AFBA Board Member Selections Coming Soon!

By August 30, 2012General
It’s hard to believe that a little more than two years ago a group of Austin bloggers came together with the idea of starting the first non-profit organization for food bloggers in the country. We’d all come to know one another through potlucks and local events, and we found that beyond our passions for our own individual blogs (and food of course), we cared deeply for the Austin community. We had a shared belief that food bloggers could contribute to the growing food scene not only with our words and photos, but also with our deeds. Starting with that shared belief the Austin Food Blogger Alliance came to be a reality.

Now it’s time to look to a new group of leaders to take helm of the alliance to help it evolve and grow.

Although the current board’s positions come to an end on February 28 of next year, we think it’s critical that the new board be involved in 2013 planning which we will do in November. With that in mind, we’ll be taking the next several weeks to accept applications for the board in preparation for a vote on a new slate of members in our October board meeting. This will also give us plenty of time to transition smoothly from one board to the next.

Board Positions

Our board is comprised of 11 members as well as an Immediate Past President and a Special Projects Chair for the cookbook. The current board has put together a collection of job descriptions that reflect the responsibilities, time commitment, and any special skills or knowledge required for each position. For example, the Treasurer needs to know how to manage a budget and file tax returns, and our Development Chair needs some experience with working with partners and donors. If you’re interested in serving on the board please take the time in the next week to review the position descriptions so you’re familiar with what a commitment to our board entails.

We’ll be honest and tell you that serving on a non-profit board is hard work but it is also amazingly rewarding. As far as we know we’re still the only group of our kind and size in the country and we continue to blaze a trail for the role food bloggers can play in a community.

The Process

There are five steps in the new board selection process.

  1. Application Submission: September 7 – 16
    To be sure that each incoming board member is set up for success, there will be a short application that we’ll ask anyone interested in a position to fill out.  In addition to core questions we ask of each prospective board member there will be a couple of additional questions associated with the special skills required for individual positions. The application process will be handled online and shouldn’t take more than 15 or 20 minutes.
  2. Application Review: September 17 – 26
    A selection committee made up of the current board, members of our advisory committee, and a group of current members will review applications and rank candidates based on how well they feel each candidate fits the needs of the position. Read on for how you can be part of the selection committee.
  3. Tabulation and Final Board Candidate Selection: September 27 – October 3
    The board’s Executive Committee (President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer) will tabulate the rankings of the selection committee, double check our work, and send the final slate of committee-recommended board members to the current board.
  4. Official Vote on the New Board: October 7
    At our October board meeting the current board will officially vote o the candidates recommended by the selection committee.
  5. Notification of Results: October 7 – 8
    After the board meeting we will notify all applicants of the outcome of the selection process and we’ll post the results on our website.

The process is lengthy we know, but a strong board will be a key factor in the future growth of our organization and we think the time required to follow the process will be well worth it for everyone involved.

Volunteering for the Selection Committee

If you’re not interested in applying for a board position but would like to be part of our selection committee, please fill out this short form by September 7. We’ll randomly select 6 interested members to be part of the selection committee and will notify everyone who threw their name into the virtual hat by September 12. Only members who are not applying for a position on the board can be on the selection committee. We also ask that you only list yourself as willing to be on the committee if you’ll have a few hours between September 17 and 26 to devote to careful review and consideration of our applicants.

What’s Next

We hope you’ll take time in the next few days to review the board positions and carefully consider if serving on the board is something you’d like to do. If not, please consider volunteering for the selection committee or think about any committees you might want to serve on so when the new board members call for committee support you’ll be ready to volunteer.

Finally, be sure to watch our Facebook page and e-mail for reminders of important deadlines in the next few weeks.

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