While a sustainable member base is essential for healthy operations, our Society is facing the challenge of membership decline. We must treat this matter seriously. In addition to the administrative support from staff and help from volunteers, awareness of the membership development importance and various ways to promote the Society should also be created among our members.

Why is membership development important for everyone? We are a member-based organization and one of the key benefits of our membership is to communicate and network with our peers in the Society - technically or geographically. Sufficient number and rich diversity of our membership are critical to help us establish new geographic units, keep existing units operating vibrantly, and maintain high qualities of our technical and conference activities. Stronger membership also makes us in favorable positions when negotiating for external services and collaborations.

What are the membership development strategies? We should:

• Maintain and strengthen our top-class services to members. Especially in the regions where the Society traditionally has strong presence.
• Promote the value of our membership and grow our member base in emerging regions.
• Provide a selection of flexible membership package options for groups with different needs.
• Continue to enhance good membership development practices, such as student special packages and the Corporate Affiliate Program.

Who are the implementors of membership development strategies? The Society staff and membership development volunteers will continue to be the main forces of such efforts, with more support from our members. In addition to these, we should establish strong liaisons to IEEE membership development staff and volunteers, and run our campaigns efficiently and effectively.