Guide To Starting A Local Network

How To Start A Local Consultants Network
Gary L. Blank, Ph.D.
Chairman, Alliance of IEEE Consultants' Networks (AICN)

Engineering Update Institute
8N173 Ickenham
Plato Center, IL 60124
Phone: (847) 464-4007, Fax: (309) 424-9030
E-mail: g.l.blank@ieee.org
Website: http://www.drblank.com/co.htm

You are a consultant or considering becoming a consultant of engineering services – in simpler terms, a private practitioner. You are an IEEE member and you would like to be associated with other Consultants. Where do you go?

If there is a Consultants' Network (CN) in your area, join it. Find out if there is one by contacting your local IEEE Section office, the PACE chairman or the editor of the local IEEE newsletter or the IEEE-USA office. There are active Consultants' Networks in thirty areas of the United States and others are in the formative stages.

An IEEE Consultants' Network is an invaluable resource for consulting information. You will meet experienced practitioners as well as others new to consulting. Speakers discuss such topics as taxes, self-marketing, finances, fee setting, software and liability insurance. The network is also a source of potential clients.

If there is no Consultants' Network in your area, consider forming one. Organizing a network can be exciting and rewarding. This paper describes how to start a Consultants' Network.

This is the procedure developed by the Alliance of IEEE Consultants' Networks Coordinating Committee (AICNCC), a standing committee operating under the Member Activities Council (MAC) of the IEEE-USA. Their office is in Washington, D.C., the contact is Scott D. Grayson at the IEEE-USA office, telephone (202) 785-0017, fax (202)785-0835, e-mail sgrayson@ieee.org.

For additional information, please feel free to contact me or other members of the Alliance. The addresses and phone numbers are listed in the Directory of IEEE Electrotechnology and Information-Technology Consultants.

OK, so how do I start a CN in my area?. The following is a step by step procedure.

1.  Local Section/PACE Support - Contact the local Section Chairperson and/or local PACE (the Professional Activities Council for Engineers which reports to the United States Activities Board) representative and discuss your intent to form a Consultants' Network. All Section Chairpersons and PACE representatives have a copy of this procedure. To find out who these people are, refer to your local newsletter. If all else fails, contact IEEE Field Services at (800) 678-IEEE for the names of your Section leadership. Make arrangements to attend a Section Executive Committee (EXCOM) meeting.

At the EXCOM meeting, request to be appointed Temporary Chairperson of a CN with authority to determine whether there is an interest in the community.

2.  Funding Availability - There are some funds available for postage, printing, etc. to help get local Networks started. Your local Section PACE Chairman or your Region PACE Coordinator can be contacted for this help.

3.  First Meeting Announcement - With the help of EXCOM, schedule an initial meeting of the CN. Announce the meeting in the Section Newsletter. For the first meeting, try to get a good location with some light refreshments.

In addition to the Newsletter announcement, make personal contacts, and ask the EXCOM members to make personal contacts. Do whatever is necessary to let local consultants and IEEE members know a Consultants' Network meeting will take place. Send announcements to local newspapers and magazines.

4.  First Meeting Agenda - At the first meeting:

• Determine interest
• Get inputs from attendees as to their needs and expectations from a CN.
• Agree to meet on a regular basis.
• Get names and addresses of attendees.
• Get volunteers for the following positions: Vice Chairperson; Secretary; and Program Director

Be prepared to schedule the next and later meetings. A good tactic is to schedule all the subsequent meetings at the same location and at some easily remembered time like the second Monday of every month at 7:00 PM. Announce the next meeting in the Section Newsletter. Notify local newspapers, magazines and other appropriate places.

5.  Publishing a Directory - A major activity of all CNs has been the generation and distribution of a directory of members listing their consulting expertise. For samples of the existing directories call members of the Alliance asking for their directory.

Publishing a directory can be a major expense.

6.  Activities for Future Meetings - Consider the following additional activities for future meetings. These activities both help get business and improve consulting skills:

• Have members give five-minute talks on what they do and how they get business. Allow time for questions and answers. This is the beginning of internal networking.
• Conduct an anonymous survey of consulting fees and make the results available to the membership.
• Advertise in local newspapers and journals, and the Section newsletter. Write news releases for local papers. Later you may want to start your own newsletter.

7.  Type of Speakers for CN Meetings - Consider inviting the following types of speakers to your meetings:

• Accountants
• Lawyers
• Marketing professionals
• Insurance experts
• Industry leaders
• University leaders
• IEEE leaders

It is easy to get speakers. Initially locate speakers through the members. The members have their own network of lawyers, accountants, insurance experts, other consultants, university professors, city officials, chamber of commerce and so on. These people will usually be pleased to speak to a group of IEEE consultants.

8.  National Conferences/Workshops - Consider working with the AICN to host a national conference or workshop. Contact committee members for details.

9.  Making Liaisons with other Organizations - Now that you are a formal organization, consider making liaisons with other organizations in your area. A relation with a college or university could give you a platform for doing seminars. Offer to conduct seminars or workshops on technical subjects to these groups.

10. Membership Fees - Membership fees vary among the existing CNs. To be part of a directory of referral service, fees range from $50 to over a $100. To attend meetings, fees range from $0 to $20. Currently, there is no standard fee. While you can charge an annual fee, you cannot charge DUES as that is what IEEE does.

A directory for distribution or a referral system requires a setup and a recurring cost that must be paid for by those who use it. Meetings might or might not have costs associated with them.

11. Code of Ethics - As IEEE members, we are bound to the IEEE Code of Ethics. As professional consultants, we should go a step further also follow a more stringent code of ethics. A sample code of ethics for IEEE Consultants' Networks is based on the Code of Ethics promulgated by the National Society of Professional Engineers. The primary change is using the term "Consultants' Network Member" rather than "Engineer" as membership is not limited to degreed or professional engineers.

12.  Bylaws - As time progresses, your CN will need a set of Bylaws and a full set of officers and committees. This will depend on the size and activity of the CN. More detailed operating procedures for Consultants' Networks will be available later.

13.  Keep the AICN Informed - Keep the Alliance informed of your progress. The AICN Coordinating Committee is available for advice and consultation to help you in the formation of your Network. The AICN Coordinating Committee also will be planning a joint meeting of all operating CN’s sometime in the future.

14.  Affinity Group Status - As soon as you have a nucleus of about eight members apply for recognition as an Affinity Group.

Updated:  26 October 2010
Contact: Scott Grayson, s.grayson@ieee.org