By focusing on content, Michigan Section sees attenance, interest swell

Jack Raplee
ASME NEWS

Last November, ASME's Southeastern Michigan Section was in dire straits. Active membership in the Society's third largest section had dwindled to about eight members.
Five months and a lot of communication and strategy development later, Tom Libertiny, the current section chair, said active members now number around 50.

The section's meeting last month was held at Lawrence Technical University in Southfield, Mich. It featured a career consultant who discussed how engineers might better manage their careers in the current market. Almost 50 people attended.

That followed the February meeting, which took place at a Chevrolet/Ferrari/ Maserati dealership in West Bloomfield, Mich. During the meeting, attendees listened to a dealership owner talk about his stock car racing experience. They also went on a tour of the vehicle maintenance facility. Some 50 people attended. Space limitations required others to be turned away at the door.

Earlier that month, the Southeastern Michigan Section organized the first of five classes to help attendees prepare for the Professional Engineer exam. A dozen members participated.

The ability to turn around active membership so quickly rested with the rebuilding strategy that the section developed. Section leadership spoke with local members as well as ASME staff at the regional and international levels to find out what programs worked.

A Corvette racer was part of a hands-on tour of a car dealership during the Southeastern Michigan Section's February meeting. Since November, the section's active members have increased from fewer than 10 to as many as 50.

 

A team of engineers who had experience as ASME officers and staff was formed to contribute to the rebuilding plan. The team included Bill Cousins, senior vice president of Member Affairs; Gene Feigel, a member of the Board of Governors; Stacey Swisher Harnetty, vice president of Public Information; John B. Kitto, Jr., a BOG member; Al Kurtzenhauser, a former BOG member; Sue Skemp, ASME president-elect; Keith Thayer, chair of the Committee of Past Presidents, and ASME staff members Jill DiTullio and Warren Leonard.

A vision for the section was established. Meeting activities were planned using a combination of traditional values and new ideas — such as holding every other meeting at an interesting and relevant location.

The team also determined that the section needed to create a professional network to reengage the seven universities that had once been active in the Southeastern Michigan Section.

Rebuilding would also require timely, consistent communication with the section's membership. A method of receiving feedback for the continual improvement of the section had to be established.

After listing the goals in the section newsletter and receiving ample feedback, the "What's In It For You" campaign was launched.

The campaign had four basic goals: reaching out to students at the high school and undergraduate levels; emphasizing professional development and continuing education; featuring either an industry leader or keynote speaker at monthly meetings; and improving communications and networking.

"Any section can generate interest the way we did," Libertiny said, "It doesn't matter where the section is or in what country. It's simply a question of finding the local resources and using them to your advantage, which often is to theirs as well."

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