During the last year, the Usability Professionals' Association focused efforts on revising its Bylaws and policies to allow for the development of local UPA Chapters, which can be a vital part of the Association. UPA held its first Chapters SIG at the '99 Conference in Scottsdale for all those who may be interested in starting a local chapter. About 15 people attended from various areas throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

The Chapter Committee is in the process of developing a Chapter Guidelines handbook that will provide detailed information about starting a local UPA chapter. 

The first step for getting started is to contact Martin Rantzer (Martin.Rantzer@swipnet.se) or Janice James (janice@simplyusable.com) if you are interested or want to know if there are others in your community who have already expressed an interest. 

If you're serious about starting a chapter, you'll be assigned a Chapter Sponsor. Chapter Sponsors are Board of Director members who will assist and support other UPA members in starting and running local UPA Chapters. You won't be expected to go it alone! 

The Usability Professionals' Association's membership is nearing 1000 who work at 490 companies, located in at least 22 countries and 40 states in the U.S. So, there is a lot of potential for local UPA Chapters, which means a lot of potential for networking on a regular basis with others who face the same issues and challenges you face in your workplace.