W3C Member Support - TPAC 2022 breakout

Member Relations Support each country

Naomi: The goal of Memrel is to make member satisfied. Will support members like this hand

Panelists: Wonsuk Lee, Korea Chapter; Amanda Mace, Western Australia Chapter; Rachel Yager, NY Metro Chapter; Giorgio Mazzuchelli; Xiaoqian, W3C

Naomi: We have members across many countries and time zones
… we want to support all of the members across the world

[showing slides]
… We are introducing member support today in some of the regions, and we want to hear from the members about your needs for member support

Naomi: Let me talk about member support for members in Japan from W3C/Keio
… we provide a local member meeting twice a year, followed by a networking reception
… we offer translations and interpretations when needed
… help if members want to propose their ideas to W3C groups
… This is a matter only possible because Team of Keio is dedicated to W3C work as a full time work
… Let's move on to introductions by each Chapter
… first is Georgio, Italy

Giorgio: issues with Zoom

[pause for more people coming into room]

[Others need to join by Zoom as room is at capacity]

Giorgio: I have just joined in 2022
… there was a Chapter before but stopped in 2018
… so our local members were without contacts for four years
… When we started with Alan and Marie-Claire, our goal was to get in contact with as many members as possibles
… understand why they joined, get some feedback
… It took a few months but at the end we began contact
… We have two active members in Italy so far
… and they are active in their focused areas, Accessibility and Publishing
… One of them came in when IDPF group merged into W3C

Giorgio: go back one slide
… all of them say that English for group sis not an issue; they do not need interpretation
… Major drawback is time zones
… Very often the WG meetings are beyond the actual working time, beyond 6pm local time
… so 8pm or 10pm is a major drawback to get new colleagues or new members to join the WGs
… the number of emails and messages for the AC Reps can be overwhelming
… some are quick to pass over communications
… So how to improve?
… would like your feedbacks from this group

[next slide]

Naomi: Thank you, Georgio
… Next is Australia
… Amanda, please

Amanda: I am office manager for W3C Western Australia, based in Perth
… there are two other offices, Eastern AU in Sydney and one in Canberra
… we have nine members but all in Accessibility
… So I have an advantage as a subject matter expert
… We have been open in WA and have organized events
… and partner with Web Accessibility Camp and OzeWAI
… we help to connect members
… we have same challenges with time zones
… engagement with members is helped by all the members being in Accessibility
… but we need help communicating with other members, new members in new areas of the web
… to collaborate
… We are keen for more types of events, not just Accessibility
… Time zones is a problem
… AC meetings are good, but difficult to participate in Working Group meetings
… Myself, without the Chapter office and having the connections in Accessibility community, it would be hard for me to participate
… Many groups meet at 11pm local time
… I have three children and it's difficult
… For AU to participate more
… there are similarities, but there are many differences in culture between North America and AU
… and I'm excited to have Dr. Scott Hollier from AU in the room today
… looking for input from the community on how to better connect

Naomi: For NY Metro Area
… Rachel Yager

Rachel: it is great to see such a big presence here
… in NYC we launched a series of symposiums
… I tried to brand it with key members of W3C
… to look into innovation specific areas
… what we are trying to do
… It started in 2018
… a series of Symposiums with a focus on innovation, business and technology
… everyone can come
… outreach and response has been tremendous
… The thematic topics have been about leadership , startups, workforce development, emerging technologies
… we offer expert panel discussions, networking
… In 2018, you can see a few people who participated
… Jeff, Karen and Alan
… and faces of a lot of our members
… representing different companies
… We started to focus on Monetization models
… you can see all the faces
… In 2020 we launched the W3C NY Chapter
… and we launched it virtually
… in July/August
… we did in with the "NY State of Mind" which is global business
… in NY a hidden secret, we are the global philanthropic capital center of the world
… but all about business and innovation
… you don't have to be members; we promote thought leadership and we promote new membership
… focus is really open: open forums, open access
… access publications is direction we are going
… open source goals, open strategies and open competitions

Jay: Its' a good session - exciting to share that each chapter is doing activities.
… this is the first time I've seen this

Jay: I think the NY and Boston, MIT are very close.

