[wplug] The WPLUG Board election (and how not to suck)

[David Ostroske]

I wanted to write a little something about the upcoming Board
election, among other things. I tried to include enough exclamation
points to keep things interesting. So please bear with me.

I had been nominated, along with Bill Moran and the other fine folks
on the ballot, at the WPLUG meeting in September. Neither Bill nor I
was there at the time. When I heard the news, I accepted the
nomination, but I later turned out down, because I didn't think I'd be
able to make the time to serve on the Board. So Bill Moran's name will
replace mine, and I'm happy that he, Mathieu Dubé, Vance Kochenderfer,
Dave Kraus, and Mike Semcheski are running. They're all good folks,
and they all deserve your 3's.

For the first time, we've got two write-in candidates running for the
Board as well, Brian Seklecki and Bob Turley!

Brian and Bob have both done some great things for WPLUG in the past,
and I think they deserve some recognition. They missed the nomination
process, but we do allow write-ins on the ballots. They need to get
named on over half the ballots to count, though. So please, when you
vote, write in both Bob Turley and Brian Seklecki, and give each of
them some points, because they deserve 3's, too.

But don't vote for me! If you got the old ballot with my name on it,
throw it out, and download the new one. I don't want your 3's (though
you've got plenty to spare)! I don't even want your 1's! Remember, a
vote for Dave O is a vote for Windows Vista! And we don't want that!!

Oh my gosh. I hope I don't regret that... Vista suck gravel, folks!
Use Linux! Run Ubuntu, Fedora, or even FreeBSD, and hand out copies to
your friends! I volunteered to attend Software Freedom Day, but I
never showed up. (Another reason why I took myself off the ballot-- I
suck.) But I did give my boss copies of Ubuntu and the OpenDisc the
day before. (So I don't totally suck.)
http://www.ubuntu.com/ http://fedoraproject.org/
http://www.freebsd.org/ http://www.theopendisc.com/
http://vistasucks.wordpress.com/

You may be wondering, "Hey where's Beth Lynn in all of this?" Well,
Beth Lynn is LIVE TOMORROW NIGHT AT THE LINUX LINK TECH SHOW!
WEDNESDAY, 8:30 PM! TUNE IN FOR IT! She's going to be talking about
Ohio LinuxFest 2008, which she is playing a big hand in this year.
http://www.tllts.org/

In case you didn't know, Beth Lynn has decided not to run for the
Board this year. She's planning to do something extremely important:
she's going to make sure that WPLUG has lots of interesting speakers
and events on tap this year! Not all on her own, though. She wants to
be on the Program Committee, and I'm sure she could use your help!

Y'see if you want WPLUG to do something, all you gotta do is either
(a) get the ball rolling, or (b) get behind a ball that's already
rolling and push it again. I'm going to try out for the Internet
Committee, because I want to kill the spam on the mailing lists. I
used to do it years ago, but I got stuck behind a firewall at work.
Now I've got a new job, and I'll have the time and the access to do
this important thing again.

There's much that can be done, and you don't even have to be a Board
member to make something happen! (That's true for most organizations,
I've learned.) Last year, the WPLUG Board ended up doing all the stuff
that the WPLUG Committees should have been doing, and according to
some of them, they got burnt out fast. It's much easier to get on a
Committee than on the Board, and in fact, it's even easier to do
whatever you want, just so long as you can show that you can do it!
http://www.wplug.org/w/index.php/ByLaws#7_COMMITTEES
http://www.wplug.org/w/index.php/Special_Rules_of_Order#Newsletter_Committee_Special_Rule_of_Order

Okay, so don't forget to vote by October 4 if you're a member, and if
you're not a member, you can still pitch in $20 by this Saturday the
27th of September to become a member! It's like WQED, only we can't
give you a tote bag if you join. Thanks to your dues, we keep the wiki
and the mailing list online and going strong, among other things!
http://www.wplug.org/w/index.php/Election-20081004
http://www.wplug.org/w/index.php/Membership

(By the way, if you really want a tote bag, you can buy one and
support WPLUG that way, too.)
http://www.cafepress.com/wplug.15900725
http://www.cafepress.com/wplug

-- 
-- Dave O