On Tue, Jan 10, 2006 at 09:25:06PM +1000, Anthony Towns wrote: > At the moment, we have the following candidates (sorted by surname): Nominations are closed now. Since there aren't any other nominations for secretary, I'll withdraw my nomination for vice-president. That leaves the nominees as: President: Jonathan Oxer (unopposed) It has been an honour and a fantastic experience to serve as part of the current Committee. They are an amazing group of people with extremely diverse talents and viewpoints who don't always agree on things, but who have nevertheless worked well together for the overall benefit of Linux Australia. Those seemingly contradictory attributes of diversity and solidarity characterise the whole Open Source movement and are something we should be proud of. The members of the broader FOSS community all come from different backgrounds, we have different objectives and interests and ideologies, yet we have managed to cooperate to an amazing degree for collective benefit of society in general. In my opinion the success of Linux Australia to date has been one of the most visible examples of that ideal of diversity yet solidarity. I can't think of a single national Linux organisation elsewhere in the world which has matched what LA has achieved in bringing together the various distributed LUGs, local groups, individuals, and companies, and giving them an identity and a voice. I don't say those things in the context of my election spiel in order to say "look what I've done, elect me again." I'm saying it to point out that no one person could ever lay claim to what has been done and what will be done. I certainly can't. It's only by making ourselves strong as a group and by using Linux Australia to provide specific resources to help individuals and small groups do what they do best that we'll continue to see as much success in the future as we've seen in the past. In fact this is almost an anti-spiel: I don't want to write about all the great things I can do for the organisation, because in the overall scheme of things what I can do personally is trivial. What I *will* do, if re-elected, is continue to guide the organisation to providing even more support to the people doing the real work: the developers, the LCA crew, the various sub-committees, the advocates, and the educators. As Stewart mentioned in his spiel much of our work over the last twelve months has been to allow more people to operate under the LA banner by expanding the scope of our sub-committees. As a result the number of people performing "official" LA business has risen significantly and the organisation has been able to reach out into areas which the Committee just doesn't have the resources for directly. I hope this can continue and we can collectively achieve even more in future. There are specific issues that we need to continue addressing, of course, such as the burden of financial management, the continuity of sponsor and speaker relationships for LCA, the division of governance and execution, the general workload on Committee members, and building relationships with the press, government and other organisations. However, all these things have already been mentioned by other candidates and my feelings on most issues should be fairly well known already. I'm happy to discuss them publicly so I won't go into detail on each issue here. Suffice to say that my objective is to provide the community with a healthy, growing organisation that provides the resources necessary for the relevant people to solve each of those problems for our collective benefit. Jon was nominated by: Tony Breeds ("Jon has done a gret job of leading LA since election. He needs to be able to continue the work he has started.") Leon Brooks ("We all know Jon by now. Steady, no nonsense, pushes where he needs to.") Wei-Yee Chan Jeffery Fernandez Stewart Smith ("Jon has shown himself to be balanced and have a good grip of the many views of people as well being well respected by the community. He has a good understanding of the issues faced by LA. It would be good to see him continue in this role to complete things that he's started and help steer any refactoring of LA that is needed.") Mark Tearle Vice-President: Pia Waugh (unopposed) I have been involved in Linux Australia for 3 years now, as president and then vice president. I feel Jon is doing a great job and hope to continue supporting him as president. I continue to work closely with Australian Government agencies, other Australian ICT organisations, and the international FOSS community organisations to ensure our community has a voice and an impact. I feel that there is work to be done to encourage enthusiastic individuals in the community to persue their interests using Linux Australia as a vehicle. I also feel there is still work to be done improving our message in Australia and getting FLOSS out to the masses. I believe Linux Australia is a mechanism that can get us there with the strong support of our community. Therefore I would like to accept the nomination for vice president to hopefully continue to serve the community, to