Chapter focus: Austin. (FEI News).

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 Management Resources.

Regional Challenges: Recruiting and retaining new members, particularly in light of current economic conditions. Only about 25 percent to 30 percent of the members, on average, attend monthly Chapter meetings. Also challenging is recruiting members to serve in leadership positions.

Highlights:

* Austin Chapter Career Services.

* Won FEI award in 2001-'02 for recruiting new members.

* Outstanding speakers at monthly meetings past and future. Among them: Tom Schoewe, CFO, Wal-Mart (Oct. 2002); Bob Decker, CFO, Churchill Downs and Chuck Atwood, CFO, Harrah's Las Vegas (Sept. 2002); Jim Schneider, CFO, Dell (Aug. 2002); Dr. Harvey Rosenblum, VP of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank and President of the National Association of Business Economists (June 2002); Ambassador Paul Bremer, CEO, Marsh Crisis Consulting (May 2002); Jeffrey O. Henley, CFO, Oracle Corp. (October 2001).

Immediate Goals:

1. Retain current members -- realizing that while not much can be done about a member resigning for economic reasons, but make sure that the value proposition that FEI offers, both at the national and local level, is clear. 2. Attract an academic chairperson to coordinate a successful Academic Day so as to award scholarships to deserving students.

Longer-term Chapter Goals:

1. Increase membership attendance at monthly breakfast meetings.

2. Increase Chapter membership -- recognizing: isn't this a goal of every Chapter?

3. Attract new officers and directors who will continue to grow the Chapter and originate ideas and programs.

4. Work with and offer assistance to not-for-profit entities in Central Texas.

Unique Qualities: Career Services

The Austin Chapter has a unique approach to career services that is led by Ed LeCroy, Chairman of the Career Services Committee since 1998. LeCroy helped Chapter President Jim Taets find his first position when he moved to Austin in 1999, and has helped numerous others with his dedicated program.

Says Taets of LeCroy's efforts: "He gives of himself and his time well over what would normally be expected. I believe he is so successful because he cares about people and genuinely wants to help." See LeCroy's report at www.fei.org/chapter/Austin/careers.cfm.

LeCroy describes the program: "After learning about what the Boston Chapter had accomplished with its Career Services -- while attending the 1996 FEI National Conference as the Austin Chapter's President -- I was inspired to volunteer to be the Chairman. A person who has been in transition in the recent past and has conducted a job search is better equipped to assist than one who has not. Setting service goals each year is important, along with measuring progress against the goals."

Career Services Goals 2002-'03

1. Make Austin Chapter members aware of the career services offered at the national and local levels.

2. Build a rapport and work with executive search firms, management consultants, venture capitalists, outplacement services, accounting firms and others as appropriate in Texas to build awareness of FEI and the senior level financial talent available through an association with the Austin Chapter.

3. Distribute information to Chapter members about available positions.

4. Respond to member requests for career services assistance, if feasible.

5. Leverage FEI career services to provide more benefits to Chapter members and better promote this service.

Career Services Best Practices:

* Sending emails that alert members to networking meetings, and provide job leads and job search tools.

* Meeting with members to assist their job search by discussion, reviewing resumes and providing names of potential networking associates.

* Promoting career services within the Chapter with newsletter articles and emails to members.

* Using career services as an FEI benefit to retain members and to encourage inactive members to re-activate

* Responding to requests from members in other chapters for assistance.

President: Jim Taets, Corporate Controller Myriad Development Inc., [e-mail]; 512.302.3262x223

Chairperson, Career Services Committee: Ed LeCroy, [e-mail]; 512.560.3789. Note: Taets and LeCroy provided information for this article.