Memos to Members/3 August 2005

This website is not affiliated with SAGE or the USENIX Association. The use of the term "SAGE" below is historical, and refers either to the SAGE subgroup of USENIX, or to a precursor of the organization now called LOPSA.

Date:    Wed, 03 Aug 2005 19:09:58 EDT
To:      sage-members@sage.org, sage-announce@sage.org
From:    The SAGE Board <palmer+sage@azuen.net>
Subject: [SAGE-Board] SAGE Memo To Members, 8/3/2005

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                SAGE  - The People Who Make IT Work 

                     AUGUST MEMO TO MEMBERS

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            Please Email board@sage-members.org with any 
             questions, comments, or ideas.  We always
                 want to hear from our membership.

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In this memo:

1.  Board Meeting and Planning Session.
2.  LISA Conference
3.  Transition to the New SAGE
4.  "LISA All Year Long"
5.  Executive Director appointed
6.  Officers
7.  Strategic Committees
8.  Program Committees
9.  Thank you

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1. BOARD MEETING AND PLANNING SESSION

On July 29th to the 31st, the newly elected Board participated in a
strategic planning session, and held our first Board meeting, including
officer elections.  The spirit and energy at both parts of the meetings
were very high, and we feel SAGE is off to a great start.  

We have clarified many of our thoughts and initiatives and hope we can
bring new focus to SAGE.  For the next few months our focus will be
threefold: the LISA Conference, the transition, and exploring both new
and existing programs.

2. LISA CONFERENCE

Our first focus is the LISA Conference.  SAGE and USENIX are partners in
the success of LISA, and LISA remains SAGE's premier conference.  This
year's LISA in San Diego will be a milestone in SAGE's history, as we
present the future of SAGE to the membership.  We hope to accomplish
much between then and now, but the future beyond is much greater.  We
encourage everyone to attend and both see and shape the future of SAGE.
Please also encourage friends and colleagues who have never attended
LISA to consider coming. 

The LISA program has been posted at http://www.usenix.org/events/lisa05/, 
and online registration will be available soon.  Remember that SAGE
members get a discount, and non-member attendees may include SAGE
membership as part of their registration fees.

3. TRANSITION TO THE NEW SAGE

The second part of our program will consist of concluding the
transitional and separation agreements with USENIX.  SAGE's draft of the
agreement has been delivered to USENIX and is awaiting their response.
Once the agreement is concluded, SAGE web, email, and other services
will be transferred from USENIX to the new SAGE over the coming months.
We give our thanks to the USENIX Board for its consistent support and
encouragement in this process; they are key partners in helping SAGE
succeed as a group focused solely on serving system administrators.  We
also give our thanks to the Interim Board.  They gave tireless effort in
often mundane and obscure matters.  Their efforts have ensured a timely
succession essential to the future of SAGE, and built the framework for
that future.

4. "LISA ALL YEAR LONG"

The final part of our plan, our programs, is dedicated to serving system
administration as a professional membership society.  It is our hope and
aim to give SAGE members "LISA all year long," the unique experience of
the content and hallway tracks of LISA, brought to you daily as a
benefit of SAGE membership.  Most of our push towards this goal begins
after LISA, when transitional arrangements will be complete.  However,
we are not content to rest.  While SAGE must live within its means,
exercising the same fiscal restraint that kept us ahead of budget
forecasts in every year we have records, we want to start as soon as we
can.  Therefore, we are investigating several new benefit programs
between now and LISA, and if any of them represent opportunities we can
take sooner rather than later, we intend to take them.

Many of these efforts are listed below in our committee listing; feel
free to contact the Board with comments or questions.  Also, our power
to serve the profession is helped by your support; please consider
joining SAGE if you haven't already and encouraging your colleagues and
friends to do so as well.  Transition periods are difficult, but we have
been given the chance to form an organization solely focused on the
needs of system administrators.  The potential of SAGE has never been
higher.

5. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The Board is also pleased to announce that we have selected an Executive
Director.  Unfortunately, we cannot yet release our Director's identity
until our contract with our association management company is complete,
and that in turn is pending a final resolution of the USENIX separation
agreement.  However, we can say we are very pleased with our selection,
and hope to introduce the Executive Director to SAGE very shortly.

6. OFFICERS

The Board selected its officers and created several committees and named
several committee chairs.  Many of these committees will be seeking
volunteers to aid their efforts in the coming weeks; stay tuned for
opportunities to participate in the new SAGE.

Our officers:

President:             Tom Perrine
Vice President:        Pat Wilson
Secretary/Treasurer:   Andrew Hume

7. STRATEGIC COMMITTEES

Transition:     Oversees the transition agreements between USENIX and
                SAGE.
Chair:          Geoff Halprin

Development:    Performs fund-raising and seeks sponsors.
Co-chairs:      Stephen Potter & Pat Wilson

Partnerships:   Point of contact for active SAGE partners and
                collaborators
Chair:          Geoff Halprin

Leadership:     External committee that develops and encourages
                leadership at all levels.  
Chair:          Greg Rose (non-board) Board Liaison:  Tom Perrine

Policy:         Tasked with drafting an initial set of SAGE Policies
Chair:          Trey Harris

Communications: Drafting communications policy & serve as SAGE point of
                contact
Chair:          Chris Palmer

Membership:     Draft Membership policy & investigate means of growing
                the membership.
Chair:          Trey Harris

8. PROGRAM COMMITTEES

Awards:         Annual Committee to award the Contribution to the
                Profession & Chuck Yerkes Awards
Chair:          Doug Hughes

Conference:     Plan and implement our presence and program at LISA.
Co-chairs:      Tom Perrine and Pat Wilson

Locals:         Investigate and plan for SAGE Locals & other affiliates
                groups.
Chair:          David Parter

Tech Services:  Plan and implement the technology backend for SAGE web,
                mail, and other services.
Co-Chairs:      Doug Hughes and David Parter

Content Services: Oversee and plan program material for web, print, and
                 other media.
Co-Chairs:      Chris Palmer and Stephen Potter

Mentor Program: Investigate re-invigorating the SAGE Mentor Program
Chair:          Andrew Hume

9. THANK YOU

SAGE has an extensive list of folks to thank; rather than do so
incompletely here we will be recognizing a number of individuals'
support and efforts in the coming weeks. 

But furthermore, thanks to you, SAGE members, for all your support over
the transition period; we hope that you will soon see what we saw during
our meeting -- the potential of SAGE unleashed, supported by a new
Executive Director and staff, that can bring a high level of service and
professional support to every system administrator. 

Sincerely,

        -The SAGE Board of Directors