The bylaws of the Seattle Internet Exchange specify:
- Director seats are numbered. Even numbered seats are open in even numbered years, and odd numbered seats in odd numbered years. Open seats may also be caused by vacancy.
- In an election, the highest vote count receivers assume the longest term seats.
- Ties are decided by random means by the Secretary in the presence of the meeting attendees.
- Unless a Director dies, resigns or is removed, he or she shall hold office until the annual meeting the year his or her term expires, or until his or her successor is elected, whichever is later.
On April 3rd, 2017 during the annual member meeting, the membership will elect Directors by secret ballot.
Since there are 3 seats up for election, each ASN/member may submit one ballot with a vote for up to 3 candidates.
The following schedule applies to Board elections:
- Until February 2nd, 2017: Receive questions to be sent to all Board candidates. Submit your questions to info _a_t_ seattleix.net.
- February 3rd, 2017: Questionnaire dispatched to Board candidates.
- March 3rd, 2017: Answers from candidates due. This date is also the cut-off point for being on the ballot. Write-ins only after this date.
- March 4th, 2017: Ballots, with candidate answers, submitted to the membership. Votes can be submitted via email to Secretary or at annual meeting. Voting to happen from this point until when voting closes during the annual meeting. In cases of multiple votes from an ASN, latest vote is tallied.
Ballots will also be distributed at the meeting, but members not attending in person may email the Secretary your proxy votes at ccaputo _a_t_ seattleix.net before 3:30pm Pacific on April 3rd. (ballot below)
The current slate of candidates for 2017 are:
Erica Ehnert / Limelight Networks
Q: Please describe your experience with the SIX and/or IXPs in general.
A: It's all about the community. Working with networks to properly get them attached to the SIX or other IX's is a rewarding experience. Getting more people involved discussing good ideas or sharing information to help each other is one of my favorite parts of being involved with the SIX and other IX's.
Q: Why do you want to serve on the SIX Board of Directors?
A: I feel that my experiences working in different aspects of networking will add to the overall health of the exchange and the challenges we may face in the future.
Q: What are the challenges facing the SIX and what ideas do you have for meeting them?
A: Growth and operations. We continue to grow and keeping up with that trend can be challenging. How do we meet the needs and sometimes demands of our participant base while still maintaining the network integrity of the SIX? I think that we will soon start to stretch the ability of our current staff to meet these needs. Working together to come up with a sustainable plan for this eventuality is paramount for the path forward in order to maintain the reliability of exchange operations.
Q: Would you rather fight one hundred duck sized horses, or one horse sized duck?
A: 100 duck sized horses.
Patrick W. Gilmore, Markley Group
Q: Please describe your experience with the SIX and/or IXPs in general.
A: I have been on the SIX board since 2008. I was a customer of the SIX (and many other IXPs, obviously) as part of Akamai Technologies for several years before that, including donating the first 10 G port to the SIX. My team and I were heavily involved in the governance & founding of many IXPs around the world, such as TorIX, FranceIX, AMS-IX, etc. As you can see, I have a preference for member-run exchanges, which means SIX suits me quite well.
As part of my Day Job at Markley Group, my team owns and operates the Boston Internet Exchange.
I am currently on the boards of LINX, NANOG, ARIN, and the PeeringDB. My tenure at LINX is term limited in May of 2017.
Q: Why do you want to serve on the SIX Board of Directors?
A: I feel I still have something to contribute to the running of the largest non-recurring fee exchange on the planet. I have experience from the smallest regional networks to the largest traffic pushers on the planet. This lets me represent all the SIX members well on the board.
Q: What are the challenges facing the SIX and what ideas do you have for meeting them?
A: During my last election, I said paying for staffing. We seem to be doing well with the volunteer plus one part-time paid person, but staffing, or more generally finance / revenue, is still a worry.
SIX finances are strong, for what we are and what we do. But having no recurring revenue is a bit worrisome. If there is a downturn in the economy, which is always a concern, new ports and donations could dry up. This would force SIX to consider new revenue sources, the most obvious of which is recurring port charges. And I personally would like to avoid that.
The board spends quite a bit of time considering exactly these things. And we will continue to do so. It is not something you can fix once, and leave it be. Good stewardship of the SIX requires vigilance and long-term thinking.
Q: Would you rather fight one hundred duck sized horses, or one horse sized duck?
A: The latter.
Can’t possibly defend against against 100 attackers, even if they are relatively small.
Nikos Mouat / Mouat's Technology Services / WBL Services
Q: Please describe your experience with the SIX and/or IXPs in general.
A: I have been involved with the SIX continuously since its beginnings on a 10M hub in my suite at the Westin. I have been on the board since we incorporated, and have been president since 2003. I have also been a participant on a handful of other exchanges.
Q: Why do you want to serve on the SIX Board of Directors?
A: To continue my involvement with the exchange.
Q: What are the challenges facing the SIX and what ideas do you have for meeting them?
A: Our challenges are continuing to grow while still embracing the philosophy that has gotten us to our current scale.
Q: Would you rather fight one hundred duck sized horses, or one horse sized duck?
A: 1 horse sized duck.
The opening of voting will be announced during the annual membership meeting. Once voting starts, no further proxies will be accepted via email.
Once all ballots are collected at the meeting, voting will close and the secretary will tally votes and announce the new Board of Directors.
Past Board Elections:
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SIX Board of Directors Election 2017 Ballot
Please refer to:
https://www.seattleix.net/board-election-2017
for short biographies of the candidates for the SIX Board of Directors.
Email your completed ballot to ccaputo _a_t_ seattleix.net before 3:30pm on April
3rd, or vote on paper at the meeting.
________ ASN (one ballot per member ASN)
You may vote for up to 3 of the following candidates for the SIX Board of
Directors. Put an X next to up to 3 of the below candidates. (* == incumbent)
____ Erica Ehnert*
(representing member Limelight Networks/AS22822)
____ Patrick W. Gilmore*
(representing "All of them.")
____ Nikos Mouat*
(representing member Mouat's Technology Services/AS3601)
____ write-in: _____________________________
____ write-in: _____________________________
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