Call for nominations for the Chair of GAGB

[The Wombles]

This is a call for nominations for a new Chair of GAGB, in line with a commitment made by the initial committee to start an election process in February 2004. The term of this Chair will run from end of the election until November 2004 in line with other committee members.

In order to demonstrate independence in these elections, the initial committee requested the UK GC.com approvers to ask for a volunteer to act as independent Returning Officer. Eric van Dyck, a GC.com Approver/Moderator in the US, has volunteered to act as our Returning Officer, for which we are grateful.

The timetable of the election process is as follows:
Sunday 29th Feb: call for nominations
Wed 10th March: start election voting
Mon 22nd March: close election
Eric will then announce the winner of the election.

This timetable allows a weekend for people to read the call for election & decide to stand and to include two weekends when people can vote. Our Constitution requires at least 7 days for nominations, then 4 to 14 days voting.

Nominations should be posted to this thread by a member of the Association and then accepted /rejected by the person concerned. Nominations are now open.


Dave on behalf of the GAGB committee

(Edited for clarity)

[NattyBooshka]

We nominate Paul Blitz... he seems to have done so much for us all since being elected to the committee and also keeps us all well informed.

<edited for grammar&#33;&#33;>

[Returning Officer]

Yikes, I saw my name above. What an awesome (or awful?) responsibility&#33;&#33;

In all seriousness, I&#39;ve read the Standing Orders thread as well as the thread in which a consensus seems to be reached on a "secret word" verification of the vote.
I&#39;m sure we can fine tune exactly how this it to be done prior to the election.

One error in that introductory post of The Wombles - my first name is spelled Erik, not Eric.
If you get that wrong in an e-mail vote to me your vote will surely be lost&#33;

By way of a short introduction: I have been geocaching for three years under the geonick "erik88L-R" in honor of my faithful 1973 Land-Rover SWB (88" short wheelbase) Station Wagon. I was appointed a cache approver in Dec. 2001 and approved UK caches until the volume was sufficient to warrant local representation. Now the poor Germans are stuck with me. (Ach Gott nie&#33
I live in the land where the last serious election was decided by the courts (Bush vs. Gore), so I will have to become reacclimated to the democratic process. But I&#39;ll do my best to handle this responsibility.

Best regards,

~erik~

Repeated edits to correct terrible spelling - the result of approving caches in Germany and Georgia, USA.

[The Wombles]

Originally posted by Returning Officer@Feb 29 2004, 03:48 PM

One error in that introductory post of The Wombles - my first name is spelled Erik, not Eric...........

I was appointed a cache approver in Dec. 2001 and approved UK caches until the volume was sufficient to warrant local representation............

Oops, sorry - and you approved 8 of our caches

[Chris n Maria]

Glad to see Erik involved - hes been round for ages and I have always found him very helpfull.

I would like to nominate Dave Womble for the post .

Chris

[The Wombles]

Originally posted by Chris n Maria@Feb 29 2004, 09:01 PM

I would like to nominate Dave Womble for the post .

Many thanks for the confidence but my time pressures are incompatible with carrying out the duties of the Chair sucessfully - and we Wombles like to keep a low profile

[MCL]

I would like to nominate Pharisee.

[seifer]

I would like to nominate Team Pariadise (I hope thats how you spell it&#33

[Gary & Jane]

We would like to nominate MCL who has always impressed us with his clarity of thought and well reasoned arguments in this and other forums.

[paul.blitz]

Originally posted by NattyBooshka@Feb 29 2004, 02:46 PM
We nominate Paul Blitz... he seems to have done so much for us all since being elected to the committee and also keeps us all well informed.

<edited for grammar&#33;&#33;>

Thank you for proposing me: I am happy to accept the nomination.

Can I also say that I am VERY pleased to see the other names being proposed: I hope they will seriously consider also accepting, so there can be a good and "serious" vote for the position.


Paul

[DerekReed]

Originally posted by Returning Officer@Feb 29 2004, 03:48 PM
By way of a short introduction: I have been geocaching for three years under the geonick "erik88L-R" in honor of my faithful 1973 Land-Rover SWB (88" short wheelbase) Station Wagon.

