[Steering Committee] Officer Elections

[Jason Lee]

I was asked recently in a private email if I am wanting to step down  
as president.  The writer was quick to say he doesn't feel I need to,  
but it's a good question.  When I volunteered/was elected president,  
we were operating on the assumption of one year terms.  While I've  
been honored to be allowed to serve in this capacity and would be  
happy to continue to do so, I also don't want hog the position, so to  
speak.  The topic came up after today's meeting with Derrick, who  
rightly pointed out that the election of new officers will inject new  
blood and fresh ideas.

I'm going to guess that most everyone's first objection will be to  
point out the difficulty we've had in getting volunteers up to this  
point, and that's a fair one.  Derrick suggested sending out a call  
for candidates to see who is interested in which positions.  If no one  
volunteers, willing incumbents can then volunteer to continue to  
serve.  We could also approach individuals and encourage them to throw  
their hats in the ring.

One issue with an election for a group of this type, I would think, is  
getting someone lined up for each "position," and I'm not sure how to  
solve that problem.  We could go the traditional route and let someone  
"run" for each position, or tell everyone here are the positions, and  
they'll be filled top down by the top vote getters.  *shrug* I have no  
firm opinion.

Derrick also asked if we had any one person who was responsible for  
finding a speaker, which we don't.  Right now, it's all of us  
pestering our coworkers or volunteering to do it.  It might help to  
have a formal position (I think he said the OKC DG has something  
called the VP of... Something-or-Other) who would be responsible for  
that.  It would be a lot like the role Ryan now plays in getting  
sponsors (which, btw, we're in desperate need of).  Thoughts on that  
would be appreciated as well.

Give that some thought.  Discuss here.  I'd like to be able to come to  
some sort of conclusion by our next SC meeting.

Thanks! :)

Jason Lee, SCJP
President, Oklahoma City Java Users Group
Senior Java Developer, Sun Microsystems
http://blogs.steeplesoft.com