Chapter focus: Austin.

• Author: Heffes, Ellen M.
• Position: FEI News - Brief Article

Area Covered: Central Texas

Year Founded: 1984

Members: 100 (as of August'02)

Companies: Baylor University, Dell Computer Corp., Inc., Hoover's Inc., Motorola Inc. Schlotzsky's Inc., Temple Inland Financial Services, DuPont Photomask, University of Texas, Vignette Corp., Norwest Bank, Prodigy/SBC, Active Power and Silicon Labs, Armstrong McCall, LP., STEAG Hamatech USA Inc., Banderacom, Applied Mechanical, BridgePoint Technical Manufacturing Corp.

Annual Dues: $220 -- includes attendance at all monthly Chapter meetings and other events.

Meeting Schedule: Monthly on the third Tuesday of the month except in November and December.

Special Events:

* A CFO Forum, established in 1996, meets three to five times per year. Attendance is restricted to Chapter members or prospective members about to make a decision on joining; discussion centers on topics of current business interest to the members.

* Attempt to hold an annual Academic Day to honor students from four to six universities in Central Texas but this event is not always held due to the difficulty in recruiting a volunteer Chair. Begun in 1995, the Chapter has had four such Academic Day events, the last one in '99. A company is recruited to host the student during the day and present a scholarship (ranging from $250-350 per student) at the evening banquet, and the Chapter presents an FEI medallion. The university selects the student to be honored based on somewhat general criteria provided by the Chapter.

* In September, a member/potential member mixer -- a networking and recruiting event -- where current and potential members interact in a relaxed atmosphere.

Sponsorships:

* In 1994, the Chapter established a policy allowing it to elect prominent members of the business community -- who don't otherwise qualify for membership -- to serve as Advisory Board members; the number of Board members is limited to 10 percent of the Chapter membership. Advisory Board members are expected to assist in recruiting members and identifying speakers, and have the first right of refusal for sponsoring events. Board members are invited to participate in most Chapter Board meetings, but do not have voting rights; they are elected to an annual term and can be reelected an unlimited number of times.

* FEI's national sponsors provide sponsorship on a local level and also serve as Advisory Board members. Those include KPMG, Ernst & Young, Deloitte & Touche, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Marsh Inc. and Robert Half...