Nominations for OCA Leadership are Now Open
Posted On October 31, 2013
Nominations for OCA Leadership
The Orange County Astronomers is managed by Officers and Trustees that are elected each year by the membership. Please consider whether you would like to play a role in the leadership of the club during 2014. Nominations are now open for Officer and Trustee positions (self-nominations are encouraged). Trustees must be 18 years or older and members of OCA for at least one year. Officers (President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary) must meet the same eligibility requirements as Trustees, and in addition candidates for President and Vice President must have served as an OCA Trustee for one year, at some point during their lives.
If you would like to add your name to the ballot, please contact Bob Buchheim (OCA Secretary) by email or in person at the monthly meeting.
Nominations will close at the end of the November meeting. The ballot will be included in the December Sirius Astronomer, and completed ballots must be received by the club's Election Coordinator by the close of the January, 2014 General meeting. The new Board and Officers will take office at the January Board meeting.
As of October 30, the following candidates have "tossed their hats into the ring":
President: Greg Schedcik
Vice President: 
Treasurer: Charlie Oostdyk
Secretary: Bob Buchheim
Trustees:
Alan Smallbone
Barbara Toy
Gary Schones
Kyle Coker
Sam Saeed
Shelia Cassidy
Steve Short
Amir Soheili
William Daly
Two Trustee candidates have not previously been members of the Board. They introduce themselves to the club as follows:
Amir Soheili: I started learning telescopes and astronomy with my own first telescope, an ETX 125, in 2009. It was fun and very interesting. I was using it in my backyard, and sometimes I took it to Joshua Tree National Park to see the skies. After a while, I found OCA; I was so excited to find out that there is such a wonderful astronomy club is in my neighborhood. I attended a few OCA classes and I learnt more about astronomy and OCA activities. My wife and I became OCA members on 2011. OCA club gave us the opportunity to learn and practice astronomy more. I love photography, especially taking pictures of the planets and deep sky objects. I used my SLR (without using a telescope) and a webcam (with a telescope) to take picture of the sky and planets. Last month I took a picture of the moon with my SLR and no telescope, it came out pretty good. I thought I can share it with you. I tried astrophotography with a web cam for a while to find out how it should be done. Well, I can say it wasn't easy, it requires a lot of time and attention, but it was pleasant. I believe that OCA is a great club for beginners and professional astronomers. I learned a lot from their classes, general meetings and from talking with the club members. I believe OCA is and will be a strong astronomy club and I am proud to be member of this club. I have a Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering and Master Degree in Computer Science. I am professional software developer, specialized in Mapping applications and Esri products. I am expert in databases, developing desktop apps, web sites and iOS apps (for iPhone and iPad). A few months ago I had the opportunity to talk to our webmaster and fix a few issues in OCA web site and bring the Image Gallery back. I know that people managing the club and arranging clubs event have a passion about it. I feel the same and I would love to help OCA team as much as I can. When I saw the OCA Leadership nomination in Sirius Astronomers, I was excited and I thought that this is a great opportunity for me to help the club. I hope I can.
William Daly: My name is William G. Daly and I have been a member of OCA for two years. My primary interest is in astrophotography. I have attended a few Outreach programs and have gone to a few star parties. I have also taken an introductory class in Astronomy at a local community college.