Greetings HOT, As the 2015 Board of Directors and Chair for the voting members Election continues, it is my pleasure to announce the start of the Voting Period.
HOT Voting Members should have received their Ballot via the email address that I have on record for official membership business communication. Voting Members who did not receive a Ballot yet - please contact me as soon as possible so we can determine the issue and make sure you have your fair chance to participate. The Voting Period will end (i.e. Ballot is collected) at Midnight UTC on 28 March 2015 (in other places the wording is 'you must submit your Ballot on or before 23:59 UTC 27 March 2015'). I will also take a moment to address some questions that have been directly asked of me regarding where and how to campaign, as well as where to ask questions of the candidates. . There are no requirements, at least in the legal sense, of where/how/what language/timing and all the other sub-questions regarding how to campaign or ask questions. . We (the Election Committee, Chair and Board) have not set any requirements, the suggestions are fairly simple: o Use the Code of Conduct <http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/w/images/2/2f/HOT_Membership_Code--proposal_f or_annual_meeting_2014.pdf> as your guide, although there are moderators for our mailing lists, they are really only to restrict messages based on if they are 'on topic' - i.e. not obvious spam, solicitation or include discriminatory, harassing or blatantly offensive language. I do not condone any restriction on messages unless they are obviously inappropriate. Of course if there is questionable material in a message, please contact me. o Each Candidate is free to respond, or not, to any questions posed. There is absolutely no requirement for them to campaign; and candidates may choose to use their OSM diary, social media, or other 'non-HOT' platforms (although then they risk voting members not being aware of the posts). o Direct messages to the main HOT mailing list is acceptable, however, please consider the public nature of this platform and the audience that may choose to read your messages. o As defined in our Code of Conduct: HOT Voting Members "Will not interpret lack of specific text in this code of conduct as acceptance of poor behavior; if ever in doubt, consult with [other] voting members, directors, and/or executives before speaking and/or acting on behalf of HOT." - What this means to me in the context of the election is: if you think your post may be controversial or you feel the need to name names and point fingers - that belongs on the membership only mailing list. With all that said, I will go a little 'over-the-top' for a moment and say to everyone reading this message: It is my personal opinion, having worked with several other amazing non-profit organizations, that there is no greater collection of hearts and minds in a governing body then the HOT Voting Membership, it truly has been an honor to serve as their chairperson. May the election favor HOT! Sincerely, =Russ Russell Deffner Chairperson for the Voting Members russell.deff...@hotosm.org Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) http://hot.openstreetmap.org/
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