Erik,

=====
Off-topic part first:
I&#39;m off to the Med in May, and will be passing through Tunisia, and just came across GeoRover #2 which is placed way out in the desert there. (Saw its picture on your LR&#39;s bonnet, then stumbled across your name in here. Small world, geocaching...)

Don&#39;t think I&#39;m going to get that far inland though, so probably won&#39;t be getting a find on that one.
=====

Anyway, that&#39;s just a tad off-topic in this thread, so I&#39;d just like to say that my vote goes to Paul Blitz.

I&#39;m sure he&#39;ll do us proud.

Regards,
Derek Reed
Hampshire.

[Returning Officer]

Anyway, that&#39;s just a tad off-topic in this thread, so I&#39;d just like to say that my vote goes to Paul Blitz.

It was cool reading your story Derek - even if it was off topic.

No fair voting though - just soliciting nominations at this stage.

Cheers,

~erik~

[Chris n Maria]

Originally posted by Gary & Jane@Mar 3 2004, 06:24 PM
We would like to nominate MCL who has always impressed us with his clarity of thought and well reasoned arguments in this and other forums.

As young Dave Womble can&#39;t accept my nomination, I&#39;ll second MCL as he strikes me as a very fine diplomat whos on-line posts are always well thought out.

Chris

[TheCat]

I too think that MCL would be a good choice.

[The Bennett Family]

I would like to nominate Hornet.
I know he has expressed concerns about the whole idea of the GAGB in the past, which in my opinion makes him the ideal candidate for the job as I would like to see the GAGB develop into something that supports Geocaching rather than an all controlling influence.

I have been reading the GC forums for 12 months now, which includes the awful period of infighting & antagonism of a few months back. During that time, Hornets posts always seemed fair & considered & he never got involved in the mud slinging as so many others did.

I&#39;ll stop now..
1)As I sound like I&#39;m trying to sell him to you
2)I&#39;m a little out of my depth with such weighty matters.

Gaz.

[MCL]

Thankyou Chris, thankyou Mark, and thankyou Gary & Jane.

It is with deep sadness that I have to decline your very kind nominations for the post of Chair. However, I owe you an explanation so here it is:

I believe the post of Chair to be one that requires someone who has the time and energy to devote to achieving the first rounds of landowner negotiations. Under different circumstances I would probably be able to deliver that energy but as some of you already know my father died a couple of weeks back and I now have the non-trivial task of managing his estate and affairs and sorting out all the paperwork that goes with it. I have now to do some minor rearrangement of my life as a result of Dad going. Add to this the fact that I am involved with three other committees already plus a growing recording career and I think you can see that I am getting a bit overwhelmed with workload and commitments. It would be foolish of me to take any more on at this stage.

Had this happened a few months down the line, the story may well have been different. I don&#39;t believe I have the resources to commit to the post of chair. I would be prepared, though, to be nominated as an ordinary committee member should it be required that, due to this election, a committee member be replaced.

I hope this explanation suffices. It would be dishonest of me to accept and then do the job half-heartedly. I am not dishonest.


So guys, I would rather you thought of it as "not no", rather just "not now"

[Lost in Space]

From The Hornet:-

I was surprised this morning, and not a little flattered, to read the post nominating me for Chairman of GAGB. First of all I would like to thank The Bennett Family for the nomination and their kind words.



I only became aware of it as a result of a copy of the post being forwarded to me by Lost in Space. I did not read it myself as I am no longer a member of GAGB. Many of you will remember that I resigned my membership earlier last year for “personal reasons”. Let me now explain these personal reasons. This was shortly after some heated debate about the propriety of Groundspeak volunteer reviewers holding office in GAGB who, at the time, were proposing setting rules/guidelines to be adhered to by all geocachers in the UK. A number of people were concerned that GC.COM reviewers had to maintain their independence, myself included.



So why resign? Well simply because at that time I was asked to become a reviewer myself. Now is as good a time as any to “come out of the closet” and declare that the UK reviewer Lactodorum is actually The Hornet. Many people already know this, particularly the GAGB committee, and I see little point in maintaining any vestiges of anonymity any longer. So, given my thoughts on the independence of reviewers you will understand why I had to choose between GAGB and reviewing.



