21 May 2012 Meeting on our IEEE GHTC 2013 Bid

John W. Camery (Presiding)
David Morse,
John V. Imperial
Alvin Toda
Grant Torigoe

Meeting Details

This was a working meeting to gather information for the Hawaii Section and Chapters to bid on having the IEEE Global Humanitarian Conference 2013 held in in Honolulu, Hawaii. Song Choi is looking into possible venues for the conference. John V. Imperial will look into ways of promoting the conference and getting sponsorship from corporations. He will also try to find points of contact through the Pacific Partnership 2012 humanitarian initiative with the Philipines. Grant Torigue will find a point of contact with the company he works for regarding possible sponsorship of the conference. Other IEEE members are encouraged to do likewise, esp. Ryan with Oceanit. It was suggested we contact Mark Rognstad about obtaining a copy of the successful bid for the Oceans Conference in Hawaii. We need to locate local members willing to serve on the organizing and technical committees. I started the discussion topic, "Wouldn't it be great to to have the IEEE Global Humanitarian Technical Conference 2013 held in Hawaii?" on several groups I belong to on LinkedIn to try to find others willing to help out. The professional and student Engineers Without Borders groups on the island should be a key assets. We can also get quality volunteers from many countries to assist during the actual conference from the humanitarian groups working on Oahu and from students at the colleges and universities. All our members are encouraged to lend a hand in this worthy endeavor.  A luau was suggested as a social event, but perhaps the local humanitarian groups might want to sponsor activities more in line with the humanitarian nature of the conference. We need to involve these organizations in the planning.