Innovation, exciting visions of the future, and new products and services were the orders of the day for the February 2016 meeting of your AdCom held in Los Angeles CA February 5-7. Seven members-at-large and ten TEMS officers were joined by a number of special guests including:
- Charles Rubenstein, TEMS AdCom Member Emeritus, IEEE-USA Conferences Committee Chair
- Tyson Browning, TEMS TEM Department Editor
- Bin Jiang, TEMS TEM Department Editor
- Joe Sarkis, TEMS TEM Department Editor
- T. Ravichandran, TEMS TEM Department Editor
- Rob Reilly, TEMS Awards Committee Chair, Division VI Director
Preliminary meetings held on Friday included the TEMS Executive Committee, the TEMS Publications Committee and the TEMS Conferences Committee. Saturday and Sunday saw the entire AdCom engaged in presentations, discussions, team-building and candid expressions of opinion on how best to continue and expand on the success of our first year of operation as a new IEEE Society. A selection of highlights includes:
Society Vision and Plan by President-Elect:
The TEMS society is moving in a direction of significant growth by having more opportunities for engagement and improvements and discovering methods to for all members to become involved. In the conferences area we are adding in 2016 a workshop as part of the IEEE Industry Summit, a Summit in Germany, and in 2017 we will be having TEMSCON our flagship where the call for papers and information can be seen on www.temscon.org. In addition to our current events by 2018 we hope to have three TEMS conferences each year (Spring, Summer and Fall). We are examining our publications to be best suit our members and having special issues in our current publications such as one focused on Intrepreneurship and Entrepreneurship (in other words: “how to get technology from idea to product”) and evaluating the need for potentially new publications in these areas of interest. Much will be done to increase communications to the membership and upgrade our existing web, social media and email messaging. All these should provide much better opportunities for our members to engage in a highly productive society and draw their colleagues in to engage.
Appointment of an IEEE TEMS Parliamentarian:
It was decided to approve a role for a Parliamentarian. A very experienced individual currently serving as one of your elected Members-at-Large with a long record of exemplary service to the IEEE and the Engineering Management Society; and as well having an in-depth knowledge of parliamentary law and procedure volunteered to take on this responsibility ― Dr. Irving Engelson ( i.engelson@ieee.org ). Briefly; the Parliamentarian normally serves as an ex-officio consultant without vote (unless the individual has a vote in a different capacity) on the AdCom and ExCom and advises its members, committees, and officers on parliamentary law and proper procedure of conducting meetings. The parliamentarian should refrain from voting on controversial issued that were affected by his/her rulings. The parliamentarian also aids in writing, adopting, and amending governing documents such as bylaws, special rules of order, and standing rules. The Parliamentarian should be experienced in Robert’s Rules of Order and common Parliamentary Law.
Member Communications:
The AdCom examined operational issues and expressed a desire to establish a program for effective operations with the primary challenge at this time being communications. Communications among the leadership team, membership, and IEEE staff is important. It is believed that existing approaches have left many members not knowing how they can engage with the Society. Members have informed multiple AdCom members they did not understand what was going on and we value this feedback. We will continue and expand email, social media, web and other channels – using them responsibly. We will evaluate meetings of the leadership for a results approach. This includes frequency and type of meeting (virtual and face-to-face). The tradeoff between cost and productivity must be considered. Examine other matters such as expense report processing and roles of Honorary AdCom members. We will evaluate the number of AdCom meetings needed for effective evolution of the Society as a whole. Importantly everyone needs to engage and commit.
Membership:
Discussions focused upon the development of a plan to improve membership retention and attractiveness by engaging volunteers more actively in TEMS. Identification of the key messages we need to provide to members during 2016 and during the year. Building a policy for ‘push’ communications to members and potential members to ensure that they receive Society information without flooding them. Establishment of a Chapter Award. Potential implementation of a distinguished lecturer program.
Note to our TEMS Members:
All of the leaders of your society are interested in providing the best products and services to meet your needs. We welcome your suggestions and involvement. Please feel free to contact us.
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