============================================== Candidate: Brian Monkman ============================================== Where I stand on the issues - in less than 50 lines ---------------------------- A Quick Overview of Where Brian Monkman Stands On Various Issues --------------------------------------- Time Limits I support some form of time limits because it offers a short term solution to our current access crisis. Two hour daily limits will add the equivalent of 21 new modem lines, at no additional cost - an annual saving of over $20,000. Time limits should not be a permanent fixture. I support free, unrestricted access if our resources permit it. When we are past our financial crisis the time limit should be suspended. Fundraising Fundraising is the most important issue facing FreeNet and therefore is the most important issue to me. We need to have a donor strategy that includes semi-annual campaigns and formal recognition. Not only should we be soliciting individual members more frequently, but we should also be developing a focused approach to gain the support of corporations and government. FreeNet needs charitable status. I will suggest that we look at creating a FreeNet Foundation, similar to the fundraising arms of many hospitals. Volunteers Without volunteers there would not be a FreeNet. Volunteers need to be publically recognized in an explicit fashion and be thanked by the Board. Communication There needs to be more interaction between the Board and the NCF community. As a Board member, I will be accessible to NCF members, both online and personally. I will listen as well as inform. Policy Issues The Board should deal with Policy issues and leave Operational issues to the staff and volunteers. Censorship on FreeNet is unacceptable except where the law is being violated or another member's rights are being ignored. There should be a clear Acceptable Use Policy. Who is Brian Monkman? ---------------------------- Who Is Brian Monkman? --------------------- Brian Monkman is 37 years old, married, and lives in Nepean. Brian studied Political Science at Carleton University. In subsequent years he has taken courses in accounting, computer programming, system administration and writing at Algonquin College. Much of Brian's work experience has involved people. He presently works for Sterling Software, as a technical support representative responding to client questions and concerns. He has held other positions in customer service and has been an active partner in a photographic service business. Even if not working directly with the public, he is working for the public. His commitment to the community prompted him to take a position with The Salvation Army fund-raising department as a bookkeeper and computer administrator. Brian's interest in the community spills over into his private life where he has been involved in fund-raising for The Salvation Army, and several other charitable organizations. He has helped plan and run a number of community events including the annual Booth Centre 10K Run and a community outreach program at the Central Canada Exhibition. Brian has been able to, with his involvement in the National Capital Freenet, combine his commitment to the community with his interest in computers and the Internet. One of the things that excites him the most about the FreeNet is that people are judged by who they are, not how they appear. Also, the sense of community that has developed in the two years of FreeNet's exsistence is truly exciting and something Brian enjoys being part of. For more than a year, Brian has devoted himself to the NCF by working on a number of projects and committees. These are, in part: - Hardware/Software committee - Fund Raising committee - NCF Database project - the acquistion of terminals for public access sites Brian's main area of activity has been his work as a Volunteer Co-ordinator. He participated in the creation and implementation of the NCF Volunteer Strategy. This has brought focus and direction to the handling of people who wish to volunteer to work for the FreeNet. Prior to this volunteers were expected to hunt around themselves for something they found interesting to do. While the management of this process has presented many challenges it has for the most part been very successful. Oh, and by the way....he has a dog. < Though a recent study on the Internet revealed that over 70% of all Internet users happen to be cat lovers!! So, guess he is in the minority :-) > What you can expect from me as a Member of the Board ---------------------------- What You Can Expect From Me As A Member of the Board --------------------------- When someone offers his or her candidature for the NCF board you have a right to know what they feel a Board member should be. The following is a set of principles and guidelines I intend to follow as a member of the board. RESPONSIVE - I believe that a Board member should be responsive to other NCF members. This means, in part, being available