More than 800 senior IT professionals have joined the
British Computer Society Elite group since September, swelling its
membership to 1,200.
The growth in membership follows a recruitment campaign by Elite's
new chairman Ben Booth, IT director of market research organisation
Mori.
Booth is currently looking at the profile of all his members and
planning where to take the organisation. He is looking to switch
the group's lunchtime meetings to the evening and to extend the
London-based events into the regions.
Elite has a unique role for users, said Booth, who does not see it
as being in competition with other user groups. "It is different
and complementary and we encourage our members to take part in any
groups that help them do their jobs better. So we want to continue
working with the IT Directors Forum, the Computer Weekly 500 Club
and the Penton iii conference," he said.
"We offer a personal membership at an affordable level. It is a
membership you carry around with you. In these days of portfolio
roles you can easily find yourself in a different role and unable
to keep up the memberships you have as they are usually
job-related. The level is pitched where most individuals can
participate without their organisation having to pay £10,000 to
take part."
The next two lunchtime meetings are on 10 November (Jeremy Acklam,
IT director, Virgin Trains) and 1 December (Ian Watmore, head of
e-government).
What is the Elite group?
Elite (Effective Leadership in IT) is a British Computer Society
group for IT directors and senior IT professionals. It runs regular
management-focused meetings and provides a forum for members to
exchange experience on how IT can be managed to achieve business
objectives. Membership is free, with members paying for each event
they attend.
For more on the Elite groupclick here >>