further grow the LA sub-committees, to take the FLOSS message to the masses in Australia, and to improve and grow the LA relations with other organisations and Government agencies. Linux Australia has matured tremendously over the past 3 years in particular, and it is great to have helped it become more community driven. I truly feel that we are starting to get somewhere, particularly when our Government is asking us to comment on ICT and "IP" policy. Rock on Linux Australia and good luck to everyone in the election. Pia was nominated by: Donna Benjamin ("Pia Waugh has done good things for LA as President and Vice President. Her contribution to the community and efforts at increasing the profile and efficacy of the organisation have enhanced should be noted. I therefore 2nd her nomination for re-election as Vice President so that she may continue to be an effective advocate for Linux in Australia.") Leon Brooks ("Pia is an invaluable asset, unique in many ways (just ask Jeff). LA should do all we can with her while we can. I'm guessing that VP is the highest position she can be conned into accepting. (-:") Andrew Donnellan Silvia Pfeiffer ("Pia is an excellent advocate of the Linux community and has put much effort into this organisation to turn it into what is is.") James Purser ("Over the last three years, Pia has shown her worth as both President and Vice President. I think the committee still needs her so here's my nomination.") Stewart Smith ("Pia has many valuable insights into community projects and sees potential for interaction with government. She brings diversity of opinion and new topics to the table.") Secretary: Anthony Towns (unopposed) As secretary, particularly with Mark leaving the committee, I'd be aiming to focus on keeping LA's records and procedures in shape, and ensuring the committee and sub-ctte's keep communicating effectively. Anthony was nominated by: Leon Brooks ("Anthony's good in most ctte seats, but I think he's especially good at cutting through the administrative red tape.") Andrew Pollock ("I'd like to second Mikal's nomination of AJ. He's always very level headed, and a wonderful contributor to the Free and Open Source software community." Stewart Smith ("He's done a great job in 2005 and would continue to do so in 2006.") Michael Still ("Anthony has done a fantastic job in the previous year. His emails are consise, clear, and timely.") Treasurer: Alan Harper and Terry Dawson Alan Harper: I have nominated myself for Treasurer, as so far I can see noone else has stepped forward. I have the experience, albeit briefly with LUV in the second half on 2004 before moving to Queensland. However if a better candidate than myself steps forward I would happily see them in this role. Alan was nominated by: Alan Harper Chris Walker ("Alan is keen to assist LA and I feel his enthusiasm deserves support.") Terry Dawson: I'm keen to provide energy and time to ensure the continued success of Linux Australia. The treasurer role is a position of great responsibility that I'd take seriously and exercise diligently. I've had previous experience in treasurer roles and learnt the hard way the challenges associated with supporting the financial processes behind events like linux.conf.au when doing same for the inaugural Austrlian Linux conference: CALU-99. I consider myself mature and trust-worthy and believe that I'm deserving of the same consideration by my peers. Less importantly, but with logistic utility, I'm located in Sydney within easy reach of the P.O. Box for collection of payments and invoices. thank you. Terry was nominated by: Anand Kumria ("Terry was the first treasurer of Linux Australia and were it not for his tenacity in wrestling the bureauracry of various Tax Offices, Banks and Fair Trading organisations -- as well as keeping things organised; Linux Australia would not have had the sound financial footing it has today. Were it not for that my later job as treasurer (I succeeded him) would have been immensely harder.") Leon Brooks ("Did well in his previous run, I'd like to see him at least try for the position.") We have a few more nominees for the three ordinary committee member positions, so excluding the unopposed candidates above Ordinary Committee Member nominees: Janet Hawtin Reid, James Purser, Greg Lehey, Andrew Cowie, Leon Brooks, and Stewart Smith Janet Hawtin Reid Hi Folks. Currently volunteering with Bettong in SA. Hoping to contribute news from SA and to do more linux desktop ed stuff. Looking forward to linuxconf and SFD2006. Cheers and thanks Janet was nominated by: Donna Benjamin ("I'd like to second Janet's nomination to the committee - In deed and action she has proven herself to be committed and competent and would add great value to the organisation.") Pia Waugh ("Janet has been very active in the Linux Australia community this last year. She designed the icons for the LA site, she wrote and published loads of great material for Software Freedom Day, she is an organised, active, and enthusiastic woman, and I think she would make a fantastic contribution to the LA committee. Rock on