We are now accepting nominations for board members to cover the June 2018 to June 2019 term!
Do you think someone should run for the board or would you prefer to run for a position on the board? You can send an e-mail stating their name and what position you think they should run for to secretary@makeict.org (preferably with a subject line of ‘2018 Nominee’). OR, you can catch me at MakeICT on Monday nights after 8pm.
After someone submits a nomination, I will contact the nominee and confirm the nomination. The confirmed nominees will be added to the following wiki page, added to the dry erase board in the co-working area, as well as be posted to this thread. http://makeict.org/wiki/2018_Elections_-_Ballot
The only requirement to be elected to a board position is that the member be in good standing.
The positions up for election are as follows:
President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary
Member at large (we can have up to 4)
I’m happy to see candidates Rustin. I’d be happy to see more! I’d like to chime in with some philosophy if that’s okay.
When I was nominated for the board last year I had a lot of concerns that, looking back, shouldn’t have mattered. I don’t know how to use every tool in the makerspace, how could I lead this place when I don’t know how to weld and I’m a terrible artist and I haven’t programmed an arduino to run all my kitchen appliances? I worried about the time commitment, I heard board meetings were 3-4 hours and I wasn’t going to be patient enough for that. I’d never run a non-profit, is it different from a corporation?
I’m still not the perfect president, but after a year I can honestly say that I over-worried about some of those concerns. We made board meetings what we wanted and have been trying to keep them to 90 minutes, still working on it sometimes but we’ve made it on a few! I had some learning curve to get over when it comes to running a non-profit and leading volunteers. But I like to think I’ve brought what I have to the table and did some good.
And those questions I had in my head doubting myself are NOT questions I’m thinking about at all when I think of who else to nominate. What I’m looking for in a board member isn’t “can you run every tool”, or “do you have time to live at the makerspace” it’s actually bigger than that because we’re trying to inspire people. Are you a good listener? Can you rise above criticism and take a lot of static for the hard decisions we have to make? Can you think big and focus on the mission and resist the urge to get caught up in makerspace details? Can you self-correct and admit when you’re wrong? Can you support a team decision even when you didn’t vote for it? Can you delegate and look for ways to encourage more people to get along? Are you organized? Do you commit to what you can do, admit what you can’t, and let others help at every chance? In other words, leadership qualities.
The time commitment is not as bad as you think, it’s a lot of fun, you will bond with some amazing people and learn a LOT. If you’re wondering whether to nominate yourself or accept a nomination, don’t wonder, just go for it.
Is the wiki list of candidates for the 2018 Board election up to date and complete?
The deadline for nominee submissions will be on Friday, June 15 (2 days before the annual meeting at Hyde Park at 5pm)
I just saw in the policy: “The window for nominations will open 4 weeks prior to the annual meeting and will close 1 week prior to the annual meeting.” I think that would be Saturday, June 10.
I see that a few new nominees have been added to the ballot. I realize that @kim and @rustin.atkeisson both stated that nominations were open until Friday, June 15 (2 days prior to the election) but the policies on the wiki state:
The window for nominations will open 4 weeks prior to the annual meeting and will close 1 week prior to the annual meeting. After the close of the nomination window, nominees will be contacted to inform them of the nomination and given until the day prior to the annual meeting to decline.
Which would make the close of nominations to be midnight on Sunday, June 10,
Which is correct? MakeICT Policy or what has been stated in the “call for Nominees”?
That information came from http://makeict.org/wiki/Voting, which was last edited on 17 January 2017. The very first statement on that page says:
This page details the current format for elections. It is subject to change
based on the current board’s preferred method.
So, since the part you’re referring to isn’t outlined in the Bylaws, I think I’d go with what the call for nominees says. (Though, “we” may want to update that page or take it into consideration in the future. I didn’t even know about that page…)
I agree that the statement says that it is for “the current format for elections” for 2017.
It is subject to change based on the current board’s preferred method. However, the bylaws do dictate some of the rules, so before making changes, be sure to consult the bylaws.
Since nomination is not stated in the bylaws, I would have liked to see the Policies on the wiki updated to confirm the “current board’s preferred method.”
Thanks for pointing this out Scott. This was an oversight on my part. I had no good reason to conflict with the voting policy and will not do it again. I feel bad.
I believe that when conflict arises we should let common sense prevail, so I am tempted to just go with it and allow the other nominees to be on the ballot. Would anyone like to see this problem solved in another way?
Question: For the SurveyMonkey ballots you’ll be emailing out to everyone for voting, all you’re going to list for each office are the names of the candidates, right?
In other words, you’re not planning any special indicators to identify incumbents versus newbies, so that everyone has equal representation on the ballot?
Okay, election ballots have been sent out. You have until Tuesday evening to fill them out.
If you can’t find the email in your inbox, it was most likely sent to your spam folder. It should have come from secretary@makeict.org via surveymonkey.com
