[ale] [SAGE] Memo to Members 2003-12

Mon Dec 22 21:57:30 EST 2003

From: Geoff Halprin <geoff at sage.org>
Subject: [SAGE] Memo to Members 2003-12
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 22:31:09 -0500
Message-ID: <20031218223109.S30713 at sysadmin.com.au>
Organization: The SysAdmin Group Pty Ltd

        SAGE: Member Update  --  December 2003
	~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This note is going to all SAGE and USENIX members and associates
to let everyone know what's going on in SAGE.

The SAGE Executive Committee wishes you all a safe festive season.

  -- Geoff Halprin

Contents:
 * Overview of 2003 accomplishments
 * New SAGE membership options
 * A new look, a new tagline
 * The year ahead
 * We need you!

### 1) SAGE Accomplishments in 2003

  * Two new Short Topics Booklets

    Our work on the Short Topics series continues with another two
    booklets being published in 2003:
      - "Budgeting for system administrators," by Adam Moskowitz; and
      - "Documentation writing for system administrators," by
         Mark Langston.

    Both are available (free) to all SAGE members online at:
     http://sageweb.sage.org/resources/publications/short_topics.html

    Printed versions may be ordered online at the same URL.

  * SAGEnews Weekly Newsletter

    The SAGEnews newsletter, a pithy summary of world-wide sysadmin
    news, is delivered weekly to over 1000 subscribers.  Tell your
    colleagues.  It's a free service to members and non-members alike.

    To subscribe to SAGEnews, sent a mail message with
    "subscribe sage-news" in the message body to: <majordomo at sage.org>.

  * 10,000 Participants in 2002 Salary Survey

    We conducted our most extensive salary survey to date, with over
    10,000 participants, and 2 partners: the SANS Institute and Sun's
    BigAdmin site.

    The results are available at:
        http://sageweb.sage.org/jobs/salary_survey/

  * New Code of Ethics Adopted

    We have now adopted a shorter and more precise Code of Ethics.
    This code will be distributed to all members in a ready-to-frame
    (and display at work) format in the new year.

    The code is online at:
     http://sageweb.sage.org/resources/publications/code_of_ethics.html

    Thanks to the many people who helped on this working group.

  * Mini Speaking Tours

    Rob Kolstad and David Parter spoke about system administration and
    SAGE at various venues around North America and Germany. We were
    also present at various conferences to raise our profile.

    We intend to further develop this outreach program over the coming
    year, so if you have suggestions about specific venues or events,
    then please contact Rob Kolstad.

  * Participation in Industry Forums

    SAGE has participated in several government and industry forums
    over the past year, to represent the system administrators' point
    of view in various discussions:

    - Trey Harris and Geoff Halprin participated in various White
      House and Department of Defence forums on Information Assurance
      (security).
    - John Sellens has been participating in a Microsoft system
      management forum.
    - We have been offered a seat on the Storage Networking Industry
      Association (SNIA) advisory board.

  * New Partnerships Established

    SAGE has established new partnerships, with benefits to our
    members:
     - TruSecure: 50% discount on security certification exam.
     - Linux Professional Institute (LPI): discounts on LPI
       certification exams.

    We continue to look for other partnerships.  If you have any
    suggestions, please contact Rob Kolstad.

  * Redesigned SAGE Web Presence

    The SAGE Online Services Committee continues to develop the SAGE
    web sites (sageweb.sage.org, sagewire.sage.org) and other online
    services (mailing lists, etc.).  The site now has a new layout and
    better search facilities.

    If you have comments on how to improve the site further, please
    send mail to <sage-webcomm at sage.org>.

### 2) New SAGE Membership Options

In 2003, a major behind-the-scenes change has been to decouple the
SAGE and USENIX membership dues.  You can now join SAGE (US$40)
without having to be a member of USENIX (US$110).  (Of course, we
continue to encourage people to be a member of both organisations.)

This change was undertaken to enhance SAGE's ability to reach a
broader audience. 

Also, you can now join SAGE online and gain immediate access to all
SAGE member-only areas and services.

And for $40, why not buy a membership for a friend or co-worker? (More
on this shortly.)

