FY20 Summer Planning Meeting Agenda

Contributor: Theresa Krack, FY20 President

Are you getting excited for FY20?!??! We have our first section operations event coming up this Saturday, August 10, 2019 – our FY20 Summer Planning meeting!

This event is open to all section members and thanks to our fiscal year sponsor, Honeywell, lunch from Panera will be provided!

The goal of the summer planning meeting is to provide a focused space for our sections members to come and brainstorm on the types of event and activities we’ll target in FY20 – and maybe start some initial prioritization and next steps to go from idea to implementation. This will also provide the opportunity for those attending who may be interested in helping with a committee or even taking on a leadership role to sign up!

Since there are always a lot of options for what we can look at, we will be focusing on some of the bigger areas for the section. To that end, please find below our planned agenda for the day. We will do our best to stay on track with the timing – but be sure to arrive about 15 minutes ahead of any session you want to participate in to make sure you can join in!

Agenda

Start	End	Topic
8:30 am	9:00 am	Set-up
9:00 am	9:30 am	Welcome, D&I Moment, & Goals
9:30 am	10:00 am	FY20 SWE PNW structure & Introduction
10:00 am	11:00 am	Section Level SWOT Analysis: ·        Strengths ·        Weaknesses ·        Opportunities ·        Threats
11:00 am	12:00 pm	Focus Area Breakout #1: (a)    Professional development (b)    Outreach (K-12) & Volunteering (c)    Social & Networking
12:00 pm	1:00 pm	Working Lunch: ·        D&I Moment Touch Base ·        65th Anniversary Brainstorming
1:00 pm	1:30 pm	Signature Event Breakout: (a)    Holiday Party (b)    Enso Center Workshop
1:30 pm	2:00 pm	New Signature Event Brainstorming
2:00 pm	2:45 pm	Focus Area Breakout #2: (a)    Corporate/Partner Relations (b)    Member Engagement (c)    SWE Business/Careers
2:45 pm	3:30 pm	Section Operations Brainstorming
3:30 pm	4:00 pm	Wrap up & Volunteer Sign-up

SWOT Analysis

One of the tools we’ll be using at the planning meeting is a SWOT analysis. This is a tool that looks at strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Our first group activity will be to look at this from a section level, looking primary at it from the perspective of our members. For a little bit more, see the quick summary below:

• Strengths are things that we do well, better than anyone else. They could also be what you tell others about our section – elements that make up your SWE PNW elevator pitch.
• Weakness are areas that we can improve and do better in.
• Opportunities are things that we aren’t doing today but could be doing in the near or far future timeframes.
• Threats will look at external things or elements that we can’t (or have a hard time to) control.

You may see this tool deployed in some of the breakout sessions as well.

Breakout Sessions

We’ll have a couple of breakout session through out the day. These will be focused on a topic and have 2-3 small breakout groups looking at a sub-topic. In general, these sessions will start with an assessment of the current state baseline, start to brainstorming ideas around targeted prompts, look at impact vs effort to help prioritize, and will target coming up with concrete next step for the top priority.

Each breakout session will have a moderator that will be provided with key baseline information as well as questions prompts to help the group stay on topics and brainstorm.

A D&I Moment

As we build on the launch of the diversity and inclusion goal from FY19 and the deployment of D&I moments at our Executive Council meetings, we’ll be expanding that concept for the planning meeting. We’ll launch the D&I moment at the beginning of the day – but it will be an all-day activity, built into the various sessions. I’m excited to see how we can continue D&I forward and at the forefront of our events in FY20!

Day-of Moderators

There are several breakout session and mini-activities that I am looking for a few people to help with as a moderator. Guidelines, prompts, and instructions will be provide to help you support the topic  and breakout session.

If you are interested, please email swe.pnw.president@gmail.com with “FY20 Summer Planning Meeting: Moderator” in the subject if you’d like to help.

Don’t forget to RSVP!

That about does it for the ahead of event details. If you have questions ahead of the event, please email or post them in the Facebook event discussion here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1206688592839237/?active_tab=discussion

And don’t forget to RSVP here (especially if you want to be included in the lunch count!): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fy20-summer-planning-meeting-tickets-64494323257

Looking forward to seeing you there!

