8 Fall / Automne 2017 Communications happening that summer. Since some arrangements required a particular technical skill set, I was asked to help them. At first, I was just helping with the website, but my responsibilities quickly grew to include the conference’s paperless mobile app, the distribution and inventory of tablets, the supervision of the wifi network’s provisioning and operation, and the author management system that distributed 1500 author presentation files into 25 rooms for 9 concurrent sessions. While this was a challenging project, I was lucky to be part of a great team that provided guidance and support. I felt confident and never overwhelmed. This, is the aspect of IEEE that I appreciate the most: Opportunities to take on big challenges and achieve great accomplishments. Entrepreneur- ship with a safety net! Bring on the next challenge! ■ How and Why I Volunteered for IEEE Jeffrey Arcand B.A.Sc., U. of Ottawa Webmaster Volunteer, IEEE Canada Software Engineer, Cisco jeffrey.arcand@ieee.org A fter a failed start at University of Waterloo, I came back to Ottawa to complete programs at both Algonquin College and University of Ottawa. It was at uOttawa that I became involved in IEEE activities, first with the student branch, then with the sec- tion, and later with the region. It started in 2010 when a classmate asked me to help with organizing the Battle Royale LAN party—an annual 25-hour, 150-person video game com- petition. I only played video games cas- ually, but I knew that I could help with the website and with the computer net- work infrastructure. I had such a great experience, that I continued as one of the co-leads for the next two events, which grew to 250 people. I still don’t play much video games, but I really enjoyed the other aspects of running an event: strategic planning; team leader- ship; budget management; logistic operations; ticket sales, etc. While a volunteer and officer of the stu- dent branch, I also had opportunities to work on various other activities. All gave me more experience that comple- mented my efforts with Battle Royale. Early 2012, a group of volunteers from the IEEE Ottawa Section were working on final arrangements for the IEEE International Conference on Jeffrey would like to thank former uOttawa Student Branch executive membersAlexandra Phillips and Samira El-Rayyesforgivinghimtheopportunity to run Battle Royale’s 5 and 6 with them: “It was a lot of fun and I couldn’t have done it without them!” C ollaboration between Montreal Young Profes- sionals (YP) and Mont- real Section led to two highly suc- cessful events in early October. A Welcome Reception & YP Meetup for the IEEE International Confer- ence on Wireless for Space and Extreme Environments at Con- cordia University brought togeth- er keynote speakers, conference attendees from around the globe, students and YP’s. Perseverance, big dreams, working hard and team work were common themes among the professionals speaking about their career success. IEEE Day 2017, mounted world wide and now in its 8th year was celebrated in Montreal by a one -day event designed to inspire the cre- ation of new IEEE student branches, increase current membership and promote collaboration among stu- dent branches. Event organizers invited students from universities across Montreal to the one-day event showcasing the benefits of IEEE membership. Montreal sec- tion members from industry and academia spoke on the benefits of IEEE membership to their career and professional development. Dr. Saida Maaroufi, Vice Chair, Women in Engineering (WIE) Montreal, summarized her group’s activities as did representatives of the IEEE student branches of Con- cordia and McGill. A panel discus- sion on the importance of extra- curricular activities and a network- ing session rounded out the day. Attended by 83 students, since only 32 were IEEE members, outreach goals were achieved. All student branches were approached by stu- dents wishing to join. In addition, the Montreal Section Chair was approached by a student wishing to rekindle an inactive branch. Suc- cess was so great, that plans are underway to make this an annual event. ■ Montreal Section YPs Reach Out Two back-to-back events create strong interest in Student Branch Activitites