April 5, 2005 Region 3 Professional Activities Report 1. An MPAC is being planned for September 17, 2005, in Tallahassee. 2. 2005 Leadership Workshop Participation Region 3 Section Professional Activities representatives were hard at work under the Tucson, Arizona sun, as they participated in the annual IEEE-USA Leadership Workshop. They were fully engaged in various workshop sessions ranging from a keynote address by Erna Grasz, Vice President of Research & Development, Nelcor Products/Tyco Healthcare. She spoke about leadership happening at all levels, to recommending issues on which IEEE-USA should focus during the 2005 and 2006. Dr. Grasz is a national S-PAC speaker too. Other sessions included U.S. Competitiveness, Offshoring & Technology Policy (Ron Hira VP Career Activities & Russ Lefevre, VP Technology Policy. This session concentrated on the status and nature of offshoring and working with government to influence technology policy. A second track, headed by Jean Eason, Chair, Employment & Career Services Committee, addressed IEEE-USA Programs on Jobs and Careers. One new product, JobNavigator, will be launched in May 2005, in a partnership with Spherion. It is a career transition service for IEEE members. The third track, titled, IEEE-USA Communications & Successful Local Media Coverage, was chaired by Chris McManes, IEEE-USA staff, Senior Marketing Communications & PR Coordinator and Maura Schrier-Fleming, Chair, Professional Activities, Dallas Section. Besides the basics of Communications 101, Ms. Fleming described a successful section program whereby she arranged for the local public TV station to air interviews with engineers from the section. The interviews showcase what engineers do in their daily lives on the job, the issues they encounter, and the technical solutions they provide. The beauty of this program is communicating to the public what engineers do, and what contributions they make to society. Your Section PACE chair will have all the details on this any all the other programs. In addition to the three main tracks, Leadership Workshop organizers planned four workshops that expanded on the topics of the main tracks. These workshops were conducted by expert consultants. Peggy Hutcheson, CEO The Odessey, and a member of the IEEE-USA Employment & Career Services Committee, spoke on finding success and fulfillment: Career Development Challenges in the 21st Century. Steve Watkins. IEEE-USA Congressional Fellow and Erica Wissolik, IEEE-USA Staff, talked about working with senators and members of Congress. Then Gary Blank, Chair, AICN Coordinating Committee and Bruce Johnson, IEEE-USA, Vice Chair, AICN Coordinating Committee, talked about the nuts and bolts of starting your own consultants network. Don Herres, Tarek Lahdhiri, and Vishnu Pandey talked the value of S-PACs and M-PAC to IEEE-USA members. Nigel Brisow, CEO, Targeted Learning and IEEE-USA Employment & Career Services member, had a session on ÒBeyond Job Satisfaction.Ó Russ Harrison, IEEE-USA Staff, talked about ÒGetting to Know Your Congressman.Ó Larry Nelson, Region 1 representative, Precollege Education Committee, talked about ÒLow Cost/No Cost Engineering In The Classroom: An Outreach.Ó And, our Own Lee Stogner, Chair, IEEE-USA Government Activities Committee, talked about project management for the local section. John Steadman, Past President, IEEE-USA talked about engineering licensure and registration. At the Saturday night banquet, four of our Region 3 volunteers: George McClure, Lee Stogner, Don Hill, and Bill Marshall, were recognized with various awards. Their pictures and types of awards are isted elsewhere in this issue. Congratulations to all for dedicated service to our IEEE-USA members in Region 3 and beyond. We are very proud of their accomplishment and service. Finally, Region 3 delegates submitted two recommendations to IEEE-USA for consideration, highlighting the issues we see IEEE-USA should focus on: 1. Recommend that IEEE-USA promotes aggressive negociation to offer more cost effective health insurance plans for IEEE members. 2. Promote communication that will enable information to and from IEEE members. The Leadership Workshop was a great avenue for our PACE coordinators to get necessary resources. Adeeb Hamzey Region 3 Professional Activities Coordinator.