As many of you already know, I have decided not to run for the board this next term. It has been my honor to serve on four consecutive board terms. It means a tremendous amount to me that I’ve had such strong support from the membership over the past years. I am proud that my work on these past boards was able to support all of your creative endeavors over the past years. All of you are what makes this place special and what inspires me to give my time in support.
I won’t be stepping away completely, but there are some things I need to focus on outside of the board and I don’t know that I would be able to give the board my full attention over the next year. Since we have such an amazing slate of candidates to choose from I feel I will be leaving my old seat in capable hands.
I do intend to submit my application for the president position when the new board is voted in. It had always been our intention to have the president and other officer positions be non-board members. As we exit the pandemic and continue to grow it’s clear there are many capable volunteers to fill these positions.
I am really looking forward to seeing what the new board accomplishes and will be there to support them along the way any time they need me.
To the new candidates running this term, feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have, Serving on the board is an honor, and absolutely worth it even with the occasional challenges.
Now comes the sappy part where I thank everyone.
First off I need to thank my wife @Anette_Henningson for supporting me through all of this, especially in the trying times of the first two board terms. I can’t thank you enough for your love and support.
To the past boards I’ve served on, thank you all! The space wouldn’t be what it is without @Scott_Blevins , @Edenblue , @Julie-Harris , @mblatz , @brsims , @BobTheMad , @skyspook , @TJSmith , @j801496 and @Lampy They all deserve a round of applause, or beers, or both really!
More than that there have been a number of officers who have been instrumental over my time in insuring the space prospered. I want to thank @richmeyer , @PearceDunlap, @Bizwacky , @jast @artg_dms ,@jphelps , @Evan_Lott , @jsnowfreedman , @TBJK , @yashsedai , @ESmith and @engpin Your time and commitment was invaluable to growing this community.
I have worked with too many committee chairs to thank them all directly. On a whole, our chairs are fantastic and do a great job of enabling the community we have here. We couldn’t do it without you, so a huge thanks to all of you for your passion and diligent effort.
And finally, my term spanned the entire pandemic, it wasn’t easy for anyone but there were several people here who stepped up and helped us keep things going and keep giving to the community. For that I would especially like to thank:
@Hardsuit and @Print_Witch for bulk cutting masks on the lasers by the hundreds and hosting an online class to sew masks that was shared around the world.
@PearceDunlap for setting up a print farm with our polyprinters to print face shield headbands
@themitch22 for using his PLA printers to print with the donated filament
@AndrewLeCody for coordinating the sterilization and kitting of all our face shields
@engpin for connecting us with multiple hospitals to deliver our face shields at no cost and providing us the daily CDC updates
@richmeyer for coordinating the donation of our thousands of extra N95 masks to Carrollton first responders
and all the chairs that helped craft the reopening rules that proved so effective that we never had a spreader event at the space. I am immensely proud that I was able to assist in all your great work during such a crisis.
If I’ve left anyone out, I apologize, it’s been a wonderful and busy four terms and I appreciate every one of you. Thank you again for your support over these past terms and I look forward to serving you in officer and chair positions over the coming years.
Thank you all,
James Henningson