Twenty-five years ago, communication between PEO (APEO then) and its members was essentially through a four- or six-page yellow insert in a small, non-descript trade magazine. With about 45,000 members at the time, there was a great need to address emerging issues, such as regulatory and statutory functions, discipline, and the chapter system, of which I was a part. The well-known Chinese proverb, "Mayyou live in interesting times," was appropriate to use in 1979. A number of forces were at work. Some members sought to establish a separate services organization for Ontario engineers, or even a collective bargaining unit, while others abhorred the idea. At the same time, PEO was meeting with and making submissions to the Ontario government's Professional Organizations Committee (POC), which was formed to study the professions of architecture, engineering, law and accounting with the potential for massive legislative changes. But with our unobtrusive insert, our members couldn't be fully informed of what was happening. There was a massive knowledge gap between the '-membership's understanding of issues and PEO's mandate. The question was: "How were we going to communicate better to the membership?" The likeable general secretary, Pat Ryan, P.Eng., asked me to chair the Editorial Board, since I was advocating for improvements to communications with the chapters and with members at large. We learned quickly that, although the possibilities were endless, whatever the communications vehicle, it would hinge on support funding. While the existing insert pages were inexpensive, they had a negligible impact hidden in the middle pages of a trade magazine. Understandably, the trade magazine publisher wanted our business, but was reluctant to improve the partnership and was not open to any changes. In retrospect, that was a blessing in disguise because it eliminated one of the options.
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