No, it's not the title of the latest political autobiography. As mentioned earlier, the annual election for the HCoop Board of Directors will take place starting April 4, but nominations for candidates (and acceptances of nominations) end March 31. Under our new bylaws, the board expands from three to five seats, which means at a minimum, we need two additional directors.
The board election is the most important vote that you have as a member-owner of HCoop. The board is ultimately responsible for setting the policy of HCoop and making decisions on behalf of the cooperative. You are voting for someone who you believe will be a good leader and will represent your interests and the interests of the cooperative well. But beyond voting, we obviously need people to step up and run for a seat on the board. It's one thing to say how HCoop ought to be run; this is your opportunity as a member to actually implement policy. I can't tell you what qualifications a board member has since it is up to the membership's vote, but I will say that among those attributes are: 1. Leadership ability or experience: Even unrelated experience in running any organization can be invaluable. 2. Any other positions of responsibility. 3. Demonstrated commitment to HCoop, or to the cooperative movement in general. 4. Understanding of the needs of an internet hosting company, or of HCoop in particular. 5. Ability to communicate well and work with people. Language and social abilities--in HCoop the written word is just about all we have. This includes the ability to delegate and use the expertise and efforts of others. 6. A clear platform in how you will represent the interests of the membership on the issues that matter to them. While the board as a group needs all of these resources and more, you don't have to have all of them to be qualified. A strength in one area may make up for a weakness in another. While you may not have much leadership experience elsewhere, this could be your place to prove yourself if you have strengths in other areas that the board needs. You might not have much technical expertise, but you might have a lot of leadership experience in leading organizations and a good understanding of cooperatives. You get the idea. And while it may appear from the mailing lists that being on the board is a heavy responsibility, part of the reason for expanding the board is to divide duties more and make it more efficient. While it is certainly something to take seriously, we should get to the point where the board is not much involved in day-to-day functioning of the cooperative. Also, I want to be clear that although HCoop is incorporated in Pennsylvania in the USA, we are an international organization, most of our members are not in the USA, and any member can run for the board regardless of nationality or residence--I especially encourage our many members in Europe, Asia, and the rest of the world to run. All our meetings are conducted online. If you want to nominate someone, including yourself, please do so on the wiki at http://wiki.hcoop.net/Election2008 Nominations must be made and accepted by March 31. Nominees are encouraged to add a position statement to their acceptance. Last, let's get these nominations moving. It's just over a month until the election starts, so the membership will need time to get familiar with the field of candidates. The address again is: http://wiki.hcoop.net/Election2008 -Nathan Kennedy Secretary, HCoop _______________________________________________ HCoop-Announce mailing list [email protected] https://lists.hcoop.net/listinfo/hcoop-announce
