Note: Dan has withdrawn from the race, but he completed his answers before withdrawing, so they will be posted to the site.
The Manifestos tell us some of each candidates’ ambitions of what they want to achieve if elected. I’d like to see that made more specific and SMART. In other words: what’s going to be the first action you’ll undertake/the first project you’ll tackle/first thing you’ll do if elected?
Good question. If elected to board, my first action would be to make sure we had a budget for 2016, or to work on it with the treasurer if there was not one finalized. The budget is so important to an organization and I want to see the OTW working towards having one ready near/at the start of every year. After that we would start talking very seriously about an audit.
What is your five year vision for OTW? AO3?
In five years, I see the OTW as bigger, better, and more vibrant than ever. I see us in a strong financial positon, with paid staffers doing a lot of the work of the current board. (Giving the board more time to vision and plan for the future, conceptually as opposed to being tied down by day to day activities and fires.)
I think it will be a great time to be involved with the OTW. Of course there will still be problems, but I think our experiences will prepare us to better address them and a support structure will be well in place to
I see well over a million users of AO3. I see more fanworks than ever before being posted across many fandoms, some of which we can’t even imagine yet. I see the site better than ever, with the help of paid contractors and the ever continuing efforts of our amazing volunteers. I see it open and free as ever, and still an awesome place to be.
The future of the OTW is very bright indeed.
If you could change something in the OTW’s bylaws, what would it be?
I am not a fan of changing the bylaws lightly. They are not meant to be changed often, which is why they are bylaws and not plain policy. There’s very specific things you want and don’t want in your bylaws. I would tread carefully here.