<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
Following on from a previous thread, I am announcing that I am now
receiving nominations from those interested in forming a new
steering committee for Best Bits. I won't be running myself,
because I will be acting as returning officer. If there is
insufficient interest to form a steering committee or if the list
votes not to appoint those who volunteer, then the current more
informal status quo will continue.<br>
<br>
The current <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://bestbits.net/wiki/main/procedures/">procedures</a>
(rules) for Best Bits suggest a steering committee size of 10
(largely because of some ambitious targets for regional
representation), but in my view this is far too large. In any case,
the procedures allow us to fall back to a smaller committee if not
enough volunteers run. In my opinion about 5 nominees would be a
decent number.<br>
<br>
The procedure and the associated deadlines will be as follows:<br>
<ul>
<li>If you are interested in running for a position in the new
steering committee, please forward the following details to me
personally by <b>14 August 2017 </b>(you may cc the list, but
you don't have to). If you want to nominate someone else,
please get their consent first, then follow the same procedure:</li>
<ul>
<li>Your name and institutional affiliation</li>
<li>Your gender (this is required because of a gender balance
provision in the procedures)<br>
</li>
<li>Your agreement to the Best Bits <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://bestbits.net/wiki/main/procedures/">guiding
principles</a></li>
<li>If you plan to represent a specific region (Sub-saharan
Africa, Middle East and North Africa, East/Southeast Asia and
-Pacific, South Asia, Latin America and Caribbean, Europe,
North America/Other), which one and on what basis (eg.
residency, citizenship, or both)</li>
<li>A statement about your candidacy of between 100-250 words</li>
</ul>
<li>If at least 5 nominations are received, I will proceed to set
up an online election and distribute voting tokens to all those
have been subscribed to the list for 2 months prior to the
election being called. The voting tokens will be distributed on
<b>21 August 2017</b>. Even if fewer nominations are received
than places, the election will still be held because "No
candidate" will be included as an option, for those who do not
wish one or more candidates to serve as steering committee
members.<br>
</li>
<li>The election will be open for 10 days closing on <b>31 August
2017</b>.</li>
<li>I will announce the results of the election on <b>1 September
2017</b> and the result will either be that the candidates
take office, or that we need to reach a consensus on the list
about whether to accept the results of the election
notwithstanding that it does not fully comply with the standards
set out in the procedures (eg. if there is a poor gender
balance).</li>
</ul>
<p>If anyone has questions about this process please let me know.
Otherwise, I will start receiving nominations between now and 14
August. Thanks and best of luck!<br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Jeremy Malcolm
Senior Global Policy Analyst
Electronic Frontier Foundation
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://eff.org">https://eff.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:jmalcolm@eff.org">jmalcolm@eff.org</a>
Tel: 415.436.9333 ext 161
:: Defending Your Rights in the Digital World ::
Public key: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.eff.org/files/2016/11/27/key_jmalcolm.txt">https://www.eff.org/files/2016/11/27/key_jmalcolm.txt</a>
PGP fingerprint: 75D2 4C0D 35EA EA2F 8CA8 8F79 4911 EC4A EDDF 1122</pre>
</body>
</html>