Election Statement

Wed Nov 9 11:54:58 PST 2005

I've thought about this for quite some time, and have finally decided to put my 
name up as a candidate to run for BayLISA board this year. I hope that this 
statement isn't arriving too late to make the ballot.

For those who don't know my face (and that's most of you ;) I'm one of the 
folks that helps setup and teardown the monthly meetings, lay out the pizza and 
drinks (or doughnuts), operate the camcorder to record the meetings (although 
yes, we've been without camera for several months now, but when we *did* have 
one, I was the guy sitting next to it in the corner of the room this year).

I also (via the goodwill of my employer) provide meeting space and phone 
conference facilities for the monthly board meetings when needed.

So that's a frame of reference. Let me say a little about myself, and then why 
I'm running for board and what I hope to achieve.

Like most of you, I'm a System Administrator. I've been doing this sort of work 
for about 12 years, on two different continents. At different times I've 
focussed on systems, networks, security, application development, even helpdesk 
support ;) I've done a lot over the years and thats why I understand the need 
for a place like BayLISA and what it brings to enrich our personal and 
professional lives.

For the last year or so I've attended almost every board meeting, and watched 
the process carefully, through rough and smooth. It's been an enjoyable 
experience even when it wasn't so enjoyable. The personalities and people 
involved make it a very alive and challenging endeavour.

If I'm elected to the board I would pledge to continue the good works of those 
who've been there before me. I would try to continue to develop the vision of 
the organization, making it the best example of a sysadmin organization 
anywhere. I would promote and continue to grow the membership through helping 
to provide relevant services that people need or want.

It's hard to be too specific, but one thing thats come up recently is reforming 
the election system to be a more modern, and statistically more fair method. I 
would like to get involved in helping to implement that for next years 
elections as well.

At the end of the day, I'm just a sysadmin who wants to help, and even if not 
elected I will continue to help because it's the members that make this 
organization work.

Cheers,

Alan