HFES Chapters Bring HF/E to Local Communities

How did you determine which community/school event(s) to target for your HF/E outreach efforts? Georgia Tech: We contacted and worked with the Center for
Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC), which works with many other educational groups, schools, corporations, and opinion leaders throughout Georgia toward one common goal: to ensure that K–12 students in Georgia receive the best possible preparation in science, mathematics, and technology.

South Jersey: We looked at schools where chapter members already had connections. We believed that would make it much easier to make contact and get the appropriate approvals. Even so, we sent a number of e-mails to principals, secretaries, etc., and did not receive any responses. We then contacted one teacher directly (the brother of a coworker) and were able to get approval through him.

Tri-State: We heard of the Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA) Boston Chapter going to the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery for World Usability Day, so we thought we might try a similar event. We borrowed some activities from their Web site and also did some of our own. We thought the museum would reach the most number of kids and parents. We estimate we talked to about 300 people.