Act nationally, serve locally: make a difference
This is the thinking of Professor Teoh KokSoo CEng FIMechE, who chairs the Institution’s Malaysia Branch. Here, he discusses the concept of the Branch’s ‘road shows’ – promoting membership of the Institution at locally-based events – and his plans for the coming year.
“Road shows are a relatively new initiative,” KokSoo explains.
“The aim is to promote and raise the profile of the Institution nationally and to better serve members who are located outside Kuala Lumpur. Sometimes engineers understandably cannot travel to Kuala Lumpur to engage with the Institution, and can feel neglected. Road shows, which take place in a variety of states across Malaysia, engage members and encourage them to become volunteers. This compliments the rate of membership applications and professional registration.”
The road shows offer an eventful program, split into morning and evening sessions, and are hosted by an institution of higher learning or held at a hotel or industrial premises. Typically, there is an introduction to the Institution and Malaysia Branch and Young Member Section (YMS), an official welcome to new corporate members, an informative talk about membership and mentoring, knowledge-sharing sessions by industry experts and/or academics, and a collaborative research and development opportunity session and business networking. Informal contacts and questions can, of course, take place over lunch or dinner.
Each road show creates an opportunity for members and non-members to connect with fellow mechanical engineers, researchers and academics, create new business partnerships and opportunities, showcase products and services, enquire about membership applications, attend technical talks, and makan-makan (indulge in local foods). Each member is encouraged to bring along a non-member who is an engineer, and registration is either free or subsidised.
Kok-Soo mentions that there was an earlier precedent for a similar endeavour:
“Many years ago, the Branch organised a visit to Sarawak and Brunei. Following this, when I was first elected as Chair of the Branch in 2011, we felt that membership levels had become stagnant, and so we organised a Northern Region event. This year, we’re covering four states with road shows: in Perak, Penang, Johor and Sarawak.”
Attendees include Malaysia Branch volunteers, elected committee members, YMS committee members and invited speakers from industry and academic institutions offering mechanical engineering study programmes.
KokSoo adds: “Students, academic staff, and anyone connected with engineering businesses are welcome to join. We aim to connect with Student chapters and industrial companies alike. Our recent Sarawak road show took place on the evening following the launch of the Curtin University Student Chapter, so it was the perfect opportunity to consolidate the Branch’s work.”
“Our objective is to raise the profile of the Institution through the programmes we offer and through advocating the benefits of joining the Institution. We look to connect with new and senior engineers from industry, and enlist members to become volunteers and interviewers (to help with membership applications) in their respective states and areas. All this is important to the effective expansion of Institution membership, and impacts on what the Branch can offer within Malaysia.”
Kok-Soo has been very encouraged by the good response that the road shows have received. He says:
“We employed a variety of publicity methods, including Near You, Facebook, e-flyers and local contacts. This helped to attract the participation of ‘senior’ members (retired chartered engineers); their presence was a very welcome surprise! We also attracted members who had just returned from the UK and those from the UK who currently work in Malaysia.
As for the Branch’s future plans, KokSoo explains that these are:
1) To organise the next road show, which will be held in the Southern Region in early 2014. The Branch has been asked by an IHL and its academic staff to help with setting up a student chapter and with their membership applications
2) To enlist members to become Institution volunteers in their local states
3) To support and/or jointly organise events and activities with state volunteers and to recruit new members in their respective states and areas. With limited resources, this is found to be a more efficient and effective way of serving members ‘locally’.
The Branch’s ambition is to create another campaign in 2014 under the local banner: “Act nationally, serve locally: make a difference.” The Branch feels that they have had a very good year in terms of events, activities, recruitment, publicity, volunteering, member engagement and support from the Institution’s headquarters in London, UK.
A consolidating volunteer conference for Academic Liaison Officers and Student Chapter committee members is planned, and the Branch places great emphasis on strong corporate branding and communication, from consistent publicity to the wearing of Institution branded t-shirts at events.
If you would like to find out more about the Malaysia Branch, it’s volunteers and activities, please visit their Near You site.