Report to IEEE Region 3 Committee at SoutheastCon 2015
for the Virginia Mountain Section
 
I'm the chair of the Virginia Mountain Section.  I was hoping to attend, but
work responsibilities have kept me here in Virginia.  I was also trying to
recruit another exec board member or officer to attend, but no one else
stepped forward.
 
I attended the last two SoutheastCons, and hope to have some new folks
stepping up to be exec board members next year.  Many of our exec board
members are retired (and have already been an officer and been to several
conferences) and are reluctant to travel long distances.  Other members have
pressing work responsibilities that are keeping them here.
 
I regret missing this conference.  I gained a lot of valuable information that
I shared with my section from previous conferences.
 
As a section, we had monthly meetings last year and hosted several IEEE
Distinguished Lecturers.  Our attendance has varied from 12 to 45 for meetings
depending on topic.  Most folks are happy to attend a lecture, but reluctant
to take an active leadership role, so we've had the same folks in the same
positions for a few years.  This year we'll have to focus on renewal.
 
VMI's administration (a general officer) chose not to send a student robotics
team for reasons of safety concerns of students traveling on the road so far.
Virginia Tech is sending a team to SoutheastCon this year.  Perhaps central
locations could be considered for future SoutheastCons (like NC or SC) which
would be convenient for sections on the periphery of Region 3?
 
Best wishes for a good conference, and I look forward to joining you all at
another IEEE event soon.
 
Best Regards,

Joe Hartwell
Chairman, Virginia Mountain Section