Committee Changes

Dangger

Dear member,

I mentioned during the AGM my intention to step down from my role as chairman, however with a low turn out an election was not possible. I had hoped to stay on for a month in a reduced role, but due to obligations, that is no longer possible.

I will admit that my ideas on the future direction of IOFFL are at times in conflict with committee members, this has added to my decision. These matters, combined with the considerable amount of my time I have given to IrelandOffline have made it clear to me that it is time to step down now. So as of today after a meeting with an advisor to Minister Ahern at 2pm I will be resigning.

I'd like to thank all the committee members (past and present), Michael, Adam, Fergus, Justin, Martin, Elana, John, Brendan, David and Howard for their committment and work. Special thanks to the members of the research working group for solid tech advice! Thank you to all of you who took the time to contact me to offer assistance, it was greatly appreciated. I am also most grateful for the genorosity of so many of you in making the trip to Brussels possible.

I've enjoyed taking part in IrelandOffline and representing its members. Its also been most educational for me. Thank you all, for lending your voice and support, and letting me represent you.

There is an important role for IrelandOffline to play in the future development of the Internet in Ireland. For too long the consumer and small businesses have been ignored in decision making processes at various levels. What we have now is a platform, an element of respect, and a duty to educate on the facts and the truth.

The committee has gone through changes in the past but the objectives remain the same, so lets push things foward. There has been a constant call out there for new committee members and some of you have been approached about this. If you would like to participate just step forward. There is now better time then right now! There are many tasks that need input and new avenues to be explored, there was never a shortage of things to do!

Yours sincerely,

David Long

Dustaz

Sorry to see you go David

I think i speak for most people on these forums when i say the work you have done has been highly appreciated. Youve done an outstanding job and the progress that has been made under your leadership has been huge.

Thanks for all your hard work mate, and good luck with what lies ahead

/me gives the sekkrit danum handshake...

MDR

Oh well,

Thanks for your time at the top Dave, hope you will still be hanging around ...

Lemming

Cheers for the effort Dave!

gandalf

David thank you for all the hard work and effort you have put in on our behalf. Good luck in whatever you have planned next.

Gandalf.

viking

Really sorry to see you go. Shame.

Well done and good luck!

viking

dahamsta

It was good while it lasted Dave.

Note that I have resigned from the committee also, since I simply don't have the time to contribute any more, what with the new job and my involvement in CorkWAN. I'll continue to hang around the boards and shout incoherently every now and then though.

adam

ando

oh my good god.... :eek:

2 of the best ppl to grace these boards are steping down

Lex_Diamonds

Bravo Dave, you showed the IOFFL doubters that we mean business....

Im sad to see such a driven member of IOFFL step down, I hope whoever steps into your shoes lives up to the massive amount of work and toil you put in.

Good luck in the future.

Delphi91

David, very sorry to hear that you're departing.

MANY, MANY thanks for all the work you've done for IOFFL. I've no doubt that the campaign is all the better for your contribution.


Mike

yellum

God help your replacement he/she has mighty shoes to fill. Well done Dave. We all appreciate the work you've put into this.

Damien.

El_MUERkO

You have both done great work in IOFFL and I'm sorry to see you stepping down.

I had a 'Good job Fella!!!' badge around here somewhere but I cant find it.... /roots in boxes

vinnyfitz

David after all the remarkably effective work you have put in over the last seven months as chairman I think we would all be very sad to see you go.

What would it take to get you to change your mind and stay on? Clearly you need support and I guess it was not forthcoming at the AGM. I suppose I am guilty - being one of those not able to attend.

But there is lots of energy amongst the membership. We could make another effort to share out the work but we would be much more effective if we could still benefit from your advice and leadership.

MDR

I share vinnyfitz sentiments ...

spongebob

....for all the good work

M

milltown

Thanks for all the good work David, you'll be missed.
Enjoy your extra free time.

aidan_dunne

Thanks for doing a great job, David. We all know the incredible work you've done in the past few months in getting meetings with the various players and stuff and whoever steps into your shoes had better have a pretty big pair of feet to fill those big shoes you're leaving behind.

