New OCCN Registration Procedure and Dues Structure

 July 13, 2002

At present and for the foreseable furture the OCCN is in a sound financial condition. We will all benefit if the job of tracking the membership status can be simplified. Since the time for renewal of the AICN registration is near for many OCCN members, now is the best and most convenient time to revise our registration procedures and dues. For these reasons the OCCN Board approved the dues structure and registration procedures given below on July 13, 2002.  Therefore we will implement the following procedures for OCCN effective immediately.  

·        Members of the OCCN will register with the AICN consultants database online at the AICN website https://www.ieeeusa.org/business/consultants/submissions/ . During the online registration process they should choose the OCCN in the option to choose a network at the above web site. There they can also choose to affiliate with other networks if they desire to do so. Those who register or renew online and choose the OCCN will be members of the OCCN.  In order to ensure coordination of the registration process, we suggest that those who choose the OCCN notify the OCCN Secretary-Treasurer or Chair by e-mail.

 ·        The membership fees for registering online will are $75 for IEEE members and $99 for those who are not IEEE members. These registration fees can be paid either by check or credit card directly to the IEEE. The OCCN will monitor the AICN database to determine the status of members. With this new procedure, the former process of a member sending a check to the OCCN and then the OCCN sending a check to the IEEE will not be used.

 ·        With our current financial status additional dues from members beyond the AICN registration fees are not needed for OCCN operations. Resources are currently available for reasonable start-up costs for anticipated OCCN-sponsored events such as workshops. In the event that additional resources are needed in the future, additional optional dues and/or assessments for access to special OCCN activities could be levied. Such additional dues would require approval of the OCCN Board. The rebates from the IEEE to affiliated CN's will provide some additional resources for the OCCN.

 ·        For some OCCN members the renewal of the AICN registration may not coincide with the renewal of their OCCN membership. For such situations where a member has paid the OCCN by check and has OCCN membership time remaining after the AICN renewal is due, the OCCN will provide a reimbursement for the prorated amount of the unused membership fees. The Secretary-Treasurer of OCCN will handle the reimbursements.

·        Since the Associate Members of the OCCN do not register with the AICN, they will be unaffected by this new procedure. They will continue to pay their annual $35 membership fees and supply their registration data to the Secretary and Treasurer as before. 

Membership application in Adobe PDF format.