SID is Expanding its Reach
Helge Seetzen · Information Display · 2019
SID is experiencing unprecedented growth. At its annual business meeting in May, I had the privilege of sharing how all the metrics we use to measure our organization's health and success have reached new heights—in some cases, setting new records for the Society, and in others, giving us the best numbers we've seen in quite some time. It's fitting, then, that we held this meeting during Display Week, because the show is responsible for many of those records. Almost 9,000 individuals attended Display Week 2019, a vast increase from previous years. That—along with a record number of exhibitors on the show floor, and a robust lineup of symposium sessions—means that never before have so many in the display industry enjoyed such a dense program full of exciting announcements. We're entering a new era with new form factors, novel display technologies, and new application spaces emerging everywhere. The energy on the show floor was palpable, with more than 86 percent of attendees expressing positive views about the exhibit. Yet our growth spurt isn't limited to Display Week. SID's membership swelled beyond 5,000 in the past few months. After spending more than a decade with steady membership numbers in the 4,000s, this is welcome recognition that SID has much to offer the global display community. Much of this growth comes from emerging economies such as China, but we also see increases in historically stable regions. For example, our Japan chapter tipped to more than 1,000 members this year after a highly successful International Display Workshops (IDW) conference and much effort in the region. In parallel to expanding our membership and offerings, the leadership team has worked diligently to strengthen our finances. As a nonprofit, we dedicate our revenue to offering better services to our membership, but every association must maintain healthy reserves to protect against sudden downturns. I experienced such a downturn at the start of my tenure as part of SID's leadership. Exactly a decade ago, I was appointed as program chair of Display Week 2010. At the time, I was told that I would likely be asked to serve as general chair for the 2012 show, but that the second appointment was somewhat speculative because SID probably wouldn't be around by 2012. The Society had been losing money for a few years and Display Week 2009's devastating performance had brought SID's reserves to the point where a single repeat of 2009—or two years with the performance we had in 2007 and 2008—would bankrupt this venerable association. At the time, I joined a small cadre of volunteers who didn't want to see SID fail. We focused on financial recovery strategies and over several challenging years, we started returning SID to first a reliable operating surplus and then a solid reserve. I am pleased to say that today, a decade later, we achieved our target milestones in both areas. By the end of this year, we will have held onto approximately US$1 million in annual surplus for five continuous years and reached $10 million in capital reserves—enough to survive two or three bad years if needed. (Display Week has a cash flow requirement of approximately $3 million, and the Society has about $1 million in other fixed costs.) Already, we have started to reinvest our operating surplus gradually, by committing to SID China's headquarters, the International Committee for Display Metrology, additional student funding, and many other worthy initiatives; but establishing this reserve will help future generations weather the next economic downturn. Our society is nearly 60 years old, and we hope to lay the foundations to reach the 100-year milestone. Speaking of the next generation, this larger and healthier society will need leaders for the future. At the start of my presidency, I sent out a call for volunteers to step up, and today, at its midpoint, I am doing the same. Many of you already stepped forward to fill the new vice chair and deputy chair roles that we created throughout SID's organizational structure. These roles provide training opportunities, allow for knowledge transfer, and ultimately give us the tools to promote the next generation of leaders. The highly successful general and program chairs of Display Week 2019, Rashmi Rao and Nikhil Balram, both started their paths as deputy chairs in the inaugural wave of this program. Going forward, we hope to use this mechanism to populate most senior roles in SID with a fresh wave of volunteers. If you're interested in joining this group and using your expertise to benefit SID and its members, please reach out to me personally or to your local chapter. Helge Seetzen is president of the Society for Information Display. He can be reached at [email protected].