MTT Q and A

	MTT Questions and Answers


Finances	Where does the symposium's funding come from? From you, geekoid! Virtually all the symposium's income is from (1) registration and (2) the trade show. After all, there isn't much else. The trade show has a separate organizer, with its own slew of subcontractors, and it's a big money-maker for them, as well. Companies that wish to exhibit their wares contract with that organizer, not the MTT, and the organizer deals with the convention center to put the show together. The whole thing is a formidable task; the steering committee could not do all this alone. The combination of this huge commercial venture with the technical one presents a real possibility of a conflict of interest: that the exhibitors might exert undue influence on the symposium. The symposium steering committee avoid this problem pretty well, however, and so far, the vendors have shown enough class not to try anything improper. Every year the trade show and the technical meetings are kept quite separate, both physically and organizationally. Except for the vendors' clear preference for certain locations, you'd have a hard time seeing any influence on the symposium from them. What is the income from the symposium used for? The net income from the symposium has traditionally been a two or three hundred thousand USD. Recently, however, it has spiked, reaching almost 1M USD in 2004 and1.2M in both 2005 and 2006. It is used (1) to pay for the symposium itself, (2) to run the MTT society, and (3) to fill the MTT's bank account. In mid-1999, the MTT's bank balance peaked at 6M USD, and it has consistently been one of the richest IEEE societies. In subsequent years, however, the MTT "reserves," as the Adcom likes to call them, decreased along with the worldwide economic climate. By mid-2002, the MTT reserves were down to 2.5 million. The Phoenix symposium, which posted a small loss, was part of the problem; this is worse than it sounds, because the society counts on having a large "surplus" from the IMS (Since the IEEE is non-profit, the Adcom members are careful to use the word surplus instead of ugly concepts like income or profit.) Surpluses in subsequent years have been decent, however, largely due to the high income--err, surpluses--from the IMS. By early 2005, the bank balance was back up to 6M and in mid 2006 it was already at 8M and growing. Fast. And, since the MTT budget assumes that income from future symposia will be much smaller than is likely (i.e., 400K in 2007 and 500K in 2008), it seems that this trend is guaranteed to continue. Does this have any subtle consequences? No. Bizarre is a better word. Because it depends so strongly on symposium income, and keeps society dues very low, the MTT society actually loses money on every new member. The symposium subsidizes your journals (MTT Transactions and Microwave and WIreless Components Letters) and other membership costs. Again because of the emphasis on symposium income, the vendors at the trade show have a strong, if indirect, influence on the choice of symposium location (see below). This trend should disturb MTT members, especially the Adcom, but it doesn't seem to. Since the society is funded by the symposium, the people who pay registration fees also effectively subsidize the MTT. Employers fund the cost of membership for other companies' employees. Consultants and independent practitioners fund the cost of their (perfectly affluent) colleagues' memberships. And so on. Is this unfair? Of course. Will it change? Never. Why do people who organize functions like workshops have to pay to attend their own function? The MTT establishment, if not the membership, have always prided themselves in being a fully volunteer organization. That means that the MTT Society doesn't pay for anything it can avoid, instead choosing to stick the nearest sucker with the bill. In the past, even invited speakers had to pay their own registration fees, not to mention travel costs. In recent years, however, some speakers have been quietly supported, at least to some degree. The Steering committee, for example, gets a number of free hotel rooms as part of the symposium's housing deal, and these are often offered to VIP attendees. I've never heard of airfare being provided, but I suspect it is done on occasion. Anyone trying to change this situation is hit immediately with the "gradualism argument": once you set a precedent by (openly) sponsoring, say, one invited speaker, everyone will expect it, and suddenly the Society will be forced to pay for every speaker at the symposium, will be run into the poorhouse (MTT? That'll be the day!), and general chaos and oblivion will inevitably result. This is, of course, complete nonsense, as the symposium already has a formal policy for determining who gets invited to dinners and receptions, who gets the good gifts, and so on. The hierarchy is already in place; it just needs to be extended in a reasonable manner to registration and travel support. Although it's difficult to justify charging workshop organizers to attend their own workshops, it seems legitimate to charge registration for paper presenters in workshops and regular technical sessions. There are two schools of thought on this: one states that such presenters are contributing the essential material of the symposium, and should not be charged to do it. The contrasting point states that the symposium is a venue for technical interchange, participants benefit by presenting a paper as much as by listening to one, and all such participants should bear the costs. I agree with the latter point. A lot of this is up to the steering committee, however, and the Adcom largely leaves them alone, grumbling only after the decisions have been made. In the last couple of years, the steering committees have shown some independence (a nicer word than backbone). In spite of the Adcom's traditional disapproval, a few invited speakers have been openly sponsored, workshop organizers have not had to pay to attend their own workshops, and steering committee members got free registration.
