[Air-L] Nominate Yourself for the AoIR Executive Committee!

Tue May 5 08:11:24 PDT 2015

Hello Anna,

I’m interested in nominating myself for one of the open positions on the executive committee. Responses to your questions are inline below.

Cheers,
Adrienne

> 1. What are your qualifications for this position (including prior experience and participation in AoIR)?

I’m currently an Assistant Professor at University of Illinois at Chicago in the Department of Communication. Before that, I was Assistant Professor of New/Digital Media and Director of the Center for Digital Ethics at Loyola University Chicago. Before, after, and during grad school I spent time as a user-researcher, information architect, and user-interface designer for a bunch of (now failed) start-ups, an educational technology division of a university, and Getty Images. My research interests include the social and cultural implications of new media, design, gaming, and ethics. I’ve just written a book about the culture of reddit based on a three year ethnography of the platform (Participatory culture, community, and play: Learning from reddit), and I’ve published in a number of journals. You can read more about my work at adriennemassanari.com <http://adriennemassanari.com/> and at uic.academia.edu/AdrienneMassanari <http://uic.academia.edu/AdrienneMassanari>.

My first interaction with AoIR was at IR 4 in Toronto in 2003. I was a newly minted MA student embarking on my PhD at University of Washington. As a grad student, I was struck by how welcoming and giving the AoIR community was - and it is this aspect of AoIR that I continue to cherish. Since then, I’ve attended something like 7 conferences (give or take), and am an active lurker (!!) on the AOIR-org list. 

> 
> 2. Please describe two or three short-term goals you would like to achieve through membership on the executive (including a rationale for each and how you would contribute to their achievement).

If elected, I have a few goals I’ll work towards:

First, I’d like the AoIR executive committee to create and open for member review a specific anti-harassment statement for its conferences and other activities. I know we have a diversity and inclusivity statement, but I’d like us to have a more formal policy regarding how harassment will be handled if it happens either at the conference proper, on the mailing list, and/or on Twitter, etc. (something, perhaps like Theorizing the Web’s statement: http://theorizingtheweb.tumblr.com/post/79357700249/anti-harassment-statement <http://theorizingtheweb.tumblr.com/post/79357700249/anti-harassment-statement>). This seems critical if we are going to make AoIR a safe space for everyone.

Second, I would like to continue to broaden our conference attendance to include more individuals from other fields - art, activism, game production, etc. To that end, I would like to see a reworking of the conference reviewing process and the kinds of presentation sessions we offer at AoIR. It’s been great to witness the inclusion of more flexible presentation styles (pecha kucha, fishbowls, birds-of-a-feather, etc.) in the last few conference programs, but I believe we can continue to think creatively about how to make AoIR a more inclusive space for folks in other fields. I’d also like to see some inclusion of “high-density” panels - where a group of 5-10 individuals have about 5 minutes to discuss the most exciting implications of their work and then they open it up to a larger conversation with the audience. I guess what I’m interested in doing is figuring out how to make AoIR conferences more conducive to conversations and exhibitions rather than just presentations (while still preserving the latter). I’m happy to brainstorm this further with the executive committee as well as take ownership of actually implementing whatever changes we decide upon.

Third, I’d like to start seeing us being more proactive in engaging the public on issues related to our work. There are a lot of great folks in AoIR doing tremendous research, but we seem to have little exposure beyond our corner of the world. I think something simple like compiling a list of individuals who are interested in being press contacts for particular issues might be a start. 
> 
> 3. What is your long-term vision for AoIR?

I’d like AoIR to continue its role as welcoming place for new internet scholars. However, I’d like it to grow into a space that also as provides mentorship, community, and networking possibilities for individuals at all stages of their careers. Now that internet research is fully ensconced as a legitimate field, it would be nice to continue broadening our concerns into policy, ethics, and things like open source publishing, etc. I know that AoIR folks have already done a fabulous job of starting this conversation - I’d just like to see us continue them.

> 4. What else should voters consider when deciding whether or not to vote for you?

Semi-serious answer: I have two cats. 

More serious answer: I’m pretty motivated and dependable when it comes to pitching in where needed. 

