Nominee for Vice President & for Council 2005-07 : Brendan Murray

I'm Brendan Murray.

I've been a member of the Society almost since it's inception. I'm a current Councilor, chair of the Technical Committee, and a participant in the ENUM Steering Group. There are a few other little things but those are the most important.

I am a tech. I have had lots of management experience and training and know about governance and process and policy. But at heart I am a tech and almost everything I do revolves around a life-long love affair (or obsession) with IT. Like many of the original members I remember the first connections to the Internet; when universities had 9600 baud circuits to support all their traffic; spending hours and days building news servers and gopher servers; the first experience of NCSA Mosaic. I still spend a lot of my time building their modern counterparts, although my major technical orientation now is IT security in all its myriad aspects.

Originally I joined the Society so that I could vote for the members of Council, since they were the ones that were going to put in the time and do the work. Latterly I decided it was my turn to get on board and do some of that work. Not long after joining Council I volunteered to chair Tech. It needed a bit of work. I think Tech is a lot healthier now and things are happening.

I'm standing for Vice President, and standing for Council. Why bother? and why both?

The Society has a lot on. While I've seen a lot of good work from the Council in the last couple of years, I also see some things that I think might be done differently. We've had Keith's excellent management style for 4 years as President, and that will remain with him as the new Executive Director. We need a contrast to that. That is one of the reasons I nominated Rodney Prescott for President. I've done a lot of work with Rodney and other members of the Council and decided that he might need a bit of help. So I agreed to be nominated for VP.

Recognising the strength of the incumbent - which counts for a lot - I am still up for Council because no matter the position the work needs to be done. The Technical Committee, though moribund for too long, is important to the Council and needs continued support. We do not have enough technical people!

What makes the Society important to me? The issues of Internet governance, access, regulation and deregulation, usability, affordability and availability. All of these have been or are being addressed. Our recent work with ENUM, and the imminent release of the ENUM PUA as an Open Source prototype are great examples of forward thinking and a recognition of the need to keep pushing the boundaries of the Internet and promote the penetration of the Internet and related technologies in to daily life.

Over the next few years we have a lot of challenges. One of the major issues is membership. Some think the Society does not need a large membership, some think it should be everyone that uses a network connected computer. I am in the middle - I believe we need a lot more than the 100-odd members we have today. Of those 100 members we probably will not get more than 50 voting for council, and the Council members make up more than 10% of our total membership! This year there are 13 members standing for office. With the remaining Councilors that makes around 20% of the membership wanting office, and almost 50% of the active membership. That has to be bad.

The geographic spread of the membership is a worry. The South Island is woefully unrepresented in the membership. Five members in Dunedin and not many others in the rest. Why? Two of the current Councilors are from Dunedin, past officers have been from Dunedin. So there is a will to contribute from down here. We have to make an effort to be members and get even less for our membership than those in the North Island.

The upcoming ICANN conference in Wellington is a major event. It gives the Society exposure, while exposing the Society to major expenditure and effort. We tried for the APRICOT conference in 2007. We will probably try again. Another large and expensive event, with a lot of work. I've been there, helping organise large DECUS events in Australia and NZ - I know how much work it is. Are we up to it? Should we be trying? Do our members care? We really ought to know.

So why should you vote for me for VP?

Change is a good thing, and we could do with change. Choice is another good thing, and nobody should stand for major office in the Society without challenge. It will be good to have an officer from the South Island - proving that there is a real national scope to our representation, especially at a time when the government seems to be serious about internet access in the regions. That and a real passion for the things that matter to InternetNZ should give you reason to vote for me.

Brendan Murray
brendan@wolfhound.co.nz

Brendan Murray was nominated by Michael Sutton.