The committee have identified the Officer roles they think necessary to the future direction of BMIG. Many of these roles do not require expertise in or indeed any knowledge of myriapod and isopod ecology and identification (although by definition members are assumed to have an interest) and many of the skills they require are not well represented amongst the current committee. Take a look at the roles below and if you think you might be interested in one of these roles please do not hesitate to put yourself forward even if someone is already filling it. The Secretary and Newsletter Editor will be resigning at the AGM and several other current officers have indicated that they will willingly resign if a suitable candidate comes forward to replace them. So please consider giving something back to BMIG. It need not be a major commitment and some of the roles, including that of Secretary, are suitable for sharing by two or three members. If you are interested in any of these Officer roles and wish to find out more about them or even just put yourself forward for election (you don’t need to be at the AGM yourself) then please contact Paul Lee or Helen Read as soon as possible.
1. Chairman
2. Vice Chairman
3. Secretary
4. Treasurer
5. Centipede Recording Scheme Organiser
6. Millipede Recording Scheme Organiser
7. Woodlouse and Waterlouse Recording Scheme Organiser
8. Bulletin Chief Editor
9. Librarian and Collections Manager
10. Field Meeting Co-ordinator (Booking venue, finding sites, organising speakers and workshops, collating records, producing report, feedback to site owners and managers, taking bookings, making sure events are listed by BENHS for insurance purposes, see below)
11. Newsletter Editor
12. Website Manager
13. Social Media Manager (facebook/twitter etc.).
14. Resources Officer (This new role relates to providing materials for identification but is about signposting existing resources rather than writing new ones. Experts will produce the main keys, so production of material is not part of this role (unless the person particularly wants to). There is a need to make sure key information is available and accessible and to show where and how it can be accessed e.g. where local collections are held and who to contact for access to them. The information could be provided as a page on the website and so the Resources Officer would need to work with the Website Manager. The role could be linked to the Librarian and Collections Manager or could be taken on by someone in conjunction with the “information officer” aspect of the Secretary’s role. Election to this office could be a valuable addition to a CV for a member.)
15. Training Officer (There are currently occasional FSC courses, BENHS workshops and Sorby workshops dealing with myriapods and isopods but BMIG would like to consider offering a series of coordinated courses, perhaps a series of courses at different levels including providing modules for university courses. The Training Officer would assist in the development of a course or courses that could be offered around the country and would be responsible for finding places to run courses and co-ordinating the running of them. This is another role that could provide a valuable addition to a CV.)
16. Projects Officer (The Projects Officer would organize small projects such as the Polyzonium survey we ran during the 2011 meeting in Kent. The Projects Officer might have their own ideas for projects but also could draw on ideas from BMIG members and elsewhere. Projects could be designed for individuals to take on or could be meeting focused and may possibly involve citizen science. Where relevant the Project Officer might need to seek funding to support a project. Again this role would make a very valuable addition to someone’s CV.)
17. Exhibitions and Events Co-ordinator (The Co-ordinator would be involved in planning and organising publicity materials and active promotion of BMIG via exhibitions and displays at events. The Co-ordinator would need to identify suitable events and check what each requires including manpower and financial resources. Attendance at one event each year might be a realistic target. Having identified an event the Co-ordinator could advertise (e.g. through the newsletter, website and social media) to get members to come along and engage face to face with other BMIG and promote BMIG to other attendees.)
18. Conservation Officer (This role involves liaison with conservation bodies like Buglife and statutory agencies such as Natural England and attendance at meetings of Invertebrate Link. There should be close links between this role and that of the Project Officer.)
19. BENHS representative (As BMIG is a BENHS affiliated society we need someone in this role. There are several meetings per year to attend some of which are in London and some are at the BENHS at Dinton Pastures near Reading. As the BMIG library and collections are held at Dinton Pastures, acting as BENHS representative could fit with the role of Librarian and Collections Manager.)
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