USENIX Co-Executive Directors on 2014 Focus and Leadership Changes

casey-anne.png

Rikki: Tell us about what the Co-Executive Directors do for USENIX? How do you divide responsibilities?

Anne: As Co-Executive Directors, we shared responsibility for oversight of the day-to-day operations of the organization. Over the past two years, we divided our duties based on our previous roles within the organization. I oversaw the marketing, sales, and conference departments, while Casey managed the IS and production departments. We shared oversight of operations, HR, and finance; however, in order for us to work in a true partnership, we made all major decisions jointly regardless of the area in which it fit.

Casey: To maximize our efforts, we also divided up leadership of the many conferences and workshops USENIX holds. Anne served as lead ED for FAST, Federated Conferences Week, and LISA, while I led NSDI, OSDI, HotOS, and USENIX Security.

Rikki: What were some of the highlights for USENIX and its conferences during your tenure?

Anne: One of the first things we did upon taking office was to establish WiAC, USENIX Women in Advanced Computing. Our first effort for WiAC was creating the summit of the same name, which took place at 2012 USENIX Federated Conferences Week.

Casey: It was a pleasure to collaborate with Carolyn Rowland and Nicole Forsgren-Velasquez on the event these past two years; watching Sabrina Farmer give her talk during WiAC ‘12 reinforced our decision that USENIX should become even more involved in supporting underrepresented groups within our communities.

Anne: We now have WiAC events at all of our conferences and are thrilled that you’re putting together a WiAC book. WiAC will continue to grow in 2014 and beyond.

Casey: We have offered free online access to our conference proceedings and workshop papers since 2008, and access to videos since 2010, but we’ve been further developing our commitment to open access and academic freedom.

Anne: In launching the USENIX Annual Fund campaign, we’ve sought greater financial support from those who share our dedication to this important undertaking. The Annual Fund also serves to increase folks’ understanding of what USENIX has been offering in this regard and the need for community involvement to keep it growing.

Casey: We were excited to host an academic freedom panel at HotSec ’13 to step further into that arena; we’ll take further steps in 2014.

Anne: We’ve also made many less visible changes to USENIX that have shored up our business infrastructure, including examining and upgrading our internal processes and improving the transfer of institutional knowledge.

Casey: Although it’s difficult for our constituents to see and feel the impact of those changes directly, the changes have done much to strengthen USENIX as an organization, which we know is of keen interest to our supporters (and us!).

Rikki: What will USENIX be focusing on in 2014? What's new or different?

Anne: The biggest change will be a shift in leadership. Two years ago, the Co-Executive Director model was exactly the right arrangement for the organization and for us personally to handle a challenging transition; however, the organization is largely now past that transition. I have decided that it's time for me to take on a new challenge. I conclude my tenure at USENIX this week. Casey will then assume the role of sole Executive Director of USENIX.

Casey: In addition to the change in leadership, we will build on the strategic planning and research that we did in 2013. We've found that, unsurprisingly, "USENIX" means many different things to the myriad subject-area communities that comprise our constituency, as well as those who are aware of us but are currently not active participants in our programs. We're working to streamline our efforts and hone in on the key areas that offer the greatest value to our members and conference attendees so that we're diluting our focus less.

In doing so, we'll expand the content offerings of our core conferences to appeal to broader populations, while maintaining our emphasis on the latest research. We've done well in supporting academics and lab researchers, but we need to do more to incorporate industry into our forums.

These events that bring folks together to discuss the next ideas in computing have always been central to USENIX. But USENIX is not "a business that runs tech conferences," and we need to shift our image to encapsulate what USENIX truly is and should be: a mission-based non-profit organization dedicated to meeting the needs of computer researchers and practitioners. Our open access initiative has been our flagship in this regard, and you'll see that it's at the center of the Annual Fund campaign we recently launched so that folks can contribute to its long-term success. Our having made our papers open to everyone upon publication is just the beginning, though. USENIX will be an even stronger voice in moving open access to the forefront of folks' minds.

We also believe that "open access" should mean more than "public papers." A primary and growing part of our efforts is ensuring that students and currently underrepresented groups have the opportunity and encouragement to participate actively in pushing our fields forward.

None of these changes we’re describing here will happen overnight. All of them will be done in collaboration with the leaders of the sub-communities who comprise our enthusiastic volunteer base. USENIX's greatest asset is its people, and that’s something that will never change.

Rikki: How will your roles change?

Anne: We have enjoyed working with the USENIX communities in our Co-Executive Director roles. It’s been a pleasure to further develop relationships that we’d begun during our previous positions at USENIX and to establish so many new connections. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at USENIX and will miss working with such a tight-knit and exciting community, but it’s time for me to take the skills I’ve honed over the past 10 years and put them toward new opportunities.

Casey: As I take on my new role, I look forward to continued collaboration with all of you, who share our deep and abiding commitment to and passion for the USENIX mission. It’s an exciting time for USENIX, and the team in the office appreciates everyone’s support as we move forward. Feel free to contact us via execdir@usenix.org with any questions. We’d love to hear from you.

If you are a woman in computing and would like to contribute to the upcoming WiAC book, please email rikki@usenix.org.
Read our WiAC blog series to see excerpts from book:

Part 1: How to Write a Talk Proposal
Part 2: Imposter Syndrome-Proof Yourself and Your Community
Part 3: Handling Community Conflict (Like a Boss)