President's letter: how and why you should get active in ACM

One of the most impressive letters that ! have seen in this space in Communications appeared in May 1967. It was written by (the then ACM Vice President) Bernie Galler and it dealt with the subject of an individual getting active in ACM. I was initially tempted to reprint it now just as it was printed then because everything he said remains completely valid today. However, I decided a few changes could be made to bring it a little bit more up to date. So with thanks to Bernie for his original inspirational material, I want to address the question of how and why each member of ACM can get more out of the membership by active participation. Most of you are familiar with the names of some of the key people in ACM, although each of you may have a di f ferent def ini t ion for what is meant by "key person." In this context, I am referring only to an individual whose name you recognize because he or she is active in ACM. It is important to realize that every key person was once an uninvolved member, jus t as most of you are today, and for one reason or another decided to get involved in ACM activities; furthermore, presumably every key person has benefited from his or her involvement. It is perhaps worthwhile to give a few composite case studies. They are composite in the sense that I have combined the activities of several people in order to protect their privacy. (1) Perso~ A got act ive in his chapter and eventually became one of the key national committee chairmen. As such, he was a significant influence on one of the major activities of the Association. Furthermore, he did such a good job he was nominated for Regional Representative, was elected, and eventually became an officer of the Association. (2) Person B was interested in a technical topic and volunteered to help organize a conference on the subject. She got involved in organizing professional development semi-