So long and thanks for all the fish ... although I am not really leaving and I don't eat fish

Today is the 1st June 2021, and it brings to an end my term (of just under three years) as the Chair of the IET Media Technical Network, simultaneous with the end of the David Short's term as Vice Chair. The last three years have been momentous in what the network and its exec have undertaken and I must thank all of the exec members including those who have left us after many years of service and those who have joined to contribute over that time for the efforts that they have put in to grow the events that we have put on for the members and non-members alike. I would also like to thank the IET staff who have supported us during this time and especially Phoebe and David Houssein who have ensured we have kept focused on doing the best things possible. I am really proud of what we have been able to accomplish over the last three years and I believe it will continue under the new management.

• In the face of the Pandemic, we continued to put on the flagship John Logie Baird lecture every year... with our last 'face to face' one covering 'Who is watching who' in 2019, through 'The End of Broadcast?' in 2020, and the most recent one touching on the history and future of Media Technology.
• We ran multiple presentations on IP and Broadcast Video futures at IBC2019 and produced a new world/old world operators 'wargame' event in line with when IBC2020 should have taken place, that delved into how broadcasters and pay TV operators fare against the new direct to consumer Internet giants.
• We became the first Technical Network in the IET to change its name from the IET Multimedia Communications Technical Professional Network to the much more meaningful, shorter and less 1990s IET Media Technical Network
• We launched our own YouTube channel where we have put out as much on demand content as we could produce on a purely volunteer basis, which also includes recordings of our John Logie Baird Lectures from 2019, 2020 and soon to be 2021 - check the channel out at http://bit.ly/IETMediaVideos
• We also put on and members of the Exec took part in a variety of small events covering artificial intelligence, metadata, and technology reviews of IBC
• We continued to sponsor and support the excellent RadioTechCon event, which has also weathered the transition into the pandemic era, through the move from a face to face event to one delivered online. We look forward to this year's event which you can find out more about at https://www.radiotechcon.com/

I have really enjoyed my time as the Chair of the IET Media Technical Network and now I must speak of the new management. I hand over the reigns to David Short who becomes the new Chair of the network, and Russell Trafford-Jones who takes over as the Vice-Chair. David and Russell are a great set of hands to leave the network with, and I not only wish them all the best but I will still be there with them to do my bit as needed.

As the title of this article derived from the excellent Douglas Adams' Trilogy in five parts imparts, I am not really leaving the IET Media Executive, I am just stepping back to be able to focus on supporting the network, and to be able to focus on developing some new event ideas for the network, if they will have them.

I hope to see you all soon at a real face to face event in the near future.