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.
- Members who are affiliated with each other are entitled to a total of one vote upon each issue or election. "Affiliate" means, with respect to a particular person, any entity that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with such person, as judged by the Secretary.
On April 5th, 2019 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 4th, 2019: Receive questions to be sent to all Board candidates. Submit your questions to info _a_t_ seattleix.net.
- February 5th, 2019: Questionnaire dispatched to Board candidates.
- March 5th, 2019: Answers from candidates due. This date is also the cut-off point for being on the ballot. Write-ins only after this date.
- March 6th, 2019: 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 3:00pm Pacific on April 5th. (ballot below)
The current slate of candidates for 2019 are:
Erica Ehnert / Limelight Networks
Q: Please describe your experience with the SIX and/or IXPs in general.
A: I have been involved with the SIX for many years, throughout my whole career. I believe that IXPs are the soul of the internet industry. They help networks large and small achieve quality connectivity. It really is about community and working together to make a better experience for end users and for the internet as a whole.
Q: Why do you want to serve on the SIX Board of Directors?
A: I feel as though I still have something constructive to contribute as a board member for the SIX. My experience working at both large and small networking companies allows me to represent all members of our exchange.
Q: What are the challenges facing the SIX and what ideas do you have for meeting them?
A: Staying focused on our core values and mantra of pushing packets continues to be a challenge. Effectively addressing each new opportunity and issue as they arise is the best method to meet the challenges we face.
Patrick W. Gilmore / Addrex / Deep Edge Technologies
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 position at Markley Group between 2013 and 2018, my team owned and operated the Boston Internet Exchange. While not member-run, it was the largest IXP in New England and let me see how a commercial entity runs an exchange. I am currently on the boards of NANOG, ARIN, and the PeeringDB. I was a board member of LINX until I was 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, and believe I bring a somewhat unique view and experience to the board.
Q: What are the challenges facing the SIX and what ideas do you have for meeting them?
A: My last couple elections, I mentioned staffing. To be brutally honest, I thought we would have had to hire someone for more hours than we currently pay Chris by 2019. Guess I am not as good at predicting the future as I thought. It is a testament to the rest of the board (who help out operationally more than I can, being on the opposite coast) and Chris (who is Just Plain Amazing) that we have not. But it is still something to keep in mind at the board level. Probably our greatest challenge in the near- to mid-range future is scale. Both keeping up with traffic increases while remaining monthly-fee-free, as well as decisions on new locations. Members want us to be in lots of places, but we have to worry about the stability, cost, and operational complexity of the core. Which is a good problem to have. I love the fact we are growing and have to plan our growth carefully. Lots of people predicted the hyperscalers and a few large telcos / MSOs would own everything by now, making IXPs irrelevant. Another note: While not our greatest challenge, the operational side is very important - and not just for our members. Keeping the SIX strong, stable, and drama free helps promote the member-based, low- or no-cost IXP model. Watching the finances, planning for the things like recession or bubble bursts, and being religious about the ethos of transparency are important not just to the SIX itself, but also so others can look to us as an example of how things should be done. I honestly believe the Internet would be a better place with more SIX-style IXPs. It is a heavy responsibility, but one I think the SIX board, volunteers, and members shoulder easily. We do have the best exchange on the planet!
Nikos Mouat / Mouat's Technology Services / WBL Services
Q: Please describe your experience with the SIX and/or IXPs in general.
A: I was one of the founders of the SIX, and have had a continuous role in the management of the SIX since its inception. I have served on the board since the SIX incorporated. I have been the primary contact for at least 5 ASNs connected to the SIX, and have been the primary contact for various ASNs at other peering points around the United States.
Q: Why do you want to serve on the SIX Board of Directors?
A: I would like the SIX to continue its path as a stable and reliable interconnection point in the Northwestern United States, and believe serving on the board is the best way to do so.
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.
Tom Paseka / Cloudflare
Q: Please describe your experience with the SIX and/or IXPs in general.
A: Working at Cloudflare, we are connecting to more IXPs than nearly any other network in the world. When I joined, we were connected to just two IXPs, now connected to 197. We love to support IXPs as they grow and see them as a critical part of internet infrastructure, but also support the communities they grow. Cloudflare has been connected to the SIX for nearly 7 years, growing port capacity significantly and loving the growth of the SIX.
Q: Why do you want to serve on the SIX Board of Directors?
A: I believe my experience would bring good value to the direction of the SIX, as well as a fresh look as the SIX continues to grow.
Q: What are the challenges facing the SIX and what ideas do you have for meeting them?
A: As a network that has undergone rapid growth, I understand the growth pains and believe this is a challenge for the SIX ahead. The SIX faces new challenges as the Internet continues to grow and networks have different demands than previous years.
John van Oppen / Campus Colo / Wholesail Networks LLC
Q: Please describe your experience with the SIX and/or IXPs in general.
A: I have worked on ISP networks since 2002 and have built several ISP backbones as well as several ISPs from the ground up. As a founder of multiple connectivity related companies, my experience uniquely combines both technical operations and leadership with business operations and planning.
Q: Why do you want to serve on the SIX Board of Directors?
A: I believe I would bring business leadership experience to the board combined with a fresh perspective. I want the SIX to survive long term and continuing to build a sustainable ongoing operation is a cornerstone of my reason for wanting to serve. I also believe that bringing new blood onto the board is a good thing for the organization, the SIX has had a small team that has served for a long time and continuing to bring new perspectives can only strengthen the organization.
Q: What are the challenges facing the SIX and what ideas do you have for meeting them?
A: I think the SIX's challenges revolve around maintaining a high reliability operation while our members continue to consolidate and put pressure on our model (having a large percentage of traffic concentrated in less than 10 members has big risks long term for obvious reasons). Additionally, I think it is important to continue the path towards professional services for operations to make sure we make sure we can keep good quality services for the foreseeable future.
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:
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
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SIX Board of Directors Election 2019 Ballot
Please refer to:
https://www.seattleix.net/board-election-2019
for short biographies of the candidates for the SIX Board of Directors.
Email your completed ballot to ccaputo _a_t_ seattleix.net before 3:00pm on April
5th, or vote on paper at the meeting.
The Seattle Internet Exchange Bylaws
(https://www.seattleix.net/docs/20170418_Bylaws.pdf) state:
- 2.3 Voting Rights.
- 2.3.3 Members who are affiliated with each other are entitled to a
total of one vote upon each issue or election. "Affiliate" means,
with respect to a particular person, any entity that directly or
indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control
with such person, as judged by the Secretary.
On your honor, please list the SIX Member affiliated ASNs this ballot is
being cast by, in accordance with section 2.3.3 of the SIX Bylaws:
ASNs: ________________________________________________________________
[only one ballot per affiliated group of ASNs may be cast]
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)
____ Tom Paseka
(representing member Cloudflare/AS13335)
____ John van Oppen
(representing members Campus Colo/AS17017, Wholesail Networks/AS20055)
____ write-in: _____________________________
____ write-in: _____________________________
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