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Theresa Krack is SWE PNW's FY20 President, having serve the section as FY19 President Elect, past section representative, and the driver behind the launch/deployment of the Virtual Brand Team (VBT). She is a Development Program Manager at Honeywell Aerospace, with a background in aerospace and aircraft certification engineering. In her remaining spare time, she is a SWE Leadership Coach for professional sections, a martial arts enthusiast, and enjoys getting out on her bike for rides.

President’s Corner: Welcome to FY20!

Contributor: Theresa Krack, FY20 President

Greetings SWE PNW and welcome to FY20! I hope you have all had a great summer so far and are getting excited for our next year with SWE. I know I am!

One of the new things I am going to introduce in FY20 is a (hopefully) monthly “President’s Corner” blog post. This will be one more way that you can keep in touch with what SWE PNW is up to, especially from a behind the scenes Section Operations perspective.

For July 2019, our President's Corner topics are:

• FY20 Theme: Continuing the Journey
• FY20 Sponsor: Honeywell Aerospace
• Signature Events
• FY20 Summer Planning Meeting
• FY19-FY20 Section Operations Housekeeping
• Thank you, FY19 EC!

FY20 Theme: Continuing the Journey

I am excited to announce that this year’s theme for SWE PNW is “Continuing the Journey” – this builds on the successes and challenges that we had in FY19 “Taking the First Step” in a post-region world of SWE.

As we work towards a successful FY20 and beyond, we’ll be looking at how we set up the section for long term success both for our members’ experiences and for our section leadership experience and pipeline. In FY19, we introduced the concept of “Focus Areas” as topics that we think are key for both areas. In FY20, we’re going to continue to define and refine Focus Areas to make those connections between members and local organizations.

Our key Focus Areas and their overall goal are list below. We had a great year working on continuing with our Professional Development and Outreach areas, and even got started with building corporate relationships. And we’ve aligned many of our EC activities/events to Section Operations so members can keep track of those. If you are interested in helping (or even leading) one of the focus areas, please let me know!

Focus Area	Goal
Professional Development	To provide formal and informal learning opportunities to allow SWE members to develop skills to help in their professional careers.
Outreach (K-12) & Volunteering	To engage with the community around STEM related activities and provide volunteering opportunities for SWE Members to impact their local areas.
Social & Networking	To provide formal and informal opportunities for SWE members to engage with each other, build relationships, and make new connections.
Member Engagement	To focus on the recruitment, retention, and engagement of SWE professional members with the Section
Corporate Relations	To focus on the engagement of local companies and partner organizations with the SWE Section
Section Operations	To run the SWE business and organizational activities that support the Section.

FY20 Sponsor: Honeywell Aerospace

I am super excited to announce that Honeywell Aerospace in Redmond, WA, will be our FY20 Sponsor! This is a result of the relationships built last year through our Corporate Relations focus area and it’s great to see that relationship building result in expanded support from a local company.

Honeywell Aerospace will be providing both locations and funds to support the section in multiple focus areas as a part of their sponsorship. I look forward to continuing the grow the relationship with Honeywell in FY20 and hopefully expand our relationships with other corporate partners and organizations in the area!

Look for a future blog post highlighting their FY20 sponsorship - coming soon to a link near you!

Signature Events

Another great area that we’re going to be continuing to develop is our Section’s Signature Events. FY19 was the first year we introduced the “Signature Event” nomenclature as a way to highlight our larger events that often cross multiple focus areas. Signature event that we would like to continue to develop in FY20 are:

• Holiday Party
• Mid-Year Open House
• Enso Center Workshop
• Annual Banquet

There are a few ideas for a new signature event to launch in FY20 – anything from a Kick-off Open House in fall, to a Conference Prep Workshop ahead of the Society WE Conferences to even a summer informal picnic after the annual banquet to wrap up the year. We’ll be taking a look at a couple ideas during our FY20 Summer Planning meeting on August 10, 2019 – which is, of course, a great set up to talk about that event!

FY20 Summer Planning Meeting

Our FY20 Summer Planning meeting is open to all SWE PNW members and it’s your chance to help come up with ideas for the section under all focus areas! It will also be your first opportunity this year to have a chance to volunteer or take on a leadership role for FY20. Plus lunch will be provided thanks to Honeywell's sponsorship!

