We are happy to announce that the second round of nominations for Group 1 Officers and Department Coordinators have been finalised. The following individuals have confirmed their acceptance of nomination. Included are comments provided by the nominator(s) of each, nominees are listed in no particular order.
Note: Comments are verbatim from nominators except where editing was required to remove personal information about individuals other than the nominee.
Marketing & Communication Department Coordinator
Eric Lamy
Learn more about Eric|closed
“Eric Lamy has tried to involve the Francophone community successfully and could help the international community to regain enthusiasm on our CMS ” (Eric Lamy)
Holger Kremers
Learn more about Holger|closed
“Holger is a very engaged Joomler since Joomla was born. He is admin of the Facebook German Joomla group and always answering user questions in very professional manner.
He has more then 20 years experience on graphic and webdesign, marketing, project management and moderation of events in Germany and international.
Holger is part of the marketing group in the German community and has a lot of good ideas for improving Joomla marketing.” (Harald Leithner)
"Holger is a a active part of the local marketing group in Germany. He knows Joomla right from the start and is a active admin of the Joomla DACH group on Facebook .
He also is highly experienced in marketing, project management, design and event management." (Viviana Menzel)
"Holger has experience in marketing, goes directly to the goal and is willing to work hard. He has a lot of great ideas. He is a longtime member and a positive and constructive team player." (Jan Pavelka)
"[Statement submitted in languages other than English]" (Ufuk Avcu)
"Working over 20 years in the marketing branche, Holger has a very deep insight of what user want and how one have to communicate to reach their target groups.
Holger is on the one hand a very pragmatic "getting things done" person but on the other hand very able to create big visions which brings projects forward. All this things in a very calm, structured and intelligent way.
So I think Holger is a perfect fit for the upcoming challenges the Joomla! project has to tackle in the near future but can also bring the whole project to a new level in communication and structured marketing." (Benjamin Trenkle)
"I know Holger for a while now and I think he can bring new and fresh ideas to the Marketing Team as well as support the current team as best as possible so the current team can continue the good work done in the past." (Tobias Zulauf)
Statement from the nominee:
"It makes me proud to be nominated for the position of Marketing & Communications Department Coordinator. And yes, I am ready to fill this position in case of an election.
From my point of view, one of the important tasks of this position in the future, besides the positioning of Joomla 4 and a positive mood for the Joomla project in general, is the establishment of a culture of respect and togetherness as well as a structuring in the project management of the Marketing & Communications Department in order to achieve a better recruitment and distribution of tasks."
Vice President
Daniel Dubois
Learn more about Daniel|closed
“I have know Daniel for some years now and specifically i can say that he is passionate about the development of Joomla. What Joomla needs is passionate members which Daniel is not an exception. With this and many other things that makes him suitable for this position, i hereby Nominate him for the post of Vice president - Joomla." (Abdulkadir)
“I think Daniel is perfect to represent Joomla all over the world : involved with volunteers, liked by community, etc.." (Eric Lamy)
Statement from the nominee:
“Dear Joomla friends !
I have been nominated by several members of the Joomla community to held the position of Vice President of OSM board. Beyond the surprise, I am very flattered and very honored that someone can imagine me in this important position. Thank you!
If I decided to accept this nomination, it is to Make Joomla Great Again. What does this mean for me?
With the next release of Joomla 4, it is essential that we all support this major version the highest and the furthest possible. Therefore, it will be necessary to mobilize and support all the actors involved in the Joomla eco-system to make this launch successful. End users, web agencies, developers, webmasters, templaters, volunteers, everyone must be involve and must participate in this major event.
Making Joomla great again, it also means that we must also support and revive some projects currently waiting for decisions, directions. I am convinced that among our fantastic volunteer community, we can find the necessary skills for these projects.
But it is also important that we take advantage of this new major release to continue to grow our community. If I'm elected as vice president, I will propose to OSM board members several projects aiming at the development of the Joomla users in the world. And I will make sure that the selected project will be effectively implemented during my mandate.
If I am elected as Vice President, I commit myself to:
- continue the excellent work of Alexander Metzler in this post (thanks to him),
- represent and promote Joomla anywhere and under any circumstances,
- facilitate and encourage the work of volunteers from all project teams,
- support and help all the ideas that make it possible to develop the number of Joomla users.
Thanks for your attention.
Daniel"
Brian Teeman
Learn more about Brian|closed
“Because he is involved in the project from virtually the beginning and understand this community like no one else" (Radek Suski)
Statement from the nominee:
"As the role of Vice President is still completely undefined - so let me declare what I will do if elected.
1. Monthly reports on my activities
2. Continue to speak and represent Joomla at events
3. Arrange for an audit of expenses to address community complaints raised
4. Help to ensure that all teams and departments are active and regularly reporting their activities.
5. Help to define the roles and responsibilities of all board directors and ensure they are being satisfied.
6. Continue to help the marketing team create videos.
7. Act as a counter-balance to the President to ensure that community comes first, second and third.
8. Review all current non-code projects to ensure that they are still relevant, appropriate and effective.
9. Work to change a culture of "commenting about the person" when we should be "commenting about the issue"10. Being a board member is an important role - it is not a badge to wear - and I will ensure that as a board member I will work to fulfill that role and not polish my badge
Finally as we work towards the release of Joomla 4 we need to have advocates who are both knowledgeable and presentable if we are to succeed in spreading the Joomla love. Just as not everyone can be a developer or a designer being a public face also requires special skills.
I am not a developer, I am not a marketeer, I am not a blogger, I am not a public speaker, I am not an event organiser, I am not a CEO. I am much more than the things than I am not. I am all of these and none of these.
