Ticino Chapter: an interview with Pierluigi Telleschi and Chiara Cometta
In the past, most of the members of the Ticino Chapter were architects or civil engineers, but today membership is much more diverse. Pierluigi Telleschi and Chiara Cometta talk about their work on the board. They are delighted that member numbers are on the rise thanks to the huge efforts of the current president Rudi Belotti.
How did you get involved with the Ticino Chapter?
Chiara: I have been a member of the Ticino Chapter since 2013. I had moved to Tessin from Zurich a year before that and I thought it was a good way of meeting people. Until I retired, I was employed by ETH Zurich in Ascona; I worked for the conference platform (Congressi Stefano Franscini), which reports directly to the headship.
Pierluigi: In 1974, I took a job with an engineering firm in Tessin. Before that, I worked as a mechanical engineer in reactor research in Würenlingen. Since 1978 I had been a member of what was then GEP (now the ETH Alumni Association), I’ve been on the board since 2005 and was the president between 2008 and 2014. Rudi Belotti took over from me.
What factors do you see as being key to the success of a chapter or member organisation?
Pierluigi: That’s a difficult question. Very early on, our member organisation was mainly made up of architects and civil engineers. There was very little industry in Tessin, but the canton has a glorious history as far as architecture is concerned. We knew one another from our time at university so the group kind of came about automatically. And for many people from Tessin, ETH was the obvious number one choice for studying. You also maintain a link to ETH when you join a local alumni group.
Chiara: The make-up of the group has changed a lot in recent years. In terms of the disciplines studied and the backgrounds of both the membership in general and the board, we have become a lot more diverse. This is something which is important and also shapes the events that we put on. We now have members who are chemists, IT specialists, civil engineers, biologists, agricultural scientists, physicists – and the same is true of the board. The proportion of female members has risen too.
How did you “put together” your board? How do you attract new board members?
Pierluigi: To be honest, we didn’t really do anything in the past, it just happened. But the economic and scientific sectors in Tessin have changed over the last 20 years. There are more engineering firms, even start-ups and we also have a number of medicinal companies. And this is attracting ETH graduates to the area again.
Chiara: Attracting new members to the board isn't an easy thing; sometimes it takes a while to find a replacement. We tap into our contacts as we do to recruit new members. But being on the board doesn't involve a lot of work. We have shared out the tasks fairly amongst ourselves. For example, each member of the board is responsible for organising one event a year. We are also lucky; some of our members have been on the board for a long time and are happy to remain there.
“Our president Rudi Belotti has attracted a lot of new members through his personal contacts. You need a systematic strategy to recruit members.”Pierluigi Telleschi
How do you attract new members?
Pierluigi: There’s one thing that I would really like to stress and that is that our president Rudi Belotti has attracted a lot of new members through his personal contacts. You need a systematic strategy to recruit members. The whole board is in agreement about that. We need information about alumni who move back to Tessin so that we can establish contact with them. Many people from Tessin also stay in the German-speaking part of Switzerland or move abroad, which doesn’t make things easy. Unfortunately, the spirit of the association is somewhat lost.
Chiara: But despite all this, we have attracted new members: in 2016, we had 158 members and today that figure is 202. Rudi has done an awful lot to make this happen. And it's fantastic. The average age has also fallen to 57.
What is your chapter most concerned with?
Pierluigi: For me, it’s important that we continue to grow our membership. And it would be good to see more younger members too. Our older members struggle to get to some of the events. So we could perhaps look at offering something for all generations.
Chiara: As an Italian, I would also love to reactivate the Italy Chapter that went dormant before the pandemic. We had held various events in northern Italy.
Pierluigi: We try to tap into our proximity to Italy. For example, we have organised trips to a Giacometti exhibition near Varese and the silk museum in Como.
What are most proud of?
Chiara: That we still exist and that we are still active and growing our membership. I’m also very pleased with the interest shown in our events.
Pierluigi: There are always 10 to 20 people at our events. And recently, there have been more and more young alumni and alumnae. This is really good to see.
What information from other chapters would be most useful to you?
Pierluigi: That is an important question. It would be very interesting to share experiences with other chapters and learn how they attract new members.
Chiara: I would also like to learn about what other chapters have to offer their members. New ideas are very inspiring. We could perhaps also collaborate with other chapters. In the past, for example, we have held joint events with the AgriFood Alumni and the Zurich Chapter. Each of these events was then held in Tessin. So we are open to working with other local and specialist groups.
TICINO CHAPTER PROFILE
The Ticino Chapter was established in 1941. It currently has 202 members. The chapter aims to bring together an active network of ETH alumni from all disciplines and to reinforce links between Tessin-based ETH alumnae and alumni. The Ticino chapter organises various events which allow members to establish and build on professional and personal links with other Tessin-based ETH alumnae and alumni.
IT specialist Rudi Belotti has been the president since 2014. Pierluigi Telleschi is the vice president. Chiara Cometta joined the board in 2016. The other board members are Elena Libotte, Antonio Borra, Gottardo Dazio, Ferenc Kovacs and Giovanni Stoffel.