration. It is both more flexible and more complex than vTools. The section has put together guidelines on how to use it. Contact the Chapter Chair if you need access.
  • Local newspapers. Some will run event listings for free in their calendar section. Some suggestions are on our web site.
  • Social media. Our section has a Facebook page, a LinkedIn group, and a YouTube community. Contact the Chapter Secretary if you would like access.

Example: CS Checklist

The Computer Chapter uses a checklist to make sure of who is doing what and that they have covered everything. Feel free to use this as an example, and make modify it as needed for your chapter.

Some key tasks that need to be covered ahead of time:

  • Schedule meeting in vTools or Eventbrite as applicable.
  • Send meeting information to newsletter editor.
  • Decide who will be ordering the food.
  • Decide who will be bringing water, plates, etc.
  • Decide who will be greeting the speaker.
  • Decide who will be filing the “L31” meeting report.

Running the Meeting

Some key things to do at the meeting:

  • Meeting setup
    • Put a slideshow on the screen, e.g. Learn More about IEEE
    • Greet guests and ask them to sign in.
    • Greet speaker and get presentation up.
  • Meeting intro
    • IEEE pitch: Starting March 1, new members can join for half price.
          – or –
      Starting August 15, new members can join and receive benefits through end of next year.
    • Mention upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.
    • Introduce speaker.
  • Meeting close
    • Thank speaker and present thank you certificate or gift.
    • Remind people of the topic and date of the next meeting or two.
    • Remind people to sign in before they leave.
  • Meeting teardown
    • Sign out of Zoom.
    • Turn off projector.
    • Make sure the room is tidy.
    • Take out trashcans.
    • Take down signs.

Example: EMBS Printed Publicity Materials

In the past, the EMBS chapter printed handbills, and posted them at their workplaces. In addition, they provided every meeting attendee with

Please note that these tasks are optional, depending on how many volunteers you have to complete them. Feel free to make use of the samples provided here.

Finding Funding for your Chapter

Each chapter receives $220 from IEEE headquarters for hosting at least two technical meeting per year. A bonus is paid to chapters that host six or more technical meetings. Meetings must be reported in vTools Events.

Several technical societies make additional funds available to chapters. For example, the Computer Society has a chapter grants program.

The EMBS chapter used to provide an annual chapter summary that was useful in obtaining recognition, for instance, from the IEEE and EMBS.

Focus on Your Audience

We have made our mission to listen to our audience and line up topics that are close to their top interests. To do this, some chapters use surveys periodically to keep the pulse on their interest. Here is the survey form that EMBS has used for reference.

The golden rule that we use to plan a successful event is: “The topic and the caliber of the speaker brings the audience.” We have also catered to our audience needs. Since our audience drives a long distance, we offer nourishment on site prior to the event. Getting dinners set up was not very easy but was worthwhile for the comfort of our guests.

We invite our audience members to bring friends, spouses, adult children, and colleagues to make it a more fun outing.

Cherish the Contributions of the Officers

With the success of our events comes the interest of audience members to become part of the organizing team. We welcome everyone.

Our philosophy is to work from a vision that we define at the beginning of each year. The officers scope their responsibilities around their interests which makes being an officer fun and interesting. We have a golden rule which is that each minute provided by the officers is a nugget of gold that is cherished immensely and used fully. Our officers participate to the degree that their lives permit and we support each other in our functions when one member needs some time off. We are a “guilt free” and “pressure free” organization.