Students from physics departments feed local industry and graduate schools. Faculty are a resource of technical expertise for industry and government laboratories. Industry, in turn, often provides regional departments with a technical focus, internships, and support. Regional meetings enable faculty and students from small departments to become connected to the broader physics community. Section meetings draw professors, undergraduate and graduate students, retirees, and physicists working in local industry together to discuss a diverse range of research or educational issues.
Meetings are usually informal and attendees tend to get to know each other well.
Sections develop unique characters to suit their region's membership. Some hold meetings that are primarily comprised of thematic tutorial invited sessions. Thematic sessions typically feature world-class researchers selected for their ability to give both tutorial background and a good feeling for research frontiers. Other sections draw large numbers of invited and contributed papers in diverse areas and have the flavor of small general meetings. Close to 500 attended the most recent Texas Section meeting.