[Wikimediaau-l] AGM; Committee election

[Brianna Laugher]

Hi,

As I hope everyone is now aware, our AGM is slated for Sunday 11th January.
<http://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/2008-2009_AGM>

An important component of the AGM is electing a new committee. There
are six positions:
* President
* Vice President
* Treasurer
* Secretary
* 2x Ordinary Members.

I will try and outline what is involved in being on the committee and
how the election should work.

Firstly, what is a committee and what does it do? Our ctte is similar
to the "board" of other chapters. According to our Rules
<http://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Rules> the ctte "shall control and
manage the business and affairs of the Association". So it's kind of
Be In Charge and Make Stuff Happen and File Required Paperwork.

WMAU is incorporated in Victoria but ctte members do not have to
reside in Victoria, and I would think it is good for us to have ctte
members from all over. The only requirements to stand for the ctte are
that you must be a member, and you must be over 18. You will be
expected to have your real name publicly known (eg on meta,
officialwiki).

The main way the current ctte communicates is via a mailing list. To
give you an idea of the traffic here is the number of posts over the
last six months:
July: 42
Aug: 56
Sep: 24
Oct: 56
Nov: 223
Dec: 112
(About 60 emails over Nov and Dec are membership applications)

It is a reasonable amount of reading, because we are a young
organisation and are still coming to grips with a lot of questions for
the first time. Once we make decisions about things, after that point
the ctte can stick with the status quo and it makes life a bit easier.
But this is not really a mailing list where you can ignore 3/4 of the
posts if you want. I think it is important for WMAU to have a ctte
that is engaged -- so keep that in mind, you input will be needed on
most if not all topics. If you are on the ctte you should also be
keeping a pretty close eye on wikimediaau-l and the members list
(which has only just started). There is also a ctte wiki. Individuals
also tend to communicate through email and Gmail chat etc.

The way that the ctte officially decides things is so far through IRC
meetings. The ctte is required to meet at least 3 times a year by the
Rules, but I expect the ctte will meet every 2 or 4 weeks for at least
the next 6-12 months. These meetings usually take 1-3 hours. Other
things are "unofficially" decided by ctte mailing list discussions. No
one can speak on behalf of the ctte unless they have such a delegated
authority to do so. As a ctte member you are not a sole person in
charge, but one sixth of an organism and you have to "check in" and
consult your fellow ctte members before charging ahead.

What are the qualities of a good ctte? A good ctte has strong
communication, trust, activity and responsiveness. Good ctte members
are trustworthy, reliable and enthusiastic about pursuing our aims
(<http://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Rules#Statement_of_Purpose>).
* Experience in cttes/non-profits would be highly desirable, but IMO,
enthusiasm and time to devote to the org is right now more useful and
important for us.
* Being highly technical is also not a requirement. If you have
figured out what this Wikipedia caper is about then you have enough
technical knowledge to help. As a lot of the communication is
electronic, being highly connected would be useful for you, though.
* Confidence in public speaking/speaking to the press is not a
requirement, but would be useful, as the ctte are figureheads and will
occasionally field press enquiries.

The Secretary is generally responsible for processing membership
applications and enquiries and minuting meetings, the Treasurer is
generally responsible for financial affairs. Beyond this we haven't
delineated responsibilities. I am sure the new ctte will figure this
out according to their own individual strengths and such.

Ctte members stand until the next AGM, or they resign, or they cease
to be a member, or the members remove them from the position at a
general meeting. If a ctte position is emptied before the AGM, I'm
pretty sure the rest of the ctte can appoint a replacement.

As I have tried to intimate I think being a highly active ctte member
is a reasonable time and effort commitment. I sincerely hope that we
do elect a ctte full of engaged members who are keen to put WMAU first
among their "wiki priorities". I strongly encourage active members to
consider standing for the ctte, and taking the opportunity to make a
significant contribution to the foundations and future of WMAU.

OK! Now you are all fired up and ready to serve!! Where to now?? :)

Ctte applications are open now (something we have been remiss in
communicating). Here is the section of the Rules relating to
elections.

===========
23. Election of officers and ordinary committee members
(1) Nominations of candidates for election as officers of the
Association or as ordinary members of the committee must be--
        (a) made in writing, signed by two members of the Association
and accompanied by the written consent of the candidate (which may be
endorsed on the form of nomination); and
        (b) delivered to the Secretary of the Association not less
than 7 days before the date fixed for the holding of the annual
general meeting.
(2) A candidate may only be nominated for one office, or as an
ordinary member of the committee, prior to the annual general meeting.
(3) If insufficient nominations are received to fill all vacancies on
the committee, the candidates nominated shall be deemed to be elected
and further nominations may be received at the annual general meeting.
(4) If the number of nominations received is equal to the number of
vacancies to be filled, the persons nominated shall be deemed to be
elected.
(5) If the number of nominations exceeds the number of vacancies to be
filled, a ballot must be held.
(6) The ballot for the election of officers and ordinary members of
the committee must be conducted at the annual general meeting in such
manner as the committee may direct.
===================

Regarding (1), email is sufficient. Regarding seconders of
nominations, if you are having trouble finding seconders, people on
the ctte will likely be happy to do it (I'm saying this without asking
them, but I personally will be happy to support anyone).

Therefore: to nominate for a position, email me, maybe forward emails
from your seconders, and don't forget to tell me which position you
wish to stand for!

If you are seconding people's nominations, you can second as many as you like.

7 days before the AGM would be Sunday 4th January. I realise this is
not many days to contemplate it. If we struggle with nominations by
then perhaps we can *cough* be a bit flexible about it.

Re the ballot method, we were hoping to use the memberdb software to
conduct the elections. I think this allows for preferential voting.
That is still under investigation at the moment... Hopefully will have
good news on that front in the next few days.
If all else fails we can do the old hands-up ballot at the AGM, but
that may be quite tedious, so I would prefer to have it sorted before
then.

Re publishing of nominations... I will discuss with the ctte a bit but
hopefully I can just publish them on
<http://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/2008-2009_AGM> as I receive them.

If you have any further questions please just ask and we will try
answer them as best we have figured out right now. :)

thanks!
Brianna