IEEE membership can provide many benefits and the organization has many things to offer its members. However, different members get value from different things in the IEEE and these can vary depending upon what else is going on in your life. Also, I have observed that you get the greatest value from being part of an organization like the IEEE, the more you engage in it and with the people in the IEEE community. Let me give you a few examples showing how IEEE has benefited me and helped me develop myself over my career.
I joined the IEEE initially as a graduate student. I had a B.S. in Physics and I had joined the IEEE in order to get a discount to attend an IEEE conference (an InterMag conference in Boston). I continued my membership after I graduated and participated in IEEE conferences and in local IEEE events, first in the Minneapolis area, and after moving to Boston, I participated in some local Boston section as well as society activity. I moved to the Silicon Valley area in 1987. In 1992 I was elected chair of my local society chapter.
In 2000, I decided to start my own company after getting laid off at a failing Silicon Valley company and I have run that company ever since. I found that IEEE’s group health care plan (not available anymore) was much less expensive than the COBRA from my last job and the savings more than paid for my IEEE membership.
In 2004, I was appointed the SCV Section PACE chair and then was elected as Treasurer, Vice Chair and Chair in 2005-2007. I was also the San Francisco Bay Area Council chair that year in 2007. In 2011, I was general chair of the 2011 Sections Congress. These roles helped me develop leadership skills and it gave me an incentive to meet new and influential people and to expand my contact network.
As Region 6 director, we elevated IEEE members who held executive positions at companies and elevated them to senior members. We also gave several awards to companies in the region for various things. Being an IEEE volunteer leader enabled me to refine my networking skills. It has allowed me to create a number of long-time relationships with people I have met in the IEEE. Some of these relationships have led to paying work for me. All of them have enriched my life.
If you ask other long time IEEE members you will get different stories about why they have remained a member. To me, IEEE is a community of technological professionals, who help each other stay current, develop leadership skills and work together to make this a better world today and for our descendants.
I am planning to have a series of town meetings to discuss issues around IEEE membership and other topics. If you are interested in participating and talking with me about these topics and getting more information related to the campaign, please enter your name and email in the Subscribe form on my IEEE Campaign page at Subscribe to Tom's IEEE Page.