Re: [Fsfe-uk] Chaos in the EU Council....

[Alex Hudson]

On Tue, 2004-07-13 at 11:20 +0100, Samuel Liddicott wrote:
> Hiring managers I've spoken with on the subject of the BCS seemed to
> think that BCS membership would be a reason not to hire someone.
> May be time to start a new IT lobbying group/union?

Like AFFS? :o)

Seriously, BCS isn't just a computer-users group: they are the chartered
institution for this profession (well, there is another IT one I
forget...). Unlike other professions (town planning / RTPI, for
example), chartered status is neither expected nor respected (in my
experience), but it does mean that they do more than just represent
their members: for example, their professional grades are supposedly an
assurance of a certain standard, and they do make their members swear on
the holy windows manual to uphold certain ethical tenets.

BCS have recently re-structured their professional grades to make them
more attractive to people who had never taken an interest, and I have to
admit to have been mulling over whether to join or not (more regards the
continuing professional development scheme being a useful part of our
organisation's Investors In People stuff). They are trying to become
more open and accessible, etc., but for some reason all I hear in my
head is Saddam singing "I can change I can chay-aynge! Look at me! I'm
changing!". They are so sufficiently old-school I'm not sure we would be
using our time usefully trying to enlighten them.

If fecking organisations like OpenForum Europe are not on our side (I
don't recall that they changed their two-faced attitude on this issue at
any point), then BCS certainly won't be. Perhaps it would be worth
attempting to engage OFE again, but they haven't really shown much
interest in the past.

Cheers,

Alex.