Making it Happen	Who organizes the symposium? The IMS Steering Committee, which consists of about 50 volunteers in the city where the symposium is held, does most of the work. The rest is done by paid contractors, but many of these must be hired annually by the committee members. A new committee is formed every year. The Steering Committee starts meeting several years ahead of the symposium date. It's a lot of hard work, often made more difficult by political turmoil. Many people who have served on a steering committee swear that they will never do it again. *But this is an IEEE Symposium!* Doesn't the IEEE take part in organizing it?** Depends what you mean by the IEEE. If you mean the IEEE headquarters staff, not really. If you mean the crew of volunteers, most (but not all!) of whom are IEEE members, then perhaps "The IEEE" does participate, in that sense. This point is frequently lost on ignorant clods who have a bad time at an IEEE symposium and complain about "bad organization by the IEEE." The IEEE does, however, have a conference management service, which provides some services to the steering committee. The idea is that the IEEE organization can negotiate better deals for things that all conferences use (hotels, bus transportation and such) than individual societies. But there's a big difference between organizing and providing specific services to the organizers. Who are the main contractors? The main contractor is the organizer of the trade show and registration; in the past, that contractor was invariably Horizon House. The contracts are renegotiated every few years; since 2009, the organizer is MP Associates. Many of the other tasks (for example, digest creation) have been done by the same companies for many years. There are still a lot of contractors that must be hired anew every year, some big, some small: sign printing; tour company for the guest program, bus-transportation company, photographers, graphics for the logos, publicity, and so on. The members of the steering committee must arrange these. Why isn't the MTT "International" Microwave Symposium ever held outside the US? A couple of reasons. First, the MTT Society, which is mostly US-based, would find it difficult to manage such a huge symposium overseas. An offshore symposium would also present great difficulties for the subcontractors who help to organize it and mght create sticky legal issues. The second reason is money. The MTT society depends strongly on income from the symposium, which requires lots of attendees and, especially, a huge trade show. The greatest fear, almost certainly valid, is that the trade show or attendance would not be as large anywhere else. Moving the trade show to another country involves much more than just the logistics. Many of the booths are designed for US electricity and probably would not meet the standards in many parts of Europe or Asia. Similarly, the convention centers in other countries have different rules for maximum booth heights, fire safety, and similar details. Many booths designed for the US would not meet these requirements without expensive modifications. It is true that some IEEE societies regularly hold their symposia outside the US. These conferences, however are much smaller and simpler. Few of these have any kind of a trade show, and often the whole conference fits easily into a couple hotel conference rooms. Nothing like the IMS. The 2007 symposium was in Hawaii, the 50th symposium and the first time it was held outside the continental US. The decision on that location caused a near insurrection by a number of vendors. The unwashed masses with their torches and pitchforks were turned back by the palace guards on that occasion, but a similar insurrection could again be mounted. The next rebellion may occur in 2012, when symposium will be held in Montreal. That's like, Canada! Regardless of whether you consider Canada a foreign country, it really is one (trust me on this), and thus it qualifies as our first non-US location in recent years. (Actually, the symposium was held in Ottawa in 1978, but that was a different era. Back then, it was just a small technical conference without a formal trade show.) The vendors are already sharpening their pitchforks. Better keep an eye on this one! But what are the chances of having the IMS in a place, like maybe Europe, that is really outside