4.6 Toronto Chapter

Toronto Chapter (1998)

Our Chapter has been active for years. In 1995, we set for ourselves a new vision and a new approach. The goal is to make a difference and to be useful to the community in general, and members in particular, in harmony with Society's objectives.

To achieve this goal, we simply need to reach out, and moreover, attract participation and involvement. This, in turn, brings up new inter-related questions:

• Who to reach out to?
• How to reach out?
• How to get attention and win participation?
• How to maintain continuity and growth?

We realized, and many other Chapters have probably experienced, that just finding a speaker, looking after the arrangements, running an advertisement in the newsletter, or even sending a mail-out to all members would not do! To explain why, let's try to answer the above questions. We may consider multiple dimensions in answering whom the Chapter should reach out to. On the one hand, there are multiple levels from high schools, to college and university students, to professionals. On the other hand, the new environment consisting of technology, market and regulatory drivers, integration of services, convergence of industries, competition, globalization, market liberalization and alliances have created a broad spectrum of topics (within and around telecommunications) and linked to that, many new players. This spans across academia, government and public agencies, banks and enterprises, utilities, management and consulting firms, a broad array of industries, and many interested individuals are interested in these topics.

The key theme of our Chapter's vision and framework for activities is to not only to adapt to this new environment but take a leadership role in it to make a true difference. We have consciously followed steps to try to include all and to try to cover all! We have called this a Total Approach! Right here, it becomes obvious that the questions of who to reach out to, how to reach out to, and what to bring in order to win their continuous participation are hard to separate. Who they are suggests what they would be interested in and how they can be reached out to. This reaching out and interaction with members and non-members on a local level and bringing technical seminars, tours and tutorials, to social and student activities, membership programs and others, is very much in harmony with IEEE goals and the Society's objectives and expectations.

We have taken new steps in the past few years to invite a broad range of expert speakers from universities, industries, major consulting firms, and elsewhere, from within and outside the Chapter, and offer numerous technical seminars. These cover such range of topics as ATM and High Speed Networking, CATV, LMDS and other Broadband Access, Emerging Residential Video Services, Video Compression, Future Networks, Optical Networks, Multimedia, Trends in Software Technologies, Internet, Wireless/PCS, Microwave and Millimeterwave Applications, Satellites, Industry Trends and Regulatory Developments. This variety of 'hot' topics and a persistent effort to bring in expert speakers have been essential for our Chapter to be useful at all, and to expect members and non-members to participate and even further their level of involvement. Organizations have become increasingly efficient and more knowledge-based. Individuals have less free time and travel relatively long distances between work, home and other activities. This means the only way to attract them, and rightfully so, is to respond to their needs, in the new dynamic, diverse and efficient environment. In so far as the content goes, the broad range of hot topics referred to earlier, with emphasis on new and emerging technologies, applications and trends, offered by expert speakers, does indeed respond to (knowledge) needs in this new environment. In addition, participants get further rewarded by networking with others, and by attending an ensemble of Chapter events to get a better grasp of the promised end-to-end picture.

Our technical events have taken a variety of formats: an hour-long presentation preceded by a reception, a half or full day workshop with multiple speakers, half-day tutorials, or a cluster of seminar series. They have been general (open to all) or targeted. This brings in another important aspect of Toronto Chapter's activities: 'inviting in" versus "going out to"! Events for targeted groups and on-site delivery demand particular attention and, sometimes, greater effort, although they may be less frequent in comparison. Our Chapter has visited and given seminars/talks to high schools, colleges, university student events, professional organizations in nearby towns, Toronto Technology Network luncheon, Professional Engineers of Ontario, Toronto High-Tech Show, and several other events. We have expanded our policy of inclusion through co-sponsoring events with other Chapters within Toronto Section, with other Sections such as IEEE Peterborough, with the Society Chapters, such as North Jersey and Ottawa (on Society's Tour of Distinguished Speaker), and with local conferences and workshops.

We have learned that creating a dynamic network of participants, expanding on that, and maintaining regular liaison help our continuity and growth a great deal. The Toronto Chapter maintains its liaison with the core participants, with members and with the community on many levels, from Internet, to newsletters and flyers, announcements and personal liaison. It does take effort, useful plans and programs and persistence to keep this network together and to bring in new participation.

Our goal remains the same: reach out, take leadership role, and make a true difference, in ways expected of IEEE Communications Society local Chapter. We have tried to take a Total Approach, consistent with the new environment, to attract participation, maintain continuity and growth, and respond to the knowledge needs and interests of our members and of our community as a whole. We have been rewarded by some success, but this remains a continuous challenge. The good part is that it s a truly worthwhile and continuously rewarding exercise!