ELECTION RESULTS

[Admin]

The 2006 election ballots were counted on 12/13/2006
The new member of the board of directors is Margaret Johnson.
The change in the bylaws passed.

Details will be posted soon.

Admin

[Admin]

Here is the data on this years election.

We had three candidates for the board position.

Jaz Gordon
Margaret Johnson
Sheanna Moondancer

The counting of the ballots was done at the December board meeting on 12/13/2006.

The counting was supervised by the head of operations with the actual counting done by two members of staff. There were three board members present to observe the process.

There were 1124 Ballots mailed out.
There were 192 returned.
This figures to 17% of the eligible membership voted in this election.

The winner of the board position is Margaret Johnson.

By-law ballot issue.

The by-law change passed.

The change removes the ability for the board to be able to require specific qualifications for candidates who wish to run for the board beyond those already defined in the by-laws.

There were:
147 votes in favor (yes)
45 votes opposed (no)
This was 77% in favor which is over the required 2/3 (66%) majority of the returned ballots.

The board would like to thank those of you who took the time to vote and return your ballot.

Thanks to the candidates for this years election. Without members like you who are willing to commit themselves to time and energy all year, this festival would not be able to exist.

Admin

[Jareth]

Will we have vote counts for the board position?

[Phoenixrising]

Will we have vote counts for the board position?

Does it really matter what the actual count was?

[Admin]

Will we have vote counts for the board position?

The simple answer is, no.

Traditionally Dragonfest has not released the number of votes each candidate received. They were released one year when several of the candidates wanted their results posted.

Admin

[Jareth]

Will we have vote counts for the board position?

Does it really matter what the actual count was?

It does to me personally. I would like to know how the platform of the candidate I supported was supported by the general constituency. If a platform won/lost by a slim/wide margin it lets everyone else know what people are really thinking. The more information people have, the more they can participate in the process.

All this was kicked around last year as reasons for releasing the poll results. I would hope the answer is not, "Just sit down and shut up, drone. You won/lost so just be satisfied. We'll give you any opinions we need out of you, so please don't pester us with a request to actually KNOW what's going on."

[Phoenixrising]

Will we have vote counts for the board position?

Does it really matter what the actual count was?

It does to me personally. I would like to know how the platform of the candidate I supported was supported by the general constituency. "

First off let me say congratulations to Margaret.

Jareth

While I appreciate your desire to see how the general constituency voted in regards to the candidtate you supported, the simple fact is only one candidate posted answers to any of the questions posed to all 3 candidates on this forum.

The other two honorable candidates did not respond to the questions and therefore we were not given a clear idea of the direction they wanted to see Dragonfest go or how they saw their roles as a Board Member would have an affect on this direction. Because of this it was hard to determine what their platforms were other than what was in their original campagin statements.

[Alyx]

Will we have vote counts for the board position?

Does it really matter what the actual count was?

It does to me personally. I would like to know how the platform of the candidate I supported was supported by the general constituency. "

First off let me say congratulations to Margaret.

Jareth

While I appreciate your desire to see how the general constituency voted in regards to the candidtate you supported, the simple fact is only one candidate posted answers to any of the questions posed to all 3 candidates on this forum.

The other two honorable candidates did not respond to the questions and therefore we were not given a clear idea of the direction they wanted to see Dragonfest go or how they saw their roles as a Board Member would have an affect on this direction. Because of this it was hard to determine what their platforms were other than what was in their original campagin statements.

Which in itself is pretty interesting.

One thing I feel is important, which is why I agreed to it last year, is complete disclosure. It is hard though, when you are the loser, to have those numbers posted.
I think what might serve us better then knowing the numers, is knowing why people voted for who they did. But that would require a level of disclosure some may not be comfortable with.

Alyx

[rwitte42]

I think what might serve us better then knowing the numers, is knowing why people voted for who they did. But that would require a level of disclosure some may not be comfortable with.

Alyx

I support Jareth's request for disclosure of the details, but I'm just not up for fighting that battle this year.

I'll jump right in and disclose my vote and the reason for it.

First -- congratulations to Margaret! In fact, congratulations to all three candidates for being committed enough to DF to put themselves forward for this daunting role. I raise a glass of mead to all three of you.