on-line on a regular basis. For example, postings to any Board discussion group deserves responses by Board members. Also, every reasonable effort should be made to keep the NCF community informed on the major issues facing the Board. RELIABLE - I believe that a Board member should be expected to attend every meeting of the Board of Directors as is physically possible. Also, a Board member should be relied on to contribute to the maximum of his or her potential to promote the financial and social integrity of the NCF. ACCOUNTABLE - I believe a Board member should be accountable to the NCF community. This means, in part, that all major issues should have recorded votes and that attendance at Board meetings be recorded and made available on-line. Also, all motions passed by the Board should be posted in the Board resolutions area, with the recorded votes - as applicable. RESPONSIBLE - I believe that a Board member's key responsiblity is to the NCF community as a whole. This responsibility includes ensuring that the NCF is accessible and free to every member of the community that wants access. Also, this responsibilty is to ensure that his or her actions benefit the NCF community as a whole and not just a vocal minority. SKILLED - I believe that a Board member should have quantifiable skills that are of benefit to the Board and the National Capital FreeNet. The NCF is a corporation with a budget approaching $500,000. I have chosen to stand as a candidate for the Board because I believe I have skills that would add to the makeup of the Board. The skills include fundraising, volunteer management and business managment. 1995 Volunteer Strategy ---------------------------- National Capital FreeNet - Volunteer Coordination Strategy for 1995 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Submitted for Board Approval: 6 February 1995 by: Lisa Donnelly, Executive Director (am412) Brian Monkman, Volunteer Coordinator (af088) Preamble: -------- Last year at this time Andrew Patrick, Kyla Huckerby , Lisa Donnelly and Brian Monkman submitted NCF's first Volunteer Coordinating Strategy. The goal was to have a professionally run volunteer operation which successfully matched volunteer skills with NCF needs. We have made a great deal of progress in one year. NCF went from no plan at all to a coordinated volunteer effort that has gained the attention of many other FreeNets. We installed an on-line registration process and corresponding menus for volunteers and have seen a wide array of tasks accomplished by our "non-salaried" workers. During the late summer and early fall of 1994, as my role at NCF became increasingly demanding, the area did not always get the time required to make full use of the volunteer potential at NCF. Volunteer Coordination could easily be a full-time position here. It is definitely more than one volunteer volunteer-coordinator can handle and the placement of Natalie Munroe in December has already made a noticible difference in this arena. Now, one year and approximately 19,000 members later, we have over 150 volunteers in our database and up to 50 volunteers active at any given time. Our continued growth and professionalism makes it necessary to reassess and revitalize our commitment to utilizing, and appreciating, the NCF volunteers. After talking with many of the volunteers, Chairs and project leaders, we have written a proposal for updating the Volunteer Strategy for 1995. This will be the first step in a two to three month process of refining the Volunteer Coordination process. Brian, Natalie and I will be holding regular meetings in order to improve upon the system details and effectiveness. Principles: ----------- - Organize for action - Promote activities which are a high priority for the organization - Allow for flexibility: Projects may form and finish from existing groups. - Empower the volunteers and promote responsibility - Coordination and communication among activities and leaders: leaders should all be corresponding and meeting on a semi-regular basis - Promote involvement by the Board by encouraging Board members to act as a liaison to one or more committees, task forces or projects Goals: ------ - The fundraising function will be a primary focus for volunteer activity for 1995 - Improve the volunteer registration and response process - Have task descriptions, active recruitment, informal interviews and training - Have specific reporting methods for gaining approval and completing the task assigned - Provide volunteers with a sense of motivation, satisfaction and a feeling of belonging to the organization 1. Definitions: Committees, Task Forces, Projects and Individual Assigments Committee: Involved in policy related work, has one or more Board members sitting on it and reports directly to the Board. Requires Board approval to be formed and for appointments to the position of Chair. Day to day guidance may be provided by the Executive Director as required. Task Force:Involved in operational