Thank you for the interest you have expressed in organizing a local section of The Audio Engineering Society. This page outlines a detailed Section Starter Kit. Also visit this link for more information: http://aescentral.wordpress.com/starting-a-section/. To be officially recognized, please contact your respective VP: http://www.aes.org/sections/.

1. Copy of Section Guidelines
2. Bylaws of the Audio Engineering Society, Inc.
3. Standard Section Bylaws of the Audio Engineering Society, Inc.
4. Membership Application Forms 5. Standard form Section Report to Headquarters
5. Standard form Section Budget and Financial Report
6. Various Audio Engineering Society, Inc. Brochures

Starting a New Section

First Organizational Meeting

1. A minimum of 10 active AES members (either full, associate or student members for a student section) is required to start a section, and a minimum of 15 members is required to continue functioning as an independent section after the first year. Experience in forming new sections has shown that to maintain a viable, active section, at least 30 active members are required. A list of current members in your Area may be requested from Headquarters.

2. YOU CANNOT DO IT ALONE! The Regional Vice President of the Society for your region will help you start the section. Your Vice President will discuss your proposal in more detail and offer personal assistance in furthering your plans.

3. It is suggested that you compile a list of persons living and working in your area who are either professionally engaged in the audio industry or who use audio techniques in the course of other work, for example ultrasound in medicine and audiology. Journalists, writers and others with special interest in recorded or broadcast sound should also be contacted as their assistance and enthusiasm will be valuable in promoting section activity.

4. The next step is to call a meeting of all interested persons with the purpose of electing temporary officers and forming a small working party to organize a viable section as quickly as possible. The same meeting should review the Bylaws governing Section operations. Don’t forget to collect the names and contact information of all persons attending the meeting. Using the form provided, report the proceedings of the meeting to Headquarters and the Regional Vice President, giving names, addresses and affiliations of persons interested in helping you to organize local activities Develop a preliminary plan for the number, topics, and possible lecturers of the first few meetings of the new section. Once all these plans and the proper paperwork has been completed and submitted, your Regional Vice President will present your proposal to the Board of Governors of the Audio Engineering Society for approval of the section. When the new section has received Board approval, you will be notified and given permission to hold a first General Meeting to elect officers for the ensuing year and to start the business of the new section.

First General Meeting

Call a meeting of all AES members in the area covered by the Section; also invite any other interested parties. Be sure to have a supply of membership application forms to hand and encourage any nonmembers attending the first general meeting to join the society. Prepare an agenda including a minimum of the following topics:

1. Adoption of the Section Bylaws.
2. Election of officers.
3. Choice of venue for regular meetings.
4. Frequency of section meetings.
5. Any other business.

1. Adoption of Section Bylaws. It is recommended that the new section formally adopt the Section Bylaws approved by the Board of Governors of the AES. Arrangements should be made for their proper understanding by the Membership, either by the dissemination of copies to the Membership, or by providing suitable access to the document. If for any reason, the Bylaws need to be modified for your section, a copy of the Bylaws as revised and adopted must be submitted to Headquarters and to your Regional Vice President. The Board of Governors must approve any revisions to the Bylaws for the section.

2. Election of Officers.Voting in this formal election must be by Members as defined in Article V of the Standard Section Bylaws. No other persons may take part in formal election. Article V, Section 2 states ".... all grades of SOCIETY members, except student members, shall be privileged to vote and hold office with the Section." However, for student sections, only student members belonging to the section may vote or hold office. The first election need not be by mail ballot and therefore nominations for office may be accepted from the floor of the meeting provided that nominees comply with the conditions outlined above. The business of the first election can usually be completed quickly by simple show of hands but it is the duty of those members present to ensure that all votes counted come form eligible persons. Succeeding elections must conform to Article IV of the Section Bylaws.

3. Section meetings. Quality, not quantity, should be the watchword when planning the lecture season. The number of meetings is a function of section population and member interest. Smaller sections find that five meetings per year, held every two months (except summertime), is a good way to sustain member interest, provided the material is well presented and informative. In general, new sections should start slowly and carefully. A good way to maintain interest in the section and its activities is to create a web site. A committee member may be appointed to serve as the Webmaster for the site. Email is the least expensive method of communicating with section members.

4. Meeting locations for regular meetings. Very often it is found that local firms of civic organizations are willing to provide a suitable meeting room free of charge in the initial stages. Failing this, universities, colleges and schools are often able to provide suitable lecture rooms at low cost. The use of restaurants and hotels as meeting places is generally discouraged due to the costs. (Many sections have a social hour and dinner prior to the meetings; in this case, the cost of the room usually is included in the dinner charges paid by those attending.)

5. Any other business. A general discussion of any other matters that may affect the operation of the section.

Section Funding

1. Seed Money. When Headquarters receives documentary evidence that at least one meeting has been confirmed, together with a program for at least five further meetings, the section will become eligible to receive the sum of up to $200 as seed money. Note that the organizing committee need not necessarily wait for the approval of Bylaws before requesting the seed money. Properly organized meetings of a working party will be considered suitable evidence of the intention to continue operation of a section. In this period, the Regional Vice President will guide the organizing committee to progress towards a smoothly functioning new section. When satisfied with the progress, the Regional Vice President will present the section to the Board of Governors of the Audio Engineering Society, for approval as an official AES Section.

Preparation of operating budget. The section budget will allow for the printing and mailing of meeting notices, contingency planning for the rental of meeting room and any reasonable out of pocket expenses incurred by the lecturers and section officers. AES Headquarters will furnish a section budget form to the section treasurer, who is responsible for supervising the financial affairs of the section, as well as submitting an annual report on the finances of the section to the Regional Vice President and AES Headquarters.

3. Program of section activities. It is recommended that wherever possible arrangements be made for a regular series of lecture meetings. Experience has shown that these will bring the Membership together and provide opportunities for crossfertilization. Due attention should be paid to the importance of advertising section activities not only among the Membership, but also further afield to generate recruitment. The primary means for achieving this aim is the Section Meeting Notice, which also serves as an official Newsletter. Email can be used as the primary means of keeping members informed, and can be more efficient and cost effective than traditional mailing. When well designed and kept rigorously up to date, a section website also can be a very effective and important method for recruitment and providing information about the section’s activities.