Region Conference: Hotel Prices

Divas!

Just wanted to let you know that if you register early, you will save quite a bit on Hotel prices.

If you register by February 13, the room rates will be:

Student $70 for Friday and Saturday night (four per room)
Professional $140 for Friday and Saturday night (double occupancy)

You can reserve your hotel room when you register… but you have up to February 13th to do so. You’ll still save on registration (not the hotel) until February 20th. Finally, the late registration deadline is March 1st.

This information comes directly from the website – make sure you pay a visit here. (That link will take you to the hotel page; if you click on the Conference Banner on the top of the post, you’ll be directed to the Home page for the Region Conference).

Questions? Contact the Conference Hosts.

Make sure you reserve your room now, so you can take advantage of this incredible discount!

Leadership Position: RCR vs. Senator

by Martha Addison

Many of you know my position is now going to be TWO separate positions. Hopefully this blog will help explain the differences and the traits each require. Please feel free to call your RCR if you have any questions!

Both
Organization
Responsible

RCR
Deals mostly with sections-making sure they are thriving
Runs regional meeting
Part of Regional collegiate team
Represents Collegiate voice on regional issues
Attends national training session
Application Due: Feb 13, 2009
App Link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=KudLJdBnHJZqRvoPNdE9YQ_3d_3d

Senator
Votes on national strategic issues
Interfaces with professionals and collegiates across the nation
Represent the collegiate voice on National Issues
Travel to two meetings (National Conference and one in Spring)
Application Due: Feb 1, 2009
App Link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ruI5l2KZvNoVlmN5Sur3GQ_3d_3d

Hot Topic: Getting People Out When The Weather’s Rough

The original Hot Topic was “Getting People Out When It’s Cold Out”. This doesn’t normally affect all of Region D, I know that the sections in sunny Florida and sunnier still, in Puerto Rico, don’t have to worry too much, if at all, about the cold. On the other hand, rain… can rain on our parade, literally. So: how do you deal with the weather? How do you get people to come to your activities despite the weather?

(Last week, we went over three checkpoints to consider for a successful activity: promote the activity well, provide incentives to the attendees, and follow up. They hold true no matter what activity or hardship you come across. Read more here.)

One way to combat the weather is to, at least when the weather’s rough (bitter cold, raining), keep your activities indoors for a while. Take this time of year to hold seminars and host company info-sessions.

Since not many people are willing to drive/walk/bike long distances when the weather is harsh, you’ll also want keep your indoor activities local, preferably on campus. UNF’s Bingo-Night is one example; you can also host Karaoke Nights, Talent Shows… what works best on your campus.

You can also use the weather to your advantage. Is it too cold out? Hold a Hot-Cocoa Social! Too hot? Hold an ice-cream social, or plan a trip to the beach.

Not all can be fun and games, though. Sometimes the weather can be cruel, and your local community could be severely affected. Although we all hope this never happens, in the worst-case scenario that it does, it is our duty as an organized group of the community to do whatever we can to help. (Read: service project.)

What does your Section do when the weather’s rough? Let us know: leave a comment. You can also send in suggestions to rcne-d@swe.org.

Tips for a Successful Activity

I’m no expert in Student Organizations, but I pride myself in having actively participated in SWE and Tau Beta Pi for the past four years. Over these years, I’ve taken a number of roles, among them, Vice President, Treasurer, Newsletter Editor and Webmaster. I’ve also been a mere active member in both societies, as well as other societies, so I’ve seen student activities from both sides, as an attendee and as organizer, on many levels. I was recently asked to go over what makes an activity or project a successful one, and I thought I’d share my answer with you.

It’s a tough question; what works for one society may not work for another. Besides, depending on the scope of the activity and the participation of the attendees, your goals and your expectations and how far it is from reality… there are a lot of factors that can affect the success of your activity. However, I’ve noticed three things most of the activities I’ve organized or attended had in common: promotion, incentives, and following-up. Neglecting any one of these key components in an activity will not necessarily result in a disastrous activity, but none of those activities I’ve attended that were deemed a success left them out.

As you plan your activities and projects for this semester, consider the following three tips. Also, if you’ve got tips you’d like to share, don’t forget to comment! Or, send them in to rcne-d@swe.org.

Leadership Profile: Pamela Androff

Divas! Here’s another section I’ve been anxious to get started: Leadership Profiles, featuring the Divas dedicated to Collegiate Section Improvement, the Region Collegiate Team. There’s a link on the top of the Blog that will take you to a list of their names, but I have to admit I’ve got to put it up to date. Starting today! In the meanwhile, here’s our first Leadership Profile, featuring Pam Androff.

Hello everyone!

My name is Pam Androff, I am the RCMC (Region Collegiate Membership Coordinator) and Gatekeeper/Webmaster for Region D. I spent the last 4 1/2 years with the UCF section, but graduated in December and moved over to the Atlanta professional section to take on my new job!

