Area 8 Report January 18, 2008 John M Parr, Area 8 Chair   The Evansville-Owensboro Section officers meetings have included introductory discussions as well as planning for the upcoming year. In keeping with tradition, there was little interest in volunteerism and the office of treasurer remains unfilled. Therefore, the secretary will perform the additional treasurer duties. Several new ideas are being considered by the new officers for 2008. These include:      - purchase of a portable video projector and display screen for use at meetings      - purchase of a digital video camera to record the meeting presentations      - adoption of Google Calendar for scheduling and promotion of activities      - creation and maintenance of a section website by the student club(s)   The 2-year decline in Lexington Section membership has apparently stopped. The Region 3 Membership History by Section shows that the Lexington Section's membership grew by 15% in 2004, then declined by 3% in 2005 and 5% in 2006. There were 426 members at the end of 2006. An e-Notice broadcast on January 4 reached 428 valid addresses. The section’s challenge is now to significantly grow membership.   The Lexington section holds meeting year-round. However, less than 3% of the section membership typically attends meetings. The section officers are working to improve participation. The section held 13 meetings in 2007.   The Lexington Section’s first effort to start a Graduates of the Last Decade affinity group was unsuccessful. A prospective chairperson took the online GOLD training, but the effort stalled. The section officers will attempt to recruit another GOLD Chair and retry. The Lexington Section officers are attempting to interest teenagers in engineering. Four of our members staffed a table at the University of Kentucky on Engineers' Day, Saturday, February 24, 2007. We made and gave away simple battery-powered demo motors, demonstrated a binary adder, and showed video clips of arcs and fires in power substations. We also recruited volunteers to visit middle-school science classes to promote engineering and judge science fair projects.   The Lexington Section had many volunteers in 2007: • 4 officers • 6 active Committee Chairs • 4 members arranging programs • 3 members presenting programs • 8 members staffing an Engineers Day display • 4 student paper contest judges • 6 Senior Design Project reviewers • 3 elementary school science fair judges • 4 Region 3 volunteers • 6 members attending Southeastcon in Richmond, VA • 3 members attending the Region 3 meeting in Birmingham, AL   Lexington elected new officers at the December 6, 2007 meeting: Chair: Stuart Talbert Vice Chair: Adam Case Ward Treasurer: Don Hill Secretary: Ray Williams   In 2007, we had many Lexington Section volunteers: • 4 officers • 6 active Committee Chairs • 4 members arranging programs • 3 members presenting programs • 8 members staffing an Engineers Day display • 4 student paper contest judges • 6 Senior Design Project reviewers • 3 elementary school science fair judges • 4 Region 3 volunteers • 6 members attending Southeastcon in Richmond, VA • 3 members attending the Region 3 meeting in Birmingham, AL   New officers were elected at our December 6 meeting: Chair: Stuart Talbert Vice Chair: Adam Case Ward Treasurer: Don Hill Secretary: Ray Williams