I'm starting a list of questions, requests & suggestions.
Please contribute with your experiences and solutions.
Good day
My input is based on my experiences, particularity with Connect. I am and have been a chapter 153 officer and do not have issues contacting both mine and other chapter officers outside of Connect.
I believe Vesna set up “Chapter Questions and Issues” for this restricted audience to express their thoughts, issues and concerns openly, maybe I misunderstood the intent. I stand by what was expressed on my post.
I'm sure you are aware that Connect has been “live” for a number of years, my feedback is not based on changes that were made recently that I was evaluating, but from years or frustrating experiences with Connect
Enjoy your day.
Ron Gill
Ultimately nothing changes besides the name of the SME Membership Team behind the screen. Apparently the SME Membership model is to launch update “beta changes” that the chapter officers are obligated to provide feedback as to why the update does not work. Membership has it's benefits?
Forgive my passion for testing :-) I always strived to help others.
Anyone using CAD is familiar with the software "glitches" driving us crazy. I became a beta tester for Woodbourne 3D Design software in the early '90s. When Autodesk bought the program in 1993 and turned it into Autodesk Mechanical Desktop, they "inherited" me. Subsequently, I beta-tested AM equipment and AM materials. Since beta-testing solid modeling in Autodesk products, I have also run a solid modeling user group. I hope that we have made lives easier for many professionals.
Subsequently, I beta-tested AM equipment and AM materials. It's SME's turn now 😊.
This week I'm starting to test our "Contact Chapter" feature. I, and some others, will be contacting various chapters. Please respond when receiving the inquiries.
Thanks, Vesna
Yes all the chapters can sign-up for Google Workspace and pay for that privilege. SME needs to take on this task and assign email addresses for chapter officers. There is no “value proposition” for chapters to take on this financial burden.
SME Chapter Website - Defunct Chapters and Links to Nowhere: Yes, SME uploaded non existent senior and student chapters to their webpage in December 2021. The contact links do not work for our senior chapter and where could the contact links go with the defunct chapters? Just another beta test release that we are suppose to contact SME about when it doesn't work. Ron Gill - Chapter 153
Vesna Cota:
Yes, SME uploaded non existent senior and student chapters to their webpage in December 2021. The contact links do not work for our senior chapter and where could the contact links go with the defunct chapters? Just another beta test release that we are suppose to contact SME about when it doesn't work. Ron GillThe "Contact Chapter" feature is an excellent way for non-members to reach out to their Local Chapter, except that it doesn't work.
Verify:
1. go to https://www.sme.org/sme-membership/chapters/
2. Select a state, for example, Minnesota
3. Click on "Contact Chapter" Minnesota State-Wide No. 11
4. Compile and send the email - there is no cc. ( https://forms.sme.org/Chapter/Contact/C011 )
5. " Your inquiry message has been sent."Results:
The Chapter does not receive the message.
The sender doesn't get any reply whatsoever.I tried to "Contact Chapter" in November without getting replies. Another chapter brought the issue up at that time. I believed the feature was still in development and testing. But, despite being available to the public, it is still not working. Please address asap.
The no-response hurts that Chapter and the SME Membership and the SME brand.
Hi Vesna,
It looks like whoever updated the chapter officer form for Chapter 26 did not change the main contact email, it is still listed to be the old Chapter 26 chair. Amal or another member of the board can access the form and change this at any time.
It is a best practice for chapters to have a dedicated email address! This helps with succession planning and we highly encourage chapters to do so, as it helps us keep in touch with chapter leadership from year to year.
Using this email as the primary contact on the chapter officer form would be a great way to make sure that all communication comes directly to the chapter!
By the way, since all the officer emails are on their home Chapter pages, this privacy protection does not extend beyond this one feature.
Protecting the privacy of our Chapter leaders is essential.
I understand SME's desire to channel all correspondence; however, there are other ways to achieve that.
Our chapter has an email address, Secretary SMEToronto26 <web.smetoronto26@gmail.com>, automatically forwarded to the whole chapter exec team. The distribution list is updated as needed. It allows us never to miss a response while keeping everybody in the loop and commenting.
If all chapters had their official emails, the inquiries could be directed to those addresses and wouldn't need annual updates, automated or manual.
LEAN?! 😉
@Vesna Cota and @Wayne Mausbach Thank you for bringing the outdated link to our attention. I've corrected it on this page
If you happen to notice other outdated links, please feel free to email smeconnect@sme.org so that I can fix them or contact me through SME Connect by either emailing me through the site and/or posting on my wall. Unfortunately, links do change, and while we do our best to catch these changes, it does help if we're notified separately. Thank you!
Hello All!
We appreciate your comments as we work through the new online system for updating our sme.org Chapters page. Here are a few items to keep in mind:
- All chapter information that is currently on the website on the Chapters page is updated via the yearly Chapter Officer form. This form is completely online and is emailed directly to the chapter leaders of record in order to be completed before the January 31st deadline. If there are errors on this form, or if the chapter is no longer active, we will be updating them online as we move through the chapter status award process. Thank you for your patience as we do this- I check each chapter by hand as I evaluate forms to ensure accuracy, and this can take some time!
- The system was changed from directly listing contact information for chapter leaders online to a secure, automated system in order to protect the privacy of our chapter leaders and their data. The email generated by the user goes directly to the chapter chair/contact person of record, and is copied to the chapters@sme.org inbox no matter the status of the chapter.
I am happy to help answer any other questions. Thank you for everything you do for our members, and thank you for using this space to ask questions and engage with each other.
Good to know I'm not dreaming.
Those pages have such great potential to:
- Be a significant hub for potential members and new members to quickly reach their local chapters.
- Offer all members an excellent tool to look up contacts in their work area or a new place of residence.
- Promote the stories of our Chapters
- List all chapter events happening around the world, both in-person and virtual.
- Proclaim honestly - "No chapters in this area - start a chapter!"
I agree. Worst yet it is very much out of date because in Texas a lot of the chapters are non-existent. I also have raised the question as in most cases
if you hit the contact link the question goes to a black hole in the internet. They say they are working through it but I can not believe it is that much a effort.
Many of the chapters listed in Texas have been nonexistent for a number of years. I think it really does a disservice to the new members or prospective new members.
Wayne mausbach P.E. LSME
The "Contact Chapter" feature is an excellent way for non-members to reach out to their Local Chapter, except that it doesn't work.
Verify:
1. go to https://www.sme.org/sme-membership/chapters/
2. Select a state, for example, Minnesota
3. Click on "Contact Chapter" Minnesota State-Wide No. 11
4. Compile and send the email - there is no cc. ( https://forms.sme.org/Chapter/Contact/C011 )
5. " Your inquiry message has been sent."
Results:
The Chapter does not receive the message.
The sender doesn't get any reply whatsoever.
I tried to "Contact Chapter" in November without getting replies. Another chapter brought the issue up at that time. I believed the feature was still in development and testing. But, despite being available to the public, it is still not working. Please address asap.
The no-response hurts that Chapter and the SME Membership and the SME brand.
Issue finding Chapters:
Invalid link on https://connect.sme.org/chapters
>> “For a complete list of SME chapters, please visit sme.org/sme-chapters.” >>
“Page Not Found”
The correct link is https://www.sme.org/sme-membership/chapters