Candidate Manifestos for 2017/2018 Committee Election

[LadybugKids]

This thread is for the CV/Manifestos of the candidates and will be locked.

All candidates are requested to send their manifesto, photo, and avatar to me at ladybugs at geocachealaska dot org for posting in the manifesto thread and on the ballot.

There is a discussion and Q&A forum here.

The ten candidates standing in the 2017/2018 Executive Committee are (in alphabetical order):

GCHarribo (Harri Boorman) - manifesto, photo received
Griff Grof (Arthur Griffiths) - manifesto, photo, and avatar received
Grahamthegray (Graham Haddock) - manifesto, photo, and avatar received
Abiherts (Abigail Hamilton-Thompson)
Leonards193 (Kim Leonard) - manifesto and photo received
Geocaching Womble (Dominic Murray ) - manifesto, photo, and avatar received
UKCACHEMAG (Adam Redshaw) - manifesto and photo received
Antreid (Ant Reid) - manifesto, photo, and avatar received
Geopaul the vlogger/Dr. Evil. (Paul Standen) - manifesto, photo, and avatar received
Border Caz (Caz Turver) - manifesto, photo, and avatar received

The election of the eight Committee places will be by SurveyMonkey email ballot during Tuesday-Sunday, 21-26, November 2015, and will be run by me who is serving as your Independent Returning Officer.

Each eligible GAGB member (prior to 1st Oct) will be able to cast a maximum of 8 votes (as per the Constitution - Section N)

[LadybugKids]

Hi my name is Harri (GCHarribo) and I’m nearly 15. I live in Hastings, in the south east of England, and I’ve been geocaching since 2012. The hobby has taken me to some lovely places like seeing Niagara Falls, going to New Zealand and starting up a YouTube channel. I have just past the 550 find mark and have hidden almost 50 caches. I own a Geocaching series which are made of different materials for example a fake stick, a fake rock and some 3D printed containers.

I would like the opportunity to be on the GAGB committee. I would like to spread the word of Geocaching to the public through the use of social media.

I have already hosted a GAGB CITO at my local nature reserve, and hope to carry on hosting other GAGB events in my local area.

I'm planning to attend the megas next year; geolympix and Yorkshire Mega.

Many thanks for reading this manifesto, and thanks for your vote.

Cheers

Harri (GCHarribo)

[LadybugKids]

I’m Arthur (Griff Grof), I live in the Cotswolds and I’ve been caching since March 2010. It has been an honour to serve on the GAGB committee for the past two years and I am pleased to have been nominated again.

My role has been webmaster and social media lead since 2015. Throughout my time on the committee, I have authored six new Help pages on the GAGB website, and I have rewritten and updated others. I have overseen the running of our social media channels, posting as frequently as possible. This year, I devised and helped coordinate the design and launch of our photo competition. Whilst we are now accepting photos, the plan is to properly launch and promote it next month. I am glad that the GAGB has held almost ten roving events since I was elected into office, as this was an idea I initially proposed. I feel that we have made progress in addressing the key issues highlighted in the member survey we ran at the beginning of my first term. I hope you agree.

If re-elected, I would like to continue as webmaster. I hope to be able to launch our new homepage, featuring a new, exciting ‘GAGB Hub’. I would also seek to continue to update page content on a regular basis, and improve the site in any way I can. As part of this role, I am eager to continue as social media lead, increasing our interaction with members and perhaps launching GAGB on new platforms. I am keen to oversee the photo competition until its conclusion in April. I would be more than willing to help other committee members if needed, and I feel I have a comprehensive understanding of the workings of the GAGB to do so.

But my aim and vision for the GAGB goes far beyond this. So much more still needs to be done.

First, I would like to help update the constitution; I already have several potential modifications and additions in mind. I would really enjoy contributing to this, and it would be a privilege to be involved. Second, I would like to see the committee divided into sub-groups, so that decision-making can be more efficient and effective between each meeting. This framework was introduced last year but it did not succeed. I would like to try and make this idea work in practice, so that the same discussions and decisions do not roll over from one committee meeting to the next, with little progress in between. Of course, the whole committee would still have a say - the sub-groups would simply coordinate and develop ideas between meetings and report their progress to the committee for a full discussion. Third, I would like to develop the ‘GAGB Friends’ programme, in which members sign up to express an interest in helping the GAGB. We began working on this last year, and I am happy to see it through.

I feel that I would bring great enthusiasm, ambition and passion to the GAGB committee. I would endeavour to see the GAGB continue to grow and flourish: it would be great to raise its profile even further. In the past, I have thoroughly enjoyed proposing ideas in meetings, completing tasks and helping the wider committee wherever I can. I would relish the opportunity to continue to play a part in the important work GAGB does - so much goes on behind the scenes. I am certain that the committee will achieve many fantastic things in the coming year, and I would love to be a part of it - it would be an honour.

[LadybugKids]

Hi I’m Graham or Gray and hence the name caching name GrahamTheGray, I’m from South Staffordshire and have been caching since 2010 and have nearly 7000 finds, I like to enjoy walks around the countryside started out as a lone cacher but in recent years have teamed up with a number of local cachers, and I do love a puzzle cache. Can often been seen taking pictures of the landscape, buildings and interesting fauna a few of these have made it into Seeker and regularly onto the Instagram feed. I have background in IT and websites but no longer working in that field. As a member of the GAGB in the coming year I intend to continue on what I was doing and you probably wonder what that is. Well I help look after the website, I set up the new users, deal with those members who have account issues or wish to cancel them and I will continue to do this along with website maintenance and code changes and content changes, next year plans are to make some further improvements and continued accessibility improvements, to engage with the community to see what ideas and improvements they have for the GAGB website. As well as to more actively involved in putting articles together for Seeker magazine and helping out again with the design process of next year’s coin. Hopefully you should see me at a few more events in the coming year.

[LadybugKids]

Having been on the committee for just over a year I have come to realise the valuable work that the GAGB puts into maintaining landowner databases and as a UK based contact between the public and geocachers. I have enjoyed promoting the GAGB at the Scout Reunion and at the Caldeonian Cachefest but feel that the committee needs to expand upon their current social media presence and reach out to as many UK cachers as possible. Some cachers have described the GAGB as a 'political body' and I think this needs to be seriously addressed by the next committee.

Over the past year I have been editor for Seeker but unfortunately ill health meant I was not able to devote as much time as needed to the role. Thanks to Ant for stepping in. Now on the mend, I would prefer the role of answering general enquiries or secretary if elected. I am recognised locally as a committee member in the Home Counties and London and would love to take this further by holding a GAGB event in the capital. In my other voluntary role I'm a health walks volunteer so am sure that this skill would also contribute towards the GAGB as geocaching can produce a huge range of health benefits.

[LadybugKids]

Hello, my name is Kim, I live just North of Bristol.

I have been on the committee for a few years and I would like to carry on in my capacity as shop manager if re-elected.

I would like to offer consistency to the committee, particularly developing the next National Park Geocoin as well as other products for the shop and hosting or attending events to promote the GAGB.

Many thanks for reading,

Kim