Resources for New Professional Members

Welcome to ACM! Here, you can find all the information you'll need to get started as a new Professional Member of the world's leading organization dedicated to the advancement of computing as a science and profession.

The next section is divided into four parts. Please read each section thoroughly, as they will help you take full advantage of your membership.

• What you should do as a new member
• Engaging/Volunteering with ACM
• ACM Benefits

Also available: ACM at a Glance, an overview of ACM, past and present.

For any additional questions, please visit the ACM Customer Service FAQs page. For additional assistance, please email [email protected] or call 1-800-342-6626 (US and Canada) or +1-212-626-0500 (Global).

What you should do as a new member

1. Your Personal Customer Service Representative

   All ACM members are assigned a personal Customer Service Representative (CSR) to assist you with any matters you may have regarding your membership, or any of ACM's products and services. Please feel free to contact your CSR. The welcome email message you received will indicate who your personal Customer Service Representative is. You can also retrieve their contact information, by loggin in with your ACM web account at myACM - http://www.myacm.org/, and selecting the left-hand navigation bar link titled "My Personal Customer Service Representative."

2. ACM Web Account

   Creating an ACM web account is your gateway to managing ACM's wealth of valuable resources, many of which require you to be authenticated. Some services are restricted to subscribers, and other services use data known about you to customize the flow of information providing personalized services.
   
   To create an ACM web account, visit https://accounts.acm.org/signin.cfm
   
   There are excellent reasons why you should create an ACM web account - here's why:
   • Searching the ACM Digital Library's bibliographic information and article abstracts is open to the world (i.e., ACM members and all ACM website visitors), but you must create a free ACM web account to take advantage of this world-class resource. Periodically, ACM will send non-member DL registrants updates on ACM membership and services.
   • ACM Members need to have an ACM web account in order to take advantage of the following benefits:
     • Optional subscription to the ACM Digital Library
     • Optional Skills Bundle Add-on
     • Members-only subscriptions to ACM journals and magazines
   • Access to myACM - you can log in using your ACM Web Account to set your contact information, manage your email forwarding and spam filtering preferences, and review your services. Other capabilities include updating your demographic profile, defining your technical interests, and setting your subscriptions to ACM lists.

   Managing your web account is easy too! You can change your username, change your password, and change your security questions or retrieve a forgotten password.To manage your ACM web account, visit https://accounts.acm.org/signin.cfm

3. Keep Your Contact Information Current

   You can update your contact information (mailing address, phone, and email address) by logging in with your ACM web account username and password at myACM - http://www.myacm.org/, and selecting the My Profile tab, then clicking on My Contact Information.

Engaging/Volunteering with ACM

Engaging with other members is probably the best way to get the most from your membership. There are many ways you can engage with ACM, and we’ve included some suggestions below.

Conference Volunteering

Recommending a Member for an Advanced Member Grade

Engaging with ACM Media

• Conference Volunteering:

  Each ACM Conference is organized by a conference organizing committee. If you are interested in any of ACM’s Special Interest Groups (SIGs), http://www.acm.org/special-interest-groups, you can go to their respective websites and click on “Conferences” to find out about the conferences they are sponsoring. Conference organizing committees are usually organized about a year prior to the conference, so look at their future conferences. Clicking on the website of the conference will provide you with the name of the contacts for that conference; you can contact the Chair and/or other folks on the organizing committee and let them know you would be interested in working with them. However, for a conference being held in less than a year, finding a volunteer position will be on a case-by-case basis; some conference committees may need help while others are in need.

• Recommending a Member for an Advanced Member Grade

  Senior Member – The successful candidate for Senior Member must have demonstrated performance that sets them apart from their peers. Nominators must secure endorsements from three colleagues in the field who have agreed to endorse the candidate for Senior Member status. And, you can nominate yourself. Learn more: http://awards.acm.org/senior/nominations.cfm.
  
  Distinguished Educator, Engineer, Member, or Scientist - Successful candidates must demonstrate having achieved a significant accomplishment or having made a significant impact in the field of computing, computer science, and/or IT. Candidates may nominate themselves, or may be nominated by another ACM member. Learn more: http://awards.acm.org/distinguished/nominations.cfm.
  
  Fellows - Each candidate is evaluated as a whole individual and is expected to bring honor to the ACM. A candidate’s accomplishments are expected to place him or her among the top 1% of ACM members. The ACM Fellows Committee is responsible for evaluating each nomination submitted and selecting a limited number of Fellows each year from among the nominees. Learn more: http://awards.acm.org/fellow/nominations.cfm.

• Engaging with ACM Media

  Communications of the ACM’s (CACM), Letters to the Editor:
  CACM welcomes your opinion. To submit a Letter to the Editor, you should limit your comments to 500 words of less; send to: [email protected].
  
  Tech Policy Blog:
  This searchable USACM Tech Policy Blog covers a very large set of categories, e.g., Access to information, Database Protection, Healthcare, Homeland Security, IP, VoIP, Standards, Workforce, etc. You can find this blog at: http://techpolicy.acm.org.
  
  The Risks Digest: Forum on Risks to the Public in Computers and Related Systems, Moderated by Peter G. Neumann, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy:
  This very large circulation digest focuses on many timely topics, e.g., e-Voting, Germany’s New Unified Tax Identification Codes, Online consumer risks, e-passports, etc. To subscribe, please read RISKS as a newsgroup (comp risks or equivalent) on you system, if possible and convenient for you. UK subscribers can contact [email protected], enabling one copy to cross the Atlantic instead of many hundreds. Local redistribution services are provided at many other sites as well, please see the RISKS Digest for additional information: http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks
  
  To contribute to the RISKS Digest, please send your message to: [email protected], with appropriate substantive Subject line, Your contribution must be relevant, sound, in good taste, objective, cogent, coherent, concise, non-repetitious, and without caveats on distribution.
  
  Ubiquity:
  Ubiquity, a Web-based publication of the ACM, is dedicated to fostering critical analysis and in-depth commentary on issues relating to the nature, constitution, structure, science, engineering, cognition, technology, practices and paradigms of the computing profession. How can you engage with Ubiquity? You can subscribe, submit an article, comment on an article, and/or participate in the discussion forums. Learn more: http://www.acm.org/ubiquity.
  
  ACM Listservs:
  One of the best ways to engage with other members is subscribing to listservs that cover your interests. Some of the ACM lists are open while others are closed to a specific group.