Dear Branch Member,

As we enter the summer break after the end of our branch's programme for 2007/8, here are some other events you may find interesting.

Meanwhile, your committee is hard at work putting together the programme for 2008/9. Budget permitting, we'll post a copy of the programme to all branch members of record in late August as usual. Details will, of course, be published on the branch website.

ITsON is a new initiative, co-ordinated and run by The Oxford Trust, aimed at facilitating communications, partnerships and collaborations within the ICT sector.

For this free launch event, Dr Jan Hruska, co-founder of Sophos, will provide an insight into the growth of the company from its founding in 1985 through to its present position as a world leader in IT security, protecting over 100 million users in 150 countries.

As imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, we were delighted to hear that BCS is running the award for the best MP's website again in 2008.

For 2008 the judges are also listening to the views of the public. To submit your comments on your own MP's website, go to forms.bcs.org/mpawards.

This year's competition is sponsored by The First Post and The Week.

In today’s IT environment, configuration management is recognised as a foundation practice that underpins service management.

If this is your area of interest, why not join this online conference on Thursday 26 June? Participation is free. Just register at http://bcs.brighttalk.com.

After the usual cheese and wine buffet and the formal business of the AGM, Mark Chamberlain, RM's learning platform business manager, discussed the challenges for schools in the internet age to embrace IT and provide services to all involved: teachers, school staff, pupils and parents.

Instead of the usual "death by powerpoint", Mark used this freemind diagram to illustrate his talk.

Did you know that BCS members will soon be able join BCS Specialist Groups online?

Just sign on to the Members' secure area, and click on "Specialist Groups" in the box headed "Manage your membership". You should then be able to join several Specialist Groups (up to five, I think).

The next Oxford Geek Night is on 25 June and BarCampOxford is on the weekend of 20-21 September.

BCS members can manage all their BCS email subscriptions online by logging on at https://wam.bcs.org/wam/lsm.aspx.

Want to know more about this newsletter? There's an article on the branch wiki.

You can now subscribe to the text-only version of this newsletter. The BCS online interface doesn't support this option - see below for how to request it.