The current board mandate is almost over and it’s time for another IAM Board election. Whether you’re a potential voter or board member, read on to learn more about the election and how you can be a part of it!
What is the IAM Board?
The IAM Board is composed of up to 7 representatives (new for this election – it used to be 10) who lead the IAM by sharing the various responsibilities needed to bring the organisation forward. The board members bring their own opinions and viewpoints to the table, and work on shaping and developing the IAM on behalf of its members and the memory community.
From 2022, there will be three changes to the board composition:
- The board will only consist of up to 7 members (compared to the previous 10)
- There will no longer be fixed board members for each continental region (Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania), but all positions will be open for everyone.
- There cannot be more than 3 board members from the same continental region.
The upcoming election will determine the board members for a term of 2 years, from 6 April 2022 to 31 March 2024.
Who can vote?
To be eligible to vote for the IAM Board, you must:
- be a member of IAM
- be at least 15 years old as of 5 April 2022
- have been an active member of the memory community
Definition of active member:
- those recognized as an athlete, arbiter, tournament organizer, volunteer or contributor at the time of the last election in 2020: due to much fewer options for active participation in live events since 2020 because of COVID, “active member” status from the 2020 elections cannot expire between 2020 and 2022 and will remain active also for the 2022 election, or
- those who were not yet active members in 2020, but have become active members since 2020 via the same means (athlete, arbiter, tournament organizer, volunteer or contributor).
If you’re not an IAM member yet, you can register here. If you’re not sure whether you’re a member, please email us at iam.election.2022@gmail.com and we’ll let you know.
Which region am I in?
As a candidate, your continental region of Africa, America, Asia, Europe, or Oceania is based on your nationality, unless you have never competed before. In that case, your continental region is based on your current residence.
Who can run for the board?
To be a candidate for the IAM Board, you must:
- be a member of IAM
- be at least 20 years old as of 6 April, 2022
- be an active member of the memory community
If you’re interested in running for the board, please read the detailed election rules in full, as well as reading the information below.
Why should I run for the board?
Joining the IAM Board means volunteering to dedicate a part of your time for the benefit of our organisation and community. Board members will be expected to dedicate at least one hour per week for board work, though there is no limit on the maximum contribution one wants to make. Along with that, it brings an opportunity for you to have a significant impact on the development of our organisation.
Being a board member of the IAM also means being close to people. As a board member you will be acting on behalf of the members of the organisation, and it will be important for you to understand their needs. As such you will have a unique opportunity, together with your fellow board members, to establish connections with members from the whole organisation. There will be a lot of ideas, new knowledge and a lot of inspiring moments, and all of these will help to make your term on the board memorable.
How do I apply?
To apply as a candidate for the IAM Board, submit a single PDF document containing:
- your name
- a photo (optional)
- a short bio (optional)
- a motivation statement (optional)
The bio allows you to briefly present who you are, both in your personal and professional life, as well as in the memory community. This doesn’t have to be much. A few sentences (up to 2 paragraphs) should be enough.
The motivation statement allows you to address the memory community and explain why you are applying to the IAM Board, what you would like to accomplish during your mandate and why members should vote for you.
When you have your application document ready, please send the PDF file to the election committee at iam.election.2022@gmail.com with the subject “IAM Board Application“. We will then send you a confirmation that we have received your application.
The deadline to apply is the 16th of March 2022, at 23:59 GMT. We are not liable for any technical (or other) issues on your side. Once the application deadline passes, the election committee will publish all of the applications so that the IAM members and the memory community can consider them.
Public question round
In order to give the memory community a better chance to get to know you and what you represent, they will have the opportunity to ask you and the other candidates questions. The question round will be public, in the sense that all questions will be visible to anyone at all times. A question can be addressed to one or more specific candidates, or addressed to all candidates.
Once the deadline for the question round passes, the election committee will gather all the questions that have been asked and forward them to the candidates in private. The candidates will then have a few days to answer the questions in writing, and once finished, they should be sent back to the election committee. The election committee will then publish the candidates’ answers at the same time.
Although the candidates can see the questions at all times, they should not reply directly to them, but rather send their answers to the election committee within the time frame given to them. This way the candidates’ answers will not be influenced by what other candidates have written.
Voting round
The voting round will take place for seven days. Every IAM member who is eligible to vote will receive instructions for this at least 2 days prior to the beginning of the voting round. If you have not received an email about this (also check your spam folder), please contact the election committee at iam.election.2022@gmail.com.
Voters will have 3 votes. A vote can only be in favor of a candidate: there are no options to vote “abstain” or “no”. Voting is possible for any candidate, without regional restrictions. A voter cannot award more than one vote to the same candidate.
The candidates with the most votes are elected. If two or more candidates receive an equal number of votes, a special election is held between them. No more than 3 board members can hail from the same continental region. The regions are America, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Europe.
Once the deadline for the voting round passes, the election committee will tally the votes and announce the results. The 7 candidates with the most votes will be elected to the Board (unless that would result in more than 3 candidates from the same region). If there are more than 3 candidates from the same region among the top 7 candidates, the fourth candidate onward from the same region will be skipped until there are 7 elected Board members. If at the end of that process the
application of the regional limit rule would lead to vacant seats, then the seats shall not remain vacant but shall be filled with the candidates with the next-most votes, with no regional limitation.
Election timeline
- 2 March 2022 – Announcement
- 16 March 2022 – Deadline for candidate applications
- 17 March 2022 – Applications published
- 18 March 2022 – Public question round opens
- 23 March 2022 – Public question round closes
- 25 March 2022 – Last day to register as an IAM member to be eligible to vote
- 28 March 2022 – Deadline for candidates to answer public questions
- 29 March 2022 – Candidate answers published
- 30 March 2022 – Voting opens
- 5 April 2022 – Voting closes
- 6 April 2022 – Announcement of election results
All deadlines are up to 23:59 GMT on the specified date.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about the election process, or if you’re thinking about running for the board and want to discuss further what’s involved, feel free to email us at iam.election.2022@gmail.com.
Or if you’ve already made up your mind to apply, we look forward to seeing your application soon!
Florian MInges and Simon Orton, Election Committee