Starting an AES Section

As with any organization, there are a few formalities that are required in order to create and run an AES Section. Fortunately, there are established guidelines to make this process easier.

You should refer to the document Starting A Section. The procedure for initiating an official AES section is briefly summarised below.

1. Contact the AES Vice President responsible for your region to signal that you are interested in starting a new section. You can use the document AES_New_Section_Proposal_Information.xlsx to help gather information for your VP.
    
2. Plan and announce a formative meeting for your group. Use a "sign-in" sheet to gather information at your meeting and make sure that it includes the following: Full name, email address, company affiliation, and AES Member number.
   
   You will need a minimum of ten members in good standing to start a new section, ideally more than this. Membership status should be checked with your regional vice president before your proposed section is approved, so be sure that they have paid their membership dues at least until the end of the calendar year. Your regional VP will need a copy of the proposed section's membership list (include member name and AES membership number) before the section can be approved. This information can be entered into the AES_New_Section_Proposal_Information.xlsx spreadsheet.
    
3. Together, review carefully the Section Bylaws, and consider the basics about terms of office if your group wishes (e.g. one year vs. two year terms for officers). Discuss any proposed amendments to the bylaws with your regional VP. (Once your section has been approved you should officially adopt the bylaws during the first general meeting of the section. You should send a copy of the completed and approved Bylaws to your regional VP.)
   
   Nominate and elect temporary officers to the post of Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and Committeeperson(s). These temporary officers can continue in their role after section approval for the duration of whatever term you have specified in the bylaws, provided that they are formally elected by the membership at the first general meeting. Your regional VP will need a list of these new officers (office, names, email, AES Member number). This information can be entered into the AES_New_Section_Proposal_Information.xlsx spreadsheet.
    
4. You should discuss your section planning for the first year (frequency, time, place for meetings) and general topics of interest to pursue. This is what you can put into your letter of intent, along with anything else that seems relevant. A copy of a letter of intent should be sent to the regional VP.
    

This may seem like a lot to do, however it is the groundwork for developing a successful AES section. Once your section has been approved by the Board, you will need to continue to provide regular updates of your activities using the online meeting report form (accessible by section officers from the member portal). These may be published in the Journal and on the website. Details of current section officers and their contact information should be kept up to date using the online committee update form. Your regional VP will be pleased to assist you through this process.

We look forward to many rewarding years ahead.

Anthony Schultz, AES Regions and Sections Committee