A new president for the NZ Society of Authors

At the AGM in Dunedin yesterday, a new president was announced – Kyle Mewburn. Background to the issues at NZSA here and here; background on Kyle here, and a PDF of his winning campaign pitch is here.

I don’t know him but my children met him at their school last year and say he is “very nice”. Authors who do know him say he is energetic, enthusiastic and gets things done. Good.

He could make a start with the NZSA’s use of social media. The last tweet on its Twitter account was on 12 November and the one before that was on 17 September – that’s right, nothing in the last six months. And there was no way on either its website or Facebook page, as far as I could see, that members could engage with the three candidates for the presidency. Isn’t that what social media is for?

I’m not sure, but Kyle may be the youngest president ever. All members will wish him well. Others in the sector will watch developments with great interest and more than a little hope.