Region 2 Membership Status

• 2005– January 34,509– February 29,454 (-14.6%)

• 2004– January 34,954– February 30,023

IEEE Membership Status

• All IEEE 300,258 (+.5%)

• Unemployed dues (20%)

• Higher grade 246,185 (-.4%)

• Student 54,073 (+4.4%)

• Society memberships 292,424 (-2.2%)

Membership Development Project

Summary of report given by

Moshe Kam to Major Board Series

What is the Membership Project?

• Strategic Initiative– IEEE Membership in 2025

• Individuals, Corporations, Schools• Demographics

– Geographical locations– Employment patterns– Professional disciplines– Educational backgrounds

– How many members do we want/expect– How do we achieve goal

Why concerned?

• IEEE membership stagnant over last few years– Growth 2003 to 2004 – 1.2%– Higher grade membership flat

• Declined by 4,000 in the US

– Steady decline in Society memberships –4.6%

– Steady decline in fraction of industry to academic membership – 55% to 51%.

Why concerned? (cont.)

• “Market share is low and probably declining– Not reaching large groups of ECE engineers in

some countries, e.g. Spain, Italy, China

• Entry into new technical areas slow– New professions created in IEEE field of interest

with members joining IEEE– More nimble organizations establishing foothold in

new areas

Project Focus Areas

• Primary– Corporate Partnership– Segment Outreach

• Secondary– Country Initiative– Membership titles and grade qualifications

Actions

• Internal interviews– Compete

• External interviews– Ongoing

• Began discussing MOUs with two coporations (Region 8)

Corporate Partnership

• Develop meaningful corporate agreements– Identify common goals for IEEE and Industry

• Standards education• Pre-college engineering programs

– Develop joint projects• On site IEEE standards workshops• Teacher in-training campaign

– Avoid discounting and rebate programs

Internal Interviews

• IEEE membership value to an individual is different than IEEE relationship value to a corporation

• There is inconsistency in the understanding of the current relationship between IEEE and corporations– Companies (who buy IEL) feel they already have a

relationship

Internal Interviews (cont.)

• Corporations currently see IEEE individual membership as a cost vs. opportunity– No short term benefit to managers

• IEEE publications are seen as too theoretical to the practitioner, except standards– Corporate partners can help foster IP towards

industry– IEEE products are not useful or require too much

work to be useful

External Interviews

• Most cited areas of IEEE value to corporations– Strategic value

• Standards• IEL/publications/research

– Operational value• Professional development• Information exchange/networking

External Interviews (cont.)

• Standards Association gave a legitimacy to IEEE as an organization and was important to selling IEEE brand

• If you want to open an industry door, start speaking standards because everyone uses standards

External Interviews (cont.)

• The whole of IEEE is critical to the value proposition– Offering a partnership requires an integrated

strategy– IEEE does not typically communicate value to

people within corporations

• Companies are puzzled by IEEE structure. Lack understanding of how different units can offer different services that are relevant to their needs.

External Interviews (cont.)

• Requires buy-in and understanding at a senior level is critical to acceptance– Relationships with IEEE should start with CEO

first.

• Corporate program must distinguish itself from individual membership

• Ability to track users and level of usage of products and services important to corporation as well as IEEE.– Get budget dollars

External Interviews (cont.)

• IEEE journals and publications are academically focused

• Training and Professional development is a key area of opportunity for IEEE to meet corporate needs.– Training given by IEEE gives impression that it is

impartial and effective– Companies are concerned about quality of future

workforce and investing millions of dollars in education

External Interviews (cont.)

• Discounts on memberships is not a critical selling factor

• The different sales models of IEL between Europe and US impact customer experience– Agents vs. IEEE sales force

External Interviews (cont.)• “IEEE should see me as a valuable partner who

can help them sell their product into the company, not just a bank who is able to provide them with several thousands of dollars.” (Europe)

• “ I feel more like a customer than a partner.” (Europe)

• “ There is nothing I would change about the relationship with IEEE. IEEE worked with us to understand our needs. They should carbon copy this approach with other organizations.” (U.S.)

Segment Initiative

• Objective: How to cooperate with non-IEEE groups who operate in our field of interest– Healthcare (Instrumentation and IT)– Multimedia and entertainment

• Began with IT professionals in healthcare– Worked closely with Biotech Council and EMBS– First contact: Healthcare Information and

Management Systems Society (HIMSS), 15,000 members and 220 corporations

Segment Initiative (cont.)

• Conducted focus group at HIMSS convention

• Analyze outcomes– Is this the model to follow?

Segment Initiative (cont.)

• Conducted focus group at March 2005 meeting of American College of Cardiology, 600 papers “in common”

• Expand effort to Multimedia and Entertainment– Work closely with Broadcasting

Technology Society

Country Initiative and Membership Grades

• Outreach effort to Spain

• Membership titles and grade qualifications– Discuss new Graduate Student Member

grade