One thing that became clear to me very shortly after I joined TechInsights' Embedded Group (which consists of Embedded Systems Design magazine, Embedded.com, and the Embedded Systems Conferences) is that there's a vibrant community of developers out there. These developers are passionate about what they do and aren't afraid to speak out when they agree or disagree with you. I'd already been in the electronics industry for better than 15 years, but there's something very different about the embedded sector. No word describes that difference better than "community."

We've tried to foster that embedded community through various channels. We have gatherings at our ESCs, both formal and informal; we have places on Embedded.com where people come to chat and exchange ideas. And we have our annual Embedded Market Study, where we ask your opinion of things related to your profession.

Now, we're going one step further; we've created a group called the Embedded Leaders. As part of this group, we'll actively solicit your opinion on the ideas, concepts, and activities that we're planning, and on many that we've already deployed. It's sort of like an advisory board, but it'll have an unlimited amount of members.

The qualifications for the job are that you have to be passionate about working in the embedded industry and willing to share your thoughts, ideas, criticisms, praises, and guidance with our team. The results from this group will be used to shape and mold the content for our Embedded Systems franchise.

As a member of the Embedded Leaders, you'll "meet" online on a quarterly basis with other community members. Sometimes questions will be posed to the entire group; sometimes individual members will be consulted. And you'll have an opportunity to actively share dialog with the Embedded Systems management team.

Other "features" of being part of the community include having the ability to contribute and fast-track content ideas and proposed speakers; having early access to the conference's content program and potentially being part of the review cycle; direct access to other community members and ESC track chairs and speakers; complimentary access to EmbeddedOnDemand annual research; and preferential access and rates to paid ESC conferences.

If you're interested in being part of the team, click on the link to Embedded Leaders, and that'll take you to where you can sign up.

Richard Nass is editorial director of TechInsights. He can be reached at rnass@techinsights.com.