I voted for Jazz because she had spoken often about wanting improved communication from the Board of Directors. She also made it quite clear in prior threads that one of her goals was to push a viable e-commerce strategy for DF. Those were hot buttons for me.

I admired Sheanna's open discussion of her position and wished the other two candidates had been as responsive. In the end, though, we simply disagreed on the role of fundraising for DF.

I wasn't really sure what Margaret's focus was. Nevertheless, she has my respect and support in her new position on the board.

[Jareth]

The other two honorable candidates did not respond to the questions and therefore we were not given a clear idea of the direction they wanted to see Dragonfest go or how they saw their roles as a Board Member would have an affect on this direction. Because of this it was hard to determine what their platforms were other than what was in their original campagin statements.

Honestly, whether responses to questions posted in the forum were enough for me to make my decision about my impression of their platform is no one else's decision. To say otherwise is to say that anyone who voted for someone OTHER than Sheanna didn't know her platform and Margaret won by the vote of ignorants.

As Rob noted, all three candidates have had a history with Dfest. Some were more vocal than others in different places. Sheanna was the only one to post here, sure. Jaz has posted in DFDiscuss for years. Margaret has a long history of involvement and reputation.

Again, the candidate I supported I did so because I supported their platform. It's not germane whether I got the information for that support through responses to questions on this board, their bio in the candidacy announcement, or knowledge of them in general.

However, the only way that I can determine whether the things I support in a candidate are shared by others with verifiable information is the poll numbers. I prefer not to make my decisions based on rumour.

My reason for wanting the numbers is to make decisions and participate in Dfest as a fully informed member. If someone can give me a good reason for withholding information from the members of a legally incoporated body other than "tradition" or "someone's feelings might get hurt", I'd love to hear it.

[Phoenixrising]

The other two honorable candidates did not respond to the questions and therefore we were not given a clear idea of the direction they wanted to see Dragonfest go or how they saw their roles as a Board Member would have an affect on this direction. Because of this it was hard to determine what their platforms were other than what was in their original campagin statements.

Honestly, whether responses to questions posted in the forum were enough for me to make my decision about my impression of their platform is no one else's decision. To say otherwise is to say that anyone who voted for someone OTHER than Sheanna didn't know her platform and Margaret won by the vote of ignorants.

Jareth

You certainly do read alot into what I said. You are certainly free to make any decision you want through your own impressions, no one is denying you that right so chill dude. I was no way implying that anyone who voted for anyone other than Sheanna was ignorant. I just found it extremely interesting that questions posed to all three candidates on this forum were only answered by ONE candidate running for the Board.

It's my understanding this was the offical site for that sort of "OPEN" communication and it didn't happen. I for one am disappointed. Did it influence my vote, maybe but then again maybe not. It's all water on the bridge at this point but it would have been nice to have had that open communication going on during the time we had to vote. Maybe next year's candidates will be more willing to communicate with the voting population.

Again chill, no one was implying that you were ignorant with your vote.

[Jareth]

You certainly do read alot into what I said. You are certainly free to make any decision you want through your own impressions, no one is denying you that right so chill dude. I was no way implying that anyone who voted for anyone other than Sheanna was ignorant. I just found it extremely interesting that questions posed to all three candidates on this forum were only answered by ONE candidate running for the Board.

It's my understanding this was the offical site for that sort of "OPEN" communication and it didn't happen. I for one am disappointed. Did it influence my vote, maybe but then again maybe not. It's all water on the bridge at this point but it would have been nice to have had that open communication going on during the time we had to vote. Maybe next year's candidates will be more willing to communicate with the voting population.

Again chill, no one was implying that you were ignorant with your vote.

A) I didn't say I voted for Margaret or Jaz.

B) I'm more trying to point out that regardless of how someone learned of their candidate's position, it'd be useful to know how it was supported.

C) I agree it is disappointing no one else bothered to post responses to the questions. I can't say that I know the other two candidates read the forum, but I'm pretty sure they know it exists and its purpouse.

D) Given your opinion above, I would think you would be interested to know how many votes Sheanna's responses gained her. If she only got 4 votes despite her active engagement, I'd be interested to know that.