One question, though. Where does this leave IOFFL? Who's going to take over as chairman and will he/she be as effective as David was?

I hope IOFFL isn't going to loose it's direction or slacken off in the fight for flat-rate and broadband as a result of this.

timod

Sad to see you go Dave. Many thanks for representing us.

SkepticOne

Originally posted by aidan_dunne
One question, though. Where does this leave IOFFL?

Dave is making arrangements for the continuation of IOFFL and the fight, rest assured of that.

Moriarty

Your hard work has been very much appreciated, Dave. Good luck in the future

sceptre

I think vinnyfitz and Aidan speak for many of us.

Sincere thanks for all the hard work you've both put in to the committee and organisation. With people like Mike Megan still involved, the future of the organisation still looks bright.

yellum

Originally posted by Dangger


The committee has gone through changes in the past but the objectives remain the same, so lets push things foward. There has been a constant call out there for new committee members and some of you have been approached about this. If you would like to participate just step forward. There is now better time then right now! There are many tasks that need input and new avenues to be explored, there was never a shortage of things to do!

Why not list out what committee postions need filling and what work needs to be done.

While some people might not have the time to be a committee member they could maybe give a solid block of 4 or 5 hours each week to give a hand.

Like Adam I can't help really due to work with the cork Wan project.

yellum

Let me suggest some jobs that could be done in just a few hours a week:

Anti-Competitiveness person. Look into areas where members suggest companies are being anti-competive. Communicate this to the Competition Authority.

Advertising Standards person. Its been shown that nitpicking the Eircom ads and approaching the Advertising Standards Authority worked. Members could find the lies and fibs in the ads of all telcos and inform this IrelandOffline person who'll get on to the Authority.

Newsletter coordinator. Kinda like a p.r.o. job but just for the members newsletter. People have complained so often about no news. It could be this persons job to get some news from the committee members and officers and sending it out every second week to keep the members informed.

I'm sure other people here can suggest other positions. To be honest I thought Dave and the other committee members would drop dead from the workload. They were all overworking themselves I thought because they were doing too many jobs that could have been farmed out. Still they did a great job.

DeVore

Change is the only constant.

Well done David, I've admired the determination, tenacity and commitment of IOFFL from the start. I sincerely believe that IOFFL has played a part in the pressure being brought to bear on the market (I know that from all the RIPE and ODTR ip's that hit this board every day )

Its my sad duty to respect your instruction to change your tag as you requested. Back to Insane Poster for you
I hope you will continue to input into this board, whatever comes..

Good luck in whatever you do. Yellum, I'll be in touch.

DeV.

Tellox

sorry to see you go
huge thanks for everything accomplished in your time, I hope to god the next one can be half as good as you

sceptre

Stickified thread as people will regard it as important. Also changed thread title to "Committee Changes" for the same reason.

MarkR

You've done great work dave, I hope your succesor will be half as dedicated...

Mark

DonegalMan

Just want to add my own appreciation of the tremendous work that David and Adam both did, for not just IrelandOffline members, but for all Internet users in Ireland.

When I originally had to stand down as Chairman, I was concerned that my replacement would maintain the good work we had achieved to that stage.

David not only maintained the work, he took IrelandOffline to even greater heights.

Good luck to both of you and the others who are working very hard in the background.

Martin Harran

yellum

I forgot to give thanks and praise to Adam. Adam we have also appreciated your great work over the past number of months.

spongebob

2 'Commissioners' are being recruited to sit at Etains left and Right hand and guide her into the E-whatever future that FF and the PD's believe is already here.

I am opening a book, you may PM me for the odds.

M

aidan_dunne

Originally posted by Muck
2 'Commissioners' are being recruited to sit at Etains left and Right hand and guide her into the E-whatever future that FF and the PD's believe is already here.

