Member Meeting Minutes for August 21rd, 2022

It's like having a meeting on the 21st, but funnier.

Attendees

• Alisa Grishman
• Brian "Beebo" Esch
• Carolyn Normile
• Chris Napolitano
• Clarissa Somers
• Dave Bouwkamp
• Geno Soroka
• Jeremy Sweeney
• Joe Connolly
• Kiefer Mansfield
• Rex Coughenour
• Rich Simpson
• Rob Bedel
• Steve Owens

Call to Order

• Meeting was called to order by Brian "Beebo" Esch at 19:37

Announcements

Shop Clean!

• Sunday the 28th at 12 PM
  • Rob will be redoing network
    • People who can climb ladders will be very much needed
• Pizza first, then clean

Filming August 22

• Documentary crew came in previously
• Coming back to get close-ups of random machines, preferably while in use
  • Rob, Sean, and Alisa will be here to work on the laser, CNC, and FDM printers
  • Would be nice to get some more people working on things

Software Installation

• DO NOT install anything on the computers
  • If you need anything on the computers, talk to Rob and the IT department about installing it
• Someone installed a new browser on the machine and it included a bitcoin miner
• We are working to reinstall the pi-hole to block future installation of things

Free Store Donations

• There are several bags of donations that have been sitting in the middle of the couch area that need to be taken to the Free Store in Wilkinsburg before next week’s shop clean
• Carolyn is awesome and offered to take them some time this week

Free Vaccine Clinic

• October 16
• Wide range of vaccinations
  • COVID
  • Flu
  • Pneumonia
  • Hepatitis
  • More to be announced
• Bring your insurance card if you have one, but it’s not required
• All vaccine costs not covered by insurance (including people without insurance) will be covered
• Food and drink will be provided

Treasurer’s Report

• Bank: $10,219.19
• PayPal: $531.31

Old Business

A/C Update

• Ready to purchase the A/C units
  • Tried once but it went over the daily limit for the Hack business card
  • Unfortunately since them life has gotten in the way of a second attempt
  • Beebo and Alisa will be working together on the 23rd to make the purchase
• We need to figure out what components we need to buy for the installation that aren’t included with the units
  • Home Depot provided a set of installation instructions for the units we intend to purchase
  • Alisa needs someone who is knowledgeable about carpentry to look through the instructions with her and make an installation plan
• The units themselves cost around $3200 combined, meaning we will have about $650 extra to cover additional expenses
  • Racking for over-door installation
  • Insulation for doors
    • Possibly also for laser cutter – there is still debate on that
  • Purchase and installation of swinging door system for between the two sides

Laser Cutter

• The laser cutter is 90% operational!
  • It’s currently “basic” operational – still need to get the z homing module in (the z homing module will be doing double duty as an auto-focuser)
  • Still need to Loc-tite mirror 2.
• Final installations are happening to make it not just workable but easy to use without breaking it
  • Adding in a z-limit switch so that the laser head cannot be slammed into the bed
• Adding an auto-focus tool
  • Everyone will have the ability to put their material down and hit the Home button and it’ll center itself and focus for you
  • We only realized two days ago that this was even an option
• Test cuts so far have worked well
  • The machine itself is even fairly broken in
• Rob hopes it will be completed before he dies again
  • It took a lot of work, but the auto-startup system is finally working
• There will be training once the laser is up, running, and ready
  • Rob will train as many people as quickly as possible
• Rob’s bottle of Tetra Gun Grease has gone missing – it’s in a white tube with yellow and blue printing on it and he would like it returned to him if anyone sees it, as it is quite expensive
  • Alisa will print up pictures to keep out during the shop clean

ReelAbilities Film Festival

• September 7-11 at the Pittsburgh Playhouse
• As described in our last meeting, this is a film festival that celebrates people with disabilities
• Hack, as a space that explicitly welcomes disabled folks, is officially a Community Partner for the event
• Alisa will distribute flyers on Slack and in the shop
• Hack’s discount code for buying tickets is HACK22

Classes

• Welding
  • Kiefer has a MIG class coming up on the 27th that’s already full
  • There is discussion currently happening apropos scheduling another MIG class for October, as people have expressed interest
  • Other people have said they were interested in TIG and plasma cutter classes – please contact Kiefer to work on scheduling that
• Talk to the Board to schedule classes!
  • Several people said that they were interested in teaching a class, but have not followed through on actually scheduling them
  • Please, especially if you’re one of the people who’ve already said you’d like to teach a class, contact one of us to figure out scheduling a time, pricing, purchase of class materials, advertising, etc

New Business

Halloween Craft Night

• Friday the 14th at 7 PM
• Open to the public
• Nominal fee will cover cost of materials
• Food and drink will be a combination of pot luck and shop-provided

Masking

• We decided previously to readdress the masking policy on the second meeting of each month, but Alisa forgot to add it to the agenda for July
  • Alisa has now updated the Agenda Template to prevent this from happening again
• Allegheny County has gone back down to Medium status again, but Pittsburgh is still a hotspot for COVID
• Hack is one of a very few people requiring masking for its members
• Steve points out that there’s a surge going on right now
  • “Would like to maintain the most members amongst the living”
• Rex informs us that Pitt has just changed its policy to make masks mandatory again
• Jeremy is wondering if it’s time to start having a monthly vote online, as people are worried about being shouted down – need to make it possible for people to give their honest opinions without getting shouted down or becoming ostricized
  • Doesn’t want us to get to a point when people avoid coming to the space because masks are hard to wear
    • Risk losing the culture