Meetings

The value of a technical society to its members is so largely dependent upon meetings, that their character is a matter of supreme importance. There should be a continual effort toward improvement, not only in the grade of papers, but in the technical value of the discussions, and the general conduct of meetings. The experience of various Sections should be drawn upon for useful hints. Lantern slides have proved to be very popular, but facilities for their introduction are not always available. Whenever used, the speaker should have a preliminary rehearsal with the operator, in order that they may work in harmony. Unless absolutely necessary for a proper understanding of a paper, it is preferable to group the slides at the close, accompanied by very brief informal descriptions. Local meetings in various parts of the country now offer an opportunity for a continually increasing proportion of the membership to take a more active part in the work of the Institute. Just prior to the Niagara Falls convention, the Local Organizations Committee was authorized by the Board of Directors to call attention to the privilege of each chairman to represent his Section on that occasion. The result was very gratifying, and including these delegates, the following states, districts, provinces and countries were represented: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Washington, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee, Montana, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Connecticut, West Virginia, Michigan, District of Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, England, and Germany. Experience indicates that future conventions will gradually become more national in character, and that an effort should be made to obtain papers of world-wide interest in order that the discussions may be enriched by the experience of engineers working under varying conditions.