Stumping for ILDA Votes

[Bradfo69]

Thank you to all that voted. I am very pleased to announce that the new ILDA Board of Directors is:
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Abdulwahab Baghdadi
Brad Billet
Olga Eser
Brian Gonzalez
Christopher Short
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Our own Chad Timinskis (fog man) has been named board secetary.
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Tomorrow morning will be the election for president and myself, Olga and Brian have all agreed to be candidates. Brian has stepped in to be interim president until conclusion of the voting and has done an admirable job.
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Out first official vote, not surprisingly, was to approve a new membership category called Hobbyist and will carry an annual dues of $95. It will carry all of the normal benefits of being a member of ILDA with the exception of voting rights. If you desire that, you will need to simply register under the "Individual" category for the normal $130. We also intend to explore benefits aimed directly at the hobby community including some special free seminars at future conferences.
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I am truly humbled at the support I have received as a result of my crazy decision to pursue this and will do my best towards helping make ILDA an association worthy of consideration for ALL with an interest in lasers.
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We also spent 2 hours this afternoon with 3 members of CDRH with an in depth question and answer session on variances, regulations, ideas on more cooperation between ILDA and the CDRH and it seemed very productive.

[JohnYayas]

Congratulations Brad. If your intensity for it is 1/2 as much as it is during any given SELEM I am sure you will make an excellent board member.

[dsli_jon]

Congrats, Brad & Chris!

Glad to see 'CJ' not ruling the roost, anymore... I'd dropped out the past couple years (so I couldn't vote, sorry..) since it seemed like it Was really getting to be 'what's the point', but.. Keen to see whatever fresh ideas you Gents bring, and I will be happy to (try.. amidst my 100+ hr weeks.. +_+ help anyway I can.. ie: It would be great to see what ILDA can do to continue to further Safety / Regs Education, for the 'n00bs', ie, kinda like we had going with the 'PL Wiki' (RIP, apparently.. :/ as-to Safety / Regs-awareness, especially towards the aim of maintaining the Show-Industry's Good Rep with the FAA.. Again, imo, the only Value in having / thumping on those 'Regs', is the *Education*, within..

Anyhoo, Congrats.. I've 'off to the salt mines.. -_-
ciao
j

[HankLloydRight]

Congratulations Brad and Chris!

Quick question though for Swami -- are you now disqualified to submit new shows to the ILDA awards?


P.S. Got another spam email from able-lasers starting with: "Dear president and sirs: ".

[araugh]

I believe board members can still submit for the awards since the voting committee is a separate group of people.

Congratulations to Brad and Chris!

[buffo]

I believe board members can still submit for the awards since the voting committee is a separate group of people.

Absolutely correct. For example, Tim Walsh has won ILDA awards while serving on the board and even while serving as President of ILDA. The voting is not done by the board, so there is no conflict of interest.

Congratulations to Brad and Chris!

I would like to echo your congratulations, and extend them to Chad (Fogman) and Brian (Xtega) as well for their new positions. Way to go, guys!

You know, this is potentially a pivotal time for ILDA. For the first time in history, a majority of the ILDA board members are regular visitors to PhotonLexicon *and* have attended SELEM (and other LEMs) in the past. This means that for the first time, the hobbyist community has a real chance to effect some meaningful change within the organization. (I thought we had that chance back at the 2010 conference when I did a presentation about SELEM, but I was shut down pretty hard by some of the old guard who clearly didn't want the unwashed masses intruding on their turf.) With a majority of "enthusiasts" on the board, there should be a greater opportunity for open discussion and far less chance of anyone being shut down.

No matter how you look at it, the times, they are a' changing! (And I think this could be a *very* good thing.) Let's hope that all of the bright ideas we've all had over the past decade can be summarized soon so the new board can pick a few hot topics to work on. I know I'll be supporting them as much as I can! (Don't want to waste this opportunity.)

Adam

PS: Damn my bad luck for not being able to attend this one... Would have loved to be there when the election results were announced!

[kecked]

I could not think of two better people to represent. Way to go!

[Bradfo69]

PS: Damn my bad luck for not being able to attend this one... Would have loved to be there when the election results were announced!

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Dude... I don't care how or why and, maybe Marie will file for divorce and you'll find you're looking at a lot less waste water but, you WANT to go to Slovakia next year! Our host, Kvant, is going to put on an experience that will be nothing short of mind blowing. I saw the promo video. If you think opening ceremonies of Olympics are impressive affairs.... this may overdue one.
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2018 is hosted by Derick Garbos and LaserTech Canada in Montreal and it sounds like ER Productions in London for 2019. Wow, wow, wow....

[mixedgas]

Sign me up for Montreal.... Derick's stuff is world class...

Steve

[bungy]

I'd like to echo the congrats for Brad & Chris!