Effective July 26, Tyme LaDow has withdrawn her candidacy for the 2020 Board election for personal reasons.
The Elections Committee wishes Tyme all the best in her continued work for the OTW.
Author: Tyme LaDow
Tyme LaDow 2020 Q&A: AO3 Content Policy and Warnings
July 26: Per an announcement, Tyme Ladow withdrew from the ballot.
[Note: In total, there will be 6 Q&A posts to cover all of the topics brought up during the user-submitted Q&A period. The candidates were limited to 300 words to answer each question, but they were allowed to rearrange and combine questions within a single post to more clearly express their thoughts. Candidate answers represent only the views of the individual candidate and are not endorsed by the OTW.
Due to a high volume of similar questions this year, many questions were merged and duplicate questions were left out. Other than this, questions appear in the form they were submitted. Questions represent only the views of the individual questioner and are not endorsed by the OTW.]
Do you believe that adding new Archive Warnings to AO3 would be beneficial to the project (and why), and if you could propose a new one, what would it be? Are you committed to maintaining the CNTW option? [merged question]
Tyme LaDow 2020 Q&A: Racism in the OTW and Its Projects
July 26: Per an announcement, Tyme Ladow withdrew from the ballot.
[Note: In total, there will be 6 Q&A posts to cover all of the topics brought up during the user-submitted Q&A period. The candidates were limited to 300 words to answer each question, but they were allowed to rearrange and combine questions within a single post to more clearly express their thoughts. Candidate answers represent only the views of the individual candidate and are not endorsed by the OTW.
Due to a high volume of similar questions this year, many questions were merged and duplicate questions were left out. Other than this, questions appear in the form they were submitted. Questions represent only the views of the individual questioner and are not endorsed by the OTW.]
Fans of color have long expressed concerns about the way racism (especially anti-Blackness) in fandom is reproduced by the design and structures of OTW spaces. If elected to the Board, how would you work to make OTW spaces more welcoming to fans of color?
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How will you support your chairs and staff in addressing racism in the OTW’s culture and platforms as with the technical projects?
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Many fans of color have spoken out about racism and racist harassment in fandom. What *specific* steps do you propose that the OTW take to tackle racism on its platforms? (such as a diversity report of volunteers, an anti-harassment working group, etc) [merged question]
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Will the candidates commit to the OTW publishing a volunteer diversity report, and an action plan for recruiting fans of colour? Will this action plan include disavowing well-known racist and early-AO3 architect franzeska?
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What would you do to ensure that volunteers feel supported within the OTW, especially volunteers of color and other marginalized groups who may feel that their voices go unheard?
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Please discuss what can and should be done by OTW to make AO3 a more welcoming environment for fans of color and a less welcoming environment for racists. How will you prioritize these action items? Do any of the candidates have experience in address the racism that is systemic in fandom as a whole? How would you go about improving Ao3 for fans of Colour? [merged question]
Tyme LaDow 2020 Q&A: OTW Multiculturalism and Growth
July 26: Per an announcement, Tyme Ladow withdrew from the ballot.
[Note: In total, there will be 6 Q&A posts to cover all of the topics brought up during the user-submitted Q&A period. The candidates were limited to 300 words to answer each question, but they were allowed to rearrange and combine questions within a single post to more clearly express their thoughts. Candidate answers represent only the views of the individual candidate and are not endorsed by the OTW.
Due to a high volume of similar questions this year, many questions were merged and duplicate questions were left out. Other than this, questions appear in the form they were submitted. Questions represent only the views of the individual questioner and are not endorsed by the OTW.]
How would you deal with potential culture clashes as there are more and more fans from different cultural background? And how would you address the issues outside US?
The OTW is a large multicultural organisation, and there is always a chance that misunderstandings will occur. How would you work to prevent them, and what would you do if a volunteer disclosed that you offended them/made them feel uncomfortable?
Tyme LaDow 2020 Q&A: OTW Communication and Future
July 26: Per an announcement, Tyme Ladow withdrew from the ballot.
[Note: In total, there will be 6 Q&A posts to cover all of the topics brought up during the user-submitted Q&A period. The candidates were limited to 300 words to answer each question, but they were allowed to rearrange and combine questions within a single post to more clearly express their thoughts. Candidate answers represent only the views of the individual candidate and are not endorsed by the OTW.
Due to a high volume of similar questions this year, many questions were merged and duplicate questions were left out. Other than this, questions appear in the form they were submitted. Questions represent only the views of the individual questioner and are not endorsed by the OTW.]
In your opinion, which of OTW’s long standing issues would be easier to fix, and what steps would you take to address it?
Tyme LaDow’s Bio & Platform
July 26: Per an announcement, Tyme Ladow withdrew from the ballot.
Bio
Tyme LaDow was forced into fandom by well-meaning friends at the age of 12. At first, she couldn’t see why anyone would feel the need to explore stories outside of the canon she loved in her favorite universes, but only a few months later, she started writing it herself and checking for new postings every day. Posting to Fanfiction.net and getting feedback from friends and strangers alike lifted the fog and she plunged deep into fandom without looking back. Her newly formed passion for fandom followed her across platforms and fandoms, and eventually led her to discovering the Archive in 2011 when her then-girlfriend invited her. Over the years she has become more of a reader than a writer, though she still enjoys writing fic in addition to everything else she does in fandom. In 2014, she was perusing the OTW website marveling at how many languages the pages had been translated into, when she stumbled upon the volunteer recruitment page, which just happened to be recruiting for Tag Wrangling. Excited at the chance to help with her favorite website, she applied and was accepted fairly quickly. Over the years, she also joined the Policy & Abuse team and made many friends through her continued service to the Archive. Tyme has had several years of experience with the complicated task of juggling volunteering, work, and university. Ever since her first dive into fandom, she has been committed to fans, fandom, and the OTW.