As Dana mentioned earlier, elections for the Board of Directors are
coming up. Today is the day when we will start the nomination process
for prospective board members.  If you feel you have the time and
ambition to perhaps do a bit of quick learning, help organize AHA as it
moves toward 501c3 status, help oversee the creation of more mature
educational programs, guide the acquisition of better tools and
workspaces for happy hackers, and create a weightier presence around
town, please consider running for the board!  The board term is six
months long, and you must remain a member in good standing during this
period.

Here's the breakdown of important dates for elections:

- Today - October 18: People can start nominating themselves or others
over this mailing list.

- October 18: NOMINATIONS: If you nominate *yourself* or wish to accept
someone else's nomination, send an email explicitly stating that you are
running to bo...@allhandsactive.com *by this date!* Any confirmed
nominees might also want to send a note to this list so that people know
they are running.  I will also send out periodical reminders of
confirmed nominees as I collect them.

- October 19 - October 25 ABSENTEE VOTING: If you know that you are
unable to make it to the voting party at AHA on the evening of the 25th,
you will be able to submit your absentee ballot at the front desk during
this period. We will send along more info on this as the date approaches.

- October 25: ELECTIONS: We host a themed Build Night in which the goal
is to build a board! Converge on AHA at 7:00PM, eat potluck-style foods,
and cast your ballot.  We will tally votes at 10:00PM.

- October 26: New board is put in place.

We will be using an instant-runoff-style vote. You will assign each
nominee a number from 1 to N (N being the number of nominees we have by
the 19th). Higher numbers represent the nominees you favor most, with 1
being your least-favored. We will add up all of your ranking values and
pick the five highest-scoring nominees, who will become the next board.

If you are a fully-paid Standard Member ($50), or Student or Starving
Hacker Member ($20) in October, you are entitled to one vote. You may
become a paying member at any time up until the 25th if you would like
to be counted for this election.

And here's the current board:
Dana Nelson
Jamison Lundy
Michael Senkow
Nathan Dotz
Nathan Yost

Please post any election-related questions to this thread.  If you have
matters of a sensitive nature, you may also email the board directly at
bo...@allhandsactive.com .

Thank you, and see you for elections on October 25th!

-- Nate Y.