2024-05-20 Trustee Election

The election will start on the 20th May 10th June this year and it will run for 7 days. All members, no matter how remote, will be able to vote.

The election will take place electronically using OpaVote.

You will receive an individual voting email to your HMS registered email address. Our returning officer this year, like last year, will be Gareth Howell.

There are five open positions. Four of these will be 2 year terms, with the fifth being a one year term. The fifth position is due to the resignation of Joshua Kelly. As per our Constitution, positions will be ordered by length of remaining term, longest first, and awarded in order as each candidate passes the winning threshold.

Election Hustings and Voting

Once the nomination window closes, your details will be put on the Wiki before the voting period begins. The election voting will start on 20th of May and run for 7 days - keep an eye on your emails, Discord and future newsletters for more details.

We'd like to run two events this year, which will enable potential candidates to find out more information about the role of trustee, and for members to find out more about.

• 2nd Trustee Open House - 7pm on Wednesday the 17th - in the Blue Room. This will be an opportunity to find out more about the role of trustee within the hackspace - what is involved, how the space runs, how you will benefit the community, etc.
• Nominee Hustings - TBA - An opportunity for membership to ask questions to the nominees. This will take place between the end of the nomination window, but before voting begins, and we'll aim to find a time that works for as many nominees as possible.

Nominees

A minimum of six nominations are required to run this election. Unfortunately we were one nomination short of this requirement and so the nomination window will be re-opened. As per our Constitution this will be for the full 21 days required. The more nominations the better, so if you are considering it, please do consider putting your name down for the election.

The required number of nominations has now been met. We have a total of nine nominations.

