Region 3 Products and Services Offered
(Supporting Volunteers and Members)

William Ratcliff,
Region 3 Communications Committee Chair

Introduction

An organization like Region 3 has many aspects of it's operation that help define what it is. What it produces in terms of the products and services is a major part of that definition.

When it comes to enumerating products and services it is essential to orient them to the "customers" involved. There are 3 general types of customers that are served by the committees of the Region 3 Excom.

• The operation of the Region 3 ExCom
• Requests from RAB ( Regional Activities Board) and IEEE as a whole
• The Volunteers and Members at the local levels in Region 3

This article is intended to focus on the third grouping of customers... You ... the volunteer/members at the heart of IEEE. It is further intended to set the stage for a detailed discussion involving ...

• Changes that are required to meet needs and requirements to better serve the volunteer / member
• Delivery mechanisms and points of contact
• Feedback of levels of customer satisfaction

So the first step in developing this dialog is to explain what are the functional areas of products and services offered. The functional areas represented should not be assumed to correspond directly with the organizational structure of the Region 3 ExCom.

Awards and Recognition:

• Assistance and Encouragement in submission of nominations for Region and IEEE Awards
• Consulting assistance with Local Awards Committees

Conferences:

• Consulting assistance in in all aspects of conference management...
• preparation of bids
• conference Planning
• registration and administration
• audit and closing
• Point of Contact to all conference leaders in Region 3 regarding scheduling conflicts between conferences, best practices, etc

Membership Development:

• Assistance in recruiting new members and retaining existing members
• Support for Membership Grade Enhancements
• Point of Contact for MDC Chairs in Region 3
• Construct within the Region an organization to select, document and nominate deserving members to the Fellow grade and manage those nominations to successful conclusion
• Assistance in finding employment or changing employers
  (Web site being enhanced https://ewh.ieee.org/reg/3/ea/index.html )

Strategic Planning:

• Consulting assistance in planning methods
• Point of contact for recording Region 3 history

Communication Functions:

• e-Conferencing
• Guidelines in the implementation and use of e-Conferencing
• Assistance and Training in e-Conferencing tools and methodology

• Web Support
• Consulting assistance in developing and maintaining web sites
• Consulting assistance in publishing Newsletters on - line

• Newsletter
• Consulting assistance in the design, development and publishing of newsletters
• Newsletter Guidelines ( expected release January 2004)

• Public Information
• Consulting assistance in providing information to the public news sources

• Electronic Communications
• Consulting assistance in establishing e-mail lists and usage of Region 3 e-mail aliases
• Guidelines on controlling SPAM ( expected release January 2004)

Professional Activities:

• Consulting assistance to Sections and Area/Area-Councils to sponsor professional activity Special Projects and facilitate access to IEEE-USA and Region 3 resources
• Consulting assistance and point of contact for Section PACE Chairs
• Consulting assistance to student branches to hold Student Professional Awareness Conferences (S-PAC's)and sponsor Student Professional Awareness Ventures (S-PAVes)

Leadership Development:

• Maintain the Region Leadership Development Training Manual and other training aids
• Schedule, coordinate, and operate Leadership Development Workshops for the Region, Areas/Councils, and Sections.
• Maintain the currency of the, “Training Manual for Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs”.
• Consulting assistance to Areas/Councils, and Sections in the development and administration of member training activities

Industrial Relations:

• Guidelines and methods of communicating with Corporations
• Consulting assistance to Areas/Councils and Sections in establishing communications with corporate management

Direct Section Support:

• Point of interface for financial assistance to Areas/Councils, and Sections for special projects
• Consulting and assistance in the preparation of project plans and controls, budget estimates and reporting methods

Educational Activities:

• Consulting assistance to Region 3 members and Sections to nominate employers for the Region 3, “Employer Professional Development Award”
• Promote educational activities at the member level and communicate to the Educational Activities Board (EAB) the educational concerns of the membership
• Consulting assistance in organizing short courses, and publicizing educational opportunities available from the Institute or elsewhere

G.O.L.D. :

• Point of contact for G.O.L.D. Committees in Region 3

Financial:

• Consulting assistance in financial management methodologies( budgeting, tracking, planning,etc)
• Consulting assistance in financial reporting

Student Activities:

• Consulting assistance in the Annual Student Conference Hardware Design Contest
• Maintain and publish the SoutheastCon Student Conference Manual
• Point of contact with interact with the IEEE Student Activities Committee

Records Archive Management:

• Development and support of archive / knowledge management methods, guidelines and tools ( target date not determined)

This is one area that you can have a significant impact by participating in the development of the guidelines and tools needed by all organizational units in Region 3 and throughout the Institute including Areas/Council and Sections. Everyone has need of managing "the boxes of material" passed to the next group of officers.

Each one of us have experienced the feeling that we are operating alone, whether in a section or committee or simply as a member of IEEE. This list , albeit summary by design, is intended to say... "you are only alone if you choose to be". It is hoped that each of us will seek out and utilize the collaborative work spirit that continues to make IEEE a valuable element of our lives.

Please use this list in preparation to discuss your needs and help expand the capability to help each other. You are not alone as a member and volunteer in IEEE. But you do need to ASK.

If you have any questions or want specific contact information just send an e-mail to me ... Bill Ratcliff I'll be glad to help.