HOT TOPIC: Attracting and Retaining Membership
Extra, Extra, Read all about it. The Hot Topic of the Month. Attracting and Retaining Membership!
Advertise: It’s really important to advertise. Be creative in your advertising. Facebook, Twitter, friends, teachers, family, creative posters. Do everything you can to promote SWE.
Free Food! Free Items! Auctions! College students love everything that’s free. We are poor and we will take anything that you throw our way. That’s how it works it in the world of college.
Offer Leadership Positions: Give potential leaders more responsibility. When they are given more responsibility, they feel more obligated to the club to more work put into the club. Therefore, you have strong members. These members will bring more of their friends, therefore it grows.
Attract Freshmen! Have a freshman Representative on the Executive Board. If this freshman is enthusiastic about everything, she will bring many people to join. If you have very active freshmen, you are increasing the longevity of the organization
There are many other ideas such as giveaways for being an active member or being present at the general body meetings, subsidizing national memberships, etc. Get creative and get noticed. There are millions of suns and stars in this universe and they are circling around one point and make sure that point is you! Therefore stand out, be positive, and have fun!
If you have more ideas, please email me: poojitha.ennamuri@gmail.com
May Hot Topic: Planning for the Year Ahead
Here are some tips from the FY09 Region H RCNE, Jessica Nayes, for preparing for the year ahead:
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Can you believe it? Another year in SWE is nearing the end. As we all finish up classes, projects, final exams and moving on to our summer adventures, keep in mind a few things you can do to plan for “the year ahead”!
- National Conference: October 15-17, 2009. Start making your travel arrangements early, because you won’t want to miss the next national conference, being held in Long Beach, California! I’m sure many of us midwesterners enjoy getting out to see an ocean now and again!
. - Upload a current resume to the SWE Career Center. No time like the summer when you’re free from classes (well, unless you’re in a summer session) to do that always fun job of updating your resume! By the time those fall career fairs come around, you’ll be ready to focus on getting that next job with an already-polished resume. (Don’t forget that the National Conference always has a career fair too!)
. - Connect with SWE through social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
. - Visit My SWE Communities to connect with other members, network and gather information on leadership resources, reports and documents.
. - Renew your SWE Membership.
. - And last, but not least, enjoy your summer!
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….stay tuned for more useful planning tips, including a “Checklist” of what SWE Officers needs to accomplish each month!
April Hot Topic: Preparing to End the SWE Year
If you are a SWE officer, you are probably worrying about finals, training incoming officers of your SWE section, and possibly graduating from college. To make the officer transition process go smoothly, here are some tips:
+ Hold a “SWE Officer Transition Dinner” – give the incoming officers a chance to ask questions and give the seasoned officers a chance to share their knowledge of SWE with the new officers!
+ Register for the REGION G LEADERSHIP SUMMIT!!!! This will be an amazing opportunity for new officers to meet members of the Region G Council, to be trained by Collegiate Leadership Coaches, and to share best practices with other collegiate leaders from across the Region!
+ Collect all of the computer files that your officers created or filled out and save them to a flash drive or a CD. Then, make sure to transfer all of the electronic files to the incoming officers, so that they will have examples of how to fill out Section Reports, Student Organization Registration Forms, Financial Forms, etc!
…Speaking of those Financial Forms, don’t forget that the SWE Annual Report, Financial Forms, and Section Bylaws are due at the END of the SWE Year!
March Hot Topic: Preparing Future Leaders
As one school year ends and another begins, it’s time to start thinking about Officer Elections. Sure, it’s easy to have a vote at your monthly meeting & elect new officers, but how do you prepare them to successfully lead your SWE section?
This month’s Hot Topic includes a list of tips on how to smoothly transition officers by preparing the future leaders of SWE!
Tips for Sections to Prepare Future Leaders:
- Put together a mentoring program, and pair upperclass SWE members with some of the freshmen & sophomores. Whether you are having a formal speaker talk to your group or an informal social event, this will allow SWE members in your section to educate each other through sharing their SWE experiences.
- Hold leadership retreats or seminars! This might be good to do by having your officers prepare presentations including “General Knowledge of SWE.” Another idea would be to contact a Collegiate Leadership Coach to set up a time for them to come to your college and present a leadership module for you. You can contact either Jennifer Vallero (jennifer.vallero@colorado.edu) or Laura Iannacci (laura.iannacci@gmail.com).
- Make binders for officers that can be passed down from officer-to-officer. For example, the section treasurer can keep a binder with fundraising letters, accounting information, and application forms to request funding from the University. By transitioning this information, the next Treasurer will have a head start on what they need to fill out for the year!
- Keep a monthly calendar! For each month, write down general tasks & events that your section usually does for each month. Pass the calendar down to future officers so that they won’t forget anything important. Some examples for the month of “August” would be to start fundraising for national conference, submit your student organization paperwork for SWE, host a membership kick-off event, and to submit Section Report #1 to the RCR!
