2017 Board Elections

[neddy]

What sort of congratulations would be expected? Shane was put forward, then there is is the same issue coming up yet again of someone else putting their hand up without a word being spoken. We should congratulate this? If this keeps going on it is simply going to cost seats because the votes will be split. AUDA must be loving this.

This is the point. As they say in politics, disunity is death. Same applies in "Demand Class"!

Don't get me wrong - anyone is entitled to stand for election; or to put their hand up for a casual vacancy. And Ian Halson (Lemon) is a smart and well credentialed person.

The problem a lot of us have with what has transpired is that Ian told me (and others) he wasn't going to stand for election (or go for the casual vacancy) - and so plans were made accordingly with Shane and Nicole. Most domainers / domain investors were excited to have a united team to run at the next election. After the success of the SGM / Grumpy campaign, we were on a roll. And we naturally thought that Shane had the best credentials to fill the casual vacancy given that he narrowly came 3rd at the last AGM. This was even discussed at the SGM! To show what a "team player" she was, Nicole agreed not to seek the "casual vacancy".

Then Ian changed his mind without telling anyone. Why he did this is a mystery to most. That's what hurts our cause as a united front.

Ian's actions gave some at auDA the excuse to knock back Shane yet again. It's patently obvious that Shane has a powerful opponent or two within the ranks of the decision makers. People that say one thing to his face, and then do the opposite behind it. Shame on them.

So in summary, it's a bit like a classic Chinese dish - it's "sweet" that Ian (as a substantial domain investor) is now a Demand Class director; but it's "sour" how it was achieved.

In my opinion of course.

 

[DomainNames]

auDA Board tips

"Wrangling tricky board types
21 Sep 2017
From the institute's member publication Board Builder, July 2017 edition
A board meeting isn't a family dinner, predicated on the idea that everyone should get along, avoiding contentious subjects."​

https://www.communitydirectors.com....al&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

 

[findtim]

its an interesting article, i do however feel there are far more cards in the deck.
if that interests you i'd suggest these 2 books:
"Personality Plus: How to Understand Others by Understanding Yourself " the title says it all, great for sales, best when face to face.
and "The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts" also really great if you have kids.

tim

 

[Bacon Farmer]

Perhaps you should start a new thread -> auDA Book Club?

 

[findtim]

good idea, but maybe " tims inspirational, motivational, enlightened book club for purveyors of fine literature " ?

tim

 

[Bacon Farmer]

Back on topic; why haven't the board approved recent member applications?

http://www.domainer.com.au/auda-memberships/

 

[snoopy]

Back on topic; why haven't the board approved recent member applications?

http://www.domainer.com.au/auda-memberships/

To block AGM voting no doubt.

 

[Bacon Farmer]

I wonder if the minutes shed any light on this issue.

 

[DomainNames]

I may be standing as a candidate for the 2017 election.

Too many issues are not properly being addressed.

I have not stacked the numbers by buying other memberships in demand or supply but if I proceed I will lodge a statement and what I would be seeking auDA and Board to work on.

With 20 years in international domain names as both supply and demand I want to see auDA progress not cover ups and excuses. It needs to be fixed.

auDA & Ausregistry makes a lot of money every year from paying .au registrants.. where does all this money really go? I will seek the answers.

It is time for more transparency and more accountability.

The .au name space has been damaged by poor decisions and poor management. It needs to be fixed or I agree the Australian Commonwealth Government Department of Communications should take it all over as they are currently considering!

 

[snoopy]

I may be standing as a candidate for the 2017 election.

Too many issues are not properly being addressed.

I feel you are doing a vital role contacting the media about AUDA and drumming up support against .AU. I do not think we would have got those latest news articles (The Age/SMH) if you were on the board. So we would lose an important voice with all of AUDA's muzzling that they do on directors.

The other thing is I think we need to avoid the issue of “vote splitting”. i.e. if you ran I suspect it would probably be 20 or so votes less to Nicole and Shane. It potentially means someone pro .au could get in if we start watering down our votes by having 3 or more candidates.

