Twice a year it’s election time in the JoomlaSphere! This time, four board positions will be open for election. Some of these officers may run for another term in their position, others won’t. Are you wondering how you can help push Joomla forward, and/or do you have ideas for that? Find out how you can become a candidate for Joomla’s Board of Directors, and which positions are up for election!

The Board of Directors of Open Source Matters, Inc. (the organisation behind Joomla) provides organisational, legal and financial support to the Joomla Project. In other words: these are the people who facilitate Joomla.

The board positions open for this election are Vice President, Treasurer, Production Department Coordinator and Outreach Department Coordinator. 

Since I think we don’t thank people half as much as we should: on behalf of the Joomla Community Magazine: thank you Philip Walton, Nadja Lamisch, Benjamin Trenkle and Nicola Galgano for putting time and effort into making Joomla the best it can be (and if you’re running for another term: good luck)!

To get you inspired, here's a great quote that’s said to be from Denzel Washington: “Without commitment, you'll never start. But more importantly, without consistency, you'll never finish.”

Now let's see what these roles are all about.

Vice President

Formally, the Vice President role supports the President and replaces the President when necessary. But that is not all you do in this role. You represent Joomla in every way you can. By helping and supporting the DCs and teams, by sharing ideas, answering questions, and being involved in decisions and the direction the Joomla project is taking. By attending and, if possible, speaking at events, engaging with (local) Joomla communities and making proposals for initiatives to make Joomla grow. 

What should you bring?

Passion for Joomla, commitment to open and healthy collaboration with the rest of the board, a sense of curiosity when facing ideas that challenge your own, and a willingness to listen to our community and advocate on their behalf.

Treasurer

As Treasurer, you have a joint top fiduciary responsibility for Open Source Matters, inc. and the Joomla project, together with the President. Top WHAT, you may ask? Fiduciary responsibility. That means you’re responsible for the organisation at the highest level, for our funds and our finances. You perform financial transactions, keep financial records, approve expenses, make financial reports and coordinate with our legal and accounting representatives. You are also in charge of creating and preparing the annual budget; that means you coordinate the budget planning process of other Board members. 

What should you bring?

Passion for Joomla, knowledge of financial and accounting procedures, knowledge of financial regulations, analytical and numerical skills. And the ability to help your fellow board members with their financial tasks, such as budgeting and reporting. 

Production Department Coordinator

This role has been open for a new candidate to step in for a while now. The Production Department Coordinator is  in charge of the Production department (basically: all the people responsible for the code and everything around it, such as the Security Strike Team, Bug Squad, Documentation, Accessibility and Maintenance, to name just a few of the many teams). The DC brings all these people together, organises meetings, sets goals and budgets, and makes sure every team can function at its best.

What should you bring?

Passion for Joomla, the ability to listen and make important strategic decisions. Being a techie is not particularly necessary, but it might help. 

Outreach Department Coordinator

As Outreach Department Coordinator, you’re basically the connection between Joomla and the rest of the world. That means marketing, communication, events, education… a very broad role! You’ll be in touch with almost every team in the organisation to see what’s going on, what they’re doing and what they’re planning. The current Outreach DC has been working on forming teams and creating a solid base to build on.

What should you bring?

Passion for Joomla, great communication skills, the ability to oversee multiple projects at once, management skills. 

What should all potential Board Members bring?

Passion for Joomla, of course. And the ability to not let this passion get in the way of things. Your passion should be accompanied by a sense of reality and the ability to put things in perspective. There will always be people talking bad about the CMS you’re dedicating so much of your time to, or even making this personal. It helps if you can deal with that, so thick skin may come in handy, as does a sense of humor. As our friend Denzel Washington supposedly said: “If I am a cup maker, I’m interested in making the best cup I possibly can. My effort goes into that cup, not what people think about it.”

How does this election thing work?

There will be a call for manifestos, with a timeline. You write a manifesto that contains your ideas and your plans, and submit it. After that, there’s an option for people to write a recommendation for you. And then it’s voting time! 

Why should you even think about doing it?

Let’s quote Denzel Washington once more on that one: “At the end of the day it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished… it’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.”

This is where everything about the upcoming elections will be announced: https://community.joomla.org/