Calling all members! Would you like to join the Tinker Different Board?

[Branchus]

It’s time to put forward nominations for new members of the Tinker Different Board. As per the Governance Policy, the board is split into Groups A and B, with the term for group A concluding at the end of 2024.

The governance policy also specifies no more than two consecutive terms can be held by any individual, which will see the departure of founding members Kai Robinson (President) and Bruce Rayne (Public Relations Liaison) from the board, so it’s time for some fresh blood!

The roles up for nomination are:

• President
• Director of Policies and Guidelines
• Public Relations Liaison

If you think you have what it takes to step into one of these roles, and you have been active on the Tinker Different forums for at least six months, we invite you to nominate yourself for a board role. Nominees will have two weeks to post their submissions, which will be followed by a two week voting period. The three nominees with the most votes will be invited to a smaller forum with the existing board to determine new board position assignments and outline responsibilities and expectations.

If asking yourself whether you are suitable, all three roles require good written and verbal communication skills.

President
The president of the Tinker Different board provides leadership, chairs monthly board meetings, settles any disputes and works with the secretary to set meeting agendas.

Director of Policies and Guidelines
The Director of Policies and Guidelines works closely with the of Director of Admins/Mods and ensures the forum and Discord conduct and governance policies are relevant and up-to-date.

Public Relations Liaison
The Public Relations Liaison is responsible for writing any public announcements (like this one) or any direct messages from the board to members or stakeholders. Written communications must be clear, succinct and unambiguous.

If you would like to be in the running for a Tinker Different Board position, reply to this thread with your “pitch” which can include why you wish to be on the board, your suitability for a board role or any contributions you might like to make as a board member.

Nominations end at midnight UTC 20th December 2024 and will be immediately followed by the voting process.

 

[jdmcs]

Hi, my name is Justin D. Morgan, and I’m running for re-election to the Tinker Different Board of Directors.

I am currently serving on the board as the Director of Policies and Guidelines. In this role, my responsibility has been to propose any needed changes to the policies and guidelines for the forum. In the spirit of “be excellent to each other,” I’ve tried to make sure the policies and guidelines are simple, as no one wants to read a legal document just to participate on a forum.

My re-election won’t guarantee that I’ll be serving in this role again, but my hole goal as a Tinker Different Board member will be to make sure we have a forum where all Tinkerers feel free to participate, and to foster an environment where we help each other in the hobby. In essence, an environment where we can “be excellent to each other” no matter if we’re building our first vintage PC, restoring a Mac, wrenching on a car, or repairing a toilet.

Even I’m not on the Tinker Different forum, you’ll find me hosting livestreams on YouTube every Tuesday and Thursday evenings, where you’ll find me working on the computers my generation grew up with.

If you’ve found the forums to be well run over the past two years, I would appreciate your strong consideration for re-election to the Tinker Different Board of Supervisors.

“I’m Justin D. Morgan, and I wrote this message.”

 

[trag]

Hello, my name is Jeff Walther and I would like to volunteer to participate on the Board if you are short of candidates.

I guess that is not a ringing shout of enthusiasm, but it is a quiet acknowledgement of responsibility. I enjoy using the forums, though I am not currently as active as I have been at times. If help is needed, someone must step up, or this great on-line environment may eventually falter. So I am available if needed.

I've been participating in Macintosh discussions since some time in the 90s, starting on the comp.sys.mac.*** hierarchy of news groups. I've provided advice on PowerWatch, XLR8yourmac, dealmac.com and that other forum. I was a moderator on the MacGurus forums while they existed. And I've written a couple of ancient articles on converting the Adaptec 2940UW into a PowerDomain (Mac conversion) and speed bumping the Daystar Turbo601 from 66MHz to 96MHz.

I'm retired, so I have time for the board meetings (unless one manages to fall on the weekend of my Son's wedding).

I think the current direction of the forums is great, so I do not see a need for changes. I would like to attempt to contact Jeff Keller, Mike Breedon and whoever owns MacGurus these days and ask if they have archives of their old forums (PowerWatch, XL8yourmac, Macgurus) and, if so, determine if there is some way that TinkerDifferent could host read-only versions. There was a wealth of user experience in those old forums. Oh, and the Compatibility Database is another thing to ask Mike Breedon about.

I'm happy to serve in whatever capacity is needed and do not feel strongly about any of the three available positions.

 

[Androda]

Given that there were only two nominations (trag and jdmcs) and three open Board positions, voting wasn't necessary in this case.

To @trag we extend a welcome to the Board, and we welcome back @jdmcs to the Board for his second term.

We will be reaching out to figure out scheduling for the first Board Meeting of the year.