I agree with you that many issues do not seem to be getting addressed, the namespace has been mismanaged and AUDA continues to massively damage the .com.au extension with a combination of of the .au proposal and long term red tape.

Existing directors must do a better job of liaising will all those who voted them in, especially the people they don't seem to get along with.

 

[Nicole Murdoch]

I understand that we would be running against each other so my motives here will be questioned, but I agree with Snoopy. Don't run. We will appear fractured. We need to stand together as a united community with the aim of improving auDA. If we have too many candidates we look loose and disorganised. We should not become the very thing we are fighting against.

 

[Nicole Murdoch]

I wonder if the minutes shed any light on this issue.

If only we could see the minutes we would be able to answer that question. I suspect the answer will not be reflected in the minutes. What we need are the documentations which led to the decision being made, and those that discuss the decision (and the reasons for the decision) not just the documents that reflect the decision as made.

 

[DomainNames]

Taking on board the calls from a few people I will be running. It is important I gain access to the wider membership numbers to get them some facts and figures even if it is just for the candidate statement. Too few members even read this forum or others. Those voting auDA members need to know far more in some cases.

Other candidates/ members are welcome to pass their votes onto my candidate ballot.

I will push things are far as possible on the Board and whenever possible do the best thing for the .au name space and the millions of .au registrants plus supply registrars and resellers ( lower wholesale .au pricing).

Supply may be interested to know I support the many parties from supply who are also calling for the lower wholesale .au price so they also cane make some more money that auDA and Ausregistry currently enjoy while keeping the .au globally price competitive at retail. I have supply experience also and I know for too long they also have not seen that promised wholesale .au price reduction as per the 2008 wholesale registry contract renewal term obligation which has seemingly been swept under the carpet.

After the media did some initial stories about auDA in recent months the auDA's CEO told me personally I was "on the right track" and "follow the money".... so something really stinks here.

 

[Scott7]

Imagine how quiet it will be around here when both FindTim and DomainNames are relegated to posting about WordPress Plugins.

 

[snoopy]

Taking on board the calls from a few people I will be running. It is important I gain access to the wider membership numbers to get them some facts and figures even if it is just for the candidate statement. Too few members even read this forum or others. Those voting auDA members need to know far more in some cases.

Other candidates/ members are welcome to pass their votes onto my candidate ballot.

Am am not against you running (given I agree with 100% of your points of view), but I think the real risk is the vote getting split more than it needs to be and we end up losing seats at the table. We'd end up with 3 candidates running similar policies.

I would suggest thinking about whether you believe you would have the 50 or so votes it may take to get in, because if you don't it may well mean a distinct advantage is being given to the pro .au camp. I can see the worth of getting information about AUDA out there in the candidate statement but what is the result a year from now if someone misses out by 10 votes and you end up with 20 votes? We had this type of situation last year.

Here is last's years vote. I count 4 people there against .au (Tim Connell, Jim Stewart, Shame Moore, Nicole Murdoch). If those 128 votes were split by 2 people only it would have been a much closer race.

 

[Bacon Farmer]

Put it off for 12 months and run against Tim?

He is the one goading you into running right?

 

[Scott7]

Put it off for 12 months and run against Tim?

This is the way to go. We've already got two really strong candidates. If we have three, the vote gets split and we end up with only one candidate getting elected or possibly none. The lessons of what happened at the last election, as Snoopy outlined, need to be learned.

 

[DomainNames]

Tim, I think you promised me your votes if I ran .. Let me send you some proxies when they are ready

 

[snoopy]

Tim, I think you promised me your votes if I ran .. Let me send you some proxies when they are ready

Who will get your preference votes?

 

[Bacon Farmer]

Why haven't the minutes been posted from August?

https://www.auda.org.au/about-auda/our-org/board-meetings/

Are directors too busy reading Dntrade to approve the redacted to meaningless minutes? Just post them in full!

I'd vote for someone who backs transparency, not these current say one thing and provide mushroom feed clowns.