My SWE positions present different challenges than local SWE roles, because I have to work with people via e-mail and conference calls rather than in person – and sometimes it’s hard to get in touch with people! But I still love being involved on the Region level in SWE because it gives me an opportunity to meet, network, and work with all of the sections in our region. This is my first year on the national Membership Committee (as an RCMC), and my main goal is to meet the membership goals that the committee has set forth for us. My other goal for the year is to give more individualized attention to each section, so that they are getting the best help that we can provide.

I hope everyone has been receiving my monthly Membership Updates; each update comes with a spreadsheet that breaks our monthly goals down by section. Having a 10% increase in membership can mean different things to different sections- for one section that might be 10 new members, but for others it might mean they just need 1. The spreadsheet I’m referring to lists each section with exactly how many members they need to meet our goals. I hope this information has been helpful to you!

What I love most about SWE is getting to meet and work with all different types of people. I really enjoy attending conferences and meeting people that I’ve worked with. Most of all, I love that I am able to help sections succeed.  I can’t wait to meet everyone at Georgia Tech! Don’t forget to register NOW, especially for hotel!!!

Pam Androff
RCMC

SWEFL Update: Ashley Malinowski

Hello, everyone! So much has happened since my last blog (http://regiond.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/meet-a-swefl-ashley-malinowski/). UMiami SWE hosted its second FSWE Welcome Dinner which was a great success. With everyone’s help, we were able to inform the girls about all different kinds of engineering, what college life as an engineering student is like, and what SWE is actually all about. (The food was pretty delicious, too.) The number of high school girls involved in FSWE has increased threefold since last year! The FSWE Welcome Dinner was definitely a success. In March this semester, we’ll also organize an FSWE Shadowing Day so that high school FSWE members from the area can shadow engineering majors on campus.

Additionally, a couple of months ago I had the pleasure of attending our National Conference in Baltimore. It was fantastic. I learned so much, and I got to wear a scarf the entire time! (In Miami, winter attire is a novelty.) It was my first national conference, and I highly recommend the experience to anyone able to go. I’m already excited for next year’s conference in California.

February Update

Region D Divas! I’d like to thank all the sections who have submitted their information for the “Better Know a Section” feature. I hope to be posting some sections soon. Some sections haven’t yet responded; other sections have yet to receive the questionnaire. If you want your section to be featured on the Blog, let me know: write me an e-mail to rcne-d@swe.org. You need not be a section officer – as long as you’re interested, you can appear on the Blog.

Also, nominations for Collegiate Senator, Representative and Newsletter Editor are still open (although there are few days left for the Collegiate Senator position); make sure you submit your nomination for the position of your choice before the deadline!

On this Month’s Hot Topic, to be featured as always on the 15^th, we’ll be talking about how to get people out when the weather’s rough. Make sure you send in ideas and leave suggestions as comments on the 15^th! And I hope you enjoyed January’s Hot Topic: Making the Most of Region Conference. If you’ve gone to the Regional Conference before and have suggestions, don’t forget to leave a comment!

While I’m at it, I’d like to take this time to remind you to register for the Region Conference, if you haven’t already. There are more Blog Posts on Regional Conference: just check on the Region Conference Category link (the link is also on the sidebar on the left of this post).

That’s all for now… keep visiting, and I’ll see you all conference! In the meanwhile… leave your comments!

Josuan

SWE Magazine: Winter 2009

I received the winter issue of SWE Magazine two Fridays ago. Never before have I identified myself to as many articles as I have in this one. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy SWE magazine and I agree that the articles are interesting, engaging and informational, but, being the guy that I am, not many articles are meant to speak out to me. Which is fine – this is the Society of Women Engineers, I expect that. However, in the winter issue I’ve found articles that seem to be written directly for me.

First was the “Engineers Week 2009” – it provides information about diverse activities that go on during E-week as well as links to websites dedicated to outreach activities; many of which have resources you can use during your own E-week activities. I’ll be making some of those websites available here on the Blog soon.

I’m a philatelist (I collect stamps)… and I found the article on the USPS Black Heritage commemorative stamp series very interesting. I’ve known about the series for a while, and I own some of them as part of my collection (not many, though – my collection is pretty small), but I had never read about the history of the series per se.

The Conference Highlights article was a nice way to go back to my first conference… and to see some of the things I didn’t have the chance to see, especially the Achievement Award Acceptance Address from Dr. Melanie W. Cole.

It was inspiring and at the same time saddening to read the “In Memoriam” article on Mabel R. Esteves Velazquez, P.E. I get excited when I read about other Puerto Ricans, and it’s saddening to have lost a woman who promoted SWE wherever she went. Mabel is truly an example to follow.

Finally, in the SWE scrapbook section, I found the article on MASWE (Men’s Auxiliary of the Society of Women Engineers) pretty interesting. A bit of history of my gender’s involvement with SWE, and I found that refreshing… especially when I read what MASWE President George Hannan wrote in a letter to members: “When a man applies for membership in MASWE, in a way he is saying, ‘Women engineers are welcome in all field of engineering! I am going to help women engineering students complete and obtain their degree in the field of engineering of their choice!’” That still rings true today, and one of the reasons I’m still in SWE after almost four years.