Florida Council Report
November 2002

The sections in the great State of Florida have done a great job in
2002.  We ended last year without any web presence and started this year 
with one of the best web sites around IEEE.

https://www.ewh.ieee.org/r3/fc/

Overall I feel that all of the sections in Florida are doing well.  We
have some that are very active and others that are just hanging on.
The key element that really controls the success of the section is the
determination of the chairman.  We have done our best to reach out to
a couple of sections in the state that are fledgling and unfortunately
the pattern that causes these problems is almost always the same.
When an existing chairman has to give up his/her post for various
reasons and their has not been anyone that can step up to the plate
the section goes to the way side.

From a council perspective, I am trying to find a way to step in to
try to manage these sections.  It is very difficult when the people
that are suppose to be in charge do not return your calls or respond
to your email.

I strongly feel that without leadership mentioning and some way that
IEEE can create incentives to motivate new leaders to come forward, we
will see a decline in people that are willing to take on these roles.

The goals outlined for 2002 were:

1. Ensure that all sections have a web presence.

All sections in the state now have a web site!

2. Ensure that all sections are represented at council meetings.

We are still working on this and hope to have all sections present at
all meetings by next year.

3. Ensure that all sections are meeting IEEE reporting deadlines.

All sections submitted their reports to IEEE.

4. Ensure that all sections are posting meeting notices to FC
   calendar.

Most of the sections are using the calendar feature on our FC website.

5. Ensure that we meet on a regular basis to exchange information and
   ideas.

We have had four meetings this year and will be having our first
meeting for 2003 in February in Tamps.

We are also using the web and email to vote on awards this year.

Below are some responses from sections in the state on their goals,
plans, activities, and concerns.

************************

Jacksonville Section

The Jacksonville Section has continued to had monthly excom meetings
and technical sessions every month.  Our two chapters alternate
hosting the technical session each month.  We had a section social
picnic in August.  We had about 30 people show up for hamburgers and
fellowship.  Our student branch is just reorganizing, but they did
attend the leadership workshop in Orlando last month and are planning
to participate in SECon 2003 in Jamaica.

*****************************
Orlando Section

Our plans, activities and goals for 2003 are:
q
a) To continue on the activities, programs, and services initiated on
   2002.
b) To improve on the programs and activities and create additional
   programs with the purpose of enhance the value of the society to
   our members.
c) We will continue with the Web based Newsletter but we are planning
   on re-starting a form of hardcopy newsletter.
d) We will continue our efforts to increase the visibility of our
   profession and our society to the community and general public as a
   whole.  We will re-activate the position of PR.
e) We are planning on two social activities, one of them to be
   coordinated with the engineering week.
f) We will continue with our program of reactivating inactive chapters
   like UFFC.
g) We will continue our support to all the chapters, promoting joint
   meetings and technical conferences and workshops.
h) We will continue our support to the student section, reactivating
   the robotics competition and creating a mentoring program.
i) We will continue with the technical sessions and tutorials, we will
   create additional ones to allow our membership satisfy the new CEU
   requirements.
j) We are planning to increase our PACE activities, revitalizing our
   Consultants Network, and offer this tool to our members in general
   and particularly the ones between jobs.

  Main Concerns:

Our main concern is the current difficulty in capturing and retaining
volunteers. We will continue our efforts to recruit new volunteers and
retain current ones. We are working hard on making best use of the
existing awards programs as a means to reward and stimulate
volunteerism in our membership.

*****************************
Northwest Florida Section

The Northwest Florida Section IEEE is currently chaired by myself and
I must say that I couldn't have hand picked a better executive
committee.  They are a very willing and able group.  In general, we
have set some general goals to improve our section over the next year.
These goals include, but are of course not limited to:

1. Improve Membership and Meeting Attendance
2. Improve and increase benefits for current members
3. Increase community involvement
4. Allow for more volunteer opportunities (more recognition)
5. Assist PEs in obtaining the continuing education they need to stay
   current
6. Reduce paper fliers/newsletters and increase electronic media
7. Promote eligible members to their rightful status
   (Sr. Member/Fellow); this has been neglected in the past

As you can see, our goals/plans focus mostly on improving the quality
and quantity of the membership.  People need a reason to join and stay
"joined". We plan on giving them a reason for doing so.

*****************************
Florida West Coast Section

Goals:

      Develop programs to help unemployed Members;
      Increase number of Members and Senior Members;
      Set up a scholarship fund at University of South Florida;
      Expand the Teacher-In-Service program;
      Continue to support area science fairs;
      Continue to lead the Engineers Week Celebration Banquet.

Plans:
      Providing marketing, networking, career education and support
      services to help unemployed Members;

      Provide half price meetings/seminar to people signing up to
      become Members;

      Provide half price meetings/seminar to people signing up to
      become Senior Members;
      
      Use portion of the Bequest received last year for scholarship to
      engineering students at University of South Florida.  This will
      be an annual program and might carry the name of individual who
      made the bequest (Steve Wallace);

      Recruiting more volunteers to present and also coach
      Teacher-In-Service programs;

      Participate in judging science fairs and also making award
      presentations to science fairs winners.

*****************************
Daytona Section

For what it's worth, as nominee for 2003 Chairman, my goal is to keep
the Daytona Section alive and healthy. It seems to me that it is not
broken and so I don't intend to fix it. We, of course, have some
glitches, and they need attention, but overall we have a small but
healthy section with good student participation, a strong nucleus of
regularly attending life members, some interesting active professional
members and a lovely assortment of wives who grace our meetings. We
Also have a new Life Member Chapter that seems to be off to a strong
start. Of course we want to increase membership, add new offices and
chapters and all the good things but I think it is most important to
develop a dedicated future ExCom to carry on.

*****************************

Thanks,
Eric

Chairman, Florida Council of the Institute for Electrical and
Electronic Engineers (IEEE)

https://www.ewh.ieee.org/r3/fc/