### 3) A New Look, A New Tagline, A Renewed Energy

In the past month, SAGE has adopted a new branding image, including a
new tag line:

    SAGE: The People Who Make IT Work.

As SAGE continues to reach out beyond our traditional membership base
to all practitioners of system administration, it is important to
provide a clear message of what SAGE represents.  As Rob Kolstad wrote
about in the last memo-to-members, we need a "high concept" (aka
elevator pitch) of what it is that system administrators do and what
SAGE does.  With this new tagline, we now have that.

Along with this tag line change, we have updated our branding image.
You will now see our new branding on our web site, stationery, and
merchandise.  (This, of course, gives you a wonderful opportunity to
purchase merchandise from our "collector's edition" range of wear.)

Other changes relating to the branding change:

  * New membership card; new discounts

    In the new year, you can expect to receive new membership cards.
    These cards (and your membership in SAGE) will provide you
    access to an increasing array of discounts with SAGE partners.
    If you can think of a web store or a store in your area that
    should be providing a discount to SAGE members, then please
    contact Rob Kolstad, and we will add it to the list of companies
    we engage with.

  * A Special Thanks

    All of the work on developing our new image has been done by one
    of our volunteers: J.D. Welch.  The Executive Committee wishes to
    extend its sincerest thanks to J.D. for all his hard work.

### 4) Our Supporting Members

SAGE would like to thank our supporting members:

  Microsoft Research.   http://www.research.microsoft.com
  MSB Associates.       http://www.msbit.com
  RIPE NCC.             http://www.ripe.net

If your organisation is interested in becoming a supporting
member of SAGE, please contact Rob Kolstad.  You can find
details of our Supporting Member program at:
    http://www.usenix.org/membership/classes.html#sage

### 5) Our Priority for 2004: Membership

In order for SAGE to continue to progress on its mission, we must grow
the organisation.  Accordingly, our focus in 2004 is to do just that.
We have a number of strategies that we are embracing:

  * Gift memberships

    Now available! What a great gift to the colleague that has asked
    one too many questions! Are you wanting to develop the
    professionalism of a peer or the members of your team? Is someone
    doing the job of system administrator wthout knowing it? Can
    someone in your group benefit from the Short Topics booklets?

    Sign up a friend at: https://www.sage.org/auth/gift.html

  * Focus on local groups

    In 2004, we are focussing on strengthening our presence through
    local groups.  We are preparing a kit and several services to
    assist members create and perpetuate a healthy local SAGE
    affiliate.

    SAGE will host your web pages, and provide you with a domain name
    (e.g. yourlocal.sage.org), create and manage local discussion
    lists, and operate a discussion list for organisers of local
    groups to exchange ideas.

  * sage.org: the place to be

    We want SAGE to be the place that system administrators come
    when they need assistance.  We will continue to develop our
    online presence, including several new facilities that will
    make it easier than ever to get the answers you want, all
    from one place.

  * Partnerships and marketing

    SAGE will also continue to develop partnerships and undertake
    targetted marketing campaigns throughout the year.

### 6) More Services

Of course SAGE will continue to expand the services it provides
to the members, including:

  * Two more short topics booklets planned for 2004

  * Short focussed surveys conducted quarterly

    In addition to our annual salary survey (our flagship survey),
    we will seek to conduct quarterly surveys on specific trends or
    areas of interest to our industry.  SAGE will be the pulse of
    the system administration community.

  * More discounts with more partners

    Of course, we will continue to expand our discount program, and
    look forward to regular announcements of new partnerships.

  * Quarterly SAGE magazine

    As part of the decoupling of USENIX and SAGE dues, SAGE members
    will not receive ;login: magazine.  (This is a benefit of USENIX
    membership.) SAGE will, instead, be producing its own magazine.

### 7) We Need You!

Of course, all of this activity means plenty of places for you
to contribute to the organisation.  For example:
  * Local group coordinators
  * SAGEnews editors
  * SAGE magazine contributors and editors
  * Website content creators and section editors
  * Mentors

If you would like to contribute to SAGE, please contact Rob Kolstad
with information on your availabiilty, and where you would like to
assist.

Warm regards,

Geoff Halprin
SAGE President