related work and is a flexible group of people who meet to manage specific on-going activities which support the organization. These groups will report to the ED who will provide the Board with regular updates on progress and activities. Leaders can be appointed by the staff or volunteer coordinators with formal approval required by the ED. The Board should be notified of new of terminated task forces and as well as the assignment of volunteers to leadership positions. Project: An activity which has a set and limited duration of time. The guidelines will be the same as for Task Forces with the exception that some projects may be related to committee or task force activity and therefore will report to the leaders thereof. Individual Assignments: There will also be instances of some volunteers being given a specific title and on-going responsibility which they will carry-out as an individual or pair. Guidance and reporting will come from the staff and Board persons best suited for support. The ED and volunteer coordinators will be responsible for placing such volunteers and gaining support with specific Board liaisons as required. 2. Recommended Volunteer Structure for 1995 Committees: Board Planning Committee Hardware/Software Committee Fundraising Committee Francophone Committee Task Forces: Information Provider Tasks Force Public Access Task Force Help Desk Task Force Documentation Task Force System Design Task Force Speakers Coordination Task Force Office Administration Task Force Projects: Donations Database Project Specific Fundraising Projects Specific Speakers/Conference Projects Individual Assignments: Volunteer Coordinators Menu Administrators 3. Descriptions and Current Status of Volunteer Activities: ----------------------------------------------------------- The Board Planning Committee - To be formed after the Board Elections ---------------------------- A standard Standing Committee for most Boards. Develops and updates the current and multi-year long range plans of the organization and shares recommendations with the Board, staff and members. (See posted Terms of Reference for greater detail) Hardware/Software Committee --------------------------- Andrew Patrick (aa118), vice-president This group handles a wide array of technical planning and projects for NCF. It has been agreed upon that the software projects being handled by this group should focus primarily on fundraising needs. *Board Approval is requested for appointing Miranda Gray (ak717) as Chair. Fundraising Committee --------------------- Gordon Pearson (au167), Development & Brett Delmage (aa693), Board Member This is a core group which works on fundraising strategy and exploring new ideas for gaining donations. Francophone Committee --------------------- Charles Trahan (aj279), Chair & Marc Labelle (ac078), Board member Develops and supports all French language concerns for Libertel and interfaces with NCF. Information Providers Task Force -------------------------------- Lisa Donnelly (am412), Executive Director, Al Seaman (aa331), Board Secretary and Menu Administrator This group is handling the overhaul of the on-line Information Providers forum, designing group training courses in MMS for new Information Providers, and training and providing volunteer consultants to organizations without any computer experience. Public Access Task Force ------------------------ In conjuction with a decision by Chris Bradshaw (aa122) and Julie Chahal (ab161), we are recommending that public access issues be focused on maintenance and support of existing terminals, Public Access terminal (PAT) installation logistics, maintenance of the Public Access list and on-line forum, and exploring ways to promote user education via our PATs. *We will be requiring a new leader for this position as Chris Bradshaw is stepping down after performing as Chair of the Public Access Strategies Committee for the last year. Help Desk Task Force -------------------- Matthew Darwin (aa673), Chair Al Seaman (aa331), Board Secretary and Menu Administrator Answers all questions asked in the help desk or forwards the questions to the appropriate individuals or locations. Keeps the help files current. Produces other versions of help documents found on the help desk. Assists in user education. Develops tools to help diagnose problems. *We will be requiring a new leader for this position as Matthew Darwin would like to ease out of his role as Chair of the Help Desk Committee and pursue a different volunteer responsibility. Documentation Task Force ------------------------ Al Seaman (aa331), Board Secretary and Menu Administrator Documentation and fixing errors in the help files. Also documents new software: elm, trn, pine, & MMS. *We will be requiring a new leader for this position as Heather McFadyen is stepping down as leader after finding full-time employment. System Design Task Force (currently doing the Menu Design Project) ------------------------ Develops recommendations to