Region G Events to Prepare Future Leaders:
- May 30th, 2009 – Region G Leadership Summit; This May, Region G will be hosting its Second Annual Leadership Summit at Ohio University in Athens, OH. The purpose of this Summit is to train future leaders of SWE – both at the collegiate and professional level. I would encourage all officers of SWE to attend this event, as it offers valuable training, resources, and networking opportunities that can be taken back to your collegiate section.
- July 30th – August 1st, 2009 – Collegiate Leadership Forum (CLF); This year’s CLF will be held in Chicago, IL. The FY10 RCR, RCNE, Collegiate Senator, and SWEFLs from Region G will all attend this event, where they will meet with Regional and National Leaders in SWE and with other collegiate representatives from across the country. This event will provide them with the necessary training, resources, and knowledge of SWE that they will need to carry out their roles in SWE!
February Hot Topic – Getting People Out When It’s Cold Out
When it’s cold, snowy, icy or raining outside, you might find a decreased amount of participation among your members. To try to encourage your members to come to meetings, try some of these ideas:
+ Serve warm things: plan an informal study break and serve your favorite foods for cold weather: coffee, tea, soup, hot chocolate to bring everyone together to chat!
+ Get everyone outside: even though it’s still a little chilly, get your members moving by planning a sledding, skiing, or tobogganing trip! You could also get outside by volunteering in your local community. It’s especially important to help out food banks and soup kitchens during this economic time.
+ Plan exciting meetings: poll your members for some things they’d like to do this semester, and try to plan a fun event for them. Your members are more likely to attend events if they are catered to their interests. For example, your members might prefer outreach events over service-oriented events or social events over fundraising events.
+ Get everyone involved: identify some future leaders in your group and give them either a meeting or event to be in charge of. Get people thinking about what positions they want to run for next year!
Have any other ideas or suggestions as to how to get people out when its cold outside? Just leave a comment!
January Hot Topic – Making the Most of Region Conference
Here are a few tips for those attending the Region G Conference on how to make the most of your conference experience:
+ Attend Social Events
At the 2009 Regional Conference, there will be a “Carnival night” on Friday and a “Fiesta night” on Saturday. Both of these socials will give you the chance to meet other collegiates in the region, take a break from your hectic engineering schedule, learn how to salsa dance, win prizes, and have fun! And its included in the conference registration fee! Why wouldn’t you want to go?
+ Attend Professional Seminars
With 15 different seminars to choose from, there are plenty of opportunities to develop your professional and leadership skills at this year’s conference.
+ Attend the Career Fair
Make sure to bring copies of your resume to this year’s conference and take advantage of the Career Fair. You’ll have the opportunity to talk to companies within the region, and you just might go home with that co-op position or summer internship that you’ve been searching for!
+ Network with SWE Professionals from Across the Region
The regional conference is the perfect opportunity to meet professionals near your school. Whether you’re looking for a professional mentor or you are interested in finding out more about regional professional leadership roles, there will be plenty of professionals to ask at the Region G conference.
+ Bring a camera!
Whether this is your first regional conference or last, you will definitely want to capture the memories! Plus, if you have any great pictures of your section at conference and want to email them to me (rcne-g@swe.org), then I’ll post them on the region blog!
Have any other tips for regional conference? Just leave a comment!
December Hot Topic – Rewarding Members
Rewarding Members
Throughout the year, it’s always a good idea to recognize the most active and involved members of your collegiate section. Each year, there is always the outstanding group of members who come to most of the meetings, who organize and attend events, or who volunteer their time to serve on committees.
Here are some ideas for how to reward these members who go above and beyond the requirements of being a SWE member:
+ Create Awards for your collegiate section to hand out at the end of each semester. Base awards on the member’s involvement, SWE spirit, and commitment and dedication to your section. These awards can be as simple as “Most Active” or “Most Involved” and can be awarded at the Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior levels.
+ Hold a “Distinguished Member” banquet for a top percentage of members who have outstanding participation! This can be as simple as having a dinner for these members at a local restaurant and hand out awards and small prizes. The honor of having a special banquet can also be used as motivation to have more involved members in the future, so be sure to share a recap with to inspire the rest!
+ If your “outstanding” members are freshmen or sophomores, nominate them as SWE-Future Leaders. More information on the nomination process for “SWE-FUL”s will come out next semester!
+ Send thank you notes. If you are a section president, let your “outstanding members know that you appreciate all of their hard work at SWE this semester by sending them a note (either in person or via email).
Don’t forget to recognize your hard-working officers too!
November Hot Topic – National Opportunities
As a collegiate, there are numerous ways for you to get involved. This “Hot Topic” covers ways to become more involved on the National Level of SWE. Below is a list of roles and positions that collegiates can take on!
ELECTED POSITIONS:
+ Regional Collegiate Representative (RCR) - Works closely with the Region Governor and Collegiate Section Presidents to file reports on time. From revising bylaws to filing Financial Reports and submitting Section Reports, she is your “go-to” girl with all the information you’ll need! She also distributes informationa bout regional and national issues to the collegiate sections and runs the collegiate regional business meetings at the regional and national conferences. More details on applying for this position will be posted soon. Elections are held each year in the spring at the Region G conference!
