IEEE Meetings, Conferences & Events (MCE): IEEE Conference Organizer Insider

What's Inside: March 2021

Planning to Succeed

By Marie Hunter, Head of IEEE Global Meetings, Conferences and Events

Stay in the Know

VPs of Conferences Setting the Bar High for Their Societies
ISBN Assignment Issue Affecting Some Conferences

Organize Like a Pro

Expanded Virtual & Hybrid Guidance Now Available

Meet the MCE Team

Alicia Zupeck, Customer Relationship Manager

Available Resources

Drive Member Engagement - Host a Virtual Conference Education Workshop for your IEEE Unit

Planning to Succeed

It can be tough to plan ahead if you are not sure what to anticipate. Many organizers rely upon a past chair or sponsor colleague for insight on how they navigated their conference. They can be a great source of information and reassurance. It is also important to stay up to date on what is happening in the conference industry as well as at IEEE.

Did you know that each conference has a relationship manager that they can reach out to? If you are not in touch with your MCE relationship manager and could use some help, let us know, and your assigned contact will reach out to you.

Marie Hunter

Head of IEEE Global Meetings, Conferences and Events

There are some changes on the horizon with regard to in-person events coming back slowly and some changes in the financial tools and processes that IEEE uses. Get the most recent advice by reaching out. We look forward to hearing from you.

How can we help?

Stay in the Know

VPs of Conferences Setting the Bar High for Their Societies

Each year, IEEE Societies organize hundreds of conferences around the world in their fields of interest. That is a lot of planning, coordinating, and implementing! But who is responsible for ensuring consistency and excellence across all of a Society’s conferences?

Although the role may vary by Society, VPs of Conferences oversee the development and coordination of their Society’s conference activities. They work closely with professional staff and other volunteers to develop conference strategies, establish and supervise conference committees, and develop conference policies.

These volunteers are responsible for the management of the Society’s conference portfolio and all conference-related business. This includes the oversight of all of their Society’s sponsored or co-sponsored conferences.

VPs of Conferences ensure alignment of their Society’s event portfolio with members’ technical interests and the wider communities they serve. They may develop annual plans and report on their Society’s schedule of conferences for the next several years.

Let’s meet some current VPs of Conferences to learn more about how they are making a difference.

Goutam Chattopadhyay

Meetings and Symposia (M&S) Committee Chair, IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S)

In his role as Committee Chair, Goutam is responsible for offering “technical and financial guidance and assistance” to organizers. He also ensures that MTT-S's over forty conferences are “of the highest technical quality.” Goutam enjoys interacting with organizers from all over the world who share a “common thread of unyielding desire for technical excellence.” Goutam is helping MTT-S “involve more young professionals (YP) and women (in engineering, especially microwaves - WiE/WiM)” in their conferences. Improving access for students and young professions through a “new microwave conference in the African Continent” is another area of focus. Goutam suggests that organizers take advantage of available resources as both MCE and MTT-S “have vast experience and expertise and are always willing to help.”

Wayne Bishop

Vice President Meetings, IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES)

As Vice President Meetings, Wayne is responsible for “oversight and strategy of all IEEE PES Conferences worldwide.” Wayne is energized by “working with all of the dedicated PES volunteers from around the world.” He is working to help his society “increase more industry involvement” across PES conferences. Wayne shares that he is particularly proud of contributions to the “growth in attendance and revenue from our General Meeting, and other conferences like ISGT.” Wayne says that even during these challenging times, PES has been able to “deliver conferences virtually through tremendous help from PES and MCE" teams.

Michael Braasch

Vice President Conferences, IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS)

Michael is responsible for leading “efforts to provide high-quality conferences in our technical fields of interest.” In his role, Michael finds that “assisting conference organizers who are completely new to the process is particularly gratifying.” In his tenure as Vice President, “helping conference organizers in their pivoting from in-person to virtual conferences throughout 2020 was a significant highlight.” In terms of words of wisdom for organizers, Michael encourages them to “take advantage of the services that MCE has available. Their Event Emergency Response Team (EERT) provided vital services to a great many conferences during 2020 when the pandemic hit.”

To connect with your current VP of Conferences, please visit the IEEE Roster Tool.

Search the Roster

ISBN Assignment Issue Affecting Some Conferences

Please be aware that a number of IEEE publications were inadvertently assigned ISBNs already in use by other IEEE publications, in error. IEEE is working now to correct this.

An email from IEEE was sent to the Conference Chairs and Publications Chairs of all affected conferences with the subject: Action Needed Regarding Your Conference's ISBN Numbers. Please check your inbox and the spam folder to ensure that you did not miss this important message.

If you did not receive an email, there is no action needed.

Next Steps for Affected Conferences Only

If you received an email from IEEE regarding your ISBNs, please review and complete the following steps:

If you have not yet created content using the ISBNs, please contact IEEE’s conference team at [email protected] as soon as possible for an updated Letter of Acquisition containing new ISBNs.
If you have already created and sent in your content to IEEE using the affected ISBNs, no corrective action is required on your part. A new ISBN will soon be assigned to the content submitted to IEEE Xplore® and downstream partners.

IEEE apologizes for any inconvenience this issue may have caused. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out.

Contact the Conference Team

Organize Like a Pro

Expanded Virtual & Hybrid Guidance Now Available

If you are planning a virtual or hybrid IEEE event in 2021, you now have even more helpful resources at your fingertips. Whether you are streamlining your program, choosing a virtual event platform, or learning what worked for your peers, we've got you covered.

New Virtual & Hybrid Event Resources

Re-envisioning Your Program
Comparing & Selecting Platforms
Working with Exhibitors & Sponsors
IEEE Case Studies
Industry Resources
Share Your Story

Visit the MCE website today to take your next virtual or hybrid event from good to great.

See What's New

Meet the MCE Team

Alicia Zupeck, Customer Relationship Manager

In her current role as a Customer Relationship Manager, Alicia is responsible for leading overall strategies and priorities for the portfolios within her assigned OUs.

Alicia has a BA in Sociology from Rutgers University and has held an accreditation with the Event Industry Council’s internationally recognized certification program as a Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) since 2010. With over 18 years of professional experience working within the association events industry, Alicia has experience in event planning, project management, and conference business development.

Alicia has been with IEEE Meetings, Conferences, and Events (MCE) for 14 years. In her time with MCE, she has successfully managed complex technical conferences internationally with attendance topping at 3,500. Alicia continues to develop relationships across the OUs she works with, continually proving her ability to take events from concept to conclusion while incorporating new ideas and strategies and delivering a high level of service.

Available Resources

Drive Member Engagement - Host a Virtual Conference Education Workshop for your IEEE Unit

Many Regions, Sections, and Societies have utilized virtual workshops to connect with conference organizers, increase their knowledge, and share best practices. IEEE can support you to conduct virtual workshops, with consultation and materials. A library of up-to-date presentations, including speaker notes, is available to simplify the organizing effort.

If you are interested in conducting conference organizer/leader education for your Region, Section, or Society, please contact Kevin Hanft ([email protected])

MCE Conference Education also has comprehensive education resources.

Conference role-specific learning paths help you gain the knowledge and skills to be successful. All courses are available in the IEEE Center for Leadership Excellence (CLE).