From the I-INCE VP Communications and Webmaster

The I-INCE is a consortium of professional societies, organizations, and institutions with a common interest in noise control engineering. I-INCE governance has two main bodies, one consisting of the Board of Directors and Officers (officers are also directors); the other is the General Assembly consisting of representatives from all the member societies. As a way to keep board members, officers, and member societies up to date with what is happening with the institute, I-INCE maintains a website as a way to share information. For the purpose of keeping the website up to date and providing a means of communication between board members, officers, and member societies, I-INCE has assigned a vice president for communications and webmaster with this responsibility.

Like any of the other officers, the vice president communications and webmaster is an officer of the Board of Directors of I-INCE and is concurrently a member of the General Assembly. The prime responsibility of the vice president communications and webmaster is the dissemination of information and the maintenance of a website current with the activities of I-INCE. The vice president communications and webmaster is the focal point for collecting the information that is to be distributed to I-INCE member societies through the use of the I-INCE website. When a document, such as a technical report, requires input—for example, reviews and comments from member societies—the vice president communications and webmaster is the point of contact for receiving them. This applies to all the information presented on the I-INCE web pages relevant to I-INCE activities by I-INCE VPs and officers. As the webmaster, the vice president communications and webmaster is responsible for coordinating the website activities, posting updates, and keeping the website up to date.

One of the most important duties of the vice president communications and webmaster, working in close collaboration with the I-INCE treasurer, I-INCE secretary general, I-INCE VP development and outreach, and the I-INCE president, is to maintain an up-to-date contact and web link information for member societies. Maintaining and updating this information to keep it current, such that the dissemination of general information to all member societies is timely, is probably one of the hardest duties, not because it is a difficult task in itself but because a lot depends on member societies providing updates when this information changes, and this does not always happen seamlessly.

The I-INCE website structure is consistent with the mode of governance of I-INCE—that is, it has two sections: one section open to everybody, dedicated to the General Assembly, where minutes and agenda are posted; and a section dedicated to the activities of the Board of Directors. Because of the possibly sensitive nature of some of the board discussions, the section dedicated to the Board of Directors has restricted access to board members and other authorized persons. Here one finds the internal governance records that contain all the policies, guidelines, agreements, and other relevant documentation for the ongoing operation of I-INCE. It also includes almost all the Board of Directors’ meeting minutes going back to the first meeting of the board in 1975.

Joe Cuschieri
I-INCE Vice President Communications and Webmaster