Southern Chapter - Newsletter
Aug 2010

Page owned by south.sec@afcea.org.uk
 

By our reckoning, this Newsletter should reach you just as you are about to depart on your well-earned vacations in the South of France, the Barbados, Florida or wherever, but we thought we should give everyone a heads-up on what is on offer in the next session of the Southern Chapter.  Just the sort of reading to complement your beachtime Tequila Sunrise!  This time of year is also the traditional season for conferences, symposia and the like; 2010 is no exception.  First up is “The Art of Leadership” on 23 September at the Marriott Courtyard Hotel, Brussels. This is followed by a raft of events in the week beginning 25 October, all of which  are being held in the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London. These are more or less tied into the Technet International event which takes place on 28 and 29 October, and is described later, but kicking off with the Student Conference on 26 October, followed the next day by the NDU Conference on “Cloud Computing”, and the SMEs Open Forum.  Full details on how to take part are at the AFCEA Europe website on www.afcea.org/europe.

Our final event of the 2009/10 session was held on 17 June, and is described below.  The AGM, held at the same time, voted your committee in for another season – such is the lot of volunteers.  We are still looking for professional help!  There are still some posts we would like to fill,  and the more people we have to share out the tasks, the lighter is the load all round.  Anyone who would like to increase their involvement with the Chapter is welcome to join us in what is always a very rewarding and interesting use of (some of) your spare time.  That said, we are delighted to welcome Steve Penny of Nexor to the committee in the role of Meetings Secretary. Muz Murray moves into the re-incarnated post of Membership Secretary (see below) and will be assisted by Warren Quinn.  

The programme for 2010/11 is virtually complete, and is outlined below for early entry into your diaries and schedules.  BUT we are actively monitoring the SDSR and will adjust the programme as necessary to sustain our focus on what is important in delivering C4ISTAR capability to the front line against constrained budgets.

The opening meeting of the season traditionally sets the tone for the rest of the year, and we look forward to seeing a full turnout on 16 September at Chilworth Manor, to hear and see Boris Hackenov penetrate and destroy secure computer networks. Please note the earlier start time. An event not to be missed!

 BLANDFORD SUB-CHAPTER & AWARDS

The operation of the Blandford Sub-Chapter under the aegis of the Southern Chapter has worked well over the past season, thanks in no small measure to the efforts of WO1 Tony Nicholls, who has justly earned an AFCEA Meritorious Service Award for his efforts.  This will be presented to him at the Technet International event, alongside a similar award to Captain Muz Murray who has been an exemplary, tireless, and innovative stalwart on the Southern Chapter Committee in the relatively short time he has been a committee member. Congratulations to them both. Our best wishes go to Tony, who has departed on promotion to 30 Signal Regiment, prior to deployment for some months in the New Year.  We welcome as his replacement WO1 (FofS) Max Challis, who is looking forward to taking the helm in the new season.

MEMBERSHIP

 The HQ’s approach to membership administration has changed over the years and is now centralised and run via the AFCEA website. The software and database are now well managed and user friendly. However, databases are only as good as the data that goes into them and recruiting and sustaining membership is a personality driven issue which, from our experience, lends itself less well to the impersonal www. We have therefore re-incarnated the role of Membership Secretary, as HQ allows, and have from 1 Sep taken local control of our membership administration. Muz Murray will send out membership renewal reminders about 2 months in advance with the still modest fee being paid in Sterling to AFCEA Southern. We will then block transfer fees to HQ on a routine basis.

The advantage will be a rekindled direct personal relationship between the Southern membership and the committee. We believe this will improve not only day to day involvement but also retention and, indeed, our ability to attract new members. Enthusing somebody is one thing, getting them to go to the HQ website days or weeks afterwards to join is a completely different issue. Similarly, faceless renewal reminders remain all too often as unopened/discarded emails or as letters in the bottom of the in-tray. It’s not a criticism but rather a pragmatic acceptance of the reality of people’s priorities in an ever busier world. Anyway, we have now explained why we are opting for a more personal, UK based approach to optimise the membership process. Watch out for contact from Muz Murray or his assistant, Warren Quinn!

EVENTS 2009/2010 SEASON

The final talk for the 2009/2010 season was held on 17^th June following the AGM, when Colonel Alan Blackwell, the Team Leader of the ES Delivery Team in DE&S spoke on the subject of Joint Electronic Surveillance.  This took place in the Princess Mary Hall (PMH) and the Headquarters Officers Mess at Blandford Camp, and attracted an excellent turnout from our members and resident Army courses.   Although necessarily circumscribed somewhat by security concerns, the speaker was able to proved an good overview of the topic, and the question and answer session which followed nicely elicited some further aspects which enlivened this most relevant of topics.

PROGRAMME FOR 2010/2011 SEASON

There will be opportunities at each event for industry to give further table-top glimpses of their capabilities and bring along more junior members of their engineering teams in support. We hope that this will give added technical interest to the evening, as well as enabling active military to mix with hands-on industry experts, and, of course, introducing AFCEA to some of the younger, technical members of companies. Contact the new Meetings Secretary for information.

Remember also, please, our ‘Bring a Guest for Free’ scheme. We would be delighted to see any of your colleagues who you think might be interested in an evening’s topic. They may attend the first such event free of charge – just inform the Meetings’ Secretary of their name and contact details when you are making your own booking.

* Our aspiration is to make the meetings marked with an asterisk into a ‘double’ meeting with the Blandford Sub-Chapter holding its briefing on the more technical aspects of the theme, followed by a break for liquid refreshments, then the main chapter meeting on the broader aspects of the theme, before our evening meal.

 AFCEA Technet International Symposium - "INTEGRATING CYBERSPACE INTO THE BATTLESPACE"

TechNet International will provide an opportunity to examine the operational and technical challenges that confront today’s battlespace commanders as they seek to establish a balance between bits and bytes versus bullets and bombs.   Contact AFCEA Europe : europe@afcea.org   Tel: +32 2 705 2731    Fax: +32 2 705 2894

Session I – ‘Cyberspace’: what is it, where is it, whose is it?    

Session II – The Commander’s Approach to Integration.   

Session III – The Technical Challenges of Integration.   

Session IV – Panel Session: ‘Cyberspace - A Global Battlespace?’

Russell Searle

CHAPTER CONTACTS

President:         Russell Searle:  02392 410044 or 07811 406373.      south.pres@afcea.org.uk

Secretary:        Mark Ellis:        01264 384020 or 07738 235587  south.sec@afcea.org.uk

Meetings Sec: Steve Penny:          0115 952 0500 or 07967 198630              steve.penny@nexor.com

Memb Sec:      Muz Murray:     01258 456601 or 07766 143837   muz_murray@hotmail.com

Publicity:      Brian Luff:             023 8011 1335 or 07766 777772              BLuff@critical-software.co.uk

Treasurer:          Jim Bingley    south.treas@afcea.org.uk

IET Rep:           Colin Cunningham     

Sub-Chapter Rep:  Max Challis

Members at Large: Steve Coles, Tom Moncur, Warren Quinn.