Nomination for Board for Ed Geraghty

[tuoni]

I have been mulling this over and come to the decision to throw my hat into the ring for a position on the Board.

I want the board to become an effective body - at the minute there is too much inertia to get things happening in a timely fashion. Hopefully I can help act as a catalyst to get things moving.

I would, if possible, prefer people to ask me questions which I can answer rather than having me post a huge wall of tl;dr text. See my sig for stuff I have been up to in the last 18 months, please ask questions and I will get back to you

[cabalamat]

I think you'd make a good governor, and I am minded to vote for you.

[tuoni]

Thanks

[borgs8472]

Evening Mr Shadow foreign secretary I have lost your Skype, please message it to me.

Actual question, will this election just be a formality as you, a obviously qualified candidates runs for the open position? For instance, a powerful drive to instigate change /reform are a couple of issues to stand on, get elected then have a mandate to push though those issues. Other than effectiveness and inefficiency, what specially are you out to change?

I ask this, not because you need to convince me of specific issues per se, rather I'm interested so see if you involve the wider membership to support reform, vs doing things more quietly from within

[tuoni]

Evening Mr Shadow foreign secretary I have lost your Skype, please message it to me.

Actual question, will this election just be a formality as you, a obviously qualified candidates runs for the open position? For instance, a powerful drive to instigate change /reform are a couple of issues to stand on, get lected then have a mandate to push though those issues. Other than effectiveness and inefficiency, what specially are you ut to change?

I ask this, not because you need to convince me of specific issues per se, rather I'm interested so see if you involve the wider membership to support reform, vs doing things more quietly from within

Thanks for asking I really hope this isn't a "formality". I honestly hope that people will judge each candidate on their own merits... and I *certainly* want this to extend to me.

What I want to change is fairly simple. The board is a body of 12 people who are supposed to represent the members. This has not happened. Having seen the potential candidates for these two positions, I would use this as an opportunity to implore any wavering board members in a position similar to that of those who have resigned to do the same. The board needs new blood.

I welcome any other questions... probably clarifications on the above?

[ajehals]

I have been mulling this over and come to the decision to throw my hat into the ring for a position on the Board.

It's great to see you putting yourself up for this position. It would be ideal to have someone with your experience and drive on the board.

--

For those who don't know, I've worked with Ed continuously since I became involved in the party, on IT related stuff from well before Ed stood up to take on the IT lead and on the ground at events and elections. In fact we've spoken on the phone at least every few days for a long time, largely because there has usually been something I needed help with and he was in a position to deal with it, and would.

In my view, as a representative of the party Ed has done an exceptional job, attending events all over the country. Ed has spent hours manning stalls at events like ORGCon and The Peace in the Park festival, getting the Party's positions out to people who wouldn't normally see them and doing the hard work of getting the set-up right and even helping me put up.. something tent-like. He has pitched in during election campaigns, doing the hard work of getting people to look at the party as a viable option for their vote. He has done the kind of boot work that we find it hard to find volunteers to help with, and done it well.

What has been less public has been the organisational stuff. He faced a huge drama on taking over the IT team, with issues with how systems were put together, backups, consistency, security and documentation (and the rest..). He dealt with them without direction and without the kind of support that would ideally have been provided from the party, living up to the 'Certa Cito' ethos. There is still a lot of work to do, but Ed has managed to put the Party's IT systems on to a level footing, prioritised what needed to be done, delivered more than I thought possible and has now left it in capable hands. That was a great achievement in the face of urgent requirements from multiple directions. If he can bring that kind of troubleshooting, analysis and dedication to his role on the board the party will be in a decent position.

In terms of politics, I think Ed would agree that we differ significantly in some areas, not on what make up the party's core positions, but certainly on the periphery. Yet even with that taken into account I rely on him for advice and suggestions within the fledgling policy process and when looking for decent ways of presenting a particular idea.

Ed is one of the reasons why I am involved in the party, his professionalism is one of the reasons the party's credibility has visibly improved, his hard work is one of the reasons why our membership losses are being reversed, his optimism is one of the reasons we continue to push forward and he is one of the people whose hard work has put us in a position where 1 in 20 people voted for us in Manchester Bradford. These are all good reasons for anyone to vote for him in this election.

I want the board to become an effective body - at the minute there is too much inertia to get things happening in a timely fashion. Hopefully I can help act as a catalyst to get things moving.

The role of the board is an important one for the party, it requires commitment, even if it is less visible than some of the other roles within the party. It is vital for continuity and for the effective running of the party. In my view we need people with Ed's experience on it if we hope to achieve the kind of change nationally we want to see.

TL:DR The party would be lucky to have Ed on the board and has my support and my vote.

Some quick questions:

What I would like to know is:

1. Whether you will be able to reconcile your responsibilities to the PPI board with those to our own?

2. What you think the board should be doing within the Party?

3. Where you would like to see the Party in 4(ish) years time?

[PeterBrett]

The board is a body of 12 people who are supposed to represent the members. This has not happened.

I consider this to be a somewhat simplified view of the Board's role. In particular, one of the important functions of the Board is to provide a longer-term direction and consistency to the party's activities, and this is reflected in the fact that Board members are elected for five years. In addition, it's important that the Board not, in general, second guess the decisions made by the NEC, as this would hamper their responsiveness and freedom to exercise the authority of the positions to which they have been elected. We certainly do not want to get into a situation where members feel entitled to demand a full-scale Board investigation whenever they disagree with an NEC decision. In my view, normally the Board should only be visible to the membership at large in cases of serious misconduct, or when substantial changes need to be made to how the Party is run or its overall direction.

