General

As Conference Committee Chair I have been tracking all conferences that I have
been notified by HQ to be held within the Region. I have contacted all
conferences being held in 2011 and introduced myself and offered Regional
assistance with the conferences. Only one conference to date has expressed
interest in the resources offered. I am still waiting for an official e-mail
from the conference with the information I need to generate e-notices to the
Region.

Also, as part of my efforts I am trying to start to collect data on conference
related resources that I can supply to people hosting conferences in the
Region. I have been contacted by the Norfolk CVB about potentially hosting a
conference (specifically SoutheastCon) in the Norfolk/Hampton Roads area. I
have forwarded this information to the local section.

SoutheastCon Part of my goal with SoutheastCon is to grow the conference into
a premier technical as well as Student conference. In order to do this the
Region as a co-sponsor of the conference needs to provide certain resources
to: 1) take the burden off the local organizing committees 2) create a
consistent product that can be offered year-to-year to the attendees and
exhibitors. To this end, I am going to research setting up potential long-term
contracts with vendors for: 1) Registration 2) Paper Collection, Review, and
Production 3) A/V Also, I am going to create a "SoutheastCon Standards,
Branding, and Policy" document that outlines the requirements for producing a
consistent product to our attendees. My goal is to have these products in
place for use by SoutheastCon 2012 in Orlando.

SoutheastCon 2010 - Charlotte See report filed by Jim Conrad.

SoutheastCon 2011 - Nashville I have received a report from SoutheastCon 2011.
The Nashville CVB has been difficult to deal with; however, commitments for
invitation letters from the Governor and the Mayor have been made. We still
need an invitation letter from the Region Director (Lee). A quote has been
received for A/V services. Over 150 papers have been received from the
call-for-papers. Reviews are ongoing and will be completed by late January.
The hardware competition is on schedule. Tracks are being built. Software
competion rules have been updated, reviewed, and accepted. Registration site
should be up and operational shortly.

SoutheastCon 2012 - Orlando Preliminary efforts are underway. Preliminary call
for papers will be ready by this year's SoutheastCon. I have reviewed the
property in Orlando and am impressed with the facility. The property is about
1 mile south of Universal Studios. There are also many off-site eating
establishments within walking distance. The proximity to the local attractions
may prove to be an issue when we are trying to get people to stay for the
Awards Banquet. We may need to setup an organized post-banquet event at
Universal (or elsewhere0 so that do not have a mass exodus...

SoutheastCon 2013 - Jacksonville Nothing additional to report.

SoutheastCon 2014 I have received a proposal from Lexington, KY. This proposal
will be reviewed in Nashville and a recommendation will be forth-coming to the
Excom.

SoutheastCon 2015 I have received interest from Jamaica and Raleigh, NC for
hosting SEC 2015. No formal proposals have been submitted at this time.

Sean

-- 
Sean A. R. Haynes
2407 Hillwood Place
Charlottesville, VA 22901
s.a.haynes@ieee.org
+1 (434) 996-5611