To Secretary
1) What experience do you have in business style organization of records?
I keep records at my current job, and have for several past jobs in both secretarial and managerial positions. I am fond of using a double-backup system with both electronic records, stored off-site, and paper backups.
2) What do you feel is your biggest desire for policy renovation or update during the 2008 year?
I actually concur with a lot of the policy changes this year that were made. I feel the last board did a commendable job in clarifying some facts and equalizing rights among the membership. My next steps would be to move for higher staff-appreciation and value.
3) As you will be in charge of Organizational correspondence, how well do you see yourself as being both the professional and social face of the board towards the rest of the Organization?
As a working professional for many years, I have no trouble keeping things that way. I have gained extensive amounts of customer service experience in my career, which has helped me phenomenally in more aspects than I could have imagined - a simple "thank you" goes a long way these days. Anyone who's spoken to me knows I'm a very social person, and I am always interested in what's going on or what someone has to say.
4) What plans do you have towards creating private and public records of staff?
I like the current system with private staff records viewable to all approved staff. As far as public records go, I think having names available with positions on the website will help alleviate some confusion for those attendees with a question or an offer to help or run a panel, etc. Upon approval from selected staff I would put names and departments available with the kumoricon.org e-mail addresses. I'd also like to set up a monitor on those inboxes to reduce spam, and also to ensure that questions being asked are answered in a timely manner.
5) How fast can you type? As in, how fast can you record the information at meetings without asking for a pause in discussion?
I actually have not taken a WPM test in a long time, so I am not sure how fast I type. Since I do record meeting minutes regularly at my job without being hindered, I can assume I will do the same for Kumoricon meetings.
6) Do you plan on talking with Publicity about distributing your information through the newsletter?
I plan to talk to Publicity about a LOT of things! I am always keen to share and bounce ideas off of informed, knowledgeable people. I do think a minutes record available in newsletter format may be a good idea, and worth pursuing.
7) Have you ever been in charge of a mailing list? If so, how many people were on it?
I have run a couple mailing lists for games I ran, and currently co-manage the Portland L5R mailing list, which has about 30 members.
A couple of notes I would like to make before I'm done.
I have been with Kumoricon for 3 years. I've always worked in Gaming and this past year managed the Gaming room. I have many years of con experience, most of it back in California from before I moved here, in MANY different areas of the con, including Staff Preservation, Volunteer Organization, and many more. I have loved conventions since I was a child and I see very great things for Kumoricon - which statistically is already doing better than most.
As Secretary, I have a few things I want to really focus on for 2008. Top-notch record-keeping is one of them! My goal with this is so that anyone who does ANYTHING for the con, even just held a sign for an hour, is recorded, so they can be properly recognized and applauded for their efforts.
Secondly, I am really focused on diplomatic awareness, and want the volunteer and staff membership to know that they can come to me with anything. If they are having a problem with their director, another staffer, or something about their department, I want to be their go-to girl and a voice to the board or involved parties. Some folks are scared of approaching someone they have an issue with, and having a mediator available to bring the parties together, address the issue, and encourage a solution is helpful. I'd like to personally take on this role within staff and make sure everyone knows I am a resource available to them.
I would lastly like to mention my apologies for missing meetings last year. I was working a position which did not allow weekends off and had a hard time getting things done. In remedy, I am not working a weekday job and have plenty of time free for meetings and preparation thereof. If I am elected I have set in place a very capable staff to handle Gaming for 2008. I encourage the board to consider the Gaming room in 2007 when considering my application - many of you may not have been able to see, but I worked very hard to make that room run as flawlessly as it did this year, and I laid the groundwork for future managers to continue its success. Some people I can list as references to my character, organization, and willingness to see the con succeed are Tom, Mark Webb, and Jaki Hunt.
I welcome more questions if they come up, and thank you for your consideration!
