1.  IT Project Management Special Interest Group - Monday 3rd November
2. Rostrum Club 5th November Meeting - Wednesday 5th November
3. Special Event! Dr Terry Cutler presents ... Thursday 6th November
4. FREE Adelaide Community Liberation Day Event  - Thursday 6th November
5. IT in the Pub - Monday 10th November
6. SouthAustralia.NET Launch - Wednesday 12th November 
7. SA Branch Annual General Meeting and November Branch Forum
8. Topic of the Week - ACS Elections - Nominations Sought
9. Computer Professional Education Program Update
10. Embedded Digital Production Survey 2008
11. 16% discount for Red Hat Courses at Etc…  Express Training Connections

Topic: 'Things they don't teach you at PM school' Often we focus on the technical skills required to achieve the goal of becoming a project manager in our chosen area. When the time comes to undertake training – we focus on the “hard” PM skills as established within the PMBOK and other texts. This concentrates our attention on Planning, Monitoring and Controlling the project and associated principals covering Risk and Quality Management. Back in the real world we quickly find that there are a whole heap of skills and tools which we need but are not familiar with – the ones not covered at the PM school.

Speaker: Kenn Dolan

Date: Monday 3rd October 2008
Time: 5:15 drinks and nibbles for a 5:45pm start
Venue: Excom Education 191 Pultney Street, Adelaide

PCP Hours: 2 - Please book through the link below to assist us with catering and to ensure your PCP Hours are updated.

Bookings and further information: http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=event&area=9005&temID=eventdetails&eveID=10117104974716

...the findings of the Australian Government’s Review of the National Innovation System.

Dr Terry Cutler is an industry consultant and strategy advisor in the information and communications technology sector. Terry Cutler has authored numerous influential reports and papers on the Digital Economy and innovation. During 2008 he chaired the Australian Government’s Review of the National Innovation System.

Bookings and further information: http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=event&area=9005&temID=eventdetails&eveID=10119057857908

4. FREE Adelaide Community Liberation Day Event  - Thursday 6th November

STEVE BALLMER in Sydney video streamed to Adelaide

Enjoy some Pizza and beer while watching Steve Ballmer live in Sydney presents

"A LIVE WEB RALLY"

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer lays out Microsofts vision for Software + Services, and how it will empower developers to create the next generation of applications.

IT in the Pub for November is our final gathering for the year and it's the long awaited visit to the Traffic Control Centre, Norwood. This tour will take up to 2 hours from 6-8pm and following it, we will be crossing The Parade to the Colonist Tavern for a drink and nibbles to wind up the IT in the Pub year for 2008.

AIIA together with Microsoft and the Government of South Australia is pleased to announce the launch of South Australia.NET (SA.NET) Industry Development Cluster.  SA.NET is primarily designed to bring together local ICT organisations and promote South Australia as a world class location for software development. 

Join Brian Cunningham, Chief Executive, Department of Trade and Economic Development, and your ICT industry colleagues to hear about SA.NET objectives and the benefits of membership.  Guest speaker Peter Watson, Director - Software + Services, Microsoft Australia, will give you a taste of the next wave from Microsoft  and the exciting future ahead.  Network with representatives of other like-minded SA companies using Microsoft technologies and identify skills and synergies, share knowledge and pool resources. 

Event details and registration are available here:  http://www.acs.org.au/sa/otherinfo/sa_net_invite.pdf

"SharePoint is a hot topic in business right now! CIOs, CEOs and managing directors are all talking it up, but what exactly is it? What and where is this so called power? During this presentation Daniel will discuss and give an introductory overview of what SharePoint is , what it can do and what are the benefits of implementing such a eco-system."

1. National Office Bearer Elections

The ACS Congress at its 21 November meeting will elect the VP (Community Boards), the VP (Academic Boards) and the National Treasurer for two year terms commencing 01 Jan 2009.  Nominations for these positions from suitably qualified members are sought. Applicants:

1. must be prepared to devote considerable time to the role in an honorary capacity;
2. should be familiar with the workings of committees;
3. should have leadership experience;
4. must be financial members of the ACS;
5. ideally are current members of Congress or past members of Council and/or would have held a position on their Branch Executive Committee;
6. ideally are members of the Professional Division (Fellow, Senior Member or Member); and for the National Treasurer position:
7. ideally would have held a position as Treasurer on their Branch Executive Committee and/ or would be familiar with the workings of the National Board and Congress.
8. should have financial expertise without necessarily holding formal financial qualifications.

ACS Congress will:

1. elect or appoint a member who is a current Congress member or a member who has been exempted from this compliance by Congress in its absolute discretion, and
2. if the position is that of Vice-President must not elect or appoint a member unless the member has been endorsed by a majority of the Boards that the Vice-President whose position is in question represents, or, if there is no member endorsed by such a majority of Boards, then unless the member has been endorsed by Management Committee; and
3. may not elect Companions, Affiliates and Students and any member of the Overseas Group

A nomination form is attached. Nominations close on 10 November 2008. Nominees will be invited to address Congress on their candidacy, either in person or by teleconference.

2. Board of Directors Nominations

The Society is calling for nominations for the positions of Directors of the ten ACS Boards, as the term of office for existing Board Directors expires on 31 December 2008. These Boards are:

• ACS Women
• Community Affairs
• Computer Science
• Computer Systems & Software Engineering
• Information Systems
• Membership Lifecycle
• Professional Development
• Professional Standards
• Telecommunications
• Young IT Professionals

Directors are elected by Congress and this will be done by e-vote ahead of the meeting (by 16 November), with the outcome to be confirmed when Congress meets on Friday 21 November. Board Directors will serve for a one year term commencing 01 January 2009. Congress can elect any financial member as Director though there are restrictions placed on Companion, Affiliate & Student members but it is expected that only members of the Professional Division (Fellow, Senior Member and Member) will meet the selection criteria.

Applicants :

1. must be financial members of the Australian Computer Society;
2. must be active and recognized practitioners of a discipline relevant to the responsibilities of the position being applied for;
3. must be prepared to devote considerable time to the role in an honorary capacity;
4. should have a demonstrated track record in communicating technical and social issues to a general ICT and public audience;
5. should be familiar with the workings of committees;
6. should have leadership experience; and
7. for the PS Board, must be an Honorary Life Member or ACS Fellow.

Board Directors are members of the ACS advisory body, Congress.

A nomination form is attached, with the roles of the Boards as a separate attachment. Nominations close on 06 November 2008. Please note that applicants may be asked questions by members of Congress ahead of the e-vote and these questions and answers are to be relayed through the ACS National Office.

See also http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=notice&temID=noticedetails&notID=907

10. Embedded Digital Production Survey 2008

The m.Net Corporation has been commissioned by the South Australian Department of the Premier and Cabinet to conduct a national research project designed to develop an in-depth understanding of Australia’s embedded digital production industry. They have approached the ACS as the peak Industry body representing ICT professionals to provide our members the opportunity to participate in the Embedded Digital Production Survey 2008

If you or your company are involved in the creation of embedded digital products, please complete this short survey about your activities in this area. The survey should take around 10 minutes to complete.

To participate, please click this link: http://upload.research.mnetcorporation.com

11. 16% discount for Red Hat Courses at Etc…  Express Training Connections

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Are you an IT professional looking to gain knowledge in the Linux environment? ETC offer a wide variety of training with a 16% discount for ACS members. All courses are Red Hat accredited using qualified Red Hat instructors. This is an opportunity to increase your Red Hat skills or consolidate your knowledge and gain industry certifications as a Red Hat Certified Technician or Red Hat Certified Engineer.

Public schedule available at http://www.etc-australia.com

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