Identification and prioritisation of actions

A report of the Task Group findings and recommendations was presented at the AGA in Bergen in May 2003, where it was agreed that a Young Professionals Implementation Group (YPIG) should be set up to prioritise actions and to assist in putting them into practice. The Implementation Group comprised Young Professionals and several mentors from the wider PIANC membership to assist in implementation.

A meeting of the Young Professional Implementation Group (YPIG) was held in Brussels on 13 November 2003. The recommendations of the Task Group Report were reviewed and the various actions were prioritised.

The Task Group had considered the various services offered by PIANC, as well as possible new services that could improve the appeal of PIANC to younger members.

Existing services considered were as follows :

• Opportunities to participate in Working Groups
• Technical reports produced by Working Groups
• PIANC Bulletin and Newsletter (paper version)
• Membership directory
• Networking opportunities
• Website
• Opportunities to attend international congresses
• Congress proceedings
• Opportunities to participate in PIANC activities at a national level
• De Paepe-Willems Award

A number of possible new products and services were also considered :

• (E-mail) based newsletter including news, announcements, academic and employment opportunities
• Free temporary subscription to PIANC
• Publicised job opportunties
• Young Professionals Groups
• Targetting of students
• Creation of permanent Young Professionals Commission
• Links to formal structured training or professional development schemes
• E-mail based, informal "question and answer" forum
• Mentoring opportunities
• Exchange between young professionals in various countries

All of these products and services (new and proposed) were reviewed in terms of their appeal and value to younger members. A series of actions was then identified that would help improve PIANC services for younger members. The Implementation Group categorised these actions under 4 main headings :

• E-communication
• Representation of Young Professionals
• Promotion of PIANC
• Knowledge transfer

It was recognised that actions to improve the appeal of PIANC to Young Professionals must address two issues :

1. marketing to attract new members to PIANC
   In order to attract new members there are a number of high priority actions required to improve PIANC services to Young Professionals. These actions are required to ensure that (potential) new members are instantly presented with the benefits of PIANC membership as a Young Professional. Failure to improve services for Young Professionals has the risk of potential new membership being lost if their first encounter with PIANC does not present services of specific value to them. There is the risk that these potential members may not then return when services are improved. Therefore it is essential that certain actions be taken before active marketing to new membership.

2. retention of existing members
   It is also essential to improve services to retain existing members (and new members once they join). Many of the actions taken to improve appeal to new membership will also clearly be of benefit to existing members. There are some additional actions that can be taken specifically for existing members.

Young Professionals Implementation Group Members

MEMBERS

• Roland Boutin, France
  
• Elio Ciralli, Italy
• Dirk Geeraerts, Belgium
• Jennifer Irish, USA
• Kirsty Mc Connell, UK
• Magenthran Ruthenavelu, South Africa
• Holger Schüttrumpf, Germany
• Kenichiro Shimosako, Japan
• D. Shivkmar, India
• Celia Tamarit de Castro, Spain
• David Romero, Spain
• Peter Troch, Belgium
• A. van der Hoek, The Netherlands

SENIOR MEMBERS

• Hartmut Brühl, Vice-President Germany (MENTOR)
• Jan Brooke, UK (TASK GROUP FACILATOR)
• Jan Reche, Germany
• Chris van Oord, The Netherlands
• Tom Wakeman III, Vice-President Americas

The proposed actions as well as the proposed timing of their implementation will be published very soon on the PIANC international website... Reported by Kirsty McConnell (picture)