AAW board election process

[Mike Cunningham]

Jim Rutten emailed and asked if he could post my response to him. Since I try to conduct myself in such a way that I don't say in private what I wouldn't say in public, mostly I'm successful, I'm posting my response for him. I did in fact edit a few typos and added a few additional thoughts.


Hello Jim,

I agree with John, but due to the AAW restrictions on campaigning, most
of us feel that we are restricted to the statement that we wrote for
inclusion in the journal. I am in fact computer literate and have made posts in the past on the AAW boards regarding various issues. As a matter of fact I
made numerous posts back in the spring regarding my views of the journal
and the leadership of the AAW and actually in a private message from the webmaster, was taken to task for my statements regarding the issues leading to Bob Rosand resigning his contributing editor position. A search of the forums will provide the reader with my thoughts regarding the direction of the AAW and the journal in particular and possibly the thoughts and position of other candidates. I will also say that I agree with several writers that many, if not most have already voted. I do think that in the future the AAW should give greater freedom to candidates to express their view and position on matters of importance to the association. Those voting should have every opportunity to familiarize themselves with the people they are choosing to work for them.

While I believe that the internet is wonderful and use it often, unlike some who seem to spend every waking moment on message boards I do not spend a lot of time perusing them. I think that the journal as well as email are a much better method to contact the members. As an example, it appears that this thread has had around 39 replies and 950 hits. Considering that many have visited the thread multiple times I'd guess that perhaps 500 have read the thread, maybe much less. We have a bit over 13000 members, so it seems that 5% or so of the members have seen this. Email would reach many more of the 13000 and the journal will reach all of them. I'm not saying that the forums don't serve a purpose, just that the great majority of members don't read them.

Regarding the post in your thread from KeithT. One applies to the AAW
to be considered as a candidate including a statement of qualifications,
a position statement, a short bio and photo, as well as a recommendation
letter from two, attesting to abilities. The candidate is then
interviewed separately by the three members of the nominating
committee. Each member then evaluates the candidates and six are chosen
to appear on the ballot. The candidate then submits a statement,
limited to 500 words to appear in the journal.

Thanks

Mike

 

[Mark Warden]

Ok so now I do have enough info to vote see what just a little participation from the nominees does.And I have a little statement I would like to share with Warren and Pope." The AAW is an international, nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of woodturning. Our mission is to provide education, information, and organization to those interested in turning wood".For me I would not even know about the AAW if this forum was not here and although the journal is informative I have received allot more information on this forum than you can get from all the journals combined.Nobody asked you to come here and talk about the game on Sunday or what your wearing to the prom just that it would be nice to have a little more than a blurb in the journal to cast an informed vote.And just to directly address to issues Warren "I am computer literate, but have a lot of better things to do with my life like turning wood than spending a lot of time reading conversations on forums that are generally between just a small handful of people. Sorry about that all you "Forum People."
The small handful of people are mostly MEMBERS who deserve a few Min's of your time if you expect to represent them.And Pope "One of the themes I see is sort of a value judgment that those who do not spend a whole lot of time on chats or forum discussions are somehow lacking in "computer literacy".
The only judgment I see is that those of us who choose to spend some of our time learning and sharing information about WOODTURNING are not worth your time or effort. I VOTED therefore I have an opinion.

 

[hockenbery]

A lot of issues and good points have been rased.

The AAW by-laws and Policy and Procedures govern board candidate selection, candidate conduct, and voting.

I can comment on a few items:
1. computer usage varies widely among the board members.
All current board member conduct a significant amount of business via e-mail.

2. Widely known
I was nominating chair in 2007. The nominating committee reviews all the applicants, interviews all the applicants, and selects the best six as candidates to present to the membership. All of the candidates were well known locally. They were officers in their local clubs, directors of regional symposiums, local reps for the AAW symposium, and leaders in their community Often candidates with skills developed through business and education bring valuable skills to the board even though their passion for woodturning far exceeds their skill with a gouge.

3. Policy and Procedure:
" Ban on campaigning. Candidates for election to the Board of
Directors are prohibited from campaigning for that office either orally or with printed materials. This should not, however, preclude a candidate from answering questions that would serve to clarify his/her position on any issue relevant to AAW. A copy of this prohibition shall be sent to each candidate upon his or her acceptance into candidacy."

By-laws and Policy can be changed by your Board.
There are 13,000 members in the AAW.
Is our discussion here representative of the 13,000???

happy turning,
Al

 

[Ruth Niles]

One old woodturner's opinions and observations:

Not having internet access is like not having a phone these days. Doesn't mean you have to read forums but the majority of my customers (bottle stoppers, t-shirts) come from google or yahoo searches, lurking on forums or other suppliers websites.

Why not have a "letters to the editor" or "opinions" column in the Journal?
As people express opinions, we get to know them; good or bad. Or a page or two for discussion of subjects announced in previous issues, allowing not just the famous but anyone to voice opinions. Just an example, it could be on selling your turnings, types of sales venues, salad bowls....food safe finish (eee gads!), etc. We all know how and where the famous sell their work, I want to know where and how my peers (the average turner) sell their work.

As to candidates, I will use Jean LeGwin as an example since I've met her many times because she attends as many regional shows as possible, introduces herself and talks with as many people as possible. I realize this is not something every candidate can do, but it sure helps.

Personal opinion: I don't feel I "know" a candidate by pictures of their turnings nor by a picture of them. I "know" them by their opinions or contributions at shows, to the Journal or to this and/or other forums. Yeah, we're back to the computer again! There are a tremendous number of wonderful potential candidates out there but there is no way to know who they are unless they can come into our PCs!

 

[JRutten]

Voting

I realize that we are a day late and a dollar short on voting for this year, but hopefully next year we can get some questions to the candidates earlier. I would like to thank Mike, Warren, and Pope for participating in this thread and wish them well in their nomination to the board.

 

[John Ellis]

As one of the Board candidates that did not reply to Jim's original email, I'd like to add a few comments to this thread. I am very computer literate and access the AAW web site frequently, and often read topics in this Forum.

As I explained to Jim in my email reply yesterday, I've been swamped for the past two weeks+ doing woodturning demonstrations and greeting visitors to the woodturning booth we have at our New Mexico State Fair every year. I was also a judge for the turning exhibits at the Fair. I only had time to scan my daily emails during that time, and initially thought his email, subject titled "Woodturner's Invitation" was just another spam ad, which I didn't read at the time. If the subject had been titled something like "Board Candidates Please Reply," I'm sure I would have not only read it right away, but provided a more rapid response.

Catching up to all my old emails after the State Fair ended Sunday evening, I picked up on this thread from my last reading and discovered that I had been sent Jim's email. I replied, not only with my willingness to answer questions posted on the Forum, but forwarded Jim my answers to some prior emails I'd received from members asking for my position on several questions.

Since Jim's email and post, there are a number of specific questions that have been posted in this thread. In the next day or two, I'll write my answers and post them. From Ed's comment, I believe that my answering specific questions will not violate the prohibition from campaigning. I hope other candidates will do the same.

I do realize that many of you have already voted, but my answers will be "better late than never," and perhaps be a model for future years.

Regards to all Forum participants,

John Ellis

 

[JRutten]

Thanks, John

Thanks for your input, John. Sorry for the confusion on the title of my e-mail.