All,
I just became aware of the below note from Gordon Day,
IEEE President, regarding the situation at the IEEE, specifically as it relates
to the upcoming IEEE Board of Directors meeting series, but it give some general
information that you may find of value as well.
Regards,
--Paul
2 November
2012
Dear IEEE Meeting Series Attendees:
The aftermath of Hurricane
Sandy has had a profound impact on the New York City
metro area and vast
regions of New Jersey. For those of you personally affected,
please know you
are in our thoughts and prayers. Many IEEE employees and their
families
sustained significant damage to homes and property from the
devastating
storm. In addition, many remain without power and other basic
services.
IEEE sustained minimal
physical damage to our facilities in New Jersey and New
York City, and there
have been no substantial interruptions to our electronic
services (IEEE
Xplore, ieee.org, etc.). However, both locations
have been closed
all week because neither site has grid power. While the
backup generators at
the Operations Center are running the data center and
emergency services, fuel
availability is now a serious
issue.
Power was restored to the
Hyatt hotel in New Brunswick at 10:30 Wednesday
morning. However, the
cumulative effect of the continued extensive loss of power
throughout the
region, the sporadic availability of fuel for generators and cars,
airport
delays and/or cancellations, freezing weather this weekend, and news
of
another storm approaching the area in a few days are serious concerns. In
addition,
the ability of the professional staff to provide the usual levels
of preparation is, and
will continue to be, very limited.
Given the unreliability of
local power grids and fuel in the region, and related
logistical
complexities, and after close consultation with past-President
Kam,
President-elect Staecker, IEEE Executive Director Prendergast, and
members of the
Management Council, the IEEE Meeting Series scheduled for next
week will operate
on a very limited schedule.
Specifically:
• The IEEE Board of
Directors Meeting will proceed as planned for November
11-12. All sitting
Board Members, 2013 President-elect de Marca, and all
candidates for 2014
President-elect should plan on attending in person;
Directors-elect will
participate only by phone.
• The IEEE Assembly
Meeting will be held on Saturday, November 10. All
candidates for
Assembly-elected positions should plan on attending
in
person.
• Other than sitting IEEE
Board Members, 2013 President-elect de Marca,
Assembly candidates, all
candidates for 2014 President-elect, and critical
staff, no one else should
attend in person.
• If you are not an IEEE
Director, an Assembly candidate, 2013 President-elect
de Marca, a candidate
for 2014 President-elect, an individual who has been
specifically requested
by President Day to attend, or an employee who has
been requested to attend
by the IEEE Executive Director or a Management
Council member, please
cancel your travel arrangements.
• All OU meetings will be
held telephonically and will adhere to the existing
schedule. However,
agenda items are to be limited to time-sensitive (2012
calendar year only)
issues. For any OU meeting, should there be no time
sensitive issues for
the November series, that meeting should be cancelled
and agenda items held
until the February series. OU Vice Presidents should
work with their key
professional staff representatives.
• The 2012 EAB Awards
Ceremony will be rescheduled for the February 2013
Board
Series.
• A revised Meeting
Schedule will be issued by November 6.
This has been a very
difficult decision, as I am aware that this is not anyone’s
preferred option.
However, considerable time and effort has been spent reviewing
this very
complex and fluid situation. Your support and understanding are
much
appreciated.
Questions may be directed
to IEEEMeetingSeries@gmail.com or via the MPS hotline
at +1 908
227 6552, to Ana Navarro, Lead Planner
Sincerely,
Gordon W. Day
IEEE
President & CEO