OTW Election: Candidate chats

Belatedly, if you missed the candidate chats for the OTW Board election the other day, or you want to remind yourself what was said, the transcript is now up on the OTW website (link goes to the concise version, which strips out all the general chat so is a bit easier to follow). For bonus noms and information, you can also check out the follow-up questions which we answered by email after the chat, since we ran out of time.

I have to say that the candidate chats are always one of my favourite bits of OTW elections, because I love seeing people talk about the org and formulate their ideas for how things could be even better. It's a bit scary being on the side of actually answering the questions, but I also really value having the chance to HEAR those questions and think about what is important to other people inside and outside the org.

There'll be another chat on 26 October 2011 from 8pm to 9pm UTC (see when that is for you) - as before, it will be held in the OTW Public Discussion room (Link teleports you into the thick of it!). If you can't make it, or you don't feel like asking questions in public chat, then you can send in questions via the elections webform. And of course you should feel free to drop comments here or PM me if there's something you want to her from me specifically!

Avoiding burnout in the OTW; or, why I aten't ded yet

One of the things which has come up a lot during this election is the issue of burnout within the OTW, and the need to promote sustainability and protect volunteers from burning out. I think this is a challenge for any non-profit, because where you have a (relatively) small number of dedicated people working on a big project that they passionately care about, there are all the ingredients for people to get overworked and/or frustrated. We've definitely lost a lot of people to burnout since the org began, and finding ways of preventing this in future is something that I am really invested in as a potential member of the Board.

( In which Lucy talks forever about things she has valued and how she might spread them through the org, and still doesn't get through everything she wants to say! )

tl;dr: Board needs to encourage praise, friendliness, and working together, along with a dollop of 'let's all step back', and people are much less likely to get burnt out!