+ Regional Collegiate Newsletter Editor (RCNE) – Don’t let the title fool you! This person works closely with the RCR to help her achieve her goals. Also, she gets to “blog about SWE!” by maintaining the fabulous Region G blog! More details on applying for this position will be posted soon. Elections are held along with RCR elections at the Region G conference!
NON-ELECTED POSITIONS
+ National Committee Member -Collegiates are able to serve on any National Committees that are of interest to them. In fact, after talking to National Committee Members at National Conference, collegiates are welcomed and encouraged to join! For more information on the Committees, visit the SWE webpage for a description of each committee. If you’re interested in joining a particular committee, just send an email to the Committee Chair (most links are listed on the webpage)!
+ SWE Future Leaders (“SWE-fuls”) - This opportunity is for freshmen & sophomores in SWE to learn more about the national organization, to develop their leadership potential, and to meet other future leaders from across the country! More details will be available on applying for these positions in the spring!
If you have any other national opportunities to add, or questions about the opportunities listed above, feel free to leave comments!
October Hot Topic – Making the Most of SWE Resources
As a SWE member, there are numerous resources available to you. The focus of this month’s hot topic will explore a number of these resources & explain how you can make the most of the opportunities that SWE has to offer!
+MySWE Communities – SWE Communities provies online interaction tools designed to facilitate discussions and information sharing among members. Communities provides you with tools you need to network and communicate with your local section members, region and professional members. Think of it as Facebook, exclusively for SWE members. SWE Communities offers the following features:
- Personal SWE Profile
- Friends
- Communities (Groups)
- Personal Calendar
- Discussion Board
- Document Collaboration
- Events
- Blogs
- Polls
- Chat
- And more!
It’s easy to register. All you need is your SWE user name and password! I’ve been using SWE Communities to stay in touch with my fellow RCRs/RCNEs/SWEFL and all the awesome SWEet ladies I’ve met at various conferences.
+SWE Outreach – This website provides all the information required for coordinating outreach activities and events. It also provides information on outreach programs such as Assessing Women and Men in Engineering (AWE) and events like Wow! That’s Engineering. Be sure to check it out.
+SWE Webinars – SWE HQs usually mails out a few emails every month with news or information about Webinars. These webinars are targeted to both collegiate and professional members for professional and personal development. The webinars are sponsored by various companies and conducted by female engineers who have been successful in the field. Here is a list of past webinars and links to the video/audio.
+SWE Scholarships – SWE offers a variety of scholarships for members. In fiscal year 2007, SWE disbursed more than 130 new and renewed scholarships valued at more than $400,000. Application information for the 2009-2010 school year will be available in December.
+Region G Blog – You’re already here! This blog has been created for you to share your thoughts, opinions and concerns about SWE and your local section. Stay updated with all the latest news on the National Conference, Hot Topics and events in Region G. Be sure to read posts by our governor, Mary Ann Walsh, and our RCR, Britney Thompson to get updates on regional news. If you would like to contribute to this blog about any exciting news or events happening in your sections, share best practices or pictures of your events, send me an email at rcne-g@swe.org.
+Local professional section - Professional sections include SWE members who have graduated and who currently work in industry. These sections hold events, meetings and provide career guidance as well. Professional section members can assist you with providing guest speakers for meetings, career guidance and networking opportunities within industry.
+Regional Collegiate Representative (RCR) - Britney Thompson is our FY09 RCR. Her job is to ensure that your voice and concerns are heard at the Regional and National level. She is a great resource for questions about section reports, regional positions, funding, and general advice about SWE. Email her at rcr-g@swe.org.
+Regional Collegiate Newsletter Editor (RCNE) – That’s me! I’m here to answer any questions you have about Region G and the blog. Email me at rcne-g@swe.org
+Collegiate Leadership Coaching Committee (CLCC) - The CLCC is a great resource to attract membership or inform your members about SWE. Region G has a CLCC which is lead by Jennifer Vallero. You can contact any of the CLCC members to visit your section and give a detailed presentation from the CLCC Module List, which can be found in the link above.
September Hot Topic – Attracting & Retaining Membership
One of the most difficult challenges SWE sections face is attracting and, later, retaining members. Although sections have fun, educational, or otherwise beneficial activities, we often do not know how to communicate to new members the value of SWE.
Attracting New Members
SWE has so many great benefits for collegiates, and it is important to inform potential members of these benefits to encourage them to join.
Here’s a short list of some of the benefits of joining SWE
+ Networking opportunities with fellow female engineers, both professionals and collegiates
+ Professional development seminars on topics such as work-life balance to resume building
+ Developing Leadership Skills
+ Regional and National Conferences
+ Access to My SWE Communities and the SWE job search website
+ Outreach events with local schools and the community
Retaining Members
Once you encourage new members to join your section, how do you keep them? The key is to make all members feel included and important.
Here are some ideas for how to retain members:
+ Hold raffles at meetings
+ Saturday social events
+ Combine meetings with other organizations
+ Provide Freshman with free or discounted membership
+ Tutoring for members by members
+ Set up a membership points system
+ Match new members with an officer
