I don’t think there is much time left for Twitter favorite Mark Warren and his current term as President of the GGF. I’ll admit that my attitude towards the GGF was less than positive prior to Mark taking over. But his appointment has pr0ved to be a productive one.

As we all know, Mark is very much into his social media and is on Twitter almost as much as I am! But this has worked well from a perception point of view. Mark has been able to engage with a lot more of the industry and put right some wrongs, answer questions and get the GGF information out there a lot better than the organisation was previously doing. It has worked wonders and my regular contact with him has forced me to change a few opinions.

However, this change in engagement must continue. If the GGF chooses their next President and he/she fails to engage with the industry online in the same way Mark Warren has, all that hard work and reform will be erased very quickly and two years of changing the minds of the doubters will have been lost.

Don’t get me wrong, there are still things about the GGF that I just don’t like. But after attending a GGF meeting and Mark being far more transparent than previous GGF monarchs, I see them in a different light. But I do urge those that make the decisions at the GGF to make sure that whoever you choose next, pick a young and engaging person who understand both the industry, it’s frustrations and it’s ambitions. Make sure they keep interacting with the online facet of our industry as it continues to grow week by weeks and will prove ever more important as the years go by.

Speaking of picking someone young, what do we all think the age of the new President should be. Some will say age isn’t important, but in a role like this I think it is. A young person will help portray a fresher image. Though the GGF won’t like to hear this, but a lot of the industry have a very dusty and old perception of the sector’s main bodies. A fresh faced person at the top might go some way to dispel that. Though I would mention that a young person would also have to have a decent level of experience and knowledge of our industry. Can’t just chuck any old suit in!