Well said, John. If the PSES is pulling its own weight by generating
revenue above direct expenses ('profit' being a dirty word in the case of
a non-profit entity even though it's perfectly legal), then it makes no
sense to close it. Watch the definition of "costs" very closely. Many
components of fully loaded cost are allocations of overhead to run
headquarters and other things with no direct connection to day-to-day
operations. Some classic business school cases are based on confusion
between operating versus fully loaded results. The inevitable upshot is
that shutting down divisions that are generating profits on their own but
show negative results after loading amounts to cutting your own throat.
Do the math and you'll see that the result decreases aggregate revenues
faster than costs, which is no help at all. The cure is to cut fat at
the administrative level to get the overhead down. Take your own
medicine, TAB!
Orin Laney PE, NCE & MBA
On Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:26:48 +0100 John Woodgate <j...@jmwa.demon.co.uk>
writes:
> In message <787403.58576...@web83706.mail.sp1.yahoo.com>, dated Fri,
> 24
> Jul 2009, Jim Bacher <j.bac...@ieee.org> writes:
>
> >Derek, The general feeling (in TAB) is a society needs to be about
> >1,500 members to be able to substain itself long term. This
> provides
> >enough members for the society to have TACs, symposium papers and
> some
> >form of a journal.
>
> Well, instead of shutting things down that don't meet some arbitrary
>
> criteria that some few people 'feel' are valid. 'cut your coat
> according
> to the cloth and don't indulge in stuff that you can't afford.
>
> I help run a small, niche learned society in Britain
> (www.isce.org.uk)
> with about 350 members. We have a mailing list, a web site
> (obviously)
> and a quarterly magazine, semi-professionally produced, with about
> 32
> pages. We run an annual exhibition and a members' event, as well as
> training course and seminars. It CAN be done on a small budget.
>
> >There is some overhead costs to be covered as well, the more
> members
> >the easier it is to cover those costs. Up until last year the
> >society was in the RED, however we are now in the black. For us to
> turn
> >on access to symposium papers in Xplore is about $8,000 a year in
> costs
> >to the soceity. Below 1000 members we can not afford it, above 1000
>
> >members we can turn it on.
>
> Well, don't do it; we can't afford it. If people want a paper
> enough,
> they buy it - I do. Or cadge one from the author. (;-)
> >
> >About 5 years ago when we had about 400 members the PSES BoD put
> >together a 5 year plan that said at the end of this year we would
> be at
> >1,000 members.
>
> Five year plans are for Stalin. Did that plan take into account the
> credit crunch and consequent unemployment? Of course not.
>
> >For the first few years we were more concerned with TACs,
> symposiums,
> >and other things that added value to society membership. Now it is
> time
> >to focus on building membership.
>
> I agree with building up membership, but it's crazy to do this on
> the
> basis that 'our administrators regard us as a basket case, so please
>
> rally round the sinking ship'.
> >
> >The IEEE is a complex organization. All societies are part of what
> is
> >called TAB, which standands for Technical Activities Board. TAB has
> a
> >management committee called TMC which stands for TAB Management
> >Committee. It is TMC that is pushing to sunset any function that is
> not
> >holding its own.
>
> Can you say 'bean counters'? While we respect the individual members
> of
> this august body, their collegiate mind-set need to be reviewed.
> It's
> well known that a 50 million dollar project is nodded through by
> such
> bodies, followed by a 3 hour debate on whether to spend 50 thousand
> on
> secure parking for bicycles.
>
> 'Holding its own' - if expenditure exceeds income, reduce
> expenditure
> FIRST, because you can control what you spend. After that, TRY to
> increase income, but you CAN'T control that - it's in the (often
> mindless) control of diverse others.
>
> >Be it a journal, magazine or society that is nor financial solvent.
>
> >When our society goes into the review process at the end of this
> year I
> >fully expect to be able to derail the sunsetting of our soceity.
> >However we need to make a reasonable effort to increase membership.
>
> >Promoting membership on the list is one of the efforts towards that
> end.
>
> Well, we can try. But this is not a propitious time, is it? Rather
> than
> looking to join societies, people are looking for new employment!
> --
> OOO - Own Opinions Only. Try www.jmwa.demon.co.uk and
> www.isce.org.uk
> Things can always get better. But that's not the only option.
> John Woodgate, J M Woodgate and Associates, Rayleigh, Essex UK
>
> -
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
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>
> Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/
> Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html
> List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html
>
> For help, send mail to the list administrators:
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> Mike Cantwell <mcantw...@ieee.org>
>
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>
-
This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc
discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to
<emc-p...@ieee.org>
All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at:
http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc
Graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. can be posted to that URL.
Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/
Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html
List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html
For help, send mail to the list administrators:
Scott Douglas <emcp...@socal.rr.com>
Mike Cantwell <mcantw...@ieee.org>
For policy questions, send mail to:
Jim Bacher: <j.bac...@ieee.org>
David Heald: <dhe...@gmail.com>
