Membership Activities in the Photonics Society

Membership activities are within the very fundamental fabric of our society as it focuses on the most important asset of this community: namely its members. In recent years our society has experienced significant changes. Photonics is a highly evolving field with its scope, domain of applications, and technological base ever transforming. The name of our society has recently been changed to better reflect who we are, our missions and mandate. As such, membership activities have recently been re-thought. Consequently they have experienced significant degree of reorganization and restructuring. I am writing to update you about what we have been up to.
     Membership activities are those that center around member benefits, which cross all other society activities, as members consititute the core of our society. The linkage with every other activity in the society is depicted through a few examples in the figure 1 below. There are many benefits to students, I believe. Even those beginning careers in research, academia, or industry have valuable membership advantages. The exposure and potential for networking, recognition, collaboration and learning that can arise during conference events is an obvious case in point. A less obvious one is the opportunity to help foster a new emerging field within the society by empowering and enabling members and volunteers establishing special issues, focus issues and more using our world class publications. Opportunities suited to members in industry have been notably lacking, possibly because of the current economic conditions. These members should not be neglected as they form a large part of our Society membership.

Figure 1. Membership interconnection with all other society activities.

     Change in membership strategy, structure and scope was inevitable. Photonics is a highly dynamic field, influenced by numerous factors. Market forces in areas like telecommunications are a strong influence. Technological trends like those in semiconductor manufacturing and functionality requirements in emerging areas like sustainable energy are also important. These changes mean that we need to remain nimble, because the society will be evolving as its needs and interests change.
     Traditionally the membership structure was organized based on a geographical coverage. Within it, there existed 3 Vice Presidents for Membership and Regional Activities covering the Americas; Asia and Pacific Rim; and Europe, Middle-East and Africa. Every VP was then responsible for all membership activities within their own geographical region. While this strategy served our best interest in establishing links and chapters, it lacked the interconnection between regions and global initiatives were difficult to plan, conceive and implement.

Table 1. Membership structure.

     Any reorganization had to consider the importance of activities that span disciplines such as conferences and publication, to span regions, such as those that involve education. For example there is a pressing need to create new resources via our web portal. Evidently, it needs to be enhanced to serve as an effective reference for the community. It has the potential to serve as the hub, where learning, networking, mentoring, providing visibility for members’ contributions and many other functions are carried out irrespective of the geographical location. The need for more mandates that can benefit the society members on other fronts including education, career-centric membership development was also identified. Emphasis on activities that benefit non-academics is another point that is under served, as our industrial members represent a significant portion of our membership.

Figure 2. Membership is on the rise, surpassing 2006 levels in 2009.

Table 2. The most significant change in 2009 was the 35% increase in student membership.

     The current membership structure has been reviewed recently in a recent President’s Column, but will also be included here. As can be seen in the table below, the 3 Vice Presidents for Membership and Regional Activities covering the Americas; Asia and Pacific Rim; and Europe, Middle-East and Africa still have their place. However there are new cross-regional initiatives such as the Portal and Newsletter since they reach every member in every region and are our main communication conduits. In fact we aim to utilize the portal in many more ways than being a simple communication tool. There is significant growth in photonics in several parts of the world where our society has had less presence. Hence our involvement in such regions could use a significant boost. Two specific countries that need increased presence are India and China. As such, two Vice Presidents have their responsibilities in assisting the society to better serve the growing community in this part of the world. Also across the regions, member education on numerous levels and supporting the new graduates through the Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) program are viewed as highly strategic member benefits for us. There is now a dedicated effort with the focus on developing GOLD activities.
     So how is all that working you may ask? Some of the initiatives we are pursuing are longer term, such s those related to education and some of the portal applications. Their effect will not be seen on the shorter term. This is because of the nature of the initiatives which involve, for example educational programs that run several times a year in a globally distributed setting that will take some time to garner momentum. Other initiatives will take time because they involve building websites and applets wit a finite delivery time. However other rewarding work has been going on in the membership division. The great associate Vice Presidents who are focusing on engaging members, starting new chapters, and extending the reach of our support to the society have made a difference. Figure 2 demonstrates that we are reversing the trend of membership that was inherited from the bubble burst of the 2000s and we are seeing growth. While this is an exciting sign, what I find more exciting is shown in Table 2 where we can see growth of 35% in our student membership.
If any of the activities or ideas I discussed here have provoked any thoughts and/or comments, I would love to hear from you.