Rachel_: We think New York is the centre of the world. I don't distinguish between US and the rest of the world. That s the mentality of most people
… I can't speak for all New Yorkers. I will be working on... if I want to broadcast a message, I leverage the current members
… There are lots of success examples
… This is the founding message of Web for all
… So I reach out to the members. A lot of what I want to tell you - lots of people are not willing to speak
… I reach out to international members
… Right now I'm reaching out to hundreds of people over social media
… The msg is that W3C is about innovation.Please join us
… Every day I can reach at least 100 people
… That is a very powerful message
… Even in Boston, even non-members, lots of people don't know about W3C

Rachel_: My cookie cutter message ... that's where the power is. In the outreach

Xiaoqian: hi
… can you hear?

[audio ok]

Xiaoqian: We at W3C Beihang is the host, since 2013
… we should celebrate next year
… Almost all of staff has 10% of time to do local support
… we are facing challenge of language, cultural barriers and time zone differences
… we are trying to reduce the negatives of this
… first by writing the Chinese versions of all the announcements to members
… We also maintain a Chinese web site
… with Chinese version of W3C news
… all this was done by Xueyuan who is a member of the Marcomm team
… to reduce barrier of cultural differences
… we have created social network accounts in Weibo
… and in WeChat
… like Facebook
… we have 30K in Weibo account
… and we have 300 members for WeChat groups
… it's a good way to communicate with members every day
… For this year
… in the region we want to make the most of W3C videos
… we have a social media channel
… Xueyuan will provide videos for
… 5-15 minutes every week to introduce the technical work of a certain area
… and those videos have gotten a lot of attention
… and they are helpful to us
… what is more important
… from Chinese Web IG
… we have Chinese organized technical workshops since 2019
… one of the most successful is the Mini-App Standards, including WG working on four specs
… and a CG incubating a lot of proposals in this area
… Although it has been challenging to organize meetings
… we have managed to have a least two industry workshops every year
… We have a China Hub
… for TPAC
… since we could not travel to Canada
… A week ago we organized a two-day meeting
… with topics like Metaverse, Accessiibility
… we had positive feedback and members encouraged us to organize more next year
… That is what I wanted to share with you today

What support do you expect?

Naomi: All of you know now, Chapters and host are trying to make members participate in W3C activities
… Let's go back to W3C activities
… what type of support do you need?
… We need to hear from the members

Tzviya: I heard a combination of member support and recruitment
… I don't recall hearing focus on retention
… We hear about what Keio does for retention
… in US some members why we don't get that
… might be difficult to organize
… but having that kind of home base and have somebody to check in with
… to see how this affects me regionally
… or have a core group
… We often rely on the MIT staff

<Zakim> tzviya, you wanted to ask about reaching existing

Tzviya: but if you are new to W3C, you might be hesitant to go to the COO, Ralph with your question

Naomi: Good question
… and for distinguishing member support country by country
… I am going to support two programs
… I am planning to have a road show
… For example, W3C strategy and project leads visits different areas
… and have a direct dialogue
… and also the people who get together can make ties among the countries
… so it provides networking opportunities

Erik: I would like to hear from those on the ground
… what are the challenges you are facing of recruiting and retention efforts
… in context of question that Dan Druta asked
… is cost of membership a big hurdle?
… throwing this out to get inputs from those of you on the ground

Amanda: Membership costs in Australia are a hurdle
… we have not done a good enough job to say what the benefit of W3C is
… Our members are Accessibility related, but they tend to be small, startups
… Getting big players to the table and describe those benefits
… the real connections, the innovation and being part of the groups
… data, security, are big items
… but if it's at 1:00am, it is too difficult to participate
… and who has time to read the minutes?
… When you tie that back to the cost
… give staff time, read minutes, and pay money, that is a big hurdle

Rachel: it is more of the marketing messaging and connecting how W3C will benefit you as an organization
… I am reaching so many people
… but then the next step is to hone in that message and that requires more help and support from W3C staff

Erik: Are you selling features or benefits?

Jeff: no question that the cost is a huge barrier
… about 4-5 years we created the new Medium level, for companies between $50million-$500million
… previously they paid the $68,000
… but cutting price by factor of two, we increased number of people in that category by a factor of seven
… they are paying less, we gained many more members
… it is absolutely appropriate for the new board to look at this
… it is a really tough question
… but this is an illustration of why we should look at this

Erik: We need to have to get our financial house in order
… and then ask that question
… I would like to provide a provocative question
… have not made a determination
… some people have suggested other organizations with different levels of membership
… people who can afford it provide the funding
… to motivate them to write the big checks, they want to know the benefits
… a lot of organizations with those who provide funding get more voting rights and other benefits
… those who do not pay, do not get the same level of benefits

Alan Bird: We looked at the exact model about four years ago