Each year the membership of the International Informix Users Group elects its Board of Directors. The election usually runs over several weeks at the end of the year. Anyone who became an IIUG member at least a month prior to the election is eligible to vote via online ballot at www.IIUG.org. The new Board of Directors is installed at the beginning of the calendar year.

The election is a democratic process whereby the candidates who get the most votes and confirm their interest to serve in a timely manner after being contacted with the results will be confirmed as elected. To avoid potential conflicts of interest, votes are automatically tallied and manually validated by members of the IIUG Nominating Committee who are not standing for election.

The IIUG Board of Directions election is overseen by a Nominating Committee that supervises both the nomination process and the election. The members of Nominating Committee are appointed by the current Board of Directors.

The Candidates

Candidates for the IIUG Board of Directors are selected by the IIUG Nominating Committee who try to find nominees that represent a wide geographical membership as well as a mix of product utilisation, and who can meet the many and varied challenges and functions of the Board.

Closing date for 2007 nominations was 15th November and the election took place from midnight US Eastern Standard Time on 01 December thru 15 December. The results of the election will be announced on the IIUG.org home page after the winning candidates have been contacted and confirm their acceptance on the board.

Candidate Statements for the 2007 Board of Directors Election can be found here.

Candidate selection process

IIUG members who are interested in running for a seat on the IIUG Board of Directors should contact the Nominating Committee with the completed Nominee Questionnaire below prior to the close of the announced deadline for nominations. The resulting nominees are announced prior to the election and candidate statements are posted on the IIUG web site and on the ballot as well.

All elected board members are REQUIRED to attend at least two board meetings that could be held anywhere in the world and the IDUG / IIUG conference in May 2007. Failure to do so will result in removal from the board. Expenses will be covered as part of being a member of the IIUG Board. Also a monthly one hour conference call is held each month (during business hours). All Board members are expected to be part of this call. Failure to do so, could also result in removal from the IIUG Board. Interested candidates for IIUG Board should clear this with your employer prior to submitting their name for a candidate.

• IIUG Board of Directors Nominee Questionnaire ( Web Page)
• IIUG Board of Directors Nominee Questionnaire ( MS Word version)

IIUG Board Members Duties

Serving on the IIUG Board of Directors is a minimum one-year commitment. It usually requires travel to meetings, monthly conference calls, and regular e-mail communication with other Board members. The Board meets formally for two to four days up to three times a year, whenever possible during weekends.

In addition to representing and serving Informix users worldwide, Board members are expected to think strategically about the future of the Informix community and their relationship with IBM. Fringe benefits of serving on the IIUG Board include expenses-paid attendance to the premier Informix User Conference and all other required meetings, direct contact with IBM executives, early access to product and service news, visibility and leadership development.

In recent years the IIUG Board has encouraged Informix participation in the IBM Learning Services Conferences. For 2006 however, the IIUG teamed up with the International DB2 Users Group (IDUG), with the aim of making this event the premier annual conference for IIUG members.

To learn more about what it is like to be a member of the IIUG Board of Directors, please see Being an IIUG Board Member. A personal view, by Neil Truby.

Sam Gentsch
Former IIUG Board Member
IIUG Elections Commissioner 2006