Laura Takenaka for Secretary/Council

Foundation Elections
#1

Hi everyone. This is genuinely a scary thing to do but here I am, announcing my candidacy for Secretary of ExCo and Council. I will be submitting my policy documents before the deadline and will participate in the candidates AMA on Reddit.
For those of you who do not know much about me, I’m the Country Lead for NEM Thailand. I’m originally from Canada’s East Coast but have lived in Asia (Japan and Thailand) for about 13 years now.

To summarise the video link below, I have three basic areas of focus:

  1. Communications- To be honest, most of the problems the foundation is facing is due to communication breakdowns or blackouts. Teams in LATAM need to know what the teams in Japan are doing, teams in the Philippines need to know what the team in Europe is doing. We need to have clear, direct, and respectful open lines of communication so that the teams on the ground and the council can both deliver information to you, the community in a more comprehensive way.

  2. Developers-The Catapult roadmap needs to be acknowledged and released. It needs to be addressed by Council seriously and we need to find the blockages and pain points so that the core devs can feel confident moving forward. We need to give the core devs as much support as they need, be that hiring senior developers to assist, or to just provide feeback. Other teams of developers should be hired, OR community devs incetivized to work on new and innovative projects and services to roll out globally.

  3. Marketing
    As I state in my video this may not be a popular topic. NEM has always been the ‘quiet kid in the corner corner who just gets stuff done.’ That has brought NEM to where we are today, but its not sustainable. We need a bit of name recognition, to give our ground troops a boost when they walk into a meeting with a corporation or government agency. We need to break out of our echo chamber of crypto news to really bring blockchain stories to the general public who still think negatively about blockchain.

I also wanted to say _Thank You So Very Much_to the community as a whole. Even when-especially when-we disagree, because we need a difference of opinions, new ideas, and sometimes a kick in the pants.

Please remember to make your voice heard. You don’t have to vote for me, just please vote and let’s move NEM forward together. We are ALL ONE NEM.
Thank you.

9 Likes
#2

So you speak Thai and Japanese?
Dan

#3

Hi Dan, my Japanese is better than my Thai for sure, but I’m functional in both languages. I’m originally from Canada so speak some bad French as well :hugs:.
I have one Thai office staff to help out with more esoteric and archaic Thai and for help with governmental liaisons.
Thanks gor the questions and have a great Sunday.
Laura

1 Like
#4

At least today the communication should’t not be a problem due to all the technological
options that people have to communicate
(telephone, skype, whazap, facebook, discord, trello, telegram, viber, slack … bla bla bla… )
It seems that this things are going the oposit way more options lees communication.

Maybe this problem is organisational problem.
The foundation or whoever will be in charge could adopt SCRUM methodology

https://www.scrum.org/resources/what-is-scrum/

and have daily or weekly meetings
and deciding together with the regional centres the needs and priorities
on the regional and global scale.

#5

Thanks for the input, I’ll certainly consider it. One of the problems is that we tend to work in silos, and don’t share across regions well enough. You make very valid points about the weekly updates, although the efficiency of meetings leaves much to be desired.
I really hope to be elected to start working on it.
Thank you again for your comments.

#6

  1. What is your position on the current election process and using PoI for elections like this?

  2. What is your position on making processes, decisions and information more transparent for the community? (Council decisions, who voted on what, Foundation Charter, roadmaps, etc.)

3 Likes
#7

Hi Mexxer, glad you asked.
I’m currently writing up my Policy Documents (in-between work and home) and a bit part of it seems to be repetitious where I keep saying accountability and transparency a number of times.

To specifically answer your questions:

  1. The current process is deeply flawed but my understanding is that there were parameters and processes that needed to happen in a specific time frame. Whilst POI is our consensus algorithm, and has been used for NCF votes, etc, it can ALSO be abused as someone with a big bag of coins can swing an election for better or worse. To be perfectly honest both systems are flawed. I would like to see a better system created but so far it has not been created. I hope if elected to work towards creating that new system. Especially when NIS migrates over to Catapult, the consensus algorithm may not be the same so POI could be moot.