I have tried to retain a working relationship with GAGB, in particular with respect to negotiations with landowners and you will know of my one success so far. Other negotiations with landowners are ongoing, both with myself and with GAGB.



You will see now that as I am not a member of GAGB, your constitution makes it impossible for me to accept although I thank you for the suggestion.



I will continue to maintain my Lactodorum identity while reviewing and moderating the UK forum on Groundspeak purely as a convenience. It nicely separates my activities and correspondence as an active geocacher and as a reviewer.



Thanks and good luck



Peter -> The Hornet -> Lactodorum

[The Bennett Family]

Whoops.
Mouth, please say hello to foot...
I seem to have missed an awful lot of postings somewhere.
I remember the great debate about GC.COM reviewers needing to remain independant, but I must have missed Hornet resigning his membership&#33; and of course I wasn&#39;t aware that he was Lactodorum either.

Never mind,
In which case Pharisee now gets my vote...unless I now have to make room for the other foot....

Thanks also to those who mailed me & filled in "the missing background."

Gaz.

[BugznElm&#39;r]

A nomination for Teasel to try out the big chair ...

[Muggle]

I would like to nominate Seasider. Obviously a man with too much spare time on his hands.

[paul.blitz]

In preparation for the election, I have upgraded anyone who joined *before* 29th Feb to be eligible to vote.


Paul
GAGB Committee

[Pharisee]

Originally posted by MCL@Mar 3 2004, 01:39 AM
I would like to nominate Pharisee.

Sorry peoples... I&#39;m just not a committee type of guy. Organisation, regulation, constraint and all that sort of stuff really isn&#39;t my scene. Thanks for the nomination but &#39;No thank you&#39;.

[The Wobbly Club]

We would like to nominate Paul Blitz

Colin & Daphne

[Team Paradise]

Thanks for the nomination, but I&#39;ll have to decline I&#39;m afraid.

I&#39;ve never "chaired" a committee I my life so now&#39;s probably not a good time to start &#33;

Thanks anyway... Steve

[Seasider]

Originally posted by Muggle@Mar 6 2004, 06:29 PM
I would like to nominate Seasider. Obviously a man with too much spare time on his hands.

Thanks for the nomination.

But...

1) I get enough of "officialdom" in my working life being a corporate accountant so I like to relax when it comes to leisure time. :P

2) Although I&#39;ve had time on my hands during my year off I&#39;ll be heading back to the corporate rat race shortly.

3) Whilst I&#39;ve been out chasing the millenium you&#39;ve all been getting the GAGB up and running so it would not feel right for someone who has done nothing to make a bid for the committee at this late stage. B)

So I&#39;ll decline but good luck to all that are standing&#33;


Cheers&#33;

Seasider

[Teasel]

Originally posted by BugznElm&#39;r@Mar 6 2004, 03:57 PM
A nomination for Teasel to try out the big chair ...

Thanks for the nomination, I&#39;m flattered. However, I&#39;m afraid I wouldn&#39;t be able to commit the sort of time that would be required to do the job properly, so I must decline.

I think the post requires someone who&#39;s good at mediation and who can find the middle road. Having managed to quietly reign me in on occasions when I&#39;ve been spitting fire, I&#39;d like to second Neil&#39;s nomination of Paul Blitz.

[MCL]

Since my nomination of Pharisee has been declined, I would like to take this chance then to second the nomination of Paul Blitz.

[MCL]

Erm... its friday 13th. Do we take it that the election is off?

[paul.blitz]

Originally posted by MCL@Mar 12 2004, 12:05 AM
Erm... its friday 13th. Do we take it that the election is off?

Hi&#33;

I&#39;ve been away for a couple of days (ok, I was slumming it in a 5-star hotel in the middle of Amsterdam), and only got back late last night.

From what I have just read here, I *think* that I&#39;m the only one mad enough (stupid enough??) to have accepted the nomination for chair (or have I made a mistake... always quite possible&#33....

It&#39;s funny that Team Paradise said that he&#39;d never chaired a meeting before.... I&#39;m not sure if I really have either... but there&#39;s always a first time for everything&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;


Paul

[Returning Officer]

I&#39;ve been away for a couple of days myself, and see that the nomination period has ended with only one nominee accepting - that being Paul Blitz.

