Chairman’s Newsletter March 2008

by Malcolm Dudson

The Surrey Local Network has had a very good season to date

• 2007-08 year to date (YTD) has more than reversed the trend of lower attendance and approval in 2006/7and we are on track for a record year.
• Feedback approval is very high and consistent. We had one disastrous event Smart Homes which seriously distorts the running average, However, we learned quickly from this setback. Interestingly, although only 52% approved, 74% still said they'd recommend it!
• The proportion of non-members that we are reaching is growing, however the proportion of people discovering about events by email is little changed. Given that emails are mostly to members. That might mean we are attracting more accompanying friends and family?
• Event bookings are strong and audiences per event are building
• Guildford continues to be the centre of the action, largely because that's where the big events take place.
• The Christmas Children’s lecture was an outstanding success. We ran two performances, and each one was oversubscribed, with audiences of nearly 400 attending each show. Our thanks are due to the two lecturers from EA Electronics, to the University for hosting the event We have proposed it for an IET award
  

Guest Night

Encouraged by these successes, we have decided to “go for broke” with the Guest Debate on May 14th. The subject is “The dilemma of privacy and surveillance”, and current events indicate that it will be even more topical than it was when we first conceived it. We have an excellent panel of experts, and are hoping for one or two significant people in the audience. We are going to hold it in the main lecture theatre in the Management Building at the University, and to attract an audience of 400. It should be of interest to every thinking person, so tell your friends and bring them along. Let’s make it a resounding success.

So we are going from strength to strength, and have some really exciting lectures planned both in the remainder of this season, and for next.

Serving a wider audience

Building on this success, we plan to tackle other activities. Prominent in the Institution’s aims is to increase its membership, and to reach out to the Eng Techs and Incorporated Engineers, both the present holders and the potential candidates. The committee has selected this as a priority in 2008/9. To do this, we need to be much more active in certain areas.

We propose to put more priority on three activities aimed at the professional aspects of the Institution. There must be tutorials to explain how to qualify and apply for C.Eng, I.Eng and Eng.Tech. and to give candidates practical help. We will need to have a much higher profile in the Colleges of Further Education, and we will have to be able to provide a mentoring service.

The Institution can help in all these. They will provide expert lecturers to deliver the tutorials. As a member of the Education Sector Panel, I am working with them to draw up a package for Further Education colleges, and mentoring training is available, both on line, and face to face. We plan to take advantage of these,

Organizing to grow

This year we lost the services of two stalwarts, Rob Heaton and Dave Davis. For those of you who do not know Rob and Dave, Rob ran the lecture programme (sometimes it seemed almost single handed), and Dave was taking over from him. When it came to replacing them, we recognized that the task was too big for one person. We have therefore introduced a system of having a member take responsibility for a specific lecture. This event manager is backed by experienced committee members, and there are activity lists and instructions, and outward looking software on the web, so that an up to date picture is available to all at any time. The scheme is in its infancy, but is proving very successful. Organising the lectures is fun and satisfying, the tools and help are available.

We want to free up the committee meetings from routine reporting, so that items of strategic interest, particularly concerning our future direction can be discussed, and the correct decisions taken. There are a lot of Institutional meetings at the moment, and the Surrey committee is taking full part in them.

As you can see, we have had a super start to the season, and the future looks exciting. We are trying to plan not only the future events, but succession on the committee. The loss of Rob and Dave has exposed our lack of strength in depth, and a few members have carried a very heavy load this year. I am sure that you would like me to add your thanks to my own in acknowledging their hard work. I am also delighted to say that we have had several new members join the Committee.

It is proposed that the same committee stays in office in 2008/9 to see us through the transition stage, and I am pleased to say that they are all prepared so to do. At the end of this meeting, shall invite you to re-elect the existing committee en bloc.

Your contribution builds on our success

As I said earlier, we have had several new members join , but there is room for more. I would like to invite you to join us and share some of the work and fun in making IET Surrey even more successful. If you would like to contribute, please contact either Colin Cunningham, our secretary, or myself. Do not bother if you feel that you are not trained to fulfill the tasks. There will be plenty of training, and I am sure you will find it both satisfying and great fun. Do join us.