Local Chapters
The goal of Local IEHA Chapters is to offer people with similar interests in information security to come together regularly and share their experiences. The focus is to connect local IT Security professionals with each other. Sharing resources, inviting speakers, arranging technical seminars, discussing on new technologies and case studies are some examples of what a Local Chapter may offer.

A local chapter of IEHA consists of members who live and work at a particular area or locality and for the matter of convenience, form a local chapter and cooperate to meet, share and discuss information security.

A Platform for Networking
One of the greatest resources for professional and personal development is to meet with colleagues in the same field. You gain new information on state-of-the-art technology, access to others' experiences and knowledge and you will get the chance to broaden your insights.

Professional Development
Your Chapter meetings and activities allow you to expand your knowledge in the Usability research/development area. Chapters bring continuous education opportunities closer to home and provide a bridge between the annual IEHA conferences. It is also possible to organize Mentor Programs as a way for the members to grow in their profession.

Exchange of Services and Contributing to IEHA as an Organization
Local IEHA chapters offer the possibilities of exchanging both professional experiences and services, such as reviewing each other's papers and conference contributions. It will also act as a greenhouse for new ideas that can be implemented globally by the Association, and provide IEHA with potential new members to the Board of Directors.

A Creative and Stimulating Environment
Design contests and brain-storming exercises are fun and stimulating ways of learning more about usability and the other members of the chapter. Local chapters often organize activities such as usability lab tours and site visits to interesting work places, for example air traffic control centers and high-tech manufacturing plants. Learning more about usability issues in these "extreme" working conditions will often give you good ideas to bring back home.

Creating a Local IEHA Chapter
Local Chapters have proven to be a very fast way of promoting the growth of IEHA and the usability profession. The pilot chapters show impressive figures of growth of the number of members of IEHA in their respective regions.

The most central activity for a Local Chapter is the Chapter meeting. Chapter meetings and all that they can offer are the most tangible benefits of membership, and they are also the most important way of adding new members to the chapter. In order to show potential new members what chapters are all about, all newcomers are allowed one free meeting, without joining or paying the door-fee for non-members. "Bring a friend" or "Bring a co-worker" theme nights are also successful ways of showcasing the Local Chapter.

The important thing is that we as an organization can find strength in these numbers. A larger organization carries more clout (for example in discussions with governments, i.e. the IEHA Outreach Program) and also offers increased credibility to the members of the organization on a global, national and local level.

The Short Route to Creating a Local Chapter

1. Contact the IEHA office or a member of the IEHA Chapters Committee and you will be assigned a Chapter Sponsor. Your Chapter Sponsor will send you the Chapter Guidelines and other information that you need in order to start a local Chapter. They will also continue to help you create your Chapter bylaws and guide you through the process of getting approval from the IEHA Board of Directors for Chapter status.
2. Round up three to five volunteers in your area who are interested in starting a Local Chapter. This is the core team that will help you prepare the constituting meeting. It may also be smart to arrange one or more informal sessions prior to the constituting one. Both to see if there is enough local interest to start a local chapter, and to see how many IEHA members there are in the region (you need 10 members to petition for Chapter status).
3. Write a tentative plan for future meetings and other chapter activities to present at the constituting meeting.
4. Create a petition to form a Local IEHA Chapter. Also include the suggested Chapter name, Chapter boundaries and interim Chapter officers. The list of officers shall include a President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, or a Secretary/Treasurer, and additional officers as approved by the Chapter.
5. Find volunteers who will help develop the Chapter Bylaws in accordance with the suggested guidelines in the IEHA Chapter Guidelines, or decide to adopt the template Bylaws for Chapters. Submit the Bylaws to the Chapter Council, Chapter Sponsor and Chapter membership for review.
6. Organize a constituting meeting with at least ten people that currently are, or are prepared to become, IEHA members and support the Local Chapter. The Petition should be signed at the meeting (with each name printed or typed next to the signature) by at least ten members requesting to be recognized as a local Chapter of IEHA. Have the President sign the Charter.
7. Submit the Petition, along with the Chapter Charter, proposed Bylaws and the proposed boundaries of the Chapter to the IEHA Chapters Committee and IEHA Board of Directors for approval. Your Chapter Sponsor will inform you continually about the progress of your petition.