Stumping for ILDA Votes

[Bradfo69]

Well... I have done the deed. The bio is written and has been sent to ILDA. For those who are members, I encourage you to take a minute to consider the following:
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At the Business Meeting scheduled for 9:30 am Monday November 7 during the ILDA Conference in Baltimore, three of the five Board of Directors seats are up for election. These seats are currently held by Olga Eser, Alex Hennig and Christine Jenkin.
.Any qualifying ILDA Member may run for the Board of Directors; also, the current Board members may run for re-election if they wish. The top three persons receiving votes will fill the three seats.
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To do this, send an email with the name of the nominee along with a brief statement (500 word maximum) of why they would be a good Board member, to mail@ilda.com. The email must be sent by 9:30 AM EST (New York time) on Monday, October 31..
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After the nomination deadline has passed, within 24 hours ILDA will put up a web page with all the candidates and their statements. The web page address will be emailed to all ILDA Members and will be linked on thehome page at ilda.com.
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• Persons who are attending the ILDA Conference will vote during the Business Meeting. Instructions will be given at that time.
• Persons who are NOT attending the ILDA Conference can email their vote, after the web page is up but before 9:30 AM EST (New York time) on Sunday, Nov. 6. Instructions for voting will be on the web page.

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So here is what I have just submitted:
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Hi. I am respectfully entering my nomination to the board of directors for the International Laser Display Association. My name is Bradford(Brad) Billet and have operated BB Laser Productions since 2011 and have been an ILDA member for 5 years, mainly Corporate Level 3. BB Laser Productions began as a value added service exclusive to a venue I manage, the Executive Banquet and Conference Center in Newark, Delaware providing laser displays and other non-coherent lighting for proms, weddings, and corporate events. It has expanded to include outside work with bands, national DJ's, offsite corporate functions and international shows. I am heavily involved in the hobbyist community through Photonlexicon and have been a regular at laser related gatherings around the US, most notably a key organizer of SELEM in North Carolina each August, one of the largest gathering of laser enthusiasts in the world. This past spring I served as host and judging coordinator for this year's ILDA artistic awards, a task I am hoping to volunteer for again many times in the future. I am also an ILDA LSO.
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My reasons for pursuing this are numerous but a key reason is I have at times, been a vocal critic of ILDA, as have a number of others I converse with and after some soul searching, realize that rather than complain, it's truthfully a much better option to try and become part of a solution to help make the organization better. I am now committed and prepared to take on that role. I have had a lot more interaction with ILDA members and leaders over the past year and would welcome the opportunity to work more closely with them to make the organization more valuable and visible to you, it's members.
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While I don't necessarily possess the same depth of electronics or optics or technical knowledge as some members who have spent a lifetime around lasers, being the member of a board of directors is more about working with people and driving organizations forward than it is with knowing how to re-gas an ion. It's about organizational and communication skills. It's about vision. It's about being a person of your word and having the integrity of following through. It's about honesty. Speaking of which, I'm truthful enough to publicly admit in a bio that I'm also running because it might potentially be a selling point with a client someday down the road. But mainly... it's the fact that I want for the organization to be something you want to join, are proud to join, and believe is a value to your profession.
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For all you ILDA members..... Your vote is appreciated! (And hey... I'm running for something and I'm not Donald or Hillary! That should count for something!)

[JohnYayas]

That's cool. Do you have any ideas that you might want to push as an ILDA board member?

[Bradfo69]

A fair question. Some of the issues I personally have had is feeling like I'm receiving value for the money paid for dues. I realize that a lot of what ILDA does is somewhat intangible to the casual member but, nonetheless very important to the industry. Much of that involves being a voice in any legislation regarding lasers, particularly in the US. Historically there have been things that have come up where it's been beneficial to have ILDA's voice in Washington. (Or other countries for that matter - since it IS the INTERNATIONAL Laser Display Association.) But that's not the sort of thing that's readily apparent to everyone. I'd like for there to be an increased sense of value for your money when joining the organization with some things that may have been around in the past but have fallen by the wayside. I'm not saying we'll be able to revive the Laserist Magazine for example in print form any time soon but, that's one thing I'm interested in exploring. Some of the discount programs with vendors who are ILDA members are not really known about or used. There was supposed to be some work in finding insurance options for companies that wish to obtain it but, I haven't seen any work done on that for a long time.
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There seems to be some receptiveness to expanding ILDA to include value for the semi-pro and hobbyist community and I'd really like to see what can be done to further that as well. You only get out of it what you put into it and I'm really interested in exploring peoples ideas and thoughts on what, if anything, would be of interest to them to get from an organization such as ILDA. There are many I'm sure who feel... nothing... and that's fine and there will always be those sort of folks but, by the same token, those interested in building a "community" with perhaps more substance that what you presently get on Facebook pages or Photonlexicon should have an organization to be able to do so.

[JohnYayas]

Seems like good reasons. To some of your points... sometimes it just doesn't make sense to have an organization only for the purpose of having an organization. So, if there are things that ILDA isn't doing then maybe it is because there really is no need to do them. If they don't offer much to hobbyists does that mean that they should start offering more to hobbyists? Or maybe they should stop offering a hobbyist level membership. In my opinion, I think maybe the latter is more appropriate. Maybe what ILDA could use is some leadership in focusing what their goal is and then executing on it. I'd love to see more technical leadership from them. The IDN standard stuff seemed promising but that doesn't seem to have gone anywhere. A shame.

[discothefunkyhippo]

I will vote for you as long as you don't siphon off ILDA funds to pay for your laser habit Joking aside, thanks for stepping up to the plate. Fresh blood is always good for a board.

-Sal

[Bradfo69]

Thanks! I've gotten a lot of "out of the blue" support from people and companies over the past few days I wouldn't necessarily have expected which has been very humbling.

[HankLloydRight]

This page is no longer working: http://www.ildamember.com/voting (access denied error!)

But I remember reading it previously, and I'm pretty sure it said that in order to vote, you needed to be an ILDA member in 2015 and 2016.

Does anyone know if that's still the case?

[HankLloydRight]

Also Brad, are you ready/prepared to be Board President if enough people mark you as #1 choice for President?

[swamidog]

i'll vote for you if you vote for me!

[Bradfo69]

Also Brad, are you ready/prepared to be Board President if enough people mark you as #1 choice for President?

Yes although, I don't expect that to happen at the present time. I would hope that it ends up being Brian Gonzales.