Council By-Election Nominee - Dave Mill

Nominee for Council By-Election 2007-2008

Dave Mill

Relative to some, I feel I'm a bit of a latecomer to this whole Intarweb shebang. However, since 2000, I've been involved in all aspects of what it takes to run a New Zealand ISP. Helpdesk, accounts, sysadmin, networks, management, VOIP - I have experience in them all. I know what it takes to make the Internet tick, and want to help drive the Internet wagon in New Zealand.

After first seeing "that new Internet web thingee" at a school library in 1995, I was hooked. From there it was discovering email, chat, music, online auctions, the list goes on... I see being involved in the workings of a great ISP, along with a commitment to InternetNZ, a great way to fuel my passion for ye good ole Intarweb.

I am currently the Service Support Manager at Inspire Net, a Palmerston North based ISP with a strong community focus. Our own city-wide fibre network is under construction, which will be on the receiving end of various policies. I want try and make sure that these policies will be the right ones.

Looking after Inspire Net's domain name registrations, I had my first real glimpse into the workings of InternetNZ. This was the opening of the domain name market, brought about by the establishment of the New Zealand Registry System and the Office of the Domain Name Commissioner. We were one of the first Registrars to connect to the new, still under development, SRS system and following that I built our systems for interaction with the NZRS.

Attending the 2006 New Zealand Network Operators Group conference hosted by Vic Uni, I somehow got a "cool" new idea in my head. Host a NZNOG conference! I asked my boss a many-times-since-cursed permission to host a NZNOG. NZNOG 07 was born! After all, it couldn't take much to run a conference for 100 or so Internet geeks, could it?
. . .

Wow! Venue, catering, international speakers, the all important sponsors - the work all adds up. But, with the help of a great NZNOG Org committee, NZNOG 07 was a success. Hosting this conference gave me an insight into what InternetNZ can achieve - help make sure that industry-critical events like this happen.

Recently, I've agreed to take over Inspire's ISPANZ responsibilities. This will enable me to take part in an industry group that represents the New Zealand ISP community. We're a small group, it helps if we stick together.