November 2017 - Branch Meeting Wrap

23rd November 2017
AISA Brisbane branch meeting of 22 November was jointly chaired by our Meeting & Policy Manager, Aki Sihto and a new AISA member Nikolay who is currently at university. As part of AISA Brisbane’s commitment to diversity and inclusiveness we invite members to be involved in the association by chairing meetings, presenting and helping out at local AISA events. AISA Brisbane encourages members to be involved and supports them to do this. Nikolay welcomed members and guests to the meeting and acknowledged the traditional owners of the land as well as introduced the main speaker.
 
Members were reminded about the AISA AGM, albeit with slight confusion from Branch Executive Chair Mandy Turner who was unsure of the venue this year; blame this on not enough coffee! This was soon clarified by helpful members who had their emails at the ready on their phones and provided the necessary information. This informal supportive cohort is what the Brisbane branch aims for so it is encouraging to see members ‘own’ their branch and support the Committee.  Long-term supporter and helper of the AISA Brisbane branch, Adam Cunningham volunteered to facilitate the AGM from the Brisbane end and made himself known to newer members so they knew who to speak to at the AGM if they had any questions. It is this supportive and generous attitude of Brisbane members that renews the energy and motivation of all of us who volunteer.
 
The main attraction at the meeting was of course Christopher Biggs who took to the stage to engage the audience on devops and IoT. As always Chris was a dynamic speaker who had the members enthralled in his informative presentation. The presentation included gems such as ‘don’t glue things together with shell script’ that got a collective chuckle and valuable information about tools available and how Chris has used them.  Chris happily stayed to chat with members and we certainly appreciated his time.
 
AISA members and guests stayed for some time after the presentation to network and some used this as an opportunity to catch up with people they mentor.  It was pleasing to see that members were eager to discuss volunteering at BrisSEC and chatted at length with one of the branch’s conference team members, Simon Harvey. BrisSEC will be held on 23 March 2018 and members are eager to be a part of it.
 
On 13 December the Brisbane branch will be holding its end of year social event as well as updates from the infosec community.
 
AISA Brisbane branch wants to continue to evolve and be an inclusive, supportive, friendly network of people. We now have three teams to support development in the branch, the executive team, the conference team and the diversity and inclusiveness team, as well as advisors. Everyone is a volunteer giving their own time willingly to support and enhance the infosec space for AISA members.  We want to ensure that we continue to develop as a branch and encourage feedback from members. 
The whole Brisbane team constantly works hard to ensure the community here is friendly, informal and supportive and if you have ideas we are keen to hear them.
Please note that not all suggestions can be implemented immediately but do not let that stop you providing input. Please send your suggestions  or interest in volunteering, presenting or chairing a meeting to [email protected].