OVAS Executive Elections

[darkdep]

All,

I thought I would post a little more detailed information on the OVAS Executive Elections which are occurring in May, especially since we have so many new members who are probably not familiar with how it works.

OVAS is not an organization "owned" by anyone; it is a very old club (over 50 years!) which recruits volunteers to run for a one-year term in a set of positions to run the club.  The club relies upon dedicated people to provide some of their personal time to make sure the club keeps operating and helping to promote the aquarium hobby.

The Executive is comprised of the following list of positions:

• President
• Vice-President
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Past President
• Membership
• Program Director
• Breeder Awards Program
• Librarian
• Corporate and Public Relations
• Social Convenor
• Newsletter
• Auctions
• Webmaster

Some of these positions require more time than others, but all are important and help to ensure this fine club keeps operating. 

Once a year, the positions become open for general election.  Anyone may run for any position.  There is no concept of a position "becoming open" in any given year; all positions are available and it is beneficial if more than one person runs for a position.

As a member of the OVAS Executive, you are volunteering to handle a certain aspect of the club's operation.  In addition, the executive members meet once per month to have a meeting where club operations are discussed, plans are made, decisions are voted upon, etc. 

If you have a passion for the hobby, like to meet new people, and are willing to spend a little time to help develop the club, I encourage you to run for a position!  It's fun, and you get a say in everything the club does. 

What has traditionally been done in the past is people are nominated at the May OVAS meeting and a vote is done.  In order to vote, you must be a card carrying OVAS member.  As we have a large number of members this year, I would like to provide those who may not be at the May meeting an opportunity to cast their votes.  I'm not sure how we'll do this at this time but one of the rights of becoming an OVAS member is the right to vote in this election, whether you are in attendance at the meeting or not.

A note that can't be expressed enough is that ALL positions are open.  Some of the current executive may run for their positions again, some will not.  Don't use that as a decision point for whether you run or not.  Competition, if it occurs, is a good thing and benefits the greater good of the club. 

If you are interested in running for any position or have any questions, please post them here or feel free to PM myself or any of the other current executives.  Although we traditionally do a simple show of hands, I have a feeling there will be enough applicants this year that we may do a ballot system.

[BigDaddy]

There are only two exceptions to the statement that ALL positions are open.  The past president's position is not an elected position, but rather the past president is automatically made an ex-officio member of the executive.  As well, given the specialized duties and skill set associated with the webmaster's position, that position is usually appointed by the executive, and then formally approved by the membership through their vote.

[redbelly]

When will the vote be?
As it turns out I will be in town for the summer finally and would love to be a bigger part of ovas.

[babblefish1960]

The voting and nominations take place during the general club meeting at Jack Purcell at 7:00 pm sharp, on presumably the 28th of May, the fourth Monday of the month. Look forward to everyone being there, and to see what comes of this years elections. See you all there!

[darkdep]

Nobody is going to stick their neck out eh?    Ok, I will. 

I would like to announce that I plan to run for the Vice President position of the OVAS Executive for the upcoming season. 

I love this society and over the past year I've enjoyed building up the web site.  I plan to continue with this, but would also like to be more involved in club decisions and operations and hope to get your support on May 28th!

[succinctfish]

I assume from the initial post that there are folks interested, but who have let one of the executive know, and that it is not necessary to post it here?

I think there are people who might be interested if they had more information about the positions.  How about a brief summary about each position , and what sort of time commitment is involved.  What about executive meetings?  Are there alternatives for involvement, such as teleconferencing for those folks unable to make a meeting due to distance issues or health?  If you are unable to be at the May meeting because you are away, can you still run for a position? These are just some questions that have come up during conversations. 

DD, are you going to provide a way for club members to vote as you suggested online if they can not come to the May meeting?  Also, will you be doing a mail out for those not on the OVAS website?  It seems unbalanced to do one without the other.  In that case, the results should not be tallied until the next meeting in June.

[beowulf]

I assume from the initial post that there are folks interested, but who have let one of the executive know, and that it is not necessary to post it here?

I think there are people who might be interested if they had more information about the positions.  How about a brief summary about each position , and what sort of time commitment is involved.  What about executive meetings?  Are there alternatives for involvement, such as teleconferencing for those folks unable to make a meeting due to distance issues or health?  If you are unable to be at the May meeting because you are away, can you still run for a position? These are just some questions that have come up during conversations. 

DD, are you going to provide a way for club members to vote as you suggested online if they can not come to the May meeting?  Also, will you be doing a mail out for those not on the OVAS website?  It seems unbalanced to do one without the other.  In that case, the results should not be tallied until the next meeting in June.

Love this post I would possibly be interested in starting with something small within the club but would need to know more about the time commitment etc.

[darkdep]

The OVAS Executive positions require different levels of commitment.  For most of them tho, the amount of work is quite low and you pretty much dictate how much work you want to do.  The OVAS meetings are on the 4th Monday of the month; in addition the Executive meet generally on the 2nd monday of the month to discuss club issues and events.  We usually just hook up at one of the Exec's houses for these.  Some of us have internet access at work and pop onto the forum during the day.  We have an exec-only area of the forum as well as a regular email mailing list.  Both are really low-traffic usually.  We do have Exec members who never get online and miss some meetings, that's ok.  The exec is just a group of people who like the club

The actual job descriptions are being revised, so I'll present "my interpretation"

President
- Chairs the exec and club meetings
- Ensures all other positions are covered and running smoothly
- Act as a spokesperson for OVAS

Vice-President
- Chair both executive and membership meetings in the absence of the President.
- Assist the president in ensuring that all chairs and committees are running smoothly
- Act as a secondary spokesperson for OVAS

Secretary
- Record the minutes of the executive meetings and general membership meetings.
- Maintain a complete record of all minutes.
- Distribute the minutes of all executive meetings to the executive.

