Just a year ago, NewNOG, prepared for the launch of NANOG 52 under a new leadership. The journey has been filled with challenges, but also with GREAT success. We delivered on our promise to ‘not break anything’ and preserve your user experience during the transition. Mission accomplished: we produced NANOG 52, 53, 54 while each time learning, documenting and improving upon the previous one. We are thankful for your tolerance with change and are confident for the future.
The important highlights we gleamed from our meetings and various conversations in the community were to provide transparency in our governance and continuance of the NANOG value set. The Board and NANOG Committees representatives met off-site last August to assess NANOG’s core values, its important services and the meaning of its brand for attendees. The outcome was a 3-year strategic plan with milestones to provide this board and its successors with a documented foundation for continuity.
Sponsors, members, and meeting attendees have been very supportive and pleased with our progress, and simply wish to continue to enjoy being a part of NANOG activities. That is encouraging and a sign that we are moving in the right direction.
In the spirit of transparency, and to recognize the hard work and dedication of the Board and Committee members, I want to call out their achievements:
Their personal commitment to attend bi-weekly Board meetings and their dedication in showing progress on their area of responsibility.
The Board and Development Committee created a sustainable sponsorship model compliant with our non-profit status providing adequate funding for our current activities such as our mailing-lists, archives, and conferences while planning for the launch of our educational/training activities.
The Development Committee members fully met the respective Sponsorship plan targets for NANOG 52, 53, 54 and 55. We are financially sound.
The Program Committee delivered outstanding Programming for NANOG 53 and NANOG 54, exceeding all previous expectations at respectively 583 and 604 registrants.
The Program Committee delivered yet another outstanding Conference Agenda for NANOG 55 opening next week in Vancouver.
The Communications Committee continuously manages the mailing lists and our website services.
The Membership committee continues to provide value and benefits to its members since its creation in February 2011.
The Board documented the roles, responsibilities of all Committee members.
The Board executed venue contracts for NANOG 56, 57, and closing on 58.
The Board secured a support structure (Secretariat, Executive Director, Conference technical services, event webcasting) without the burden of creating an employee set of responsibilities.
The Treasurer prepared and filed our first audited financial report.
The Executive Director has lead the transition phase of moving the NANOG equipment and Intellectual property onto their new locations.
The Executive Director has continued the strong relations with ARIN as we are exploring new ways of partnering in support of our common community.
The Executive Director and the NANOG Secretariat have developed smooth operational processes.
The NANOG Secretariat is a great team. They took special care in documenting processes and procedures as we learned our new ways. We now have a solid playbook for our continued operations. They also attended all our committees, minuted and published.
As we approach our Election process next October, let me share a few personal thoughts with you. We are not yet done. It is critical that we complete the service transition steps, continue to streamline the responsibilities of event planning and support. We need to execute on our commitment to launch our educational and scholarship initiatives.
In preparation for the election process and the need to reflect and set new goals, I will be pleased to share with the community a summary of our Board Retreat, Strategic Goals, and a peak into our future. My hope is that you will find an activity worthy of your volunteering.
Please plan to attend the NANOG Member Meeting, Sunday, June 3, 2012 at 5:45-6:45 pm (PST).