Administrators and/or Board on the design of the systems and programs members may use to access NCF. May involve issues such as: menu design, menu style, and ease of use. Speakers Coordination Task Force -------------------------------- We need a team of volunteers to respond to, and coordinated, the many requests for Speakers. Providing demonstrations to the community via Board members, staff or volunteers is an excellent form of outreach that requires volunteer assistance. Office Administration Task Force -------------------------------- Michael Anderson (bc574), Administrative Coordinator Handles a wide array of administrative and help-line tasks including: Processing registrations, answering the Help-line, preparing mail and changing members' passwords upon request. Donation Database Project -------------------------- Chris Hawley (ah654) Development of a Donations database that will allow all donation information to be in one place and donations reports and renewal letters to be effectively produced. The project has a specific timeline and goal for the next two months. Specific Fundraising Projects ---------------------------- A flexible group which would be formed as needed and overseen by the Fundraising Committee. Specific Speaker/Conference Projects ----------------------------------- A flexible group which would be formed as needed and work with the on-going Speakers Coordination Task Force. Volunteer Coordinating (Individual Assignments) ---------------------- Brian Monkman (af088) & Natalie Munroe (aa966), Volunteer Coordinators Lisa Donnelly (am412), Executive Director Oversees the development of the on and off-line placement and management of volunteers. Menu Administrator (Individual Assignments) ------------------ Al Seaman (xx331) Creating, modifing and maintaining new menus for Information Providers and others. Assist in setting and maintaining Menu Style standards and creating and removing newsgroups as required. ------------- Lisa K. Donnelly, am412@freenet.carleton.ca Executive Director Why I support some form of time limits ---------------------------- Why I Support Some Form of Time Limits -------------------------------------- How much time to you spend trying to log on to FreeNet? Can you get in within 10 redials? 50? 100? 200? over 400? That can be as much as 45 minutes you are spending on FreeNet, and you haven't even logged on yet!! **So, what's the problem??** The National Capital FreeNet, which is facing a major financial and accessibility crisis, has a user to modem ratio of about 200:1. Ideally, our ratio should be around 100:1. This means we need to add close to 150 modems and lines by July 1995 in order to meet the current demand PLUS plan for expected growth. At a cost of $1,000. per line per year, the NCF will have to raise over $150,000. in the next six months. (Nb.: these figures are based on installation, equipment and ongoing service charges.) It is unlikely we will be seeing any signifcant funding any time soon. As it becomes increasingly difficult to sign on and people become less motivated to use FreeNet, attracting new information providers and keeping the existing ones will become more of a challenge. At this point the average user will be less inclined to try and use the system. When this happens we will have failed to "link the people and organizations of this region" and failed to make "FreeNet an important and accessible meeting place". (Nb. quotes are taken from the NCF Mission Statement.) **So, what's the answer??** Many people have offered many good suggestions. Here are a few of them: - charging annual membership fees of $25.00 - charging only out of town users a membership fee - allowing more advertising (eg. sponsoring newsgroups or sigs) - limiting services to certain time periods in order to free up lines - time limits - daily - 2 or 3 hours - weekly - 15 hours **Brian Monkman's opinion** The Board's decision to implement a 2 hour daily limit is not an unreasonable approach. The Board decided on a two hour daily limit during peak hours. According to NCF usage statistics gathered over a 50 day period, this will amount to adding 21 modems. If the daily limit is changed to three hours this saving will drop to 11 modems. It would be interesting to see what impact a fifteen hour weekly prime time limit would have. I am very much against charging any form of user fee if there are any other practical alternatives. The NCF Mission statement explicity states that we are a free service for the community. If the majority of our users log on for less then two hours daily, presently 94% do this, then setting this limit is a good place to start. Allowing some form of corporate sponsorship of FreeNet and/or its SIGs is something that should be considered. If, for example, a corporation is willing to pay $750 to $1,000 to sponsor FreeNet for a week and have over 26,000 users see their message - why not?? If all 52 weeks were sponsored that could bring in from $39,000. to $52,000.