Experts Round Table Network

the software to run the elections securely and anonymously is set up. That means we can now hold elections for a 5-person Governing Council. Anyone who would like to run, or would like to nominate another person to run should PM Sandi. In the next couple weeks, we will hold "campaigns" where candidates can explain why they should be elected and other members can talk to them. After that, we'll have our elections and finally make the GC a reality. The term for the initial GC will be 6 months.

The GC has an odd number of seats, so while I still reserve the right to veto things that will make me legally liable, I will not in general be breaking any ties, and at least this first time, I am not running for GC myself. Thus, the GC members will truly be running the site. I'm looking forward to possibly getting some new people involved and taking the next step toward making the site democratic.

One last thing about the GC, that I noted in my initial announcement about the site, but would like to emphasize one last time: the GC's power is limited too. I'm the type who believes, "the less government, the better." In a well-run democracy, the government steps in to arbitrate and make important decisions, and otherwise, leaves its citizens alone to go about their business. However, since this means the GC will only be involved in particularly important matters, we need to elect people who will do the job competently and responsibly.

In case anyone is wondering, the jurisdiction of the GC will extent to expertsrt.com as well. It is a Community Governing Council, not just limited to the .net side.

=D> That's great to hear...I hope that doesn't mean you cannot run, because I was going to nominate you  :-$

Well, I will still have the veto on legal/financial affairs on .com so I think we are best to let the GC have the scope they need to guide the sites in the direction the Community wants to go.  I will make my opinion known and take part in debates, but I think if the GC is going to be independent you and I have to do the owner/admin thing.  The GC needs to represent the interests of the Community, not the interests or the site owners.  

As site owners, we already have the power to get things done, and we need the restraining force of an independent council.  I think the importance of the Council is diminished if either of us takes on the dual role of owner and GC member.  A balance of interest; a limit on power, and the need to discuss and negotiate are important to making the democratic part of things work.  A seperation between administration and governance is desirable I think.

Plus it also gets into workload.  Part of giving up the forum was that it was taking most of my time and the content side was not getting enough of my attention, even though that was where the growth was.  Being on the GC for either of us would mean a reduction in the time available to improve and get things done. A lot of the small incremental changes I have been doing to the content side are not very noticable, but they each increase the traffic a little, and I have the time to do the traffic analysis to know what to edit and change to get ofne or two position higher in the SERPs.  I was trying to do too much at once and the more we can spread the load, the descision making, and control the better we will be.

OK, wise words dinosaur  :^)