Director Nominations

Director nominations are called for in December each year and elected for their 12 month term in the AGM, held in January.

If you're interested in becoming a board member please check back here closer to December. In the mean time please join our mailing list, come along to our events and meet the current board and members so we can get to know you. You'll also need to submit a membership application prior to running for election.

Before running for a board position we strongly recommend you read the following FAQ's so you'll know what to expect.

FAQ about being a Board Member

Q. What does it mean to be a board member?

A. The nhjc is an incorporated non-profit organisation. The board members are a group of members elected each year to run and maintain the organisation and grow it in line with the aims of the members.

Q. What is a Director?

A. A director is someone who is legally appointed as a person responsible for an organisation.

Q. What are the different Director positions on the board?

A. There are 12 Board Members elected, known as “Directors”. The four executive positions consist of President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary. There are also 8 non-executive director positions. Generally it is recommended that people participate as non-executive directors for a year before they take on the additional responsibilities and leadership required of the executive positions, however there is no rule against someone running for those positions.

Q. How long is a term as Director?

A. 12 months (January to January)

Q. Is there any remuneration for my position?

A. No, these positions are entirely voluntary so the directors do not get paid for their work.

Q. How much time do Directors commit each month and will it interfere with my work?

A. In addition to our monthly board meetings (around 1.5hrs a month) and events, directors also spend time meeting their roles and responsibilities. Typically the executive positions take a greater amount of time commitment each month, and other positions will depend on what responsibilities you take on. The time commitments can be anywhere between 3 – 15 hours each month. Most of our commitments are outside of normal business hours however occasionally it may be appropriate to perform tasks during business hours. Generally this is kept at a minimum.

Q. What do the Directors do?

A. The directors have a wide range of responsibilities. Some responsibilities are met by all directors, and others are for specific people. These responsibilities are often split up depending on someone’s skills or passions (eg, event planning, marketing, PR, etc) or based on their position (Treasurer, President etc).

Some of the responsibilities include:

-       Attending monthly board meetings – usually held at one of the directors’ offices, changing each month.

-       Event planning – finding locations, negotiating prices, arranging catering, promotions and advertising, finding topics and presenters etc

-       Maintaining the organisation – Checking mail, maintaining records such as meeting minutes, financials, bank account, maintaining statutory requirements.

-       Strategic planning – Working to improve the nhjc and achieve more for members including looking at new initiatives, different types or ways of running and improving events.

-       Organisation promotion – finding sponsorship and maintaining relationships, finding new members, liaising with the Newcastle business community, increasing awareness of the organisation

-       Online presence – maintaining our website, arranging our e-mailouts, updating our ticketing websites, maintaining and improving our social media pages with Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Linked In

Q. What skills are valued for directors?

A. Whilst there are some basic skills required by all directors, our board works best when we have people with a wide range of specialized skils (eg, finances, event planning, marketing, strategic vision etc). Obviously having all of one would make it difficult to delegate responsibilities and have the organisation run smoothly. Some of the desired skills include;

 - Good personal organisation and time management

 - Interpersonal skills to work as a team and network

 - Leadership skills

 - Public Speaking, written and oral communications skills

 - Accounting/ Budgeting skills

 - Marketing/Promotions/Graphic Design skills

 - Event Planning and management

 - IT skills

 - Legal Skills

Q. What else is considered in a nomination?

A. Other things that are considered include your business experiences which you can draw on within your role as director, your industry or background, your ability to make and maintain good relationships, your image and ability to maintain that desired of a board representative, professionalism, dedication etc. It is good to have a broad base of members of the board who can bring about varying levels of experience, knowledge, industry diversity and passion which will drive the organisation to grow.

Q. How does the nomination and voting process work?

A. Nominations are collected around December each year for those wishing to run for the following calendar year. Nominations are collated by the board. The nomination details will be listed on our website so that members can make an informed vote at the AGM.

At the AGM in January, the results from the previous 12 months are presented and the voting from nominations will elect the new board. Only registered members of the nhjc are permitted to vote in the election of the board. Please contact the organisation at mail@nhjc.com.au if you haven’t and wish to register as a member. This must be done before the final monthly board meeting in December to allow the board to accept the membership application.

Election of Executive Directors: Each executive position (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary) will be elected individually. If there is more than 1 nomination for an executive position there will be a vote amongst members. If there is only one nomination that person is automatically elected. If there are no nominations for a position, non-executive nominees will be called upon to run for that position. All executive positions must be filled.

Election of Non-Executive Directors: There are 8 positions available. If there are more than 8 nominees, a vote will be had and the 8 candidates with the highest number of votes being elected. If there are less than 8 nominees all are elected.