Chairmans Newsletters

January 2003 letter

Dear Branch Member,

The South Wales Branch Committee and myself take pleasure in wishing you all a Happy New Year - and hopefully one full of pleasurable memories and great successes.

The meetings we held before Christmas have once again been of the highest quality and it was very encouraging to meet a few of our members at these meetings and to discuss their views and interests. As you are probably now aware, we are moving away from the set annual program of events to more of a rolling six events program. This is intended to better enable our members to plan ahead rather than finding the September meeting conflicts with an appointment they have in say three weeks time. It also increases the opportunity for us to track current events no matter when in the year they occur. It is through the flexibility of electronic communication and the greater reliance upon the BCS Branch website that we are able to make these changes. The table below shows the events currently listed on the site showing both the events since last September and those still to come. The site will in the future be updated as new events are arrange so add it to your favourites and keep an eye open for new developments.

I look forward to the rest of the meetings in this year’s programme - and to the opportunity of meeting you at them where we can discuss what is important for you? Have you attended some of our events, and obtained useful benefits from them in the past? We hope so – and that you will join us at many future events and other activities of the South Wales Branch.

Look out for further news about the Branch on the Branch website, in the IT press and by email. Everyone is welcome at our events unless stated otherwise - and if you're not yet a member of the British Computer Society, they present an ideal opportunity to join the professional body of British IT. I hope you will also come and meet the committee at our events and other activities - we look forward to seeing you and hearing your views about how we can continue to improve our Branch together.

Not only has the branch been overhauling they way it runs events but the BCS movement has been updating the way it operates. One thing that has emerged out of this process is the recognition of the importance of the branches in the future of the Society. The exact role of branches in a world now geared to networking electronically and the importance of physical meetings needs to be carefully examined, but there is no doubt about the importance of the branch network as a major channel for communicating and delivering service to our members.

As part of the re-structuring of the Society, the old Branches Board has been replaced by a Branches Management Committee (BMC). A larger forum, Branches Congress, meets twice per year, generally in September and April, and is the interface between the Branches and the two key Committees, BMC and Member Services Board. Two Representatives of each Branch Committee may attend Congress and the South Wales Branch will be looking to take up this opportunity in the future. Any BCS member is welcome to suggest an issue, or a discussion topic which they would like their Branch Reps to put forward to Congress. The South Wales Branch Committee is always keen to hear your views, so do email us.

The South Wales Branch Committee has also been active in supporting the role of the YPG. All BCS members of whatever membership grade are automatically members of YPG provided their age does not exceed 35. The Group organises a range of activities and services for members, and details can be found on the web at www.bcs.org/ypg Jason Mullins represents the YPG on branch committees and would very much like to hear from you. If you are a YPG member and could spare a little time to liase with Jason then please do get in touch through this committee.

Once again the Branch committee has gained some new members during the year but has also lost some members due to changing circumstances. New committee members are always welcome. We meet approximately once a month, but only for nine months of the year; people contribute whatever they can. The committee would also very much like to hear the views of our female members and would be particularly keen to hear from any that would like to stand for committee and take the opportunity to represent their gender. Please do contact a member of the Committee, as shown on the Web Site, if you would like to attend a committee meeting to see what it is all about.

Yours,

Paul Bulmer

For the Committee of the South Wales Branch