Janet!") Kylie Willison ("Janet has been instrumental in setting up a new open source & tech focused 'umbrella group' in South Australia - Bettong.org. Janet's advocacy, diplomacy and organisational skills would make her a great committee member.") James Purser Thanks to both Jon and Mark for nominating me. I have been active in the community for the last six or seven months and in that time I have started up the LA Updates and taken on the roll of Press Team leader with the view to better promoting LA and the FOSS community in general. Being on the committee will help in this role. James was nominated by: Leon Brooks ("Putting plenty of energy into the community, would like to see what he does as an OCM.") Alan Harper Jonathan Oxer ("James has shown a great deal of initiative and enthusiasm with the work he has put into the LA podcasts and more recently in kick[-start]ing the Press Team.") Silvia Pfeiffer ("James is a great Linux advocate and his podcast rocks.") Mark Tearle Greg Lehey I've been actively involved in the Open Source community for well over ten years, during which time I've covered a lot of the area. As a software engineer at MySQL AB, I am also in a position to follow the Open Source path in my "day job". Though I'm probably better known for my BSD and UNIX actiivity, I've been using Linux for a long time--I first installed Slackware in about 1993. I strongly believe in a united community rather than one that is fragmented, and I'd like to help cement that goal. Greg was nominated by: Stephen Rothwell Martin Schwenke ("Greg is one of the most experienced Open Source professionals in the country. His BSD experience will add diversity to LA.") Andrew Cowie Very kind of you to nominate me. Having served on LA's board for three years now, I'd certainly be willing to give up my place to bring in some fresh blood - but on the other hand Jon has asked me to stand again, a request to which I will accede. We've not yet reached the point of sustainability. As often happens with small incorporated community associations in Australia, we ask (expect?) too much from individual volunteers, often times burning them out. For what it's worth, we've been hammering away at this problem for a while now, and so the reason I'll stand to re-election is I'd like to see this through and support Jon as he leads us towards an effective resolution which will take Linux Australia to the next level. Regardless of how this election resolves itself, Linux Australia and its flagship conference linux.conf.au have achieved world class results, and I would be remiss if I didn't thank the organizers of conferences past with whom I've had the honour of working, and the other managing committee members I've had the honour of serving with. Cheers. Andrew was nominated by: Leon Brooks ("Echoing Jon. Andrew's knowledge of corporate rah-de-rah has saved LA a lot of pain.") Jonathan Oxer ("Andrew's experience with a variety of organisations is extremely valuable to LA as the Ctte moves towards more of an oversight role.") Stewart Smith ("Andrew has been a valuable member of the committee for the past three years and brings knowledge and experience with corporates and non-profits to the table. He has good vision on how LA could and perhaps should be operating to ensure success. Even though he has voiced is willingness to stand down and let new blood enter the arena - his knowledge and opinions would be valuable to LA. If not elected, he should be listened to anyway.") Mark Tearle Leon Brooks <soapbox> I've been on the LA Committee before -- the first Committee after the Great Reorganisation -- and I'm valuable primarily for my electronic loudness, my enthusiasm, and being a Sandgroper (which helps the Committee-member-in-each-state concept). I also code, although depressingly seldom these days. I'm a bit reluctant to stand up alongside so many truly excellent people, but I've been nominated, and more choice is good. Also, I'm one of the dwindling band who don't work for Google, MySQL AB or Canonical. (-: If I have a specific platform, it would be to see Linux more noticed in a positive way. I calculate that there is already a sufficient number of shining wits working on the negative side, and some balance is required. I'd like to expand our membership enormously -- although I think we already have enough people to warrant stretching the Committee membership numbers -- to include more non-geeks and to include geeks from different areas of expertise (art geeks, word geeks, even geeks with guitars). LA has begun to do some noticeable good in Australia, and I'd like to see us grow enough members to be taken more seriously by the Powers That Be when a common issue (like DRM land-grabs, the failing AUS/US FTA and so on) arises which is really beyond the powers of the individual to effectively address. LA as a source of expert opinion for high places has been very useful, and since years of trying to con Rusty into getting himself elected have come up short, I'd like to increase LA's effectiveness in the causes he champions for us. "More people" as an aim by itself is