Board members "represent" the membership by quietly, patiently and responsibly watching the Party's activities, and only using the Board's considerable power when actually necessary to protect the Party's integrity. The Board should be invisible unless things are actually are going wrong.

[cabalamat]

one of the important functions of the Board is to provide a longer-term direction and consistency to the party's activities, and this is reflected in the fact that Board members are elected for five years.

In terms of longer term direction, what plans have been made rregarsding fighting the next big election that's coming up, the European one in June 2014? Since we will need lots of money to do this, is a fundraising strategy planned? When will fundraising start? How will it be publicised?

[PeterBrett]

Since this is an operational matter that falls within the Campaigns Officer's remit, I recommend that you direct this question to him.

[PeterBrett]

By the way, Ed, I second your nomination.

[tuoni]

By the way, Ed, I second your nomination.

Thank you, I appreciate it.

[tuoni]

The board is a body of 12 people who are supposed to represent the members. This has not happened.

I consider this to be a somewhat simplified view of the Board's role. In particular, one of the important functions of the Board is to provide a longer-term direction and consistency to the party's activities, and this is reflected in the fact that Board members are elected for five years. In addition, it's important that the Board not, in general, second guess the decisions made by the NEC, as this would hamper their responsiveness and freedom to exercise the authority of the positions to which they have been elected.

Please be assured this wasn't a personal attack! I appreciate that the NEC need to be responsive, etc - I have been a major part of that until recently. I would say, however, that the board hasn't really done much in terms of providing any direction at all. The operation of the board is glacially slow - by the time anything is decided by the board, it is such old news that it is almost deemed irrelevant.

We certainly do not want to get into a situation where members feel entitled to demand a full-scale Board investigation whenever they disagree with an NEC decision. In my view, normally the Board should only be visible to the membership at large in cases of serious misconduct, or when substantial changes need to be made to how the Party is run or its overall direction.

Actually, I disagree. If enough of the membership are pissed off enough with actions of the NEC, they should have every. damn. right. to call for an investigaion into it. Whilst this is a hypothetical, I am fairly shocked that you would suggest the membership should not be in a position to do such a thing if needed.

Board members "represent" the membership by quietly, patiently and responsibly watching the Party's activities, and only using the Board's considerable power when actually necessary to protect the Party's integrity. The Board should be invisible unless things are actually are going wrong.

Whilst I don't disagree, I also don't think that the board should be 12 people who are less active than some of our membership without an elected position. Again, this is not intended to be an attack against any members of the board... but I would be surprised if the membership at large, even those who are active on our forums, could name even half of the members of the board. I realise I've been living in a little bubble of activity, but I want, now, to spread that out to the wider membership.

[tuoni]

It's great to see you putting yourself up for this position. It would be ideal to have someone with your experience and drive on the board. <snip>

Some quick questions:

What I would like to know is:

1. Whether you will be able to reconcile your responsibilities to the PPI board with those to our own?

Both of these can, and should, feed into each other. I am currently in a position where I am co-ordinating the actions of Pirate parties globally - smoothing tensions and co-ordinating between fully establilshed parties on an international scale is, to me, no different to working internally within the UK. I actually hope that they can complement each other.

2. What you think the board should be doing within the Party?

Members of the board should be far more active in the party as a whole than they currently are. The board is probably in about the correct role as it should be in a party of our size. It should just be more responsive, rather than being a black hole.

3. Where you would like to see the Party in 4(ish) years time?

Actually, I hope that is outside of the scope of this position.

Personally? I would love if we could get some people elected, even on a local scale. Maybe especially on a local scale. I will do everything I can to make sure that we can make this a reality within 4 years.

[topperfalkon]

You have my support too Ed, for what it's worth!

I hope and believe that you'll add some drive to the Board and encourage more involvement and interaction throughout the Party.

[liamreed]

As most of the governors have stepped down due to time restraints how many hours a week would you be able to offer the board in a general week? I am aware that a member of the board does not require weekly amounts of time but I see it as a good benchmark.

[tuoni]

I am in the position that I can offer several hours a night for Board-related stuff. Basically, I can put in as many hours as I am needed for, as I have done in the past.

[topperfalkon]

I am in the position that I can offer several hours a night for Board-related stuff. Basically, I can put in as many hours as I am needed for, as I have done in the past.

And I can vouch for that statement.

[liamreed]

Wow. A seconded statement is definatly something new and what I would like to see more oftern. Also you are the only candidate that has stated you will give as much time as the board requires which I think is something that shows that your looking to make the board more responsive to current events. Obviously correct me if this isn't a path you want the board to take.

[tuoni]

Wow. A seconded statement is definatly something new and what I would like to see more oftern. Also you are the only candidate that has stated you will give as much time as the board requires which I think is something that shows that your looking to make the board more responsive to current events. Obviously correct me if this isn't a path you want the board to take.

Well, the board's role shouldn't actually be one of current events - that's the role of the NEC and press. However, you are correct that I want the board to be more responsive, but responsive within their role.

[topperfalkon]

I do have one question for Ed. You currently have duties as the Foreign Spokesperson and PPI Treasurer. If you then become a Board Governor and you reach a period where you have a large number of jobs to do each for each of those roles, how would you prioritise between them? Could you provide rationale for that decision?

This isn't a trick question. I genuinely want your views on where you feel this role would sit in the grand scheme of things amongst your other roles and your reasoning.