Election for ISMMS Executive Board Positions, Nov-Dec 2024

The positions of Webmaster and Secretary on the ISMMS Executive Board will become available at the end of the current terms of Dr Steven Gamble and Dr Owen Coggins. We therefore call for candidates to nominate themselves to serve four year terms in these positions from January 2025.

Neither Steven nor Owen will stand for reelection. Rose Johnson, currently Ordinary Member, has announced intention to stand for Secretary, in line with the Bylaws of the Society. In the event that she is elected by the membership to this role, an Ordinary Member position will become available: this would be filled by the one candidate with the next highest number of votes from the Webmaster and Secretary elections. If Rose is not elected as Secretary, she will continue as Ordinary Member.

Roles

The Secretary is responsible for keeping records of board actions, including arranging meetings, taking minutes at all board meetings and distributing them, and ensuring that records are maintained. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing formal votes about any changes to the Bylaws, and for managing election procedures. Questions about this role can be addressed to owen.coggins@brunel.ac.uk and a full handover process will be arranged to Owen’s successor.

The Webmaster’s role is to manage the development and maintenance of the ISMMS website and its interface with the society’s other online profiles across social media. This includes web hosting, web design, posting content updates to the website (blog posts and announcements), posting email announcements to the ISMMS mailing list, maintaining subscription payment links, controlling secure access to the Metal Music Studies journal, supporting the online aspects of annual elections (displaying candidate statements and running a secure voting system), and hosting the Metal Studies Bibliography (overseen by Amaranta Saguar García & Brian Arnold Hickam). The webmaster will work closely in accordance with the Communications Officer, who manages the society’s social media accounts, and the Treasurer, who manages member details. Questions about this role can be addressed to ismmswebmaster@gmail.com and a full handover process will be arranged to Steven’s successor.

All board members are expected to attend all Board meetings (around six per year) to report on their areas of responsibility, and to participate in discussion and decision-making relating to the ISMMS organization and the field of Metal Music Studies.

Election procedure

Candidates must be current Members of ISMMS. New members are welcome to join, and lapsed members are encouraged to rejoin, if they wish to stand for a position or vote in the election. Current board members may stand for election/re-election.

To stand, send a Statement (1 page) outlining what you will bring to the role, and a CV (5 pages max) describing your relevant skills and experience, to owen.coggins@brunel.ac.uk. Statements of current Board members are viewable upon request. Candidates may stand for either Secretary or Webmaster. Members will view the Statement and CV for each candidate in a log-in section of the ISMMS website, where voting will also take place. References, photos, and other personal information are not required and should not be included.

We strongly encourage candidates representing marginalised and/or excluded communities, including but not limited to people of colour, women, LGBTQI+, disabled people, and those from the Global South. We also ask that members consider sharing this announcement with individual colleagues, and with relevant networks they’re aware of that may include individuals from these communities. Students and Independent Scholars are welcome to stand if they are current Members. Any questions about the election can be addressed to owen.coggins@brunel.ac.uk.

Timeline

Elections Procedure Review

Elections to the ISMMS Board for Ordinary Member positions consistently receive more nominations than for Officer positions (Secretary, Treasurer & Membership Officer, Webmaster, Communications Officer). Currently the election procedure in the Bylaws requires that an Ordinary Member wishing to move into an Officer position must stand in an election against other candidates. The Board is considering changing this so that serving Ordinary Members can move into upcoming vacant Officer roles by agreement of the Board without consulting the Membership, with an election then taking place for their vacant Ordinary Member position. This would facilitate Ordinary Members more easily moving into Officer roles once they had served on the Board for at least one year and gained understanding of the roles, and would lead to more Ordinary Member elections. We invite feedback from ISMMS members on this issue, which can be sent to the current Secretary owen.coggins@brunel.ac.uk.