VP, Affinity Communities nomination

As some of you know, the Young Engineer Correspondents is one of the largest, most active affinity communities within ASME. For this reason, I was asked to sit on the Affinity Communities Board when it formed almost two years ago. It is now time to elect a new Vice President of this board. I have been asked to run - and have accepted. What this means is I must sit in front of the ASME Nominating Committee at the Summer Annual Meeting in June, find two people to say nice things about me, and try to convince a room full of people that I am qualified to fill this position. It is NOT a slam dunk however. The powers that be MUST find another candidate in accordance with ASME bylaws.

A little background: Over the last two years, Mr. Dyer Harris, the current VP, has done an excellent job of establishing what exactly an Affinity is and educating ASME's leadership as to an Affinity Communities place with the ASME structure. Affinity Communities can be described as a group of two or more members that want to meet for a common purpose. This meeting can take place in person or online through email, the Communities of Practice website, or some other tool. They may meet because of a common technical interest, because of their company, to network, or anything in between. Encouraging affinity communities both inside and outside of existing ASME member units seems to be a relatively new idea. The old paradigm was to divide members up by geographic area into Sections and technical interest into Divisions. While this model worked very well forty years ago when society in general encouraged more professional membership and there seemed to be fewer distractions, it is a model that does not fit every need in today's fractured, time-pressured environment. In recognition of this fact, ASME wisely decided to create the Affinity Group member unit. The past model is known, the future is to be written. But one thing is certain, ASME is trying to design itself to allow for the development of new member units in any way the membership sees fit to create.

It is a huge honor to be asked to run. Keep your fingers crossed. And if I am not selected, I can continue to lead this outstanding group of early career leaders known as the Young Engineer Correspondents Affinity Group for a little longer.
-Justin Young