Treasurer
- Maintains a complete and accurate record of the financial transactions of OVAS and makes them available to the executive.
- Prepares Annual financial statements for the approval of the executive and the general membership.
- Ensures the safekeeping of OVAS' financial assets.

Past President
- Assist the new president in their transition the the presidency
- Assist in the mediation of disputes between the executive members and commitees.

Membership
- Maintain a current and complete record of all members
- Collect membership fees and provide them to the Treasurer
- Promote membership in OVAS

Program Director
- Help develop contact for OVAS within the aquarium hobby, and develop a list of potential speakers for OVAS events.
- Help develop ideas for the OVAS meetings, to be organized by the executive commitee.

Breeder Awards Program
- Provide, maintain, and make available to the General Membership and the Executive the society rules and standards for the Breeder Award Program (BAP) and Aquatic Horticulturalist Award Program (AHAP).
- Update and maintain accurate records of participation in the BAP/AHAP.
- Award points for captive reproduction of species and supporting materials as provided in the BAP/HAP rules.
- Advise the Executive of any certificates or memberships earned per season.

Librarian
- Ensure that the library requests are fulfilled at each general meeting
- Ensure that articles are loaned out the OVAS members and are returned in good condition and in a timely manner.
- Be responsible for any deposit money taken and returned on loaned items.
- Promote the use of the library's resources

Corporate and Public Relations
- Seek advertising revenue for OVAS
- Seek business contacts and sponsorships to promote OVAS
- Help the membership chair increase the membership of OVAS

Social Convenor
- Highlight and promote the social aspects of the society
- Organize the society's social events such as the Annual Barbeque
- Supply appropriate refreshments at the monthly meetings and other OVAS events

Newsletter
- Be responsible for the regular publication of the OVAS newsletter
- Request, search out and edit articles submitted for the newsletter.

Auctions
- Organize and run the monthly auctions and Giant Auction
- Organize volunteers for the auctions
- Ensure all items submitted for auctions are properly labeled and numbered and all auction rules are followed
- Provide appropriate documentation to the Treasurer and Secretary

Webmaster
- Be responsible for the regular maintenance of the OVAS website
- Coordinate with Corporate and Public Affairs Chair in fulfilling contractual obligations regarding the website.
- Advise the Treasurer of new payments, dues for operating costs, as well as paypal memberships and purchases on a regular basis.


Positions such as Auctions and Social Convenor pretty much require you to commit to every meeting; whereas Newsletter requires time to produce newsletters, Corporate and Public Affairs requires you to have time to meet with businesses and such (so that one needs a lot of outside time) but Librarian you can pretty much nail your commitment down to very little if needed

The above are rough descriptions but are more or less accurate.  The Executive attempts to keep club matters organized but as a group we attempt to be friendly and informal.

[beowulf]

Funny thing you mention Librarian as I was thinking of maybe starting there.

[darkdep]

Good idea.  I know for a fact that the current Librarian is not planning to return next year due to work commitments.

[garnpet]

I will not be reoffering as newsletter editor for next year - however I will be offering as auction chairperson.

The  newsletter chairperson position is basically what you make of it.  I managed to put out 3 newsletters this season.  I would have liked to do more, but other personal time commitments (ie. 3 kids) kind of cut into my spare time.  If anyone has any questions regarding the position please feel free to contact me via PM.

Peter

[mseguin]

I will not be returning as BAP chair, will be offering up for secretary most likely.

[RoxyDog]

I won't be back as social convenor, but will be interested in taking on the newsletter. 

[fishycanuck]

Are the elections first on the agenda? I am double-booked for the evening and want to try to make it to OVAS in time for the elections.

[beowulf]

I am unsure if this is the right place but I would officially like to put my name in for the position of librarian. 

[normc]

That makes 2 of us.

[PaleoFishGirl]

Yay a fight!!! I'll bring the popcorn

Laura, I'm not sure about the agenda - you'll have to ask the Big Man.

[darkdep]

This is the right place to let people know in advance you're running.  The Elections will be the first thing that happens at the May meeting.

If you are volunteering/running for a position, you should be in attendance at the May meeting.  What will happen is that for each position (we'll go down the list), the position will be called out with a brief description of what it is.  At that time we will call on nominations and volunteers who will stand, and all card-carrying OVAS members at the meeting will be asked to vote.  Obviously if only one person volunteers for a position it's pretty easy   But if there is more than one (and I'm hoping this year, for fun, there will be more than one person for some positions) the vote matters.  Generally it will be a show of hands unless it gets too close to easily tell.

If you would like to volunteer for a position but you don't get voted in, PLEASE feel free to volunteer for another position!  The Executive work as a team for the good of the club and our roles often overlap.  Dedication to the club is the only real prerequisite for any position (well, except Webmaster, where you must be All Powerful).

[babblefish1960]

If you wish to stand for a position on the Executive committee, but are unable to attend the meeting, you may most certainly contact any one of the current Executive and have your name brought on your behalf for the position of your choosing at the elections in absentia.

If you would like to be on the Executive, you must be a bona fide card carrying OVAS member in good standing, as stated in Section 3 paragraph 2 of the OVAS by-laws pertaining specifically to elections of the Executive committee.

SECTION 3 – election of officers

1. At the regular meeting in May the election of officers and committee members for the following year will take place.

2. Any member is entitled to nominate or volunteer for any office. All persons standing for election must be members in good standing of the OVAS.

3. Those elected to the various offices shall assume those duties and any records from the outgoing person at the first executive meeting in September.

Memberships can always be purchased on-line, at Big Al's Innes, and at the meetings of course.

[busdriver]

I would like to put my name in for something, I just don't know what!