I am in my 50th year and for 35 of those I have been involved in community and volunteer organisations serving on many governing boards.
Before voting please consider what it is Joomla needs from a VP and if your choice is the best person for that. Of course we have a crazy electorate for this election. Every team leader gets a vote as do the Officers (even if that means voting for themselves). Just look at all the teams that we claim to have and the leaders that allegedly exist. Far too many of them are redundant, absent or non-functioning - just check the volunteer portal and see how many of those teams have reported nothing at all in the last year - we need to change this.
As a board of leaders and coordinators it is not the board's role to do everything. If the board is doing all the work then the structure isn't working. We are a community of volunteers from across the world and we should be working to increase contributions and not by doing everything ourselves. That's not healthy and it's not sustainable.
Joomla has a great future ahead, but only if we all stand up and contribute. Standing on the sidelines and throwing popcorn or waiting for others to stand up and do something will never achieve anything. We can and should be doing much more in all areas of Joomla to increase engagement and contribution. We should and must look at removing barriers to entry and make it even easier for those that wish to contribute."
Hugh Douglas-Smith
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“Having spent the past 18 months working on the OSM board as Department Coordinator (Operations) I have gained a good working knowledge of how the board operates and a better understanding of where my skills might best be applied. I see the role of Vice President as one who will pro-actively work closely with the President to support and lead the project.
I have worked with Joomla since the beta versions of 1.5 and taken on a number of roles within the project over the last 10 years. Outside of Joomla I run a number of software and web development companies, am chairman of a couple of UK based charities which involves leading and managing a group of 3000 volunteers. These are all skills and experiences which I believe will assist me in being effective as Vice President." (Hugh Douglas-Smith)
“Hugh’s passion for Joomla is obvious and when combined with his organisational skills makes him the perfect candidate for this role. He has shown his leadership skills in the Operations Department, is a respected figure in the community, and would thrive with the new challenge of VP. He is able to take a step back from things, analyse impartially and objectively, and then present well constructed ideas and opinions. Hugh has always been very supportive when I have needed advice, and truly cares for Joomla and everyone in the community. He is the best choice for this role." (Jaz Parkyn)
Statement from the nominee:
"As a board member of the OSM board I have run the operations department for the last 18 months. During that time I have taken an active role within the board and assisted wherever my knowledge and skillset have provided benefit. One area that I have been involved is as a member of the Conflict Resolution Team. This requires a very objective outlook and the need to look impassively at cases in order to reach a recommendation that can be put to the board for approval. Joomla as a global organisation has volunteers across many cultures and differing social backgrounds, as an organisation it is vital that we recognise this if we are to reduce and ultimately remove many of the levels of toxicity which have existed. We must remember, we are a community and as such that community can only exist and thrive if the members of it are able to exist in a safe and cooperative environment. To achieve that, I believe we need to accept and recognise the following values:
- Everyone has a point of view, and from their standpoint, that point of view is entirely valid.
- No one can be forced to accept someone else’s point of view and are equally entitled to maintain their own.
- No one is entitled not to be offended, however we each have a duty of care to ensure that wherever possible, we do not actively try to offend anyone else.
- Our community is made up of many contributors who add value to the whole across a range of disciplines, the Joomla community is made up not solely of skill programmers, but many other skills and each has its own place and value.
If elected as Vice President I see my role focused in two key areas:
- To compliment and assist the President and board in setting and implementing the future strategy
- To drive a strategy to reduce the areas of toxicity within the community, establish a safe environment for everyone and to return to being a welcoming environment which is able to recruit new volunteers
To achieve this I plan to work with the programs directory to organise more scheduled meetups where individuals and teams are able to come together and work in a face to face environment, this has already proved highly productive within the JED4 development and I look to extend this across other areas. Outside of Joomla I have a lot of relevant experience, for the last 18 months I have help the position of chairman of a couple of large UK charities which in turn rely on a core of 3000 volunteers. I see many parallels where those experiences in ensuring that a safe and welcoming environment is maintained can be applied within the Joomla community."
Treasurer
Brian Mitchell
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“Brian runs his own agency, understands the community, is a US Citizen and has shown interest in joining the board. He fits the bill all round" (Rowan Hoskyns Abrahall)
Statement from the nominee:
“I am grateful for my nomination to the Treasurer position on the OSM Board. I enthusiastically accept the nomination for the OSM Treasurer position and hope that my contributions to the board will provide encouragement for others that have worked so hard to make the most of the Joomla experience. If elected Treasurer, my goals included providing:
- exceptional stewardship of OSM and Joomla financial resources with a spirit of openness and transparency.
- leadership in assessing and executing the plans already underway to optimize the for-profit and nonprofit organizational structures to support Joomla! and its ongoing development.
- encourage a deep and broad understanding of Joomla first and foremost as a community of contributors. These contributors volunteer to create a world class platform of software and experiences that let people the world over work "all together"."
Next Steps:
- Voting Ballots will be going out to those who vote for Officer roles within the next day. An outline of who will vote and how votes are tallied can be found in the Bylaws.
- Voting Ballots for Department Coordinators will be going out to Team Members under the 2 departments involved to vote for their Department Coordinator.
- Voting parties will have 7 days to cast their votes.
- Votes will be tallied and announcement of newly elected officers will be posted approximately 48 hours after voting closes.
According to the Bylaws (link below), existing Officers also vote for new officers.
Reference:
- OSM Bylaws: https://www.opensourcematters.org/images/documents/25-Jul-19-OSM-ByLaws.pdf
- Joomla! Election Cycle: https://www.opensourcematters.org/organisation/directors/election-cycle.html
Thank you!