Topics that we will be looking at are:

• Annual & strategic planning activities
• Focus area and event ideation breakout sessions
• Signature Event brainstorming
• Opportunity to sign up for committees / leadership roles
• And how do we celebrate 65 years as a section!?!?

We’ll be running a combination of target all group topics, breakout sessions to provide focused brainstorming and initial planning ideas, and mini break out sessions on more detailed targeted topics. The detailed agenda should be posted about a week a head of the event, so keep your eye open!

One thing we are looking for are breakout session leaders. You don’t have to be taking on a role in FY20 to help with this. The idea is that you would be given a set of prompts to lead the discussion and then you would help the breakout group brainstorm and record thoughts. If this interests you, please let me know!

Be sure to RSVP for the event, even if you can only make it for part of it!

FY19-FY20 Section Operations Housekeeping

As you may be aware, we had a few items that are still open from FY19 to FY20 on the section operations side: FY20 Election and Bylaws updates. Here are a few quick updates on both:

We were not able to run a FY20 Election as of yet due to the lack of candidates to slate. We are looking for candidates to slate for President Elect (serving 1 yr as President Elect and 1 yr President in sequence), Secretary (1 yr term), and Treasurer (1 yr term). If you are interested in any of these positions, please reach out to the Nomination Committee ASAP via  swe.pnw.nomination@gmail.com.

For our Bylaws updates, triggered by the dissolution of regions and other upkeep, we are in the holding pattern of waiting for HQ review and feedback. That step needs to completed first before we can put the Bylaws to the section voted for approval. At this point, we don’t have a solid timeline but are hoping to have feedback in August. Please watch for more updates on this as we have them.

Thank you, FY19 EC!

Finally, I wanted to give a huge thank you to the FY19 Executive Council (EC) and especially the elected officers from last year. Thank you to Elaine Reeves (FY19 President), Sherrie Rippe (FY19 Treasurer), Marina Dannecker (FY19 Secretary), Heather Alverez (FY19 Outreach VP), and Sonia Hingorany (FY19 Professional Development VP). Thank you to all the sections members that stepped into leadership and supporting roles to help make the section successful!

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This article is part of SWE PNW's President's Corner series, where the current Section President provide highlights on what the Section has been up to behind the scenes and covers anything from SWE business to upcoming events. If you have a topic you'd like to see addressed or question answered, please submit to swe.pnw.president@gmail.com with the subject "President's Corner Submission."

Theresa Krack is SWE PNW's FY20 President, having serve the section as FY19 President Elect, past section representative, and the driver behind the launch/deployment of the Virtual Brand Team (VBT). She is a Development Program Manager at Honeywell Aerospace, with a background in aerospace and aircraft certification engineering. In her remaining spare time, she is a SWE Leadership Coach for professional sections, a martial arts enthusiast, and enjoys getting out on her bike for rides.

FY19 Introductions: Virtual Brand Team (VBT)

Contributor: Theresa Krack, FY19 VBT Coordinator

A long time ago, in a corner of the Pacific Northwest, the SWE PNW Virtual Brand Team (VBT) was launched. It all started with a multiple year strategic plan to implement improvements to our Section's internal infrastructure and communication to our members. But that is a story for another day!

We've come a long way since then and accomplished a ton of great improvements to the Section's infrastructure and communication platforms - and we continue to evolve the vision and role of the VBT to provide support.

In FY19, we've further updated the VBT model to provide a higher focus on Section Operations, technical support, tool deployment, and documentation. The lead for the communication content generation has shifted back to the Secretary role and to the Officers, Chairs, and Leads that plan the events.

Our key focus items on the VBT for FY19 are:

• Tools: set up, maintenance, management of our section digital and communication tools
• Templates: to improve overall communication and lower level of effort for officers
• Infrastructure: electronic record keeping, doc templates, etc
• Branding: aligning templates and communications to society and section branding
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): backstage details for VBT and guides for Executive Council

These are broad areas that cover everything from social media to helping generate PPT and google docs templates, to providing tech support to officers/chairs/leads as they plan events. Even though we have deployed lots of new tools, platforms, and best practices over the last several years, it is always a work in progress and a challenge to stay current with the various tool set changes and integrations.