> On Apr 28, 2015, at 5:44 PM, Kendall, Lori <loriken at illinois.edu> wrote:
> 
> Hey Folks!
> 
> Please consider nominating yourself for a position on the AoIR Executive Committee. Help shape the future of this organization! Nominations close in one week. I've appended my earlier email below with instructions and detailed information. Don't hesitate to contact me or other current Executive Committee members if you have questions.
> 
> Lori Kendall
> President, AoIR
> ___________________________________________
> 
> 
> I am pleased to announce that AoIR is now seeking nominations for the new Executive Committee to take office in October of this year and serve until October 2017.
> 
> Below in this email, you will find: A. Time frame of the election. B. Description of the AoIR governance system and of the elected positions. C. Nominations and Elections Processes. And D. Questions for Candidates. Instructions on voting will come later.
> 
> A. Time Frame of the Election:
> 
> 1. Call for Nominations: opens April 20, 2015.
> 
> 2. Nominations close for all positions (4 officer positions and 3 open seats) May 5, 2015.
> 
> 3. Candidates will be listed on aoir.org and further information will be made available on our membership system, where discussion forums will enable interaction with the candidates.
> 
> 4. Voting begins May 21, 2015 at the balloting site. (Details for accessing this site will be sent in a later message through the membership system.)
> 
> 5. Voting ends June 1, 2015.
> 
> Election results will be announced on air-l. The new committee is formally introduced and assumes its duties during the AoIR conference in Phoenix, 21-24 October 2015.
> 
> B. AoIR Governance and Description of Elected Positions:
> 
> The organizational structure of AoIR is simple. There are 5 officers (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Graduate Student representative). The 9-member Executive Committee consists of these officers, plus the Past President and 3 open seat representatives. Elected officials hold their positions for two years. After two years, the Vice President becomes President. In this election, nominations are invited for Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Graduate Student representative, and 3 open seats. You may nominate yourself or someone else you think would do a good job. Details on the nomination procedure follow below.
> 
> Here are brief descriptions of positions:
> 
> President: Acts as "CEO" and supervises the organization. The President’s duties include serving as part of the Conference Committee. This position is not directly elected, as the Vice President becomes President after two years.
> 
> Vice President: "Back up" for President, performing various duties as they arise; becomes President after 2 years. The Vice President also serves on the Conference Committee.
> 
> Secretary: With assistance from the Association Coordinator, the Secretary handles records and membership matters and participates in decision-making by the Executive Committee.
> 
> Treasurer: Takes care of financial and related administrative duties (e.g., annual report to membership and U.S. tax authorities), including close attention to the annual Internet Research (IR) conference budget. The Treasurer serves on the Conference Committee.
> 
> Graduate Student Representative: Responsible for running graduate student activities. Participates in decision-making of the Executive Committee. The Graduate Student Representative must be actively enrolled in a degree program at the time of nomination and election. All members can vote for the grad student representative.
> 
> Open Committee Seats: Three open Seats on the Executive Committee represent membership of AoIR, and contribute to decision-making.
> 
> Immediate Past President: Serves on the Executive Committee.
> 
> More information can be found in the AoIR Bylaws:
> 
> http://aoir.org/bylaws/
> 
> Candidates should familiarize themselves with the duties laid out in the Bylaws. I also encourage persons interested in running for a specific position to contact myself or any of the current office-holder(s) with any questions.
> 
> 
> C. Nominations and Elections Processes.
> 
> Only a member of AoIR can run for a position, nominated by anyone. If nominated for more than one position a nominee must choose to run for one (and only one) position in this election. You may nominate yourself or another person (or people). If nominating someone else, it is best to confirm with that person that they are willing to run.
> 
> Self Nominations: Email AoIR Association Coordinator Anna Lauren Hoffmann at <ac at aoir dot org> and indicate the position for which you are nominating yourself. Please provide, in your nomination email a short candidate statement addressing the questions below.
> 
> Nominating Others: Email AoIR Association Coordinator Anna Lauren Hoffmann at <ac at aoir dot org> with the name of the person you want to nominate, the position for which you are nominating this person, contact information for that person, and an indication of whether you know if this person would accept this nomination. (If you don't know, we'll contact them and ask).
> 
> All candidates for election will be required to provide answers to the questions listed at the end of this email, have the answers posted to the AoIR election forum website, and participate in an online candidate forum.
> 
> In addition the Graduate Student candidates must confirm in their response that they comply with the by-laws: The Graduate Student Representative must be actively enrolled in a degree program at the time of nomination and election.
> 
> The voting system used by AoIR is one vote per member for each of the eight positions for election listed above. Votes will be tallied using a balloting software site. In the case of the four directly elected officers, the candidate with the highest number of votes shall be declared the winner; in the case of the open seats, the three candidates with the highest, second-highest and third highest votes shall be declared the winners of the open seats.
> 
> In the case of tied results for the officer positions, the winner shall be determined by the ballot counters, by drawing of lots, using a method that ensures each of the tying candidates has an equal chance of success and witnessed by at least 1 person independent of the association. In the case of tied results for the open seat positions, the drawing of lots shall be used only when there are more tied candidates than seats available.
> 
> D. Questions for Candidates:
> 
> 1. What are your qualifications for this position (including prior experience and participation in AoIR)?
> 
> 2. Please describe two or three short-term goals you would like to achieve through membership on the executive (including a rationale for each and how you would contribute to their achievement).
> 
> 3. What is your long-term vision for AoIR?
> 
> 4. What else should voters consider when deciding whether or not to vote for you?
> 
> In answering the questions, please be concise and give information specific to the position for which you are nominating and which will permit voters to assess your case for election to that position.
> 
> In closing - please consider contributing your time and energy to making AoIR even better in the upcoming years! Many thanks in advance to all who will consider running and serving AoIR in this way, and thanks also to those who vote!
> 
> 
> Lori Kendall
> President, AoIR
> _______________________________________________
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> 

---
Adrienne Massanari, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Communication
University of Illinois at Chicago
@hegemonyrules
www.adriennemassanari.com <http://www.adriennemassanari.com/>