Taku Manawa: My Heart

"I'm your dreamtime

and dreams are free

I want you to be

A walking artistic man of beauty..."

These beautifully haunting words from the classic song 'Greenstone' by Emma Paki are how I would like to start this new journey.

It may seem unusual but life usually is.  

You see, this is my campaign page as I stand for a seat at the table of Internet New Zealand's Council for 2016.  In the past I would amplify my CV, talking about some of my geekiest accomplishments, mentioning high profile people with whom I had worked with and cherry-picking the golden projects that give me a little shine.

Not this time.

This time I want to wear my heart on my sleeve and just speak for the next 3 weeks, with the hope that perhaps, that just maybe, someone might notice.  

If you are reading this now, you are that someone.  Thank you. From the bottom of my heart.

Now I'm not your average geek.  Shucks, I wouldn't even rate myself as a sub-average nerd.  What I am is a passionate papa who loved to play Double Dragon in the dairy and have since gone on to respect the transformative nature that IT has had in my life.  

At best, I'm mildly interesting.  But before all of that, my I please introduce myself.

Ko Ngongotahau raua ko Matawhaura ko Maungapohatu oku maunga.

The mountains of Ngongotaha in Rotorua, Matawhaura in Rotoiti and Maungapohatu in the Urewera are my ancestral connections.

Ko Te Utuhina raua ko Te Ohau ko Te awa o Tauranga oku awa.

I share deep connections with the Utuhina Stream in Ford Block, with the Ohau Channel that binds both Lake Rotorua with Lake Rotoiti and with the Tauranga River that runs through Te Waimana.

Ko Te Rotorua Nui a Kahu raua ko Te Roto iti kitea a Ihenga oku moana.

As often as I can, I like to swim, reflect and take my tamariki to the lake shores of Rotorua and Rotoiti.

Ko Ngati Whakaue raua ko Ngati Pikiao me ko Tuhoe ahau

I am a son, a mokopuna, a descendant of Ngati Whakaue, of Ngati Pikiao, of Tuhoe

Ko Potaua Biasiny-Tule au

This is me.  Potaua.  

Not the flashest guy, but a man nonetheless.

I'm standing here in this photo next to my wife Nikolasa, who is infinitely more interesting than me. You will meet her over the coming days.

Now this blog has 3 basic purposes.

The first is obvious. I am keen to put my oar up and help paddle this amazing ship called Internet New Zealand.  For me, they are one of the most important groups in Aotearoa today.  I have meet so many people, had the opportunity to attend a great number of amazing gatherings and respect dearly their work. So yes, this is a blatant campaign page (oh and it is authorised by myself, Potaua Biasiny-Tule, 10 Awatea Terrace, Rotorua, potaua@gmail.com just in case).

The second is to remind all that without People, the machine cannot work, much like without a heart, the body cannot move.  We all to easily forget the human element when talking about hardware and innovation.  It is too easy to relegate communities to nothing more that data on a spreadsheet and target markets to exploit. My favourite saying remains - what is the most important thing? I say it is people, it is people, it is people.

The third and probably not so obvious is that Our Whanau Needs a Voice.  I have been in IT long enough to know that bro's like me are few and far between.  When I attend IT Conferences, there is a glaring lack of diversity, in addition to there being a huge gap between ordinary people and technocrats who speak above the heads of others.  Now I know they don't always mean too, as IT is complex.  But if many of the voices are white, male, middle class and insiders of the IT industry, then what hope is there for the rest of us? 

Actually, it is pretty simple.  This blog is my platform to korero, to raise issues, to start a wider discussion on the role of Internet NZ and to campaign hard so that a regular fulla like me stands a fighting chance.

So I run a website called TangataWhenua.com, which is an online tool to share positive Maori news.  My wife Nikolasa and I also operate a kids coding hub called Digital Natives Academy (DNA) in Rotorua.  I have 2 actual day jobs - the first is that I am a senior animation student at the Rotorua Animation College; the second is that I currently sit on the Rotorua Lakes Council as an Iwi representative.  This means I attend lots of meetings, speak with staff and councillors and decide on issues that come before committee.  It is here that I learn Governance, to which I believe my experience there will be crucial on the council of Internet NZ.

Dang. I've started bragging about my life.  That wasn't what I was here for, so I think for now I'll finish there and come back tomorrow for more.

I hope I haven't bored you too much and will end by saying that I look forward to the next step in this exciting journey. Again, thanks for reading.

"He pounamu

E pirangi anu au

Mauri atu

Tenei pounamu e

Kia koe

kia koe"

Aroha nui,

Potaua

potaua@gmail.com