Long-term Strategy

The Society's long-term strategy is formally agreed, reviewed and updated by Council.

In May 2008 the Executive Committee held an extraordinary meeting to assess the Socety's existing strategy. It was agreed that great progress had been made - the rebranding had been successful, the trend of falling membership had been reversed and the Society's events were proving to be more and more popular. The decision was then taken to draft a new strategy to take the Society to 2013 and beyond.

In April 2009 the Society’s Council of Trustees ratified a five-year strategy and made commitments under six main headings - Events, Membership, Publishing, Outreach, Governance, Staffing and Structure, and Financial. The commitments are listed below.

Events

• A clear RMS ‘brand’ will be developed for all events, namely Workshops, Focus meetings, Symposia and Technology Forums (see Appendix I)
• The number of events that have an associated exhibition will increase
• EMC2012 will be the largest event run by the society and will be a success
• New meetings of more general interest for the public or specific groups will be organised
• Courses will have a clearly identified ‘course champion’ and deliver branded and ‘standardised’ (as far as possible) teaching material. Course material will dovetail with the book series where possible (see Publishing), and course strategies will evolve to meet the needs of the scientific community
• The number of joint meetings with other societies will increase

Membership

• Membership will increase to over 2000 by 2013
• The existing policy on overdue subscriptions will continue
• The Society will actively recruit at meetings around the UK
• ‘Ambassadors’ will be appointed within university departments, companies and other societies to promote the activities of the Society and to encourage membership
• Benefits to members will continue to increase and improve
• Society merchandise will become available through an on-line shop

Publishing

• The Society will develop a strong strategy for the Journal of Microscopy, infocus and its website, and the e-newsletter will be developed further
• The staffing levels supporting the Journal of Microscopy will be reviewed
• The advertising income from the Journal and infocus will increase
• The Journal of Microscopy will be promoted as the RMS journal
• Acquisition of failing titles will be considered and would be incorporated within the Journal of Microscopy
• A wider audience for infocus - outside the Society’s membership – will be sought
• The website will be redeveloped and, in particular, the member’s area will have discussion forums and lists servers. The aspiration is for it to be the best on-line location for microscopy discussion
• The book agreement with Wiley will be fully utilised and the publisher will fully support the marketing of the titles

Outreach

• An Outreach Manager will oversee not just educational activities but will also bring the Society’s activities to a wider audience
• An Outreach Section will be established to formulate outreach strategy. Membership of this Section will be encouraged from outside the normal RMS areas – e.g. teachers.
• Awareness of the Society and its events will increase and will, in turn, benefit membership and attendance at events
• The Ambassador Network will support the activities of the Outreach Section
• A wider strategy for the Learning Zone will be developed, including appearance at more events
• Non-specialist meetings will be developed to include amateur microscopists
• The exposure of the heritage collection will be improved
• The “microscopes in schools” initiative will be relaunched, including a review of approved microscopes
• The Society’s qualifications will be updated
• A route for RMS Fellows to register as Chartered Scientist will be introduced
• Existing prizes and honours will continue to be awarded and new awards may be introduced

Governance, Staffing and Infrastructure

• The Society will remain forward-looking – keeping itself and its members abreast of new technologies and techniques
• The Society will work to keep a motivated team of skilled and committed staff
• The Office will be maintained as a safe and healthy environment
• Members will be kept well-informed and we will encourage their movement into positions of authority in the Society
• Trustees and staff will run the Society in accordance with Charity Commission and auditors ‘best practice’
• The Society’s IT infrastructure will be maintained and improved to support the increasing reliance on IT for ‘delivery’

Finance

• The Society will continue to comply with the Charity Commission regulations and guidelines
• The Society will provide sufficient income to support the increased work of the Society, reduce the reliance on the Journal of Microscopy whilst at the same time returning a balanced budget
• Council will continue to maintain reserves at appropriate levels and will regularly review investment policy
• Council will consider ‘Special Projects’ which require pump-priming or long-term funding and these will be funded from the Society’s reserves

If you are a member and believe that you can contribute to the Society's activities and strategic goals, please contact Lucy Haworth.