First impressions
By Dr. Ryan D. Evans | TLT President's Report December 2022
Here are some tactics for capturing the interest of potential new STLE community members.
What do religious ministers, Instagram influencers, hiring managers and politicians have in common? They are all looking to build communities of like-minded people. The starting point is often a memorable initial interaction, or a first impression. That first impression may be very different for each of these examples. A religious minister may strike a nerve by addressing a deeply personal topic (“convicting”) and then tailoring follow-up messages to create a desire for continued engagement (“evangelizing”). An Instagram influencer may attract our attention with celebrity recognition and provocative imagery or posting captions. Hiring managers wear matching shirts and hand out trinkets at job fairs and wine and dine new job candidates. Politicians come up with memorable slogans and initially appeal to deep-seeded personal convictions that stir partisan emotions.
Just gaining a person’s initial attention is never the end game, though. Once someone shows an interest in a new community, how do you maintain that interest? Religious ministers rely on an appeal to volunteerism, service opportunities and advanced training (“discipleship”). Instagram influencers rely on creating a sense of long-term trust and exclusivity among followers “in the know,” often coupled with “fear of missing out” peer pressure and the sense that the value of their opinions supersedes that of the products they tout. Hiring managers seek to have excellent training programs for new associates and then keep them there with exciting assignments and ongoing engagement practices. Politicians further solidify their camps by engaging with media outlets, embedding narratives through storytelling, anointing next-generation leaders and so on.
While these examples were selected to be obnoxiously different on the face, the process of initially engaging people and creating lasting community relationships follows simple patterns. A person is enticed by something that strikes a base human instinct at first, but then seeks to deepen their connections to the community through repetition and an appeal to longer-term value, personal goals and human relationships. It is easy to be cynical when analyzing these cases in this simple way. However, instead of throwing our hands up in distrust of all community leaders, we should recognize our tendencies and apply these principles for the overall good of our groups.
Thinking about our STLE community as STLE President, and with only pure, noble and good intentions, I started listing STLE’s approaches to community building. If I were to propose ideal first impressions of STLE to potential members, I would probably start with a personal invitation to a local section or national-level meeting. Tribologists are happening people, after all, and we get together in interesting places. I would lend a paper or digital copy of TLT. I would forward a link to a particularly interesting webinar on a hot topic like electric vehicles, renewable energy, sustainable lubricants or similar. I would recommend an episode of the Perfecting Motion:® Tribology and the Quest for Sustainability podcast that I think they might relate to on some level. More than that, though, I would simply tell them some stories about the benefits I’ve experienced as part of the STLE community and invite them to join the group in an activity.
Once my colleagues became familiar with STLE at an introductory level, I would challenge them to dig deeper into STLE’s Learning Management System and educational materials. The more education they experience in our field, the more likely they are to contribute to our body of knowledge and advance the world in our space. I would encourage them to consider getting certified as an outward credential of their know-how in our field. I would point them to all the many local and national opportunities for volunteerism. I would show them that they can volunteer to grow their technical acumen (STLE local section chair, Technical Committees, Award Committee, Education Committee) or to demonstrate their management potential (STLE Annual Meeting Program Committee, local section leadership, STLE Board of Directors, Executive Committee). I would then sit back and recognize that as they started down that journey of volunteerism and leadership, they probably created life-long relationships that they will cherish forever. I find myself at that point right now. As we close out 2022, I am so happy with my journey through the STLE community thus far. I hope you are, too. Let’s all think, though…how can you personally provide an exceptional first impression to the next member of our STLE community?
Dr. Ryan Evans is director of R&D at The Timken Co. in North Canton, Ohio. You can reach him at ryan.evans@timken.com.