Candidate Q&A - 2015 Director of Membership

[kjayers]

This thread is for questions and answers for the candidates for the 2015 Director of Membership.

Please remember the following when participating in the Q&A threads. The normal forum code of conduct applies, except:

There is a partial exemption to the rule that forum discussion cannot be about a person. You may incorporate personal comments, including praise or criticism, into your election questions and answers, and ensuing discussion, but only regarding candidates who are running for a position, or about another person if it is directly entangled with an issue germane to the outcome of the election. In so doing, you must still exercise standard courtesy, and refrain from profanity, disruption of the discussion, excessive vitriol, and irrelevant comments. Please keep in mind that there will be an opportunity for spoken comments at the elections meeting.

[kjayers]

I really don't want to sound like a broken record and post this in every Q&A thread, so I'll just post this here once. 

I would really appreciate it if all candidates for a position posted a resume for the given position and maybe a more general introductory statement about themselves and the position they're running for. Hopefully this will also help others make an educated decision on the best candidate for a position.

I'm starting to wonder if candidates didn't see the question because it's not in their respective threads.  So I'll be the broken record.

[kjayers]

For the benefit of people who don't frequent the forums, I would super appreciate if folks would put their name as it will appear on the ballot in their introductory post (even if it seems obvious).  Thanks!

[opalhawk]

Hi, my name is Brian Mathews, and I'm running for Director of Membership this year!  For the past two years, the previous director, Jason Tewksbury, has been training me to succeed him, and that time is now!  Let me go over my past positions at the convention, so you know where my specialties lie:
 

• 2009: Registration Staff
• 2010: Assistant Registration Manager
• 2011: Assistant Registration Manager
• 2012: Registration Manager
• 2013: Assistant Vice Chair
• 2014: Assistant Director of Membership

For the past 5 years, I've gained a familiarity and knowledge of registration that is unmatched, and in my past two years (as Assistant Vice Chair, which was overseeing registration and MSO that year, and Assistant Director of Membership this year), I've also helped in the creation of MSO and helping facilitate it.  I have the training and knowledge to know both departments should be run, and which direction they should be moving in.  I have plenty of ideas moving forwards about what to do with Membership, and look forwards to working with you all!  Last year was, in my opinion, one of the best cons we've ever had, and I only want to see things get better!
Professionally, I have a history in IT, specifically support and troubleshooting.  My specialty is process efficiency and documentation.  Several times at my previous job, I was able to take an existing process, and either through tweaking it or changing it completely, was able to make it much more efficient.  My goal this year is to take the system we already have in place for both departments under Membership (Registration and MSO) and see if there are ways to make them more efficient, particularly registration.  Like I said, I already have ideas!
So, all together, I have:
 

• Extensive knowledge of the current Membership directorate and ideas on how to improve it.
• A skillset that aids transparency and maximizing efficiency.
• Excellent communication skills.
• A will to succeed and help make this convention better!

If you have any questions for me, I would love to answer them!  Please let me know and I’ll be happy to reply.