theljstaff (![[info]](http://pics.livejournal.com/marta/pic/000gzfga){kind=small} theljstaff) wrote in ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/newsinfo.gif){kind=small} news,@ 2009-05-15 14:02:00 |
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| Entry tags: | advisory board elections, birthday theme contest |
Advisory Board Elections General Announcement
Advisory Board Elections
Theme Design Contest Postponed
Advisory Board Elections
Have you ever wanted to be more involved in shaping the future of LiveJournal? Do you have strong opinions about the kinds of features and services LJ should offer its users? Are you ready to play a more active role in the LiveJournal community? Wondering how you can act on your vision for LJ? Run for user representative to the LiveJournal Advisory Board! Advisory Board elections are nigh and now is the time to throw your hat in the ring.
The LiveJournal Advisory Board is an international group of well-informed, highly respected users who help guide the values of LiveJournal by advising the management of LiveJournal Inc. on the development and operations of the LiveJournal platform. Current members of the Board include ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
danahboyd, courtjesther, brad, lessig, and suhel_seth. Advisory Board members each bring a unique perspective to the Board: law, business, knowledge of social media, and awareness of LiveJournal history.
But without the unique perspective of the LiveJournal community, the Board is incomplete. That's why the Board also has two user representatives—users elected by the users—among its members. Here's how it works:
Two Elections
Just as we did last year, we are holding two elections: one to elect a representative from the non-Cyrillic community (English speakers) and one to elect a representative from the Cyrillic-language users (Russian speakers). Posts regarding the elections will be announced in news and ru_news. The elections will be held at the same time and governed by the same rules. The decision to hold two separate elections reflects the fact that the LiveJournal community can broadly be split into two different segments of Russian and non-Russian language users.
Timeline
This year, the nomination and election process will take place during the last two weeks of June. Open nominations, and the chance for users to second the nominations, will be held the week of June 15–19. When the nominations close, LiveJournal will certify the candidates who have been nominated and those candidates will have time to communicate with users regarding positions or campaigning. The elections will open up on June 22 and close on June 26. The new LiveJournal User Representatives to the Advisory Board will be seated on July 1, 2009.
Requirements for Candidacy
To be considered as a candidate for the Advisory Board elections, a user must be:
- at least 18 years old as of May 1, 2009
- a LiveJournal user since December 31, 2008
- nominated and elected using their primary LiveJournal username
- willing to use their primary LiveJournal username for Advisory Board business, either by using their actual journal to make posts in official communities or using it to respond to comments and official threads
- willing to serve under their full legal name, including having their name recorded on minutes, correspondence, opinions, or other material in relation to their service
- available to travel to the once-a-year, in-person meeting in San Francisco, CA, to be held in September (travel costs will be reimbursed)
- available for quarterly conference calls, and for consultation via telephone or email correspondence should a situation arise that would need their advice
- willing to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement in relation to the work and discussions of the Advisory Board
Requirements for Voting
To be eligible to vote in the election, a user must have created their account before March 31, 2009. Voting will take place in the form of a poll, which will remain open during the week of June 22–26. The winner will be determined via Instant Runoff Voting. This means that users will be able to select their first, second, and third choice candidates. In the event there is no clear majority, the lowest-ranked candidates will be eliminated and the users who selected those candidates as first choice will have their vote reassigned to their second-choice candidate. This system is repeated until a clear winner is evident.
Serving on the Board
Logistics
The LiveJournal Advisory Board will meet in person this year in September, in San Francisco, CA. It will hold quarterly conference calls with the management to consider major issues. LiveJournal Inc. will reimburse all travel and related expenses, and offer an honorarium, which may be paid directly to the member or to a charity of his or her choosing.
Structure
The LiveJournal Advisory Board is independent of the LiveJournal Inc. management structure.
Elected user representatives serve a one-year term on the Advisory Board.
Should a user representative of the LiveJournal Advisory Board become unable to perform the necessary duties, he or she shall inform LiveJournal Inc. management in writing. After his or her resignation has been accepted, the user with the next-highest amount of votes in the final vote tally from the previous election will be asked to take up the open position on the Advisory Board.
Meetings
The agenda for meetings and conference calls will be agreed upon between LiveJournal Inc. management and the Advisory Board. Management will respond promptly to any request for documentation.
The LiveJournal Advisory Board may publish position papers by majority vote, including dissenting position papers should LiveJournal Inc. management not follow their recommendations. Beyond the posted statements, LiveJournal Advisory Board members will be held to confidentiality and will be required to sign legally binding non-disclosure agreements to protect the integrity of Board discussions. Advisory Board members are welcome to discuss their role and the work of the Board in public forums but are asked to respect the confidential nature of the discussions that take place.
Birthday Theme Design Contest Rescheduled
In April we announced that later in the spring we'd be holding a special Theme Design Contest as part of our ongoing tenth birthday celebrations. What happened? We ran into a little delay with the contest, which meant that it would overlap with the Advisory Board elections, which would then in turn need to be pushed back. Rather than having a series of cascading delays, we're going to just switch up the order and have the elections first, followed by the theme design contest. So look for the contest to start after the votes are tallied and the results are in, and in the meantime be thinking about your design!