Photo	Nominee
Chris Reddish	Hi All, I'd like to put myself forward for the upcoming trustee election. I have been a member of the space for nearly 2 years, I try to give back to the space where I can and been an active member of both the membership and laser team giving membership tours and helping out with the laser team where I can. Maintaining the philosophy of the Space and ensuring it's survival long term is something I feel is of great importance and the main driver for myself in regard to motivations to become a Trustee. With Kind Regards Chris Reddish
Eddie Podgorski	Hi all my name is Eddie. I would like to put myself forward as a Trustee. I previously was a Trustee for Nottingham Hackspace 2019 – 2020. I unfortunately had to stand down early due to a another fixed commitment. This commitment no longer exists so I do have the time now. During my time as a Trustee I was active in organising Hack the space days x 2 along with another Trustee at the time Dan Spencer. I also was the only Trustee that attended the full day of Greenfest. In preparation for Greenfest I re worked all the broken duck and repainted them for the Hook a Duck, which was a great attraction for the kids on the day. There are many things the Hackspace still needs to move forward and working, as a team member with other Trustees and Hackspace members I hope to be able to contribute to a bright future for Nottingham Hackspace.
Edgar Jasper	Hi. I'm Edgar and I would like to volunteer to run for one of the trustee positions. I have been a member of the space for many years but there have been periods where I wasn't around much when I have been living / working away from Nottingham. I've been more involved in things since last year. I am currently a member of the Membership Team so some people may have met me giving one of the tours to prospective members. Giving the tours has also inspired me to try out various tools that I might not even have known existed without the hackspace. For me, trying out new things is one of the best things about the hackspace. I am also a member of the Laser Team. I am in the space most weeks usually near the laser or the table saw or in the Blue Room. The hackspace is a member-run organisation and I think the core function of the trustees is to support this. This can mean things like taking on the more boring day-to-day tasks, facilitating members who wish to set up new events or groups and encouraging members who wish to get more involved in sustaining and improving the space. I am in the space frequently. I am well-organised. I am happy interacting and talking to people and listening to their ideas. I think these things would make me a good trustee.
Emily Roe	Hi, I’m Emily also known around the Space as Starmouse. I’ve been a member of the Hackspace now for just under 8 years after joining to make use of the electronics area for some projects I was working on (still sadly unfinished). Since then I have found Nottingham Hackspace to be a vital and exciting place full of interesting people happy to share knowledge and skills if asked. During difficult times it has been a reason to get out and to be with like minded people. I do tend to get a little focused and after discovering we had a laser cutter I dove in with enthusiasm, eventually learning enough to begin giving back firstly by sharing what I had found out and then by becoming Team Lead and building a solid team to help others learn and use this tool. Now I feel the time is right to try to give more back to what has become almost a second home and refuge, and I would like to do what I can to help guide the Hackspace and keep it growing by becoming a Trustee. Thank You Emily
Graham George	I am very new to HackSpace, in fact I haven’t even availed myself of the facilities yet, as I am a carer to my wife and have to find free time. I am nominating myself primarily because you need six nominees and you only have five; so I thought it might help get through an impasse. As for my skills: I am a professional photographer (55 years experience), although I run my photography business on a part time basis (for the above reason). I am also a broadcast screenwriter and writer of prose fiction (BBC Radio 4 and BBC 1), as well as a filmmaker. I was Chair of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain for 3 years, Vice President of The European Writers’ Congress for 2 years and I am a voting member of BAFTA. Please note, I will not be heartbroken if I’m not one of the elect because as already mentioned, my free time is constrained by my caring responsibilities.
Greg Bowring	I joined Hackspace after Lockdown to use the high tech tools. I got into laser cutting and 3D printing and then fell in love with machine embroidery. I have since become a member of the Craft Team and now regularly induct new members onto the tool. As a trustee I would put energy into getting the downstairs classroom ready for use. Eventually I would love to see this room being booked by external organisations as a way of generating funds. I'd also like to jazz up the space by replacing upgrading signage to nice laser cut replacements, as well as integrate air quality monitoring into the tech infrastructure (e.g. checking for excess VOCs from the spray booth, or unexpected laser cutter & 3D printer fumes). I cannot comment on the likelihood of an AI Bot eventually learning which members are in the space by secretly analysing their farts. But I would defintely not condone that. I have commitments on most Wednesdays so would only be able to attend occasional Wednesday meeting / tours. But apart from that I am available most other late afternoon / evenings after work for trustee business (potentially with a baby strapped to my chest, if that's ok!).
Shane Preece	Hello, Whilst I've not been a Space member for long, it's already very clear to me how important this community is. It seems that every time I've come in I've met a new and lovely person - many of my fellow nominees amongst them. I know that the Space and the culture around it don't *just happen*. It takes work from the membership and the Trustees: I'm full of energy to help out with that. I've recently been putting efforts into getting the Wiki up-to-date and more accessible for new members to find their way around. One of the things I'll be putting more energy into is making everyday maintenance tasks easier for everyone: it needs to be more obvious how to take the bins out and access to the right vacuum at the right time will make it more likely for people to fit into their time. There's a lot of passion and energy around the community. We might do well to try and implement a few more project management techniques (bear with me!) to help focus that energy. I'm mostly thinking about HS 2.5. It's going to be a fantastic space - we just need to get it there. Also, I'm hoping that between some Hack The Space Day magic and me getting to grips with being part of the Snackspace Team, we can bring some kind of chocolate back to the vending machines. (Shout out if you know anything about refrigeration!) Thank you for reading! Shane Preece
Simon Townsend	Hi Everybody, I’m Simon and I’d like to volunteer myself to be another Trustee for the Hackspace. I’ve been a member since at least early last year, sometimes seen quietly making a mess of wood shavings around the wood lathe (which I tidy up afterwards of course), and enjoying sharpening the occasional blady thing. Occasionally I’m in the electronics area with some basic soldering or experimental making broken things work projects. I also enjoy the facilities in the metalwork area (some of it involving squashing old spoons) and look forward to it all getting up and running (rotating might be better) downstairs. Useful things I’ve done at the space have been painting a couple of coats on floor in the new metalworking area downstairs, sometimes joining in the HtS days (how satisfying to make a broken power tool work again!) and I attend monthly meetings occasionally. I perhaps haven’t been about enough to be well known in the crowds, but there is a need for Trustees, I’m motivated and available to be more involved. I’ve been a director in the renewables industry with a small SME, so used to responsibilities of running a business. I’d say my particular skills are GSOH, a creative approach, practicality and balancing risk. I’ve also previously worked in community mental health, from which I learnt a lot. I also write quite bad poetry. Thanks for considering me for trustee :-) Simon Townsend
Tony Shannon	I’ve been a member of NottingHack since September 2010, and had the privilege of being involved in the early stages of the hackspace as we found our feet. When I moved away from Nottingham in the 2012, I kept my membership and returned often - it’s always a pleasure to see the hackspace alive and in use, and to enjoy the creative range of projects folks bring to life within our walls. On return to Nottingham, I recently joined the membership team and while I wasn’t considering becoming a trustee initially, I’m happy to help out and see if I can bring something to the table. To give you a flavour of me, I work in Information/Cyber Security, I used to enjoy hacking on physical projects around the space - if you’ve ever been caught out by the corner edge of the hackspace HAL 9000, I apologise! I enjoy learning new skills, and sharing what I’ve learned in any capacity. I used to run the lock-picking workshops, and would be happy to restart if there was interest. Likewise I’d be interested to know the skills and talents we have amongst our members, I’m sure there are opportunities for us to help folks grow in their maker journey. Otherwise feel free to say hi, I’m always keen to meet new folks and learn about your projects!

Election Timeline

Due a shortage of nominations, the nomination window has been re-opened. The dates have been adjusted accordingly.

Item	Time/Date	Notes
Nomination Announcement	10th April
Nomination Window Starts	00:01 16th April	This window helpfully covers the May members meeting for more publicity
Nomination Window Ends	23:59 6th May (21 days) (ends 9th May)
Publish Nominations	7th May daytime	1 day to publish nominations usually on the wiki
Nomination window re-opened
2nd Nomination Window Starts	00:01 8th May
2nd Nomination Window Ends	23:59 28th May (21 days)
Required number of nominations met. Voting can proceed!
2nd Publish Nominations	29th May daytime
14 day gap window	00:01 7th May - 23:59 19th May (12 days) 29th May - 9th June	Use this for hustings or other meeting nominees
Election Begins	00:01 20th May 10th June
Election Ends	23:59 26th May (7 days) 16th June
Election Results Announced	27th May 17th June

Nominating Yourself for Election

Nominations are now closed.

In order to run the election, there must be six nominees.

If you wish to apply, please email your application to trustees@nottinghack.org.uk. You must include your full name, a photo of yourself and a paragraph on what you feel you can bring to the role of trustee. The trustee job description can be found here.

You may also wish to include your experience and interests, what you’ve already done for the Hackspace community, and why members might want to choose you for this important, people-focused role.

We'd like to see as many members as possible applying to be Trustees, and applications from women and minorities are especially encouraged.