As Benjamin Franklin is often quoted: "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail".  The opportunity and obligation of chapter leaders is to look at the year ahead and create a plan with goals and activities to engage and challenge members to enhance knowledge and skills related to careers in systems engineering. This will involve both strategic (long range) and operational (current year) plans along with ensuring there is supporting infrastructure and communications to ensure success. 

The core chapter activities are chapter meetings and local tutorials. Some chapters organize and conduct local seminars or mini-conferences. Chapters are encouraged to work together to leverage talent and opportunities. One way to do this is through regional conferences.

Purpose:
Activities are the lifeblood of the local chapter to involve the membership, provide education in Systems Engineering and related disciplines, and encourage networking. Plans should be detailed in the Operating Plan. Description: There are many activities available for the local chapter and should be detailed as part of the Operating Plan. Periodic chapter meetings are a core activity. Sources of presentations can be found in work done by local companies or engineering schools. Another excellent source is presentations by any one of the almost forty INCOSE Working Groups. Tutorials can provide opportunities to gain new skills. Local seminars and conferences provide a means to provide benefits to members and their companies/organizations. Working with other chapters to plan and carry out regional conferences can broaden the breadth and depth of offerings. When in proximity to an International Workshop or Symposium, the chapter can help plan and carry out some of the many functions required.

​Resources:
Working Groups are an excellent source of speakers for chapter events, providing the latest thinking on most System Engineering topics. A valuable resource is the Working Group Reports from the Closing Plenary of the International Workshops shown in "Quad Charts". For each working group there is a summary of their Charter, the Chair/Co-chair(s) with webpages, Published Products/Accomplishments, and Planned Work. Contact the chairs to see about speaker availability.

Outreach and Collaboration activities of the chapter are where the chapter interacts with entities outside of INCOSE to promote INCOSE and/or apply & apply systems engineering.

There are many opportunities for outreach and collaboration. Participating in joint meeting with another professional society such as ASQ, PMI, IEEE, or AES can provide an opportunity to explain or promote systems engineering. Working in the non-corporate community, collaborating with such entities as a local government, university, or non-profit may bring systems engineering to bear in new areas.

Working with students from K-college/trade schools is another way to develop interest in systems engineering with activities such as speaking during Engineering Week or sponsoring or participating in events such as Future City, science fairs, or robotics competitions.

Outreach can also involve making a presentation about INCOSE to executives in a previously unrepresented organization.

Chapters need to promote the value of systems engineering and INCOSE throughout its area of influence, particularly companies and educational institutions. 

Chapters need to promote the value of the local chapter to all INCOSE members in nearby companies and universities. 

Chapters must also communicate effectively with all its members, usually by email and via the chapter website.