Renaming the SERMS Section

Ian-- it appears  that now not only a name change is envisaged but also working   engineers  can  join -- fine with me --but is this not in conflict  with the main group who are working members --and has this been discussed with them ? Got back late last night from far east --a tad jet lagged .

John


I think your point about a possible conflict with the main section is fair. However, I think the main point is that we are about organising afternoon events and hold our committee meetings in the afternoon. That means that those who attend the events or are available for the committee will (mostly) be retired, or semi-retired although perhaps self employed or those with flexible employers could also attend.


If we keep our remit to to organising daytime events, for anyone interested, of all ages, as it is just now, I don't think there is a conflict with the main section.


It would be good t get more people attending our events and help us spread the word about the IET and the importance of engineering to society so if a name change helps us promote our events to a wider audience I'm all for it.


As this discussion is taking place on the forum I hope other members of the community will contribute and that the discussion will not be limited to committee members. The committee exists to serve the community and help it flourish so it would be good to hear the views of community members.


Jim

Jim

all seems fine --I must say due to various reasons I  prefer talks at night . However I still feel that a chat with the main group would be benificial in many ways, unless this has allready taken place?

Hi All


Just came across this discussion and thought I'd chip in with a suggestion. 


When I was a Local Network Development Manager/Community Relationship Manager for the IET London Network there was no 'Retired Members' section in name, instead they had (and still have as far as I'm aware) The Friday Lunch Club which meets on the last Friday of the month. The events are solely organised by retired member volunteers and as you may expect the audience is mainly retired too. However, on many occasions they've had members of the audience who are, as you mention, self employed, unemployed, students, or simply have a day off work and want to attend! 


Just because the events are organised mainly by retired members doesn't mean that you have to define it by the 'retired' name tag. You could get very creative....


The Afternoon TEA (Technology and Engineering Awareness) Club? ?


Hope that helps? 

Lisa


Thank you for your suggestion. We are aware of the Friday Lunch Club - Ian Currier brought it to our attention after seeing a mention in Members News. We have decided to change our name to SESAME (South East Scotland Afternoon Meetings and Events) and the various processes to make the name official are now in hand.


Thanks again


Jim

Lisa,


Thanks for the insight into other organisations. I spotted the report by the London section. Inclusivity is a keyword in this and having the time, we are well placed to provide the effort to appeal to a wider audience. More and more folk work flexibly and having daytime opportunities to keep in touch with relevant Technological topics is important. You didn't mention it but this is obviously important for women in pursuing family relations and a job. Generally the working environment is not good at providing for this. It is not that great for men either. I am conscious that we have no women on the Committee albeit a few attendees to talks and other events. So we need a better gender neutral image as well. SESAME is not only an acronym or a past children's TV show but means in conjunction with "open" , any successful means of achieving a result, especially means that are technical!


Reference to being retired is also quite a turn-off for other generations, without being ageist, understandably. None of us expect to get older but when we do there is no reason to drop skills and capabilities necessarily. You just have to relabel yourself! Work is not the only driver for wanting to know what is happening in the world and keeping up with it. Of course comradeship  and knowledge sharing are strong factors as well.


Hopefully, the changes that we are making will fit with the changing working and living environments so that members and other interested folk will, as you say, have somewhere to go to keep up, technically.


Thanks for your support.


Ian

Ian, Jim I love it! ?


You could have so much fun with the 'Open SESAME' tag... Events open to all etc 


I love your thinking and strategy for re-positioning yourselves. 


Make sure you stay in regular contact with your main IET Staff contact so we can highlight your successes! ?