IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - October 2015 - 4

So why should you join IEEE? Why
would you want to join an IEEE Society like IEEE Consumer Electronics?
You can access the publications, the
conferences, and the standards without
really needing to become a member.
Perhaps it is not as convenient as being
a member, but if you already have
access to everything, why would you
pay for it a second time?

OR SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY!
Well here is why I pay, and to be honest
it is the main reason I am in the IEEE-
it is the people! Yes, that is right, it is the
community and friendships that I have
built up over the years. We are all professionals; most of us are engineers with
a broadly shared understanding and
vision of the world. And while it might
seem a bit kitsch, we are all here to
"advance technology for humanity"-a
common aspiration that binds together
the wider IEEE community.
So now let me tell you something
you cannot get without being an IEEE
Member. Yes there is something that
you cannot get without membership.
And for many it is the most important
thing you can get and perhaps the core
rationale for IEEE's existence.
Simply stated, it is peer recognition.
You cannot touch, taste, see, or feel it,
and you certainly cannot bottle it or
pack it on shelves. But IEEE can and
does offer it, and it is the number one
benefit of membership. In fact, everything else in IEEE means very little
without it. In the same way that IEEE
sets the metrics of excellence for publications, technical conferences, and
industry standards, it also sets the metrics for peer recognition.

ELEVATE YOURSELF-IT IS EASIER
THAN YOU WOULD THINK!
So here is my suggestion for this issue-
if you are not happy with your membership and feel it is not giving back, then
you need a bit of peer recognition! One
of the best ways is to elevate your membership. Many of you have been members for more than ten years with
significant roles of responsibility, unique
personal contributions to your organization, or a doctoral-level degree with
4 IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine

more than five years of following
research and academic contribution. If
you fit these categories, then you need to
read the following URL: http://www.
ieee.org/membership_services/membership/senior/senior_requirements.html. If
you can match yourself with the specifications at this URL then it is time to get
yourself some peer recognition!
You first need two things-1) your
resume and 2) a short explanation of
how you feel you meet the requirements of "Five years of significant performance." Once you have those things,
you need to contact three Senior Members to support your request for elevation; if you know some of these IEEE
Senior Members local it is good (but
not necessary) to have someone locally
to support you. They must themselves
be at a Senior Member or Fellow level.
Even if you do not know them very
well most IEEE Members will be
delighted to advise/mentor you.
Remember what I said above that IEEE
is about the people? Well, in general,
someone who's been a long-term member has learned and grown into this
"best-kept" secret of IEEE, so if you
request their support, that is what IEEE
is all about.

AND HERE ARE THE PEOPLE
TO SUPPORT YOU!
To help with this I am also including a
list of CE Society Senior Members-
they have all volunteered their time, so I
kindly ask that you spend the time to
think about the requirements at the
above URL before providing them with
items 1) and 2) above. They will review
your material and if they agree, they will
provide their membership number,
which you can use to register them as
your reference.
Remember, they do not know you personally, so they have to judge you based
on the information you provide and especially on any "tangible" outcomes of your
five years of significant performance.
Remember not to provide "too much
information"-nobody wants to have to
read a 20-page CV trying to spot where
your "significant performance" lies. So
put yourself in their shoes and make it
easy for them by pointing out clearly who

october 2015

you were working for, what responsibilities and roles you held, how your performance was significant, and what
outcomes-especially tangible ones-
resulted from your professional achievements. (If it is difficult to show that you
were directly responsible for some significant outcome consider requesting a supporting letter from your supervisor or
Section leader, providing contact information so your references can verify with
them personally.)
And that's it! Once you have found
three references and got your "informational ducks" in a row, you can simply
go online at the IEEE Senior Membership portal and self-nominate. Use your
regular IEEE username and password
to access the portal.

IEEE CE SoCIEty SEnIor
MEMbErShIp rEfErEnCE panEl
I will be maintaining this panel in each
issue. If you are a senior member and
would like to contribute some of your
time to help other members get elevated
to senior membership then please consider volunteering. All I need are your name
and preferred contact e-mail address.

In thIS ISSUE
Welcome to the last issue of 2015 and
another bumper issue of IEEE Consumer
Electronics Magazine. Lets start with all
the news that is fit to print.

CE SOCIETY NEWS
We have a large news section in this issue
with details on several main IEEE events.
Our Society has been growing its activities in China for a while now, so this
issue we have an update on various workshops and meetings in the China region.
We also have a report on the CES Asia
show and, as in other regional CE Society
conferences, there is a strategy to operate
our conferences in the region in parallel
with such trade shows to help with
attracting keynote speakers and additional conference delegates from industry.

(FAR FROM) BOARD REPORTS
This issue we also feature reports from
several board members of your Society. Your trusty editor spent a few days
in Washington, D.C., at the annual

http://www http://www.ieee.org/membership_services/member

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - October 2015