The cat is out of the bag, so to speak. I’m stepping down from my role as National Chairperson of the Australian Web Industry Association, at this years AGM. Since this forum post appeared, a number of people have been emailing or calling me to ask the inevitable ‘What’s up?’ and I felt that it was worthy of some explanation.

I rose to this role way back in 2002, when I did a call out for people to catch up for a pint and a chat with industry peers. The idea was low key, and it wasn’t long until we became an Incorporated Association under the name Port 80 Inc in July 2004. We then changed names to reflect our national focus a few years later. We’ve had great committee members come and go during the last seven or so years, and it’s been a great journey.

However, I’ve always been the Chairperson. Over the last eight years, we’ve really grown up as an Association, and I feel the last real change has been obvious for some time now; a changing at the top.

The reason is that I embrace the notion that great organisations need regular new blood to surivive, prosper and grow. We’ve had great new committee members join in the last few years (well, ever since the start), but I’ve always been there. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to have consistency in management, but there must be a point that the Chairperson can change, and the underlying committee and structure becomes the constant.

I believe we’ve reached that point.

I’ll let my resignation email tell the story from here…

This hopefully won’t come as a surprise to anyone, however i’ve been thinking more frequently recently, that it is my time to move on from AWIA.

It’s been a very difficult decision, because since starting Port80 back in mid 2002, I’ve been involved in every decision and direction that AWIA has chosen. I’ve often felt that AWIA is one of my children, and I don’t want to stop being involved. I have, to a certain degree, felt resistant to leaving because I worry about the message that sends to our members.

On the other hand, I strongly believe that it’s important for any association to be seen to have fresh blood, and to reinvigorate the management committee frequently. It provides innovation, career paths (can you call this a career? :)) to fellow committee members and encourages fresh thinking. Over the last year, I have had less involvement from meeting to meeting, and it has been great that others have taken these duties and run with them.

My life has been very full the last 12 months. I feel that I’m not giving the Association the attention it deserves, and therefore not living up to the high expectations I personally have for somebody in the role of Chairperson for AWIA. A plethora of changes have occurred for me both professionally and personally, which has meant the time I have to devote to AWIA activities has become increasingly smaller for some time now. As a result, I’ve felt frustrated and guilty, in equal measures.

This is a long winded way of saying that after careful consideration, I wish to notify the committee that I will not be standing for re-election at the end of my current tenure, the August AGM. I would be open to being co-opted for a position such as ‘Immediate Past Chairperson’, which many Associations have as a way of reducing information loss, however I will not be standing as Chairperson. This has possibly been the hardest decision I’ve had to make in a long time.

I strongly believe that AWIA is in great hands, and the current committee have done a great job since the last AGM. Many of you have been on the committee for far longer, and a HUGE thanks for that. I wish to thank you all for showing through your actions your willingness to help foster a great web industry and strong member community. AWIA has an exciting time ahead of it, however not without some challenges, and I look forward to seeing where it heads in the future.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the committee members, both past and present, for giving their time up for such a cause. I’d also like to thank all Australian Web Industry Association members, for supporting the work that we’ve done, and will continue to do.

It’s been a great journey.

The Australian Web Industry Association is having our Annual General Meeting next month, which means we’ve once again got a number of committee positions available for nominations and voting.

The positions are typically for a period of two years, and involve a 1-2 hour monthly teleconference (Eastern States committee) or face-to-face (if in WA), as well as participation in our committee email mailing list (time requirement varies with role, typically 30 – 90 minutes of reading/replying per week).

The reward, being a volunteer position, is the great feeling and fame(?) that you are steering Australia’s longest running web industry Association, and helping shape events (such as Edge of the Web and Australian Web Awards), education and other activities that AWIA are involved with.

There are seven positions on the 12 member board this year, so there is no better time to get involved!

Nominations close at midnight, Friday 24th July. The only prerequisites are that you need to be a financial member of AWIA, and have a keen interest in the web industry. We encourage members from all states to be involved – this ensures a better national coverage.

To nominate for a position on the board, please email a nomination, consisting of a 50-100 word biography to secretary@webindustry.asn.au before the deadline. All nominee statements will be published on the AWIA website allowing people to read about you before voting (if required) at the AGM.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below, catch me on Twitter (@milesb) or via email using miles@webindustry.asn.au

Yes, it’s back on again! After the success of previous BarCampPerth events, in 2007 and 2008, BarCampPerth3 will be held on July 18, 2009 at eCentral TAFE.

If you’ve read my last post, Why you should attend two conferences a year, you’ll appreciate why these events are a fantastic opportunity to grow both professionally and personally.

Unlike a traditional conference, you don’t fork out any money, and you don’t get a slick conference bag or even know who is going to present before the event. You are also encouraged not to just sit on a chair all day, but get involved yourself.

A BarCamp is grass roots education and networking at its best. You come along, and offer to help in any way you can. That could be helping hand out name tags, it could be serving coffee, running AV equipment, taking photographs or doing a presentation yourself.

Everyone pitches in to do their bit, and the day turns out to be great. You meet new people, you learn about new topics, and you leave with a new respect for your craft, the work of others, and the ideology of a grass roots quasi-conference.

My experience of the last two Perth ones have been great. I’ve met plenty of passionate people, I’ve heard some great presentations, and I’ve even given one myself. I encourage you to attend BarCamp3 and see what all the fuss is about. It’ll be free entry, free (and fantastic!) coffee and possibly even free lunch as well – who could ask for more than that?