Membership Committee

Committee Mission

The SAME Membership Committee develops and communicates to all Posts the strategies, best practices, and tools that are most effective for them to grow their membership, to foster greater member engagement and leadership, and to enhance their members’ experience with SAME, further enabling each Post to support the current Strategic Plan of the Society.

Overview

As one of the “operational” Communities of Interest (vs. “technical” COIs), the Membership Committee serves as an extension of the national office staff to assist all Post leaders, especially Posts’ Membership Chairs/POCs, with the tools, resources and connections necessary to help enhance their members’ society experience through their locally relevant Posts. Between our COI members and the post membership chairs/POCs, invited to our calls and sponsored webinars, we are over 140 people strong across SAME.    

SAME’s Membership Committee is open to any SAME member to participate. Unlike many of our other COIs that focus in on special professional and technical interest areas important to SAME members, the Membership COI provides participants with a broad-ranging opportunity to become involved at the national level.  Our forum has the potential to positively impact the experience of every current and future member of the society as it pursues its strategic goals.

COI Objectives

• Provide opportunities to foster connections with other Post leaders across all sizes and post geographies  
• Engage with best practices employed at other Posts by their leaders and members 
• Share creative tools and resources aimed at improving post level retention and recruitment successes

Committee Chair

Lee Ann Zelesnikar, F.SAME

Upcoming National Webinars

• 
  August 26, 2026

  Webinar

  The Hidden Cost: Why Schedule is the Biggest MILCON Premium

  Military construction (MILCON) cost discussions often focus on dollars per square foot, but one of the most significant portion of the overall cost is time. Every month added to a project can increase costs through
• 
  September 23, 2026

  Webinar

  AI as Load Shock: Rethinking Energy Security and Mission Assurance

  The rapid expansion of AI computing, electrification, and mission-critical digital infrastructure is fundamentally altering the energy security landscape. While AI is often discussed as a software capability or data challenge, its most immediate national security impact is physical: unprecedented, concentrated, and inflexible electrical demand that stresses grid infrastructure and traditional resilience assumptions.

Related TME Articles – Membership

• 

  Designing for the Unforeseeable

  November 27, 2024

  In the challenge of designing military buildings to resist progressive collapse, a revised technical approach offers a simplified way to arrive at a dependable estimate of material needed, potentially increasing cost controls on government projects.
• 

  Revising the Arctic and Subarctic Design and Construction Guidelines

  November 27, 2024

  With a renewed focus on the Arctic and subarctic areas of the world due to evolving national security needs and changing environmental conditions, an effort to revise outdated construction and facility criteria for military infrastructure in these remote regions is well underway in preparation for future projects.
• 

  A Cutting-Edge Aquatic Center: Delivered Through Creative Collaboration

  November 27, 2024

  To construct a 76,000-ft2 state-of-the-art aquatic training center at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland required overcoming various technical complexities and extensive teamwork between stakeholders.
• 

  Sharpening MILCON Delivery Through the Design Charrette

  November 26, 2024

  A key element to improving military construction project delivery is the execution of high-quality charrettes—and the tools applicable to effective charrette facilitation can also be applied to industry-government engagements.