When Tarek and I decided to throw our hat into the ring to become BIMA Co-Chairs, we did so with the desire to make BIMA more relevant to the needs of Britain’s digital economy. More than that, we determined that BIMA should not just be the most relevant membership body, but would be THE body that determines what is most relevant.
BIMA has been doing great work over the last 5 years. It has succeeded in bringing together big voices in digital in Britain in the form of an Executive committee. It has broadened membership from a London centre to a National core. It has directed conversation from generic digital ‘stuff’ to create specialist communities of interest, and has introduced some really thought provoking events to Britain.
These successes have influenced our strategy that will underpin the next stage of BIMA’s development:
⎯ To deepen and broaden the strategic involvement of major voices in Britain’s digital ecosystem
⎯ To broaden national involvement to be truly Britain centric
⎯ To lead and set, not follow, trends driving Britain’s digital ecosystem
At the very heart of our strategy is our commitment to increasing BIMA’s community membership. Does a team of 25, primarily London centric individuals, each with their own areas of interest, really serve BIMA’s members interests as well as it possibly could? We determined no and have, with the buy-in and consent of the current said 25 BIMA executive members, determined a brand new structure for BIMA that will increase membership involvement and in doing so really serve our objectives of creating an organisation that is nationally representative and future facing.
We are proud to unveil the new committee structure of BIMA as it stands today, and invite individuals to put themselves forward.
We are currently recruiting Chairs for a number of these Communities/ Groups (some positions have been filled by BIMA’s existing elected Executive representatives). Additionally, each Community/ Group will form their own committees, and the Chairs will be seeking to recruit individuals into each of these communities. We are literally opening up hundreds of opportunities for participation, skills development, networking potential and community value to develop.
These communities are run by members for members. Their growth is organic, determined by the passion of the community and the strength of local leadership within those communities.
Our structure is geared towards change, with communities emerging in anticipation or response to something new that’s happening in the industry. This could be communities built around a new platform, emerging technology, or a new concentration of skills in a particular area of Britain. View the Communities that we believe best serve BIMA interests today.
It’s not just our committee structure that will drive future thinking. For 2017 we have revolutionised our awards, to create a platform that will truly reward individuals, communities and innovation in a way no other awards do. We led the way in 1985 by creating Britain’s first digital awards, and thirty+ years later, we’re continuing to set the agenda for how digital excellence in Britain should be recognised.
Outside of our flagship awards, every activity, be it the BIMA 100, breakfast briefings or our mentoring scheme, embodies our values of innovation, enabling community, celebrating individuals and embedding diversity into our digital ecosystem.
We hope as a member, or a potential member, you’ll recognise the fantastic benefits being part of a leading edge community such as BIMA can bring you in your professional development, in the development of your organisation, and together, in the development of Britain’s digital capability and leadership on a world stage.
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UPDATE (20.03.2017) – Applications for the BIMA Central Council have now closed. We invite you to find out more about the BIMA Central Council structure, and the positions we have been recruiting for below.
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