  2. My position on making processes, decisions, and information more transparent. I am SO for this. I’m starving for information myself and would absolutely love to work cross regions on good and useful initiatives that would benefit the ecosystem. Currently, we tend to work in silos and only hear through announcements what the other teams are doing. That won’t work for a global organization. I personally believe our bylaws should be public and open for all to see and read, not just registered members. The Catapult roadmap should have been published, and I really don’t understand why it wasn’t. Voter roles that aren’t violating anyones privacy should be public (like any senator or parliamentarians voting record should be, so that their constituents {community} can hold them accountable for the votes they cast. There has been a dark shroud thrown over the management and it needs to be lifted.

I hope I’ve answered your questions to your satisfaction, and thank you for asking. Please feel free to ask anything else at any time.
All best.

1 Like
#8

POI is not perfect but it was good enough for the creation of the Foundation in the first place and therefore it should be good enough until another method is determined to be better or PoI can be improved. It concerns me that a decision to pivot away from PoI has been made late and was not put forward to the community.

The above is not a reflection on your candidacy and I for one appreciate your response and view. In terms of transparency it is essential that this improves. I would like to see council minutes made public even if they are in summary form or redacted for reasons of competition. An AGM should also be held so that a review of the years achievements, spending and the year ahead goals can be presented

#9

Dear KingCole (one of my favourite teas as a kid, btw)

I agree with you that POI would have been desirable over what we have now, perhaps I should clarify that I would have agreed with a POI vote, and am as curious as the rest of the community as to why it was not implemented. Perhaps it was against a Singaporean incorporation law that I don’t know about, perhaps asking a lawyer versed in SG corporate law would be a prudent move.
I DO think that we need a better system for the next time an election comes around. I fully lobby (maybe not the best term) for a release of meeting minutes - I’ve done this many times in many previous lives (jobs), and for all of those committee/Council/Stakeholder meetings the minutes were always shared and done so in a timely fashion. Certainly some private or sensitive materials should be redacted if needs must, but the general overview or summary can and SHOULD be released.
I’m not on council so I really have no idea how things are discussed and decided, I wish I did so that I could offer a bit more insight. I can only state my position and what I hope to achieve.
I hope I’ve answered your comments to your satisfaction.
Have a great evening.

2 Likes
#10

Thank you for your response and addressing the questions I raised.

I wish you all the very best in the upcoming elections

#11

Thanks a bunch, and thanks again for asking valuable questions.

#12

For #3 marketing, besides centers and meetups, what do you have in mind at a high level?

Do you think hiring a global branding/marketing firm would help NEM?

#13

Hi willowfoot thanks for your question.

I think retaining a marketing firm wouldn’t be a bad idea, but we need to be responsible with funds. What I’ve found working with NEM is that we aren’t that well known outside crypto and blockchain groups. We tend to get the same echo chambre of voices over and over.
With the help of a Marketing/PR firm, we could leverage their access to more traditional audiences and raise overall awaress, and overall adoption by those who aren’t aware of us.
I recently had a response to a tweet of mine by the Canadian Ambassador to Thailand mentioning that she also doesn’t know about NEM and would like to hear more, and a marketing campaign would be an easy entry point.
So that’s a very long winded answer to your question, :joy: but the short version is yes, with a proper vetting process to maximize ROI on expenditures.

Hope that helps,
Cheers

#14

Laura, will hiring the external company impact current Foundation members in field? Do you see NEM Foundation firing staff because of it? There are 70+ members working in current Foundation, 1-2 are dev related, the rest are business relation and marketing oriented.
So are you saying all those people aren’t doing their job well and you have to hire external company to change outcomes?

#15

Thanks for asking Tony,
As we don’t have access to everyone’s job descriptions or org charts I can’t comment to the exact roles of everyone hired as staff.
A Marketing/PR firm are experts in Marketing/PR, and consulting with one and leveraging access to markets we may not have access to would be a net plus. We have a Marketing fund that we’ve never been able to tap, and that could be put to effective use.
I have no power over hiring/firing and the marketing team we have are great at producing the materials we have. Thats not to say that we don’t need a strategic review over materials we put out and what’s effective and what isn’t. Having a Marketing PR frim on hand to offer advice is not a bad thing.
Business Development people are there to make business connections, and are not marketing experts.
I make the comparison to Dash who are gettign very well known by funding Ambassadors and signing up merchants in rapid succession-leading to overall adoption.
I would turn the same question back to you Tony, I’m not commenting on anyone’s job performance, except my own staff member as that’s not in my purview and its distasteful to offer an opinion on coworker performance in public. We need to all work together rather than sewing discord amongst the foundation staff on the ground.
I hope this answers the question to your satisfaction. Thanks again, hope the snow hasn’t started out west yet.
Laura

#16

For the Japanese speaking NEM community.
Also @xemnewbie :smile:https://youtu.be/oiJffAwY-yI

1 Like
#17

Hey everyone,

I’m sure a lot of posts in Telegram, etc. are going to be lost in the noise of the crowd. I’m not going to go on endlessly and I’m bad a self- promotion. I’m not slick, in any video I do I cringe and am somewhat awkward but I hope my passion for NEM and the ecosystem we are building comes through.

