My name is Mike Keiser.  I am running for Member at Large for Seattle Atheists.  I think the social side of Seattle Atheists is extremely important, and would like to get more involved in creating a community with activities we all enjoy.  I would particularly like to encourage more outdoor and social meetups that will attract membership to participate.

Thank you.

Treasurer:
Liz Frost

Secretary:

Members-at-Large:
Ericka M. Johnson
John Keiser
Mike Keiser
Kyle Hepworth
Jami Blackann

Most of my volunteer experience has been with my community center.  Through the years, I’ve been an event host, event staff, volunteer coordinator, volunteer trainer and most recently I organized an off-site fund raiser that’s entering its third year.  I’ve gained skills and perspective I never imagined possible from my work there and would like to bring that knowledge to this organization.  I am still committed to a lot of the work I do with for my community center and this will affect the amount of time I can devote to the Seattle Atheists over the next several months.

I must emphasize that I cannot guarantee I’ll be able to commit to more than 10 hours a month until March 2012.

What I’d like to make happen for the Seattle Atheists:

• Develop an ambassador program to welcome new members
• Organize and facilitate more frequent MeetUps and gatherings
• Develop a more active online community so people can stay connected even when they can’t attend MeetUps
• Develop marketing material and fliers to spread secular, skeptical and non-theist information

Whether I’m elected or not, I’m excited to be a part of and do volunteer work for the Seattle Atheists.

Are you interested in becoming a member of the Seattle Atheists board?

Come and make a difference in this amazing organization and help us get the word out about being an Atheist in Seattle! We love new ideas and new energy, and have 7 open board positions this year: Secretary, Treasurer, and 5 Members at Large. If you are interested, please email a candidate statement to secretary@seattleatheists.org. All statements will be posted on the SA website so that members can get to know who is running. Mark your calendars–elections are on September 17, and all candidates need to attend the elections. For those of you who do not plan on running for an office, don’t forget to come out and vote! Afterward, we’ll have a casual get-together to play games, mingle, and talk about what you’d like to see happen in the organization.

Candidates for the officer positions must be members of Seattle Atheists, and should have business and leadership skills, as well as experience running a business or a non-profit organization. Skills such as public speaking, writing and editing, graphic design, and secretarial skills are desired. Experience with a board of directors is very useful.

You can RSVP on Meetup at: http://www.meetup.com/seattle-atheists/events/31330532/

Hope to see you there!

Matt Griscom will be giving a talk entitled ‘Science vs. Religion.’

Membership will vote to choose 5 members-at-large for the coming year, so please update your membership prior to the meeting. We have a pretty big field of new members-at-large this time.

Don’t forget to check out the candidate statements here:

Wendy Britton
Mike Gillis
Randy Rumley
Richard Trimble
Sam Mulvey
Layton Sumpter

My name is Sam Mulvey, and I’ve been pleased to serve as a Member-at-Large for the Seattle Atheists Board in the last term. I would love the opportunity to continue on in that position in the next term.

I see myself as a backstage kind of guy. I tend to think in terms of infrastructure (especially network and computer infrastructure), and I feel like I’ve contributed to the board of Seattle Atheists with that thinking in my first term. I’ve been working on a set of tools for SA which began in the last year with the re-launch of the seattleatheists.org website. I think that the next year will bring even greater work than I achieved last year, as I feel that I have a better understanding of how Seattle Atheists works.

Since my larger work occurs behind the scenes, I feel I can bring a higher level of good-natured humor to proceedings when it’s time to present to a wider audience. I’d like to say that I approach public interaction with a wink and a grin, but that conjures associations with Sarah Palin and a pallor of incompetence I’m pretty sure I don’t want to include in my candidate statement. It’s not about being a class clown; it’s about being happy to work at something I enjoy.

I’ve learned that it’s more difficult than I realized to be a group of organized atheists in the wider world around us. I feel that the attitude I bring, as well as the tools I have and will continue to build, will continue to be an asset to the board of Seattle Atheists. And saying all of these things without an offsetting self-deprecating remark is making me a little ill. Still, I would appreciate your vote.

Professionally, I am a facilitator, mediator, coach and motivational speaker helping business groups work more effectively together and helping people improve their relationships. I am the organizer of the Meetup group Seattle Sexplorations which is dedicated to sexually-oriented education and entertainment (so I am familiar with challenging traditional ways of thinking).

As a board member I will be a positive influence in board and group discussions helping us stay focused and seek consensus. When opportunities present, I look forward to publicly representing Seattle Atheists and influencing others to join our ranks and stand up for what they believe (or don’t believe, or don’t have enough information to believe… you know what I mean).

I have been on the board for the last few years as an at-large board member or vice President. I would like to continue to be on the board to influence the direction of the organization. Seattle Atheists is now a going concern and we have some projects that I would like be able to direct to larger audiences, such as the Darwin Day planning, bus sign project, and work at street fairs and parades. I would also like to work on expanding our outreach to other areas.

I think we need to participate in as many local events that concern atheists and other freethinkers as we can. Hopefully we can get more member participation through a committee system to help with this. There is only so much that 9 people (the board) can do. I believe that member help and suggestions are necessary to grow into the future.

Thank you.