Call for 2011 Board Nominations

[krisw]

All,

It's amazing that 2010 will soon be drawing to a close. We've had a successful year in GWAPA, conducting a full series on aquascaping, followed by our first-ever free form aquascaping contest. Our food committee has done an excellent job ensuring that everyone is well fed at our meetings, and we've had several members speak expertly about various areas in the hobby. I'd like to thank the rest of the current board for their contributions, as well as, all of our members for helping to make 2010 a success.

So, now is the time when we need to ask for one more thing from the membership - your time and talent! The current board is made up of members who have held their position for multiple years, and frankly, many of us need a break. While GWAPA has grown over the past few years, without the continued infusion of new members, both to the club and board, with new ideas and directions, that will not be sustained. We only need to look to our friends in Delaware and Houston to see once vibrant clubs, fall apart due to a lack of participation of their members in the leadership roles.

Therefore, GWAPA is calling you to volunteer yourself and/or nominate someone else for the 2011 board. Here are the positions with their job descriptions:

President (Nominated: Jen Williams) - Oversee all club operations. Run meetings, and work with the rest of the board to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Vice President (Nominated: Viktor Gyorffy) - Assist president with club operations.

Treasurer (Nominated: Ghazanfar Ghori) - Manage club finances at bank and paypal. Should be available to attend nearly every club meeting, so that auction and raffles can be paid for.

Corresponding Secretary (Nominated: Arlene Wagner) - Promotes club at local stores and vendors. Organizes group orders, and contacts manufacturers to obtain donations for raffle items.

Recording Secretary (Nominated: Chris Todd) - Keep meeting notes, and type them up in a timely manner for our website. Should have adequate writing skills, and be comfortable with word processors like MS Word. Should be available to attend nearly every meeting, or arrange for a substitute.


You may have noticed that the president position is marked as vacant. I'd like to thank you for allowing me to serve as your president for three years, serving on the board for several years prior to that, and being the website administrator for even longer. I feel that I need to take a step back from the board, resuming my position solely as the website administrator.

I will update this thread as members volunteer themselves or nominate others for the various positions of the board. If anyone has any questions about any position or job responsibility, please don't hesitate to PM me.

[ingg]

I'd also like to thank folks for letting me be a part of the board. It is fun and rewarding, and I got to learn a lot as well as (I hope!) contribute some too.

I'm stepping down simply from a lack of time. I've been able to make barely half the meetings fo the past year. Family demands are growing year by year, kids getting more active in extra curriculars etc. - resulting in that I can not do the job I want to do and that GWAPA deserves.

Certainly always available to bounce things off for those coming in!




I would encourage folks to step up! It is a fun experience and not a drag, a very rewarding and positive experience.

[chris_todd]

Kris, may I be the first to thank you and all our retiring board members for doing such a great job over the last several years. GWAPA is a great club, and it is largely so because of your efforts. Thanks for your service and passion.

I'd love to contribute more, and see to it that the club continues to be great. But like Dave, family and work have kept me too busy this year and I have missed many meetings. With CCA hosting the ACA convention this summer, I'll be quite busy helping with the website for that. I'll be happy to continue coordinating the food committee, though, as food is something I'm really passionate about (as anyone who's seen my waistline knows, LOL).

I don't know if this works with the official by-laws of the club, but I would consider being part-time Recording Secretary, and for those meetings I'm able to attend, do a write-up. I just know that I won't be able to make every meeting. Are there any Virginians that might be willing to split duties with me?

[ddavila06]

its going to be a sad end-of-the-year i learned all my basics in gwapa...this was a crappy year for a lot of people including me. lets hope that by stepping down you guys don't forget to be very active/influential members!!!! Thank you all guys.

[krisw]

Chris, thank you for continuing to coordinate the food committee. You (and everyone else) have done a fantastic job keeping the meeting food diverse and tasty!

As for the recording secretary position, this seems to be the hardest position to fill, since it does require monthly work outside of the meetings to write everything up. Personally, I don't have a problem with splitting out the duty across multiple people. I would suggest that if you're interested, that you run for the position, and just line-up a few backups to cover for you when you can't make a meeting. That way, you'd still be responsible for coordinating with your "writers" to make sure notes made it up on the website on time, but you would be able to share those duties a little bit. Plus, you'd have a voice on the board for other decisions that are made thru the year (group orders, sponsors, meeting topics, Aquafest, etc...)

Damian, I don't think any of us are planning on leaving the club. I think we're all just looking for others to step up and help take the club to even higher levels. Thanks for the nice words!

[John G]

I have the same problem Chris has...I am only able to make about half the meetings, so it is difficult to take on any of the jobs. I really appreciate all of the effort that our present and past board members have done.

[Rick Dotson]

I too want to thank you guys for the wonderful job you have done. GWAPA is a lot of fun because of your hard work.

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

I nominate Mary Dotson for President and myself for Treasurer. I spoke with Mary about it yesterday and she's got some great ideas, I think she'll do a great job as President. Our fearless leader Kris has done a fantastic job at the helm, and I think Mary will continue that trend and provide a fresh prespective.

Sean has been the Gwapa Treasurer for ...forever...an amazing level of commitment..he has to make every meeting! I do not plan on following his footsteps, this is only a 1 year gig for me, but I'm planning on providing greater transparency of the financials to our membership and put some standards and processes in place that will help Gwapa in the future. And I promise not to raises taxes.

[chris_todd]

I nominate Mary Dotson for President and myself for Treasurer. I spoke with Mary about it yesterday and she's got some great ideas, I think she'll do a great job as President. Our fearless leader Kris has done a fantastic job at the helm, and I think Mary will continue that trend and provide a fresh prespective.

I don't know whether it's strictly necessary, but I'll second those nominations! You'll both be great in those roles.

And per Kris' suggestion, I'll throw my name is for recording secretary, with the understanding that I will be soliciting assistance for those meetings I can't attend. If past experience is any indication, most of those will be in no va.

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

I 2nd the nomination for Todd as recording secretary.