Oh that we may dream. I can just imagine it, Adam and David in a proper position of power fighting for our rights and in a position to slap a bit of sense into Etain's head.

Note: I do not condone slapping of women or any forms of violence against women. It was just a figure of speech!

Oh well, we can all dream, can't we?

muchos_bongo

Originally posted by aidan_dunne


Oh that we may dream. I can just imagine it, Adam and David in a proper position of power fighting for our rights and in a position to slap a bit of sense into Etain's head.

The ODTR's technical prowess is lacking enough don't you think?

dahamsta

[No, I haven't applied.]

I've never seen any obvious examples of a lack of technical ability in the ODTR, and if anything I've been quite impressed by their competence in this area. That said, as muchos_bongos quite rightly suggests, I'm not into the nitty-gritty technical details, so perhaps I'm missing something. It's a very black-and-white statement though, perhaps you could explain why you think that, or perhaps cite some examples?

It's my view that the ODTR's problem has nothing to do with technical details, it's quite simply down to the organisation being grossly over-politicised; a situation that was created by underfunding, lack of legislation, and a regulator that's reactive to the marketplace (in a time when this was not suitable behaviour), and overly swayed by political and/or commercial pressures*. So there.

adam

*We needed a bully. We got a wuss.

muchos_bongo

Originally posted by dahamsta
[No, I haven't applied.]

I've never seen any obvious examples of a lack of technical ability in the ODTR, and if anything I've been quite impressed by their competence in this area. That said, as muchos_bongos quite rightly suggests, I'm not into the nitty-gritty technical details, so perhaps I'm missing something. It's a very black-and-white statement though, perhaps you could explain why you think that, or perhaps cite some examples?

Unfortunately I have. The most prevalent I've seen were,

-Implementation of full number portability and timescales
-Unlicencing of FWA in the 2.4GHz range without any forethought towards brown spotting
-Unlicencing of FWA in the 5.6GHz range, although the ODTR has addressed the issue of brown spotting with licenced basestations
-Complete lack of consistency when applying technical consultation papers

SkepticOne

Originally posted by muchos_bongo
-Implementation of full number portability and timescales
-Unlicencing of FWA in the 2.4GHz range without any forethought towards brown spotting
-Unlicencing of FWA in the 5.6GHz range, although the ODTR has addressed the issue of brown spotting with licenced basestations
-Complete lack of consistency when applying technical consultation papers

Have you communicated these concerns to the ODTR? I'm sure they would be interested. Why not post their reply here?

muchos_bongo

Originally posted by SkepticOne
Have you communicated these concerns to the ODTR? I'm sure they would be interested. Why not post their reply here?

Indeed I have. I work closely with them.

SkepticOne

Originally posted by muchos_bongo
Indeed I have. I work closely with them.

If you have a commercial interest in their decisions, I guess you would want to keep their replies confidential.

muchos_bongo

Exactly!

spongebob

In fairness they communicated back and tried to justify their decision.

We sorta agreed to differ. It were about output levels in the bands mentioned by Muchos.

It was not commercial. Much of their spectrum licencing policy is dictated (should one say decided) by a European body, CEPT which dictates technical standards to be applied in EU countries and beyond.

New thread required I think before this one dissolves in Acronym Soup , flames and disrespect for those who have gone before (solemn look).

M

Bard

Sorry to see you go Dave... and Adam. Well done to both of you.

I know what it's like, having been on the committee myself and having worked tirelessly on building IOFFL an award winning web site.

I don't see an adequate successor anywhere for either of you, to be honest. I hope this doesn't adversely affect IOFFL and their efforts.

SkepticOne

Just to let everyone know: Dave has not resigned from the committee but has just stepped down from the chairman role. There is some restructuring going on at the moment but the work carries on in the meantime.

sceptre

Unstickifying as it's been a week since any postings.