Advisory Board Elections
Now that we have invited members to be on the Advisory Board, and created a clear mandate for the work of the board, it is time to begin talking about the elections for the user representatives.
To ensure the board members reflect a representative cross section of the LiveJournal community we will hold two separate elections. There will be one user-representative for the Cyrillic language users of LiveJournal (i.e. those who use Russian as their principal language of communication) and another for the non-Cyrillic segment of LiveJournal (i.e. those who use English, German or any of the other main LiveJournal languages). Posts regarding the elections will be announced in news and ru_news. The elections will run at the same time and in the same manner.
Timeline
The nomination and election process will cover the entire month of May. For the first two weeks, we will have open nominations, and the chance for users to second the nominations. When the nominations close, there will be time for LiveJournal to certify the candidates who have been nominated and for those candidates to communicate with users regarding positions or campaigning. The elections will be open for the entire last week of May. The new LiveJournal User-Representatives on the Advisory Board will be seated on June 1, 2008.
Requirements
To be considered as a candidate for the Advisory Board elections, a user must be:
Voting
To be eligible to vote in the election, a user must have created their account before March 11, 2008. Voting will take place in the form of a poll, which will remain open during the entire last week of May. The winner will be determined via Instant Runoff Voting. This means that users will be able to select their first, second, and third choice candidate. 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 re-assigned to their second-choice candidate. That system is repeated until a clear winner is evident.
Serving on the Board
Logistics
The LiveJournal Advisory Board will meet annually on the third Wednesday/Thursday in September in Istanbul; this year, the week of September 17, 2008. They will hold quarterly conference calls with the management and Board of Directors to consider major issues. LiveJournal will reimburse all travel or 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. There will be a chairperson appointed by the LiveJournal, Inc. management from the existing (non-user-representative) members of the board for the purposes of convening.
Non-user representatives will serve for a term of two years, after which they can be re-appointed upon mutual agreement. Elected user-representatives will serve for one year, with annual elections held each May. User-representatives can be members of the board for two consecutive terms before being obliged to stand down. Users who have previously been elected to the advisory board can put themselves forward for nomination again once they have spent at least one year off the board.
Should a user-representative of the LiveJournal Advisory Board find themselves 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 their position on the advisory board. Should a non-user-representative of the LiveJournal Advisory Board find themselves 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 member will be replaced at the discretion of LiveJournal, Inc. Additionally, there is nothing to preclude current or former user-representatives from being appointed as members of the advisory board in the non-user-representatives positions.
Meetings
The agenda for meetings and conference calls will be agreed between the LiveJournal, Inc. management and the chairperson of the Advisory Board. Management will respond promptly to any request for documentation and the LiveJournal Advisory Board will have its own independent secretariat.
The LiveJournal Advisory Board may publish position papers by majority vote, including dissenting position papers should LiveJournal 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 the discussions. Advisory Board members are welcome to discuss their role and work of the board in public forums but are asked to respect the confidential nature of the discussions which take place.
The LiveJournal Advisory Board members previously announced each bring a unique perspective; law, business, knowledge of social media, and LiveJournal history and development. The elections for the LiveJournal user-representatives are intended to provide the unique perspective of the community of LiveJournal. Although there will still be at least one more appointed member, the Advisory Board will be a small group (seven to nine members) which is able to discuss and provide advice on any topic which is now, or becomes in the future, important to LiveJournal.
To ensure the board members reflect a representative cross section of the LiveJournal community we will hold two separate elections. There will be one user-representative for the Cyrillic language users of LiveJournal (i.e. those who use Russian as their principal language of communication) and another for the non-Cyrillic segment of LiveJournal (i.e. those who use English, German or any of the other main LiveJournal languages). Posts regarding the elections will be announced in news and ru_news. The elections will run at the same time and in the same manner.
Timeline
The nomination and election process will cover the entire month of May. For the first two weeks, we will have open nominations, and the chance for users to second the nominations. When the nominations close, there will be time for LiveJournal to certify the candidates who have been nominated and for those candidates to communicate with users regarding positions or campaigning. The elections will be open for the entire last week of May. The new LiveJournal User-Representatives on the Advisory Board will be seated on June 1, 2008.
Requirements
To be considered as a candidate for the Advisory Board elections, a user must be:
- at least 18 years old as of May 1, 2008
- nominated and elected using their primary LiveJournal username
- 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 Istanbul, Turkey the week of the third Wednesday in September (September 17, 2008)
- available for quarterly conference calls, and for consultation via telephone or email correspondence should a situation arise which would need their advice
- willing to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement in relation to the work and discussion of the Advisory Board in order to keep the confidential nature of discussions which might arise
Voting
To be eligible to vote in the election, a user must have created their account before March 11, 2008. Voting will take place in the form of a poll, which will remain open during the entire last week of May. The winner will be determined via Instant Runoff Voting. This means that users will be able to select their first, second, and third choice candidate. 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 re-assigned to their second-choice candidate. That system is repeated until a clear winner is evident.
Serving on the Board
Logistics
The LiveJournal Advisory Board will meet annually on the third Wednesday/Thursday in September in Istanbul; this year, the week of September 17, 2008. They will hold quarterly conference calls with the management and Board of Directors to consider major issues. LiveJournal will reimburse all travel or 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. There will be a chairperson appointed by the LiveJournal, Inc. management from the existing (non-user-representative) members of the board for the purposes of convening.
Non-user representatives will serve for a term of two years, after which they can be re-appointed upon mutual agreement. Elected user-representatives will serve for one year, with annual elections held each May. User-representatives can be members of the board for two consecutive terms before being obliged to stand down. Users who have previously been elected to the advisory board can put themselves forward for nomination again once they have spent at least one year off the board.
Should a user-representative of the LiveJournal Advisory Board find themselves 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 their position on the advisory board. Should a non-user-representative of the LiveJournal Advisory Board find themselves 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 member will be replaced at the discretion of LiveJournal, Inc. Additionally, there is nothing to preclude current or former user-representatives from being appointed as members of the advisory board in the non-user-representatives positions.
Meetings
The agenda for meetings and conference calls will be agreed between the LiveJournal, Inc. management and the chairperson of the Advisory Board. Management will respond promptly to any request for documentation and the LiveJournal Advisory Board will have its own independent secretariat.
The LiveJournal Advisory Board may publish position papers by majority vote, including dissenting position papers should LiveJournal 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 the discussions. Advisory Board members are welcome to discuss their role and work of the board in public forums but are asked to respect the confidential nature of the discussions which take place.
The LiveJournal Advisory Board members previously announced each bring a unique perspective; law, business, knowledge of social media, and LiveJournal history and development. The elections for the LiveJournal user-representatives are intended to provide the unique perspective of the community of LiveJournal. Although there will still be at least one more appointed member, the Advisory Board will be a small group (seven to nine members) which is able to discuss and provide advice on any topic which is now, or becomes in the future, important to LiveJournal.