pretty hollow, but Linux and its Open Source community is growing by leaps and bounds. Every opportunity to harness and employ this bounty is a golden one, not to be missed. The penguin moves! (-: </soapbox> Leon was nominated by: Donna Benjamin ("Leon Brooks' contributions to discussion are reasonable, thoughtful and constructive. He offers frequent insight, with humour. These would be valuable traits for a committee member, I'm happy to 2nd his nomination.") Andrew Donnellan Jonathan Oxer ("Leon is a respected and consistently active member of the community as well as being a past LA Committee member.") James Purser ("Leon has always struck me as someone who knows what they are doing so I thought I would give him nomination.") Stewart Smith Over the past year we have made great progress in streamlining the operations of LA. Our committee is now meeting more effectively, getting decisions made and acted upon while taking up less time. This is partly due to only holding formal meetings when needed while having a weekly teleconference for a chat. Both things I supported and have rallied for previously. We have made sure that we support those outside of the committee wanting to contribute to LA. In the past we learnt that having the committee being both the governing and executive arm of the organisation didn't work. Especially this year we saw great progress in having people feel comfortable doing things under the LA banner when they're not on committee while feeling they were getting recognition and support. This is a good thing and although it seems like the obvious thing to do, is more tricky to get right than you'd think. We need to address the problem of burnout - we should not have any LA volunteers suffering burnout due to expecting too much from them. We are getting better at this - but still have some way to go. I would like to continue to try and solve this problem. We still have upcoming challenges that require thought and solid leadership and governance. Our most concerning one is how we manage our finances. It has become abundantly clear that there is too much work for one treasurer (or even two, including the LCA treasurer). We need hired professional help. To do that we *must* be able to afford it and work effectively with them. We must also take steps to ensure we always have a good treasurer. By the end of 2006, my aim is to greatly reduce the strain on the treasurer and put the committee in a position where there is better awareness of our current financial situation at any time and make the future easier to plan for. Last, and certainly not least is linux.conf.au. We need to ensure that the current quality of LCA is sustainable. To do that we need to improve relationship with sponsors. We probably need to have a single person in charge of LA-Sponsor relations. We need to fix relationships with smaller sponsors (SMEs - local, national and international) and not neglect the local business community. This has been a trouble area and it's something that needs to be fixed. I have spent time talking to people about this to understand the problem, and this is something I aim to solve in 2006. We need to better manage budget and finances by improving LA-LCA communication and integrating LCA with our aim of having an accountant help us with the accounts. This will help us better plan for the future and make LCA run more cost effectively. We should work to improve LCA-speaker relations, possibly by (again) having a separate speaker liason role. This will possibly come in for 2007 already, but it is something that does seem to make a lot of sense to me. Most importantly we need ensure that we do not eventually burn out every potential team in every city. We need to better understand this potential problem before we go around "fixing" it - and understanding it is something I plan to do. My aim for 2006 is to make LA a better managed organisation achieving more and putting less stress on those involved. I ask you to help me with this goal by electing me to the 2006 LA committee. (For those who don't know: I have served on the LA committee for three years - both as VP and an OCM. I live in Melbourne and work for MySQL AB hacking on MySQL Cluster) Stewart was nominated by: Leon Brooks ("Has been consistently useful to/with/for LA from Day One, even down to details like the cheese knife. Not afraid to voice a conflicting opion, and very good at peacefully resolving any disputes which arise as a result.") Jonathan Oxer ("Stewart has been a stalwart member of the Ctte and has strong ideas on how the organisation should continue to grow.") Nominations are ordered by surname, candidates are ordered according to length of spiel :) Apologies in advance if any transcription mistakes that may have made it in. Note that votes open in a week, and run for a week that is from the 18th 'til the 24th inclusive. See the election page (login required), at: http://www.linux.org.au/membership/?page=view-election&id=7 Cheers, aj -- Anthony Towns <secretary@linux.org.au> Secretary, Linux Australia
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