Best Section Contacts:
Mary Bailey marybailey@eastman.com
Ron Dailey rkdailey@eastman.com
General Program Description
The Holston Section typically holds a 2-4 day professional development course on an annual basis. The Course is coordinated by the Professional Development Chair, who is responsible for surveying local members and companies to determine the areas of interest (w.r.t. training), lining up a presenter for the selected topic, and coordinating meeting arrangements.
Typically, the course is held for 2-4 consecutive days with break refreshments provided. Lunch is typically on your own. We try to schedule company-owned facilities for the training event to minimize costs.
With respect to attendance, we typically expect 15 to 40 people. 10 people is the rough break even point, where we decide whether or not to hold a particular course.
Timeline of Major Actions Necessary to Be Successful
| 5 months before program |
Poll membership for training interest/needs |
| 4 months before program |
Research courses that satisfy training interests |
|
3 months before program |
Select 3 or 4 courses and send to membership and local ME's for a vote. Include estimated course fees and approx. date for course. |
| 10 weeks before program |
Letter of intent to training company, reserving date. Reserve facility to host course. Notify membership of selected course and details for registration. Research caterers for coffee breaks. |
| 8 weeks before program |
Reserve caterer and continue to advertise course through email and local newspapers |
| 4 week before program |
Touch base with instructor. Discuss location of course and presentation equipment needs. Approximate head count |
| 2 weeks before program |
Finalize headcount with facility and review all facility arrangements. Finalize food requirements with caterer |
| 1 week before program |
Send reminder to attendees about course. Arrange time to meet instructor to help set-up prior to start of course. Purchase raffle gifts. |
| 1 day before program |
Check facility to ensure proper set-up and that all equipment is present. |
Main Focus of the Program:
The main focus of the program is to create revenue for the section by providing affordable training opportunities to local engineers.
Actions and Contacts:
- Choose a topic of interest to 10 or more people
- Choose a quality speaker who is affordable – we typically use word of mouth references or internet searches to identify speakers. The speakers are not necessarily local to the area. We have tried to work with CEI in the past, but found that there services were too expensive. Hopefully the new pricing model that CEI is rolling out will be of benefit.
- Choose a venue that is accessible, appropriate and affordable – aim toward corporate venues. Hotel conference facilities & city civic centers are alternatives.
- Insure that training materials are duplicated for each class participant – this may or may not be handled by the presenters' organization depending on the arrangement
- Insure the trainer has logistical issues covered (where to fly to, where to stay, what technical equipment is needed, how invoicing will be handled, etc.)
- Insure people pay prior to the event (participants mail checks to the event organizer).
- Provide door prizes – we provide door prizes, typically only ASME members are eligible, unless we are giving away one-year memberships to ASME.
What do you feel you do especially well that makes this program a success?
Professional Development Hours are required for P.E.'s in the state of Tennessee, so the market base is primed and ready for an inexpensive alternative for training. I think the training programs are a success because we keep things very simple and we have a good customer base for such activities. We live in a region where local training opportunities are rare and travel to metropolitan areas can be expensive. We fill a gap by bringing in qualified trainers at an inexpensive price, and we do a good job of advertising the potential savings of bringing the course in vs. traveling to metropolitan training site.
What is the most difficult thing you have to do in running this program?
We typically have only one person arrange the entire program, although they may ask for help at certain times (e.g., the Publicity chair may send the announcements, the Treasurer handles invoices, etc.). The most difficult parts typically are dealing with the participants as they register, ask questions on logistics, cancel out, want co-workers to sign up after the deadline, etc. So someone with skills at accommodating others and having patience with others is helpful.
What are the financial considerations for the effort?
We try to keep the price below current market value. We charged 4600 for a 2-day course this past year, for example. CEI has a policy that, if you use their services, you cannot charge less than the CEI lowest advertised price.
We currently do not give discounts but are considering discounts for ASME members.
Our expenses are: speaker cost, refreshment cost, venue cost (only applies sometimes) and duplication/ material costs (this is sometimes included with the speaker costs).
A 40-person course held in April 2006 yielded $23,500 in revenue based on $600 per person (we provided a $500 discount to the course organizer).
Expenses were:
Speaker cost: $5800 (including travel, lodging, etc.)
Venue Cost: $0
Book Costs $1680
Refreshment cost: $718
Door Prizes: $287
Total Cost: $8,298
How do you market the program?
One initial announcement to members may be sent (this may be done through the newsletter mentioned below or separately).
Include announcements in the newsletter (usually 3-5 times before the event).
Include an announcement in the corporate announcements for our major employer in the region.
Sometimes include an announcements in the local media (this is only done if registration turnout has been low.
Heavy marketing has not typically been required in our area.
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