For the record, your peers thought enough of
Dave Womble
Pharisee
Team Paradise
MCL
Hornet
Teasel
and Seasider
to nominate you. Congratulations.

However, since it would be redundant to have a vote at this time I think it appropriate to congratulate Paul for attaining the esteemed high position of Chair.

Let&#39;s raise a glass to him.

Cheers,

~erik~

[BugznElm&#39;r]

Congratulations Paul&#33; Enjoy the big chair&#33;

[Brenin Tegeingl]

Instead of "on the job" training Paul, you&#39;ll be doing "in the chair" training . Many thanks to Erik for acting as returning officer for us.
Dave.

[Returning Officer]

Instead of "on the job" training Paul, you&#39;ll be doing "in the chair" training . Many thanks to Erik for acting as returning officer for us.

"In the chair training" makes me think of the apparently painful potty training my children went through. Hopefully Paul will have an easier time of it.

Glad I could help with the "returning officer" bit, but somewhat sorry we couldn&#39;t follow thru with an exciting election. I had a PayPal account set up in anticipation.
Just kidding folks&#33;

Best regards,
~erik~

[THE BRAMBLERS]

Congratulations Paul.

You&#39;ve already done a good job with the GAGB so far, and you&#39;ve certainly managed to keep the ship on an even keel.

[paul.blitz]

Originally posted by Returning Officer@Mar 12 2004, 10:52 PM
Glad I could help with the "returning officer" bit, but somewhat sorry we couldn&#39;t follow thru with an exciting election. I had a PayPal account set up in anticipation.
Just kidding folks&#33;

Best regards,
~erik~

Well, thank you, Erik.... sorry there wasn&#39;t a vote, but, hey, maybe we can help you there: now that I have been "promoted" there is at least one space on the committee that will need filling... maybe you can stick around to help us organise someone to fill the vacancies?

And a big thank you to everyone who has voiced support for me: I hope I don&#39;t screw up for you all&#33; But please remember that this *is* the first time I&#39;ve been a chairman, so I&#39;m *sure* I&#39;ll make occasional mistakes.

For those who suggested someone else: thank YOU too... it was good to see some GREAT names being proposed for the post. Many of them felt that they couldn&#39;t spare the time to be chairman: maybe we can persuade them that they DO have enough time to help us on the committee?


I guess that, now I&#39;m "chairman" I&#39;ll have to go out to buy a suitably big & comfortable chair: for this there will be a minimum £2 annual levy per member (have you seen the ongoing costs for running those chairs? I mean, they just EAT AA batteries). Maybe we can use Erik&#39;s Paypal account to collect the money? One option is that maybe we just charge those people who wish vote?

(its ok, I was only joking on that last paragraph&#33;....)

Paul

[John Stead]

Congratulations Paul and best wishes in the hot seat.
With the team you have around you and the support from outside the committee I am sure we will now see GAGB going from strength to strength.

[Returning Officer]

Paul asked:

maybe you can stick around to help us organise someone to fill the vacancies?

sure, just contact me via e-mail to initiate something like that, as I won&#39;t be monitoring these forums on a daily basis.

Best regards,

~erik~

[Chris n Maria]

Originally posted by paul.blitz@Mar 13 2004, 11:29 AM
For those who suggested someone else: thank YOU too... it was good to see some GREAT names being proposed for the post. Many of them felt that they couldn&#39;t spare the time to be chairman: maybe we can persuade them that they DO have enough time to help us on the committee?

Congratulations (if thats the right word ) Paul,

I&#39;m sure you will do a great job and GAGB will go from strength to strength. I&#39;d like to nominate MCL to fill the vacant position - if he has the time. I&#39;m sure he would add a lot of strength to the assocition.

Chris

[MCL]

Originally posted by Chris n Maria@Mar 15 2004, 09:39 AM
I&#39;d like to nominate MCL to fill the vacant position - if he has the time. I&#39;m sure he would add a lot of strength to the assocition.

Chris

Thankyou for your confidence in me. This time, I accept your kind nomination.