The position I’m running for in ExCo is Secretary - I’ve been a professional assistant/secretary for well over 9 years in varying positions. I’ve been a secretary in a governmental setting and in a corporate setting as well as on an ‘association’ (membership club) board of directors. It’s what I do, it’s what I know.

I know how to communicate and how to listen. I won’t set out a lot of points because as the new council and ExCo is formed, there will be a lot of talk about how to structure the communications, and I hope to be able to form a consensus around those metrics, measurables, and frameworks. Working with a new council and ExCo will be challenging, but I have a bit of a reputation as a mediator, not just in RED. :stuck_out_tongue: I hope to be able to bring everyone together and to communicate to the community in a clear, concise, and professional manner, without losing our ‘ONENEM’ community touch.

Thanks for reading,

No matter whom you support, I just implore you to vote and make your voice heard.

1 Like
#18

How did you find out about NEM?

What distinguish NEM for you from other blockchains and why did you decide to work for NEM?

How long have you been working for NEM?

Do you have any technical background? If not, how do you handle the understanding of NEM and crypto in general?

1 Like
#19

Hi ManonLescaut,

How did I find out about NEM?

  • A few very dear friends of mine are initial stakeholders in NEM, and I had helped with an event here in Bangkok for LoyalCoin. I had heard about it long before I had thoughts to work with NEM.

What distinguishes NEM from other Blockchains

  • To be honest for me, I mean I can go on about hard coded assest and extra layers of security with multisig and not putting core logic on chain, etc. What I found really different was the fact that if you had a problem, or wanted to talk to someone-NEM had a person there or close by that could go in person to discuss, explain, or just brainstorm.(project level).
    Plus I like that to do the basics, you don’t have to be a developer because mass adoption comes when you don’t even know you’re using the blockchain.

How long have you been working for NEM?

  • I’ve been working for NEM since March 1. There was a bit of transfer between my last job and this one. Setting up the legal entity here in Thailand is much bigger task than I thought.

Do you have any technical background?

  • I guess that depends on your definition. Am I a programmer? Alas, no. Back in the 90’s I used to build my own computers with parts scavenged from others and from saving up paycheques for really cool parts. When in Government, I was administration but my friends were in the IT dept and as a result I used to get all the cool new hardware first.
    I was web admin for about two years on a volunteer basis for a Foreign Correspondents’ club, and more recently, I really enjoy working with my daughter around her coding journey -and project- as well as playing around with Raspberry Pi’s for robots. Last year for Xmas we built a laptop.
    Do I intend to learn more about programming? Yes, absolutely. Once my current thesis is completed, I plan to take some coding courses and the NEM training courses.
    Again for crypto and the blockchain space, I am incredibly fortunate to learn from incredibly smart people and have an amazing sounding board and support around me for things I may not be clear on. I don’t-and refuse-to lie to people and if I do not know something, I tell people that I may not know, but I certainly will find out for them.

I hope this answers your questions to your satisfaction. I just looked up and realized I may have written a missive! Apologies but I like to thoroughly answer questions as well. :hugs:

Thanks for asking and engaging with the candidates.

All best,
Laura

2 Likes
#20

Thanks for the answers.

Can you tell more about your previous occupations, e.g.:

  • “…web admin…on a volunteer basis…”?
  • “working for the government”

What exactly was your job there and what tasks did you do?

In Reddit (link) is written that you are:

  • an expert in NEM foundation What makes you an expert in the NEM Foundation and shouldn’t that be a expected knowledge of someone who is applying for ExCo and not something one has to mention explicitly as an expertise?
  • Thai regulations on cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and ICOs: Same question here, what makes you an expert in that field?

I don’t wanna sound harsh but nowadays people tend to fill there CVs with some buzzwords and generally held descriptions. So I am a fan of specific descriptions with clear information provided.

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