FROM THE
ACTING CHAIR
3
Dear Members
It is with great sadness that I report itSMF Australia Board Member, Brian Hughes has passed away. Brian was an enthusiastic contributor in both Victoria, his home state and also in the national arena too.
Brian’s contribution was only limited by his on-going health issues. His inclination and desire were always to lend his considerable expertise and enthusiasm to the continuing development of the Service Management community. He was my go to person for all things IT4IT and I enjoyed quite a few conversations on the topic with him.
On behalf of the Board of Directors and the membership more generally, I offer our sincere condolences to Marie and his children. I trust they will take comfort in the fact that his passing has saddened our community and that he will be missed, in particular of course by his Victorian colleagues, but also by all of us.
Our AGM will be held on Tuesday, May 18th. I would sincerely encourage all members to attend this meeting; it is an important part of our governance and an ideal opportunity to acquaint yourself with the important issues associated with our forum.
Members who are unable to attend may nominate a proxy, either myself as Acting Chair or another financial member. May I remind people too that corporate memberships are limited to a single, nominated, representative – as per the Forums Constitution.
I mentioned in my last Bulletin message that our sister Association in New Zealand (itSMF
NZ) are going through some difficulties and it may be that they form some type of allegiance with the Australian Forum in the form of another itSMFA Branch. There are still some details to be worked thought so I will have more to report on this in the near future. Stay tuned!
We are nearing the end of our first quarter events program. As part of this I’d like to report that South Australia held its first ‘Hybrid’ Event and this was both a success in itself and a signpost to how we operate in future. The acceptance and utilisation of Virtual Events and being able to add a virtual component to our traditional get-togethers is an exciting development.
Talking of events, you would appreciate that we’re in the midst of Conference preparations: calling for Speaker Submissions, asking for your nominations on the National Awards and generally just getting excited about the prospect of catching up in beautiful Queensland in September. Rubbing shoulders (literally) with our colleagues from all over Australia (and maybe NZ) is nearly reason enough to go on its own but the program that is being developed is truly world-class!! I’m sure our 23rd National Conference will meet, and exceed, all of our expectations.
See you all at the AGM on the 18th May
Enjoy your Bulletin.
Brendan Cullen
Acting Chair, itSMF Australia.