2016-07-21 Election

The election will take place electronically using OpaVote, and you will receive an individual voting email to your registered email address.

The nomination window is now closed.

Michael Erskine has stepped down as trustee

There is one open trustee slot, and the following members have put themselves forward to be trustees.

We will start the election on the 21st July and it will run for 7 days. All members, no matter how remote, will be able to vote. You will receive an email to your registered email address.

Our returning officer for this election is Nick Baumer who will set up and handle the OPA vote system for the election.

Photo	Nominee
Russell Houghton	If you viewed this in May, you will find much the same but with some changes and additions. Most of my life I had been trying to create an equivalent to our Nottinghack for my own use. My delight at discovering what likeminded people had achieved with Nottinghack was inspiring, and fully worthy of switching my efforts towards helping make Nottinghack better. When I first visited Nottinghack the metalwork area was a single bench with a vice and a couple of old welders underneath, and a belief that no one joins Nottinghack for the metalworking. I have helped change that into becoming an integral resource that I hope people are inspired to use. I’d like to extend metalworking to include silversmithing and jewellery. I would love to help develop clay and pottery capabilities within the space. There are plans that within Hackspace 2.5 we will gain a kiln, I am keen to see that is capable of multiple uses, obviously firing clay but also as a heat treatment capability for metal, an enamel kiln for jewellery and for glass crafting, any others? I'm directly responsible for bringing to the hackspace the TIG welder, the polishing/grinder,the linisher, as well as lots of smaller hands tools. I have championed the purchase of the big and baby Startrite bandsaws. I helped set up, and help to maintain the Myford Lathe, the Bridgeport Mill, the welding equipment, the donkey saw. I recently provided the transport and organised the collection of the pledged for Warco GH-1330 lathe (a beautiful machine) https://nottinghack.slack.com/files/dpslwk/F1HFTGW06/perfect_lifting_tool_for_the_job_.jpg the new baby companion lathe https://nottinghack.slack.com/files/dpslwk/F1HESSCKA/mini_lathe.jpg the highly capable Wabeco 11400 mill http://emcomachinetools.co.uk/image/data/0/wabeco/F1210E.jpg the Axminster MB115 metal cutting bandsaw, together with lots of other tools, to the hackspace. Which I’m sure I’ll be involved with their setup and commissioning. I have a strong belief in having tools fit for purpose, generally choosing solid old tools over modern flimsy thin folded steel versions that aren't particularly safe and don't last. Currently I am part of the tools, metalwork and resources teams, and actively help maintain and repair the tools we have. With regard to tool use I have a strong belief in self certification together with providing help and assistance when asked for. I regularly teach people the delights of how to weld and how to shape metal. I do still consider the whole of the Hackspace to be work in progress and will continue to help the push to expand and improve its capabilities. I attended the local councils planning meeting for parking in the area, representing the interests of Hackspace and it's members, I also pointed out some of the areas missing drop curbs for accessibility. I’m currently investigating the council’s process to get the pavement height raised outside our new (2.5) entrance, to enable flat wheelchair access. I met with the National Lottery Funding Officer for our region, and discussed our proposed funding application. I arranged to be able to send our application form to her personally for her comments and advice, so aiding our now successful grant. (Massive thanks to Sue Dickinson for the actual writing and updating of the application). I am a member of the organising committee for Nottingham Green Festival, and am no stranger to working with others to achieve goals. I am also comfortable with dealing with conflict resolution should that need arise. I believe I can be more effective in helping the hackspace to progress and develop by becoming a trustee. J Russell Houghton BSc. in Engineering Product Design.
Toby Jackson	My name is Toby, and I've been a member of the hackspace for about three years now. In that time I've made some cool stuff, some awesome friends and maybe one or two enemies. I've also done my fair share of whinging, complaining and general curmudgeonly twining. I figure it's time I gave something back. I mean besides ridiculous projects for EMF and Maker Faire or strange items made of wood and perspex lying around the comfy area. The hackspace is currently undergoing a period of change and growth, and this is presenting us with some interesting challenges and new problems that we haven't had to deal with before. We are a bigger, more diverse and more complex group than we've ever been before. This is an awesome thing. The more people in the space the more cool stuff happens. However, it also means that we need to think about what we want to be, and how we want to become even more awesome. I want as many people as possible to be in on that conversation and in those decisions. I think the core of how we do this is in communication and transparency. I want to ensure that communication, both with the trustees and with the membership as a whole, to be simple, honest and reliable. I want every member to be able to find out what they need to know about the way the hackspace is run, and the decisions that are made, and I want every member to be able to feed into those decisions. In my life outside the hackspace I am a nurse, specialising in challenging behaviour, and as such I am used to meetings where passions are high and where everyone wants the best thing, but has different ideas of how to get there. I am used to working my way through difficult compromises and ensuring that as many people as possible are happy with the result and, more importantly, are aware of how that result was decided. I am also acutely aware of just how important trust and confidentiality are in helping people feel comfortable coming forward with concerns, complaints or other issues. These are the skills that I would like to bring to the table as a trustee. I also am quite used to the sight of blood, but I hope that this is not a skill that will be required. I want the hackspace to kick arse, and I want to make that happen with the help of every member who wants to join in. It's *our* hackspace, let's make it awesome.