Jim Isaak, IEEE Computer Society President, will share his experiences and research on the benefits of professional involvement outside of work.

Professional activities outside of work provide opportunities and benefits for engineers and their employers that are not fully appreciated for their positive impact on careers and contribution to their employer.

Involvement in professional activities allows individuals to develop skills and expertise that enables them to leverage their technical skills. Helping organize meetings, with program planning or peer review, chairing committees or being elected to the Board of Directors provides opportunities to learn and develop a robust professional network. Volunteering develops problem solving, team work and leadership skills at a minimal cost. Innovation is enhanced by exposure to new and complementary technologies and professional relationships that would not otherwise occur.

John Hagel, noted business writer and management consultant, summarizes the benefits of social capital and social networks: “… the focus of value creation is effective participation in knowledge flows, which are constantly being renewed. Finding ways to connect with people and institutions possessing new knowledge becomes increasingly important… The more your company or country can connect with relevant and diverse sources to create new knowledge, the more it will thrive. And if you don’t, others will.”

After the presentation join us for a beer.

Speaker:

Jim Isaak is recently retired from Southern New Hampshire University. His research focused on how social capital is developed and influenced through interactions in professional activities, including professional societies, standards committees, and on-line communities.

Jim is the 2010 IEEE Computer Society President. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of the Society for the Social Implications of Technology and has been a director of the IEEE.

His industry experience includes Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), Charles River Data Systems, Data General, Intel, Calma and IBM. He chaired the POSIX/UNIX standards committee for 15 years.

He has a BS in Computer Studies and a MSEE in Computer Engineering from Stanford.

Date/Time: Tuesday, March 16, 2010, Networking: 7:00 - 7:30; Presentation: 7:30 - 8:30 PM

Location: Intel Jones Farm Conference Center auditorium (between JF3 and JF4)

Directions: http://www.intel.com/community/tour/oregon/directions.htm/

Contact: John Prohodsky: jpro [[at]] dsl-only.net, (503) 510-2787

Social capital is a key concept for thinking community enrichment, resource building and the social structure of networks.

How does this concept work in games and 3D spaces? What happens to social capital when communities move into persistent digital worlds? Does digitizing social capital fundamentally transform our sense of place and connectivity?

Join us as University of Oregon professor Donna Davis shares insights of a multiyear ethnographic study of digital social capital in 3D online spaces.

She will also discuss her current research, joined by Barbie Alchemi, founder of Creations for Parkinson’s, Second Life’s Parkinson’s support group dedicated to working with people with Parkinson's while raising money and awareness of the disease and for the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

Location: Take elevator to 3R, Turnbull Center's Pape Forum

Please no food or drink in the meeting rooms.