At 00:01 Monday morning, voting opens for the position of Director, to fill the vacancy left by Tom Newsom’s resignation. You will receive an email from Opavote, containing a unique link to the voting page. Your vote is 100% confidential. Not even the current Directors can find out who voted for whom.
##About the vote
The voting system is Instant Runoff, which you can read about in detail here.
You vote by arranging the candidates in your order of preference. There are four candidates, listed below. Please read their information carefully, so that you can make an informed vote. There is also a “special” candidate, called REOPEN NOMINATIONS. If this candidate wins the election, then we start over again with a new set of candidates.
If there are candidates you think shouldn’t win, then leave them off your ballot, and put REOPEN NOMINATIONS in last position. If you think none of the candidates are suitable, then just for REOPEN NOMINATIONS alone.
You may visit the ballot page as often as you like, but when you press the green “Vote!” button, there is no going back. Your vote is final.
Voting closes at midnight, Sunday 15th October
##Candidates
###Paul Court
I am a regular at the space, co-running Thursday night Electronics, doing occasional Saturdays with the kids Pi group as well as a couple of annual events in the space such as the ‘Official Arduino Day’.
Personally, my background was in Electronics and Engineering. I am a company director (running my own business consultancy company) as well as working in an advisory capacity for a couple of charities, one for children and one for adults with learning difficulties. I was also previously on the management committee of the UK’s biggest model air show, a show run and staffed by volunteers.
For the space, I love to see people making (this is what we are here for after all) and would like encourage more show and tell sessions as well as community skills sharing workshops, building on our community of makers to help and educate. I strongly believe that this base is what makes SLMS the best makerspace and it’s this community spirit above all else that will drive us forward into the future.
###Omar Francis
I come from a corporate background spending the last 10 years working senior management roles within the financial compliance and legal industry. I have a wealth of experience in Project management, negotiation and operational proficiency.
I also have two of my own companies which I am director of. One business is a ‘start up’ in the Prop Tech industry which will launch to market in Q1 2018 and I also have another property management company with a residential property portfolio in central London.
I also have been serving as Vice Chair for my resident’s association for the last 8 years – I’ve been involved with tendering for new contractors, approval of expenditures, liaising with local council and hosting and chairing monthly meetings.
Tom Hedges
In my 10 months of membership, I have been incredibly impressed by the time, energy and expertise that members have invested in developing the space. I’ve been fortunate to learn a lot from my first few projects, and simply from being surrounded by fascinating and knowledgeable people. Where I’ve lacked practical skills to contribute, I’ve found ways to support the space through writing inductions, reviewing governance, and furiously raft-paddling.
As a software consultant, much of my work involves bringing people together to collectively agree goals and decide how they should be achieved - through a combination of discussion, advocacy and executive decision making. I feel those skills would translate well to the role of Director, where my primary focus would be to support the membership in making and enacting effective decisions. I would be honoured to have the opportunity to make this contribution to an organisation that brings joy to so many of us. Additionally, I would be happy to take on the role of treasurer - and as a Camberwell resident I’m often near the space in case of emergency.
Jonathan Laventhol
Dear Makers,
I’d like to stand for the role of director and hope you’ll vote for me. I’ve known many of the makers here for about three years and have been a member since March 2016, contributing experience in systems role (since November 2016), the governance group and health and safety, as well as practical things like going to fetch gear and leading a couple of workshops. I’ve learnt lots too, for example laser cutting, 3-d printing and screen printing.
Professionally I’ve been a company director for many years, including a 200-person international design firm, a 10-person software house and a 2-person music studio, and have had formal training in the legal and financial responsibilities involved; nowadays I’m mostly a consultant. We have come a fantastically long way since the shop-front space and the back rooms of pubs, and we have a great amount achieved and functioning. We nonetheless have much to do, particularly in the areas of getting it easy to join, easy to access and fun, safe, and comfortable to make and learn things in our space.
The areas I would focus on are helping the group communicate in helpful, respectful, and productive ways to further our goal of Getting Makers Making in an inclusive and constructive space.