News Detail

What is ACI doing for Younger Members?

11/1/2008

You’ve probably heard a lot in the last few years about the outstanding progress ACI has made in student initiatives (see President García’s memo, June 2008): thousands of new student members, top scholarships and fellowships, record numbers of student associate members on committees, and so much more. A recent survey of selected ACI members indicated that 47% were introduced to ACI through academia (through professors, other students, etc.) with the next highest being through their employer or colleagues (22%). This confirms that we’re taking the right approach to bringing in students and helping as many as possible stay involved.

During this process, we haven’t forgotten about the next big step—the jump from student membership to ACI membership as a Young Professional Member (a member younger than 28 years old that doesn’t qualify for student membership). We’re trying to make this jump much less daunting for our graduating students while also trying to spread awareness of the benefits of ACI to the many young professionals with an interest in concrete. President García’s commitment to these initiatives for younger members is evident in the fact that he invited me to be a guest author for this month’s President’s Memo devoted to younger members. I’m very pleased to have the opportunity to tell you about all the exciting initiatives already underway for younger members.

The Advisory Committee for Young Members was established in 2007 with a mission “to advocate for engagement and initiatives of students and young professionals to the Institute.” This committee brings together the chairs and younger members of many key committees that help shape the student and younger member initiatives. Some very exciting opportunities have recently been added for younger members:

• Free electronic membership to young professionals during their first year after student membership to help ease the financial burden as students transition to the workplace. This also gives ACI a chance to maintain contact through this transition;
• The 5th International Workshop on Structural Concrete in the Americas will be held in conjunction with ACI’s Fall 2008 Convention in St. Louis. ACI is providing financial support to cover the cost of travel and accommodations for younger practicing engineers who are speaking at the Workshop; and
• A trial program for the conventions in Los Angeles and St. Louis to provide free 1-day registration to 20 young members in the local community.

Involving younger members has not only focused on the financial side. Prior participants in the fellowship program and student membership programs have significantly increased the number of younger members on committees. Several of these members have been extremely active in helping ACI find new ways of connecting with younger members.

An ACI group in Facebook added this year already has over 1500 members. Try it out at www.facebook.com—those of us who are “not-so-young members” can participate, too. There are some great pictures from the Puerto Rico and Los Angeles conventions on there! ACI launched another group page on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) after the last convention based on the success of the Facebook group. LinkedIn is an online network of experienced professionals throughout the world that allows you to create a profile that summarizes your professional accomplishments and to find and be found by former colleagues, clients, and partners. That group has since grown to over 700 members in a very short time. Other projects with Shutterfly and YouTube are in preliminary stages. ACI is also looking into new and exciting options to provide younger members with additional socializing and networking time at ACI conventions.

ACI’s Advisory Committee for Young Members is now focusing on removing real or perceived barriers to active committee participation by younger members. These members are the key to a continued bright future for ACI and we’ll be having an active discussion in St. Louis about this topic.

Today’s young members are the future of our industry, and it’s our responsibility to provide them with meaningful and informative engagements in ACI. Think about young professionals in your office and on your projects and how they could benefit by becoming more involved with ACI. Then chat with them, invite them to our next convention, or perhaps encourage them to join you at your next committee meeting. It’s an exciting time to be entering ACI!

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