Some Thoughts About Change [President´s Message]

This is my last column as president of the IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS), and I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on some of the changes I have seen during my service on the IAS Executive Board. From 1998 to 2003, one of the main concerns of the board was how to restore the financial solvency of the Society. IAS had deficits in many of the previous years, and the Society´s net worth was steadily dropping. Our response was to increase various fees and to charge US$25 for hard copies of the transactions. Those changes were enough to restore the financial health of the Society until another event occurred—the precipitous decline of the U.S. stock market. The next three years were especially challenging, as our net worth dropped to shockingly low values, and we implemented programs to reduce costs and raise revenue.