This message is being sent via the "Discussion" function.
We are sending this message to let you (Phoenix Section members) know how we (the local officers, aka the Council) communicate with you. When we wish to send a meeting announcement, we have used three techniques:
- Use the MailChimp service. This is a free account since we only have a few hundred names, but we need to constantly sync it with the membership list we get from AIAA HQ. That is a manual process, but MailChimp is fairly easy to use, customizable, and we can add non-members (teachers, other organizations reps, etc.). We've gone away from it recently because of the sync issues.
- Use the email function in AIAA's Engage platform. It uses the latest member database but we need to insert HTML code to format the message and it is very difficult (impossible, really) to customize who gets it.
- Use the "Discussion" function on Engage, which generates an email to the same Section membership as the email tool. An advantage is that the content is easy to format but it results in a message that is on a public website. That makes it an undesirable place to post a Zoom meeting link (easy for anyone to crash your meeting).
There is actually an Event tool in Engage but we have not investigated that in any detail. (It appears to require attendees to reply with an RSVP, after which we have to reply with the Zoom link, which seems like more work than necessary.) All of these options have means for members to opt out of receiving messages. We have found that several members have done so inadvertently and were not receiving communications from us. Hence, this message is being sent twice (Engage email and Engage Discussion). (Interestingly, both will come from "Michael Mackowski via AIAA Engage.") Moving forward, we plan to only use the email took for meeting announcements. If you only get this message once, and there is a "Phoenix Section" blue header in the message content, that is from the Discussion tool. The email contains just plain text. If you do not get the plain text version then you may want to check your Engage settings so you do not miss meeting announcements.
In other topics, members of the Phoenix and Tucson Sections had on-line meetings with staffers or the representatives themselves from several Arizona members of Congress, including:
- Kyrsten Sinema
- Mark Kelly
- Ann Kirkpatrick
- David Schweikert
I heard those sessions went very well. Thanks to Brianna Grembowski and Scott Fouse for participating in this important effort.
Don't forget our April events:
April 12 - Yuri's Night trivia contest.
April 17 - Dr. Roberto Furfaro of the University of Arizona's hypersonics group.
We'll send details and links closer to the events.
Finally, don't forget to vote for our Phoenix Section Council 2021-22 season. We have set up a ballot to collect votes at this link:
https://forms.gle/CSV7DS2if7mcCE566
We are also looking for new people to get involved. If you would like to help or have suggestions, please contact us by replying to this email. Meanwhile stay safe out there.
Mike Mackowski
Phoenix Section Chair
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Michael Mackowski
Gilbert AZ
480-282-1343
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