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Next Meeting : Free Dinner?! : National
Engineers Week : SoutheastCon 2000Theme
: Editor: Officers
October 26, 2000
Joint Section/SoutheastCon planning/organizational meeting
Mark Stokes
The Piedmont Section of the IEEE is set to host SoutheastCon 2001. The event is scheduled for the end of March, 2001. In preparation of this conference, an organizing committee has been formed to take care of the planning. For the October meeting, it was decided that we would meet jointly with the executive members of that committee to gather insight to the conference and so they will be able to learn how the conference could best benefit the Piedmont members.
What is SoutheastCon? SoutheastCon is a conference that is held at a different section within the Southeast region (region 3). Some of the goals of the conference:
We have planned a good deal of this conference based on previous years experience. However, we would still like input on such topics as:
Volunteer positions to help out with the organization of the conference will also be discussed.
In addition to this conference discussion/planning, we will discuss the
future of the Piedmont section. Attendance has been hovering with a small core group of
attendance for months and we need to find more ways to attract more of our 450 members. If
you have a question or a comment on this, please plan to attend. We are always open for
suggestions. Part of the reason we are having the meeting in Greenville is to try to
accommodate more of the membership (which centers in Greenville).
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Nick Pasquerilla
The Executive Committee of the IEEE Piedmont Section has decided to provide free meals at some Section meetings! This is how it works. By limiting the distribution of our paper newsletter to 4 times per year, we can supplement our dinner costs at meetings. Currently it is costing us around $300 per month to send out the newsletter, due mainly to postage costs. We are going to only mail a newsletter during the final month of the quarter (September, December, March and June). The newsletter will be written every month, except during the summer, and both posted on our web site and e-mailed to those on our e-mail list. With the money we do not give to the U.S. Postal Service, we can give to the membership by buying the meal during the second month of the quarter (October, February, April, no meeting in July). You will need to check the newsletter for specifics. Please contact any officer by a method listed on this newsletter if you still require a mailed hard copy or with any other comments. We will wait until this coming December to implement the new policy to give us time to figure out all of the logistics and to hear from you.
Nick Pasquerilla
Every year for the past six years our Section has made visits to schools, usually associated with National Engineers Week. Although National Engineers Week is in February, we must plan far ahead to allow the schools to plan. The Professional Engineering group in this area does most of the coordination with the schools. We then supply Engineers to do a Career Day at a Middle School, Classroom discussion at a High School, judge a Science Fair, etc. If you are interested in participating in such an activity, please contact Nick Pasquerilla by a method listed on this newsletter.
(Continued from first page)
In addition to planning future Piedmont section meetings, we will also accept nominations for new officer positions. Many positions have become vacant. I have mentioned the benefits of leadership in the Piedmont section in the past and will brief members on what those benefits are at the meeting. Did you know that Jamaica is part of our region? Did you know that they are bidding for SoutheastCon 2003? As an officer, you may be asked to take a paid trip to Jamaica to attend this conference.
The meeting will be held at the Ryans at 2426 Laurens Road, Greenville
Agenda:
6:30pm – Social ½ hour
7:00pm – Dinner
7:30pm – Meeting begins
(The meeting will be held to at most 1-½ hours)
I am coordinating a carpool for those individuals that found getting to the Ramada in Clemson easier than the drive to Greenville. Meet at 6:00pm at the Ramada if you are interested. I urge other members to do the same for your friends and co-workers. You don’t have to be an officer to help out in this capacity.
The SoutheastCon 2001 executive committee is working hard to make 2001 a great conference, but we need your help, we need a theme. If you’re feeling creative, please consider submitting a theme to the committee. Need an idea for a theme? Check out past SoutheastCon web pages. There is a list of a few past SoutheastCon web pages that can be found on the SoutheastCon 2001 web page. Oh and by the way, we are giving $25 cash for the chosen theme. Happy designing and good luck! SoutheastCon 2001 web page can be found:
http://www.carol.net/ieee/secon2001
Mark Stokes
Getting the Newsletter too late to make the meeting? Have an email address? Send it to me. I am usually done with the newsletter more than a week in advance of the meeting, however, because of printing times, USPS, etc., it doesn’t arrive until just before the meeting. I do send the newsletter via email right after I write it! I can email it to you as soon as it’s done! The newsletter will come in plain text. It is also available online at the web page listed above.
Use this space to reach over 450 IEEE members in the Piedmont section.
The Piedmont Potential is offering space for sale. Please contact Mark Stokes.
CHAIRMAN Mark Stokes (864) 647-2065 m.stokes@ieee.org
VICE-CHAIRMAN
SECRETARY/TREASURER Nick Pasquerilla (864) 882-2414 ext.1771 n.pasquerilla@ieee.org
MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Allen Thomas (864) 228-4322 a.thomas@ieee.org
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES Nick Pasquerilla (864) 882-2414 ext.271 n.pasquerilla@ieee.org
STUDENT ACTIVITIES Dr. John Komo (864) 656-5916 john.komo@ces.clemson.edu
EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES Lee Stogner (864) 281-8276 l.stogner@ieee.org
NEWSLETTER EDITOR Mark Stokes (864) 647-2065 m.stokes@ieee.org
AWARDS Dr. Randy Collins (864)656-5920 randy.collins@ces.clemson.edu
The Piedmont section of the IEEE is still offering sections of its newsletter for advertising space. If you are interested in supporting this effort, please contact one of the officers listed above.
-Mark