The OTW has developed a tradition for elections, that we run a couple of public chat sessions with all the candidates. The transcript is posted afterwards for those who missed it. We'll be changing the format slightly this year. As the org grows and the number of voters increases, we need to make sure everyone gets a fair chance to participate.
The timing of the chat sessions is determined by the candidates themselves. Depending on their availability, the Elections Officer picks the best time that suits as many of them as possible. Each chat will last one hour.
The first chat will be a very general getting-to-know-you session. Questions can be asked in person to all the candidates. At the beginning, the moderator will ask any voters present if they have particular questions, and select one at random using a random number generator. We ask that you don't repeat questions already sent in via email, and remember that the aim is for those who want to get to know the candidates' personalities as well as their policies. Please also remember that although some candidates are happy to connect their legal and fannish names, others are not, so some will chat happily about fandoms they have participated in, with many details, while others will keep such discussion to generalities to avoid linking identities.
For the second chat, several people asked last year about getting to see how the candidates will work together. We're still working through the details of how we can best showcase this, but we envisage it being a free-form discussion between the candidates on a topic of interest to the org, much as would happen in a board meeting.
We'll announce exact dates and times after the candidates have confirmed, but wanted to give you advance notice of the change in format.