The 2010 JAT Election Committee is pleased to announce the list of candidates standing for director or auditor in this year's elections.
First of all, the committee would like to thank each candidate for stepping forward. Without your contributions, JAT cannot continue to function in its proper form.
Also, if there are any persons who believe that they should be on the list(s), but are not, please send a mail to [email protected].
Once again, we remind members that voting runs from March 9 to 19.
Questions directed to a particular candidacy may be sent directly to the candidate, or posted on the forum. Questions concerning election details should be sent to [email protected].
Wendy McBride
Yoko Kawabe
Gary Roberts
2010 JAT Election Committee
Candidates standing for director
Christopher Blakeslee （クリストフアー ブレイクスリー） Profile
Gender: M
Nationality: US
I enjoy my current jobs on the board as membership officer and board liaison to the Website Development Advisory Committee, and would like to continue contributing for another year or two. I particularly look forward to helping usher in a new more visible and more functional JAT web presence and leveraging that presence to grow the membership base.
Catherine Nakamichi （中道 キャサリン） Profile
Gender: F
Nationality: Australian
JAT has been instrumental in assisting me to build my career and my business. The people I have met, the seminars I have attended and the work I have put in organizing the JATKAT meetings and ProJECT Osaka have all been invaluable.
As a director of JAT I would like to put my energy into helping JAT better answer the needs of more JAT members.
Issues close to my heart include; the website, supporting organizers of IJETs and ProJECTs, PR, e juku and mentoring and regional meetings.
Michael Hendry (ヘンドリー マイケル) Profile
Gender: M
Nationality: Australian
My name is Michael Hendry. I've been translating J>E for 12 years and I've been a JAT member for 7 years. I am one of three owners of the Honyaku mailing list. I've helped run a JAT election a few years ago.
I'm not a "committee" man at heart, but given a task I will get it done. I was one of the hard workers who helped run IJET-20 last year and even though I literally spent hundreds of hours on it, I strongly believe it was time well spent.
I'm vocal about some things, especially when I think the members are being ignored. If you vote me onto the Board, you can expect that to continue. I might not win every battle, and in fact I might not even be on your side, but I'll at least try to ensure good communication.
JAT currently has many irons in the fire but only a limited number of members who will stoke that fire. If we can do everything we are currently doing without burnout, then great. But let's not overdo things. Let's just do them right. I _won't_ be advocating for more things for an overstretched Board/membership to take on. I _will_ be taking on a role and doing it as well as possible.
I'm _against_ negative voting. I'm _for_ announcing candidates for the election as soon as they nominate. I'm _for_ a searchable archive. I'm _for_ continuing to offer members the option of accessing the list emails through their email client. I _do_ realize my opinions are different from other people's opinions - that's why decisions are not entrusted to one person only.
Having organized an IJET, I realize that this position will require many, many hours of my time, which I consider as “giving back” to my community.
Michael House (マイケル・ハウス) Profile
Gender: M
Nationality: USA
I joined JAT in 1995, and have served twice as a Director. I think enough water has gone under enough bridges since my last term to warrant running for the Board again. More importantly, I see the current election as an opportunity to endorse the Board's initiatives in recent years with my own active participation therewith. I look forward to offering my experiences and perspective in working with my presumptive fellow Directors in the coming term, both on plans for the JAT Website and other ideas going forward. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Mark Stevenson (スティーブンソン・マーク) Profile
Gender: M
Nationality: Australian
I've been a JAT member for only five years. JAT's events, including IJETs, have been invaluable in helping me find a direction as a translator. Lately, I've noticed myself chatting with prospective and new JAT members and giving advice that I wish I had been able to give myself five years ago (I hope that doesn't sound immodest). I'm interested in the side of JAT that helps newer translators to develop and to care about quality, because it ultimately benefits the industry as a whole. Events like IJET and the PROJECT one-dayers are indispensable, but I would like to lay the ground work for developing a JAT style sheet or style guide, and perhaps even a best practices document. In short, I am interested in more formally documenting the immense knowledge pool of the membership in a way that will benefit all. I am also interested in running a project to document JAT's history. Thank you.
Candidates standing for auditor
Cliff Bender Profile
Gender: M
Nationality: USA
I believe that JAT's educational mission is worth supporting and JAT should have its two auditors. I therefore announce my candidacy for auditor.
As an auditor cannot make proposals and does not have a vote in Board decisions, I have no platform or set of proposals for specific JAT undertakings to announce or run on.
Frank Moorhead (フランク モアヘッド) Profile
Gender: M
Nationality: UK
I have lived in Japan for 41 years, been a J-to-E translator for over 35 years, and a JAT member for over 10 years. I have decided to run for the position of Auditor both to contribute to the organization and to learn more about it. As I understand it, the Auditor’s job is to ensure the Board conducts its activities fairly and transparently in accordance with the Teikan and Bylaws and, if called upon, to inject balance into Board discussions from a neutral, objective perspective. Having served on various committees at several non-translation-related organizations, I think I have something to give in this area.
Equally important, the Auditors must ensure that all JAT’s financial dealings are fair and above board. Although I am not an accountant, I believe my experience running a couple of small companies will help me considerably in vetting JAT’s financial statements and transactions.
Under Helen Iwata, the current Board is perhaps the most dynamic I have experienced since I joined JAT, and I would like to do what I can to ensure it achieves as many of its objectives as possible. In particular, I am keen to see it resolve once and for all some extremely important long-standing problems, such as JAT’s web presence, mailing list, archives and related issues, so that future boards can move on to tackle other important questions.
Apart from what I learned from my time on the Election Committee in 2009, I do not profess to have an intimate knowledge of the regulations that govern JAT, let alone the inner workings of the Board, but have no doubt that, if elected, I shall have to acquire the necessary information very quickly. This I am happy to do.