2015 was an amazing year for Region 3 and we have had an even better start to 2016!  It has been a whole year since Region 3 updated you on our endeavors and we are glad to say that our twelve (12) chapters, eight (8) joint chapters, and six (6) student chapters have been as active as ever.  Last year we decided to focus and show you what our over 5,300 members had been doing from a social media standpoint; this year, we will focus on the types of activities that have been prevalent and successful throughout Region 3.

As our membership evolves with time so does the activities that are seen as successful throughout our different sections.  As part of sharing best practices with our organization, Region 3 has noticed that tours of facilities have been extremely successful!  Activities such as the one our Jackson, Mississippi chapter had touring Nucor Steel Plant or the ones our Charlotte, North Carolina chapter had touring the Marshall Steam Station Photovoltaic Array and EPRI have been of utmost importance in reaching out to our members as well as prospective members!  Other examples of facility tours have been employed by our Western North Carolina Section when they toured Outrider USA and by our Atlanta Section when they toured the Transmission Control Center for the state of Georgia.

Another effort the region is currently broadening is our focus on Young Professionals and our student sections.  A very wise person once mentioned in our Chapters Chairs Training several years ago “If we are not growing as an organization, we are perishing.”.  Truest words have never been spoken!  With this mindset we are partnering up with IEEE PES Young Professionals to make better use of our resources and bring Young Professionals into the fold as volunteers in our different chapters.  An examples of this are efforts currently being employed by our Atlanta section where more than seventy five percent of their officers are Young Professionals.  Another example was seen in our 2015 North American Power Symposium were the IEEE PES Young Professionals held an extremely successful social event providing attendees the chance to build and expand their network.

Lastly, referring to the Chapters Chairs Training, our 2016 one will be held on Sunday, July 17^th from 8:00am – 5:00pm and we encourage all incoming chapter chairs to join us while we discuss best practices, tools to use, items to avoid, and overall network building in order to improve our communication throughout all of our IEEE PES chapters, officers, and members.

Our beautiful Region 3 looks forward to a great 2016 year; furthermore, we look forward to increasing our network and communication with all regions and chapters as we share and grow together our amazing organization!

By Daniel Diaz