The great thing is that we have had a core team that has been supporting these tasks over the last several years. We split our team roles into the level of support that each member can provide:

• Core Team Member: provide continually support and task tracking, supports brainstorming, and are the first stop on the team for needed help
• Adjunct Team Member: provides help when and where they can, taking on a specific project or task set throughout the year
• Content Contributor: some one who is able to provide content to the blog or help lead a facilitated discussion on social media; these are typically one-off activities

So, without any further ado, I'd like to introduce you to our VBT members and thank them for their continued and new support!

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Theresa Krack, Virtual Brand Coordinator

Theresa Krack has led the SWE PNW Virtual Brand Team since its inception in 2013. Theresa is a Development Program Manager at Honeywell Aerospace, coming from an aircraft certification engineering background. Theresa is a proud Cheesehead, enjoys martial arts, and getting out on her bicycle to ride the trails.

Theresa has held leadership roles in both SWE-WI and SWE PNW, including Girl Scout Liaison, Section Rep, and SWE PNW FY19 President-elect. She joined the Leadership Coaching Committee in FY18 and is the FY19 LCC Strategic Planning SME.

Theresa earned her B.S. from the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering & Mechanics from the University of Minnesota, and her Master of Engineering Management from UW-Madison.

Claire Robinson, Core Team Member

Claire Robinson joined the SWE PNW VBT in 2016.  She is currently working as the Honeywell on-site engineer for Boeing, supporting communication management on their commercial aircraft. Claire loves to travel, read, and hike whenever she is not working on homework for her online master’s degree.

Claire earned her B.S. from Harvey Mudd College in engineering.  She is working on her master’s degree in systems engineering through Georgia Institute of Technology.  She is a Chicago native, and has lived in Los Angeles, CA, Paris, France, and Phoenix, Arizona before making her way to Seattle.

Elaine Reeves, Core Team Member

Elaine Reeves has over nine years of experience in EMC and Environmental Hardware Compliance in both commercial and medical equipment. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington, Seattle in 2017. She is an active in SWE PNW as is the current FY19 President.

Elaine has held numerous leadership roles in both SWE MN and SWE PNW including: Professional Advisor to St Cloud State & University of St Thomas, SWE PNW Section Representative, College Relations Chair, FY18 President Elect, and Region J Secretary.

She earned her undergraduate degrees from the University of St Thomas in Electrical Engineering, Physics, & Music Performance with a minor in Applied Mathematics.

Shari Wang, Adjunct Member

Shari Wang is an adjunct member of the SWE PNW Virtual Brand Team. She is an Industrial Engineering Manager at Boeing, supporting Everett Site Operations through daily management, continuous improvement, and data analytics. Shari enjoys singing with the Seattle Women’s Chorus, skiing, hiking, and playing video games with her husband.

Shari co-founded the community volunteering team of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers Puget Sound chapter, supports the University Relations Team and Boeing Asian Professional Association at Boeing, and organizes the talent show for the Seattle Women’s Chorus.  She earned her B.S. Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences from Northwestern University, and her Master of Engineering Industrial and Systems Engineering from University of Washington.

Ashley White, Adjunct Member

Ashley White is an adjunct member of the SWE PNW Virtual Brand Team and was involved with SWE throughout college. She is a Systems Engineer at Honeywell Aerospace working in the communication and navigation area. In her free time, Ashley likes to travel, enjoys attending different conventions, and watching bad movies with her friends.

Ashley has held several leadership positions throughout her time with SWE. At Seattle University Ashley was the Treasurer and Section President. After graduation, she transitioned into the role of professional mentor for her collegiate section. Ashley earned her B.S. in Electrical Engineering with a Specialization in Computer Engineering from Seattle University.

Kat McCoy, Adjunct Member

Katharine McCoy is a Senior Systems Engineer with Honeywell Aerospace in Redmond, WA. Katharine holds a BSE in Computer Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Katharine has 15 years of experience testing software and hardware for a variety of aerospace applications including communication, navigation, radar and satellite systems. Her career and education have moved her all over the US over the years.