Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers (1930-1949)

Organization of the San Francisco Subsection This brief outline of the organization of the San Francisco Subsection of the Society may be of interest and assistance to similarly situated groups in other localities. The San Francisco Subsection began as the expression of a desire of a number of the individual members in the Bay Area to have some form of local activity and participation in the affairs of the Society. The Conventions held alternately in Hollywood provided some advantage but in general most of the members gained from their membership only the published Journal. Many informal discussions had been held during 1951 regarding the practicability of setting up some form of local group and these culminated in the formation of the present organization. Edwin W. Templin and Dr. Charles R. Daily were particularly helpful in presenting our plan to the Board of Governors and securing its approval. The Constitution of the Society does not specifically provide for subsection organization but neither does it forbid it, and, by the latter liberal view, the San Francisco group was authorized to form the subsection of the Pacific Coast Section at the meeting of October 13, 1951. Upon receiving formal notice of this action, all of the members of the Society residing in the Bay Area were notified by mail and the organizational meeting of the subsection was held November 30, 1951. Dr. Daily addressed the group at this meeting and acted as chairman, representing the parent section. Election of officers resulted in the following roster for 1952: Chairman, Paul A. Williams Vice-Chairman, William A. Palmer Secretary-Treasurer, George Mathiesen Program Chairman, John B. Steiger During the first half of the year the subsection has held three meetings, the programs of which were as follows : February 21: "Production of a Pilot Kinescope for the Standard Hour" presented by a panel consisting of Warren Andersen, A. F. Michaelis and W. A. Palmer. 356 April 17: "TV Picture Sizes," a tape recording of papers and discussion from a meeting of the Pacific Coast Section in Hollywood. May 22: "Creative Directions in Color Photography" presented by Ralph Evans of Eastman Kodak Company. Attendance at these meetings has been from 20 to 50, which, although perhaps not too impressive, represents a large percentage of the total group membership. Although there was no expressed plan of suspending meetings during the summer, the usual circumstances have conspired to prevent or delay the fulfillment of our anticipated plans. Meetings are planned for the fall and winter and we hope to end the first year of operation at a peak of activity. The effect of an actively functioning local group on membership recruiting activity has been very gratifying. It is conservatively estimated that we have added twice the number of new members since beginning local operation compared with the previous like period. It is also interesting to note that, although the present interest in the television field has probably encouraged activity and increased our local membership, there has been enthusiastic interest among members in the motion picture industry. Whether or not the time is ripe for the San Francisco group to plan on an early change to independent section operation cannot yet be determined. At the end of this year officers will be elected for the coming term and that question fully discussed. We have not been as active as we had hoped but we are certain that our activity will increase rather than diminish. It would be a real help if more assistance could be provided in securing program material. The experiment we made with the use of tape recorded material was considered successful but for some reason or another we have had some difficulty in arranging for additional recorded program material. It is noted that the IRE Audio Group has set up a similar plan with a