Quote from: Rassah on September 01, 2013, 07:57:38 PM

^^ These are views and positions that almost all of us hold, though. And maybe I misunderstood what the purpose of the position was. But you're pretty much right that she would be best if all that will be required is to write up communication memos and talk to politicians.

You make the job description sound like that of a secretary Tongue

...I have to say I'm a little surprised by Theymos's endorsement of Ploshay. Now that the Foundation is under Jon Matonis's leadership, there's going to be less lobbying in Washington D.C. and more of an international, non-Empire focus. So, we don't need more D.C. lobbyists.

The most accomplished of the candidates in effecting actual real-world change is Joerg Platzer, owner of Room 77, the first brick-and-mortar establishment in the world to accept bitcoin payments and these days the host for our regular bitcoin gatherings here in Berlin. An entrepreneur with a background in strategic corporate communications, Joerg has put Berlin and Bitcoin on the map. As I posted over on the Foundation forums:

Quote from: https://bitcoinfoundation.org/forum/index.php?/topic/344-individual-candidate-joerg-platzer/#entry4124

I just wanted to pop in here to add in a good word for Joerg. His leadership in single-handedly bootstrapping the world's first local bitcoin economy here in Berlin make him the obvious Board candidate to help steer the Foundation in the right direction--hopefully helping to replicate bitcoin's success in Berlin also in a multitude of other locales around the world.

Right now pretty much every time we have a bitcoin gathering (organized and hosted by Joerg) here in Berlin, we have local and international journalists and film crews attending. The amount of ongoing media buzz Room 77 and the other bitcoin businesses and gatherings here are generating is just ridiculous and is a testament to the PR genius of the tireless dynamo named Joerg Platzer.

It is no exaggeration to say that Berlin would hardly even be on the bitcoin world map (any more than other nearby capitals such as Prague or Bratislava) without Joerg. Thanks to his efforts over the last three years, we are not only on the map but have become internationally known as the "Bitcoin Mecca", the go-to place to see bitcoin in action at its current full potential. At the regular gatherings, we have visitors from all over the world who've come here to experience the Berlin miracle firsthand. At the August monthly meeting three weeks ago, we had visitors from at least Texas, Colorado, New Hampshire, Slovakia, Austria, Spain, and Russia. Those were just the ones I happened to chat with. A number of people from at least Vienna and Bratislava regularly commute here (6+ hours on the bus or train) for these gatherings. Again, it seems doubtful that much of this would be the case without Joerg, the guy who made it all happen.

Joerg has my vote, and you ought to consider giving him yours, too. With Jon Matonis and Joerg Platzer in leadership positions at the Foundation, the future will look so bright that I'll have to put on my shades!

Read about Joerg's accomplishments in making Berlin the center of gravity for bitcoin in Europe (and beyond), watch his countless media appearances, listen to his Q&A for Let's Talk Bitcoin the other day, and then tell me there is a better candidate. Certainly there are a few other good candidates I might vote for if Joerg wasn't running, but he is running, so there is just no contest.

Here's Joerg's take on the internationalization of the Foundation and the necessity to be looking beyond the U.S.:

Quote from: https://bitcoinfoundation.org/forum/index.php?/topic/344-individual-candidate-joerg-platzer/#entry4036

If the eye of Sauron is upon you GTFO of Mordor!

The foundation is based in and under the jurisdiction of the US of A. The USA is an absurdly overregulated economy with a regime that is trying to abolish privacy in all aspects of people's lives and thus the most hostile environment for Bitcoin on this planet. The fact that the majority of the current members of the foundation board runs rather big businesses that are dependend on the goodwill of that regime does not really make things better.

It is a no-brainer to demand the foundation being internationalised and based in a more freedom-affine country that embraces innovation instead of trying to keep the status quo by all means. We should promote the creation of several independant foundations, associations, societies or organisations, be they defined geographically or focussed on certain aspects of crypto economics or certain goals of their members.

Any satoshi spent on 'lobbying for Bitcoin in Washington' is an irresponsible waste of money donated by members of the Bitcoin community in good faith. And it will take us exactly nowhere.