the US? Probably not great, for one overarching reason: no overseas MTT chapter has ever proposed hosting a symposium. These days, however, international travel is not viewed as daunting, (after all, the Adcom itself recently met in China!) and a symposium in Europe would probably be well attended by US engineers. The trade-show problems, while difficult, are soluble. Perhaps, if a persistent group were to make a credible proposal, addressing all the perceived difficulties, it might actually happen. Maybe even before 2067! How is the location chosen? Every year, someone complains about the IMS location and asks why "The MTT" couldn't locate the IMS somewhere else. The answer, simply, is that it's not up to the MTT Adcom. Several years in advance, local MTT chapters submit proposals to hold the symposium in their cities. There are usually two or three proposals every year. At one of the Adcom meetings, the proposals are presented (usually with lots of support from the local Chambers of Commerce!), and a location is selected by vote. The process is scrupulously fair; the proposers are not allowed to hear their competitors' presentations, and discussion and voting, by secret ballot, is held in the absence of the proposers. Although there are frequent complaints about the decision, there has never been a complaint, to my knowledge, about the process itself. The vendors and trade-show organizers do not participate directly in the decision process, but their preferences are well known and are certainly considered, at some level, by the Adcom members. There are some unofficial rules for the location. Most importantly, the local committee must convince the Adcom that they are large and reliable enough to do the job. Another is that the symposium should alternate between the east and west coasts, with an occasional stop in the middle of the country. (Yes, from 2004-2007, that "rule" was pretty well shot to hell, but this is a consequence of few or inadequate proposals from other cities.) In the past, the symposium was frequently located in small cities like Albuquerque and St. Louis, which had little microwave industry. However, since the MTT Society depends so strongly on income from the symposium, the preferences of the vendors at the trade show are a major consideration. For this reason, the location is likely, in the future, to alternate between a few east-coast cities and a couple in the west, cities with substantial microwave industry. The most interesting development was the symposium in Hawaii in 2007. The Honolulu MTT chapter had to propose this a couple of times before it was accepted, and it represented a real experiment for the MTT Society. Apparently, it worked out well: a good, well organized, well attended symposium, although with a little less attendance at the trade show. Could've done a lot worse, and, in fact, we have. Locations of Past and Future MTT Symposia Rating system for MTT cities: Good location; you'll have fun Bring a good book and extra beer money Bring your wife, and she won't complain again when you want to go alone. Need we say more? Some of these cities' ratings have changed since the last time the IMS was held there. We're not sure if that's from some change in the cities or some change in the rater. Deal with it. 2008: Atlanta, Georgia 2009: Boston, Massachusetts 2010: Anaheim, California 2011: Baltimore, Maryland 2012: Montreal, Quebec, Canada (!!) 2013: Seattle, Washington 2014: Tampa, Florida 2015: Phoenix, Arizona 2016: San Francisco, California 2017: Honolulu, Hawaii Note Regarding the 2015 IMS in Phoenix (as well as 2011 Wireless): Visitors from outside the US should be aware that, in early 2010, the state of Arizona passed a law that authorizes local police to harass visitors and residents from outside the US regarding their immigration status. It is likely that some non-US attendees may have some ugly experiences, if the law is still in effect at the time of this symposium. We recommend that, until this law is rescinded or declared unconstitutional (which is very likely) (1) non-US visitors sit this one out, and (2) US members boycott this IMS, as well as any other conferences or symposia in Arizona, until that state can unequivocally guarantee courteous and respectful treatment of our international colleagues. For a more detailed description of the situation, see this link.