OTW elections links

[arduinna]

I'm trying to get my head back to a fannish space after a rough month, and between Yuletide, Pinboard, and the OTW elections, there's a lot going on. I may have things to say about some or all of that if I can start wrapping my brain around things, but meanwhile I've been trying to sort out where to find info about Pinboard stuff and OTW elections stuff. So elections first:

The OTW Elections site has a lot of useful info, but unfortunately it's not easy to find; I don't think they were expecting quite this much activity, and the News posts that serve as links to the information are starting to scroll off the front page. So I dropped the Elections folks a note about it, but given that it's in the middle of what's turned into a very busy elections season, I have no idea if they'll be able to address it this year or not.

So meanwhile, some direct, sorted links to help find information better on the site:

Who are the candidates:

List of candidates, complete with official candidate statements and including links to transcripts of the first two chats

Links to the candidates' journals, where you can see how they interact day-to-day with people, ask them questions directly (by comment or PM), etc.

Chat transcripts

Transcript of the first candidate chat

Transcript of the second candidate chat

Further chat responses from the second candidate chat


Followup questions from the chats

First set of followup questions, after the initial chat

• Questions (simplified):
  
  • What concrete things will you do as a Board member?
    
  • What do you see as Fanlore's role?
    
  • What do you tell people when asked "What does the OTW do?"
    

First set of followup questions after the second chat

• Questions (simplified):
  
  • Three questions, combined into one set relating to plans for outreach
    
    • to fans outside Western media journaling fandom
      
    • to fans outside of Western media fandom, especially anime/manga fans
      
    • to underrepresented sections of fandom.
      

Second set of followup questions after the second chat

• Questions (simplified):
  
  • How would you balance increased internal communications (i.e., more meetings) against already overburdened committees?
    
  • What was your role in the server-naming issue, and if you had none, what would you have done had you been involved?
    
  • How can the OTW further support and encourage fair use projects, what do you value about those projects, and what will you bring to them personally?
    

Third set of followup questions after the second chat

• Questions (simplified):
  
  • In the face of volunteer burnout, what would you do in your current committee to help bring in more volunteers and increase long-term retention, and what would you do as Board member to do so org-wide?
    
  • How do you intend to balance the goal of increased transparency, which brings with it a heavier workload for everyone concerned, with the goal of reducing staff and volunteer burnout inside the org?
    
  • How will you balance your role as Board member with your other roles inside the org (in terms of time commitment)?
    

Fourth set of followup questions after the second chat

• Questions (simplified):
  
  • Request for Naomi and Betsy to expand more on their concrete plans, also open to other candidates to answer.
    
  • What have the candidates done specifically to promote organizational sustainability, and "build the builders" (help turn fans into the builders of their own tools/places), for both technical and non-technical roles.
    

Fifth set of followup questions following the second chat

• Questions (simplified):
  
  • What do you see as the Board's role in soliciting all kinds of feedback, and how will you prioritize this as a Board member?
    
  • What do you see as the biggest challenge to sustainability in the org, and how will you work to ensure a sustainable future for the org?
    
  • What do you mean when you use buzzwords like "transparency", and how does it affect a casual user of the AO3?
    

Sixth and final set of followup questions following the second chat

• Questions (simplified):
  
  • What do you think of barriers to easy participation in the org right now? If you think they need to be lowered, what specific, concrete things will you as Board member do to do that? How will you reward casual participation without devaluing more committed volunteer work? How will you balance the needs of casual contributors, volunteers, and staff?
    
  • Direct to Betsy and Naomi (others answered as well): Why do you think your committees are so special that they require representation on the Board?
    

Comments

[the_shoshanna]

oh wow, THANK YOU for collating all this. I still haven't found time to wade into the details, and every day it grows more intimidating. This is a huge help.

[arduinna]

You're welcome! I was really starting to flail, so just had to do something that would let me re-find the info I wanted - glad it's helpful!

[klia]

Awesome resource -- thank you!

super useful, thanks!

[talking_sock]

I would've spaced on the election entirely if not for this...
Hope you are feeling a bit better.

[sakana17]

Thank you for this! I was losing my way in the flood of info. This is exactly what I needed.