South

Socitm's South Region is based on the areas of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire and West Sussex. Its members come from public and third sector organisations and private sector companies providing services to the public sector in this region. Organisations include county, district, borough and unitary local government authorities, regional government agencies, police, fire and ambulance authorities, health commissioning agencies and trusts, and charitable organisations.

The region is governed by a committee whose aim is to represent the interests of the regional members on Socitm's National Advisory Council and various interest and steering groups, including those addressing membership (Membership Group), policy (Socitm Futures), best practice (Socitm Insight) and events (Events Committee). The current president is a member of the region, which also played host to the annual conference in Brighton in October 2010.

Apart from committee and regional members' direct contributions to Society activities, South Region runs thematic regional seminars three to four times each year, based on topical issues being faced by the region's public sector members. These are usually held at the Holiday Inn, Egerton Road, Guildford on a Friday in March, July and November (see upcoming events) and their format will be determined by the theme. Usually in theatre style with a series of knowledgeable speakers, some events have been held as discussion workshops or professional development learning events. For all events, participation and interaction are key, with speaker Q&A sessions and often an audience / panel debate. One of the most valuable aspects of the regional meetings is the networking opportunities with public sector peers and commercial members who often have specific skills in supporting technologies for the issues being discussed at the event. Opportunities are available at registration, morning coffee (30 minutes) and lunch (one hour).

Our region's meetings are open to all Socitm members and guests from member organisations, and members from other regions are always most welcome.

A short AGM is held each year in which regional members elect committee representatives from which the committee then chooses its chair. Current members are:

• Chair: Nick Roberts
• Secretary: Marilyn Rogers