DHTech Steering Committee Elections

DHTech has been an ADHO Special Interest Group for over a year now. This November we are planning to hold the first official Steering Committee elections. Three out of the 7 Steering Committee seats will be up for election. To give people an idea of what it involves to be on the Steering Committee, this blog post will summarize the key responsibilities and tasks of the Steering Committee. We hope that this will encourage some people to nominate themselves as candidates in the upcoming elections.

What does the Steering Committee do?

The DHTech Steering Committee supports the DHTech community by planning events, maintaining the community website and Slack workspace, and providing a contact for ADHO in regards to our Special Interest Group (SIG) status. For example, in the last year we have organized workshops at ACH2021 and DH2022 as well as presented posters. We have organized a few virtual meetups for the DHTech community to discuss topics and present projects. We also maintain the DHTech website (dhtech.github.io) and mailing list.

While the Steering Committee members contribute to these activities in form of creating content and organizing meetups, workshops, etc., part of the responsibility is simply finding people to take ownership of certain projects, being on top of the tasks that need attention, and providing an overall vision of how DHTech can support its community. Since this year, the Steering Committee also decides what to do with the small budget that we receive from ADHO for being a SIG.

What is the time commitment?

The Steering Committee meets virtually monthly (currently on the last Thursday of every month at 9am ET/3pm CET). Usually an agenda is being sent out prior to the meeting with discussion points. Our meetings are typically one hour long. Besides that, being part of the Steering Committee involves a few hours a month to plan events such as the DHTech meetups or conference workshops, write blog posts, and maintain the DHTech website.

Am I the right person to be on the Steering Committee?

If you have a few hours each month to give to DHTech, then yes, you are! There is no other requirement to be on the Steering Committee except a desire to support the community and help DHTech grow.

What do I need to do to nominate myself?

If you want to nominate yourself as a candidate for the 2022 DHTech Steering Committee elections, please fill out this form. You will need to provide your name, affiliation, and a short statement (e.g. about who you are and why you want to be on the DHTech steering committee).

What’s the election timeline?

Nominations are open until November 11, 2022. After November 11, we will put the information about all candidates on our website. The election period will be from November 21 to December 2. All DHTech members will be able to vote for one candidate. We will send out a membership confirmation email before November 21. If you do not get one but believe you are a member of DHTech, please get in touch with Julia (jdamerow@asu.edu).

Can I get involved in other ways?

Yes! There is the Code Review working group that meets monthly if that is of interest to you. Or you can join our bi-monthly meetups. If you have specific ideas of things you would like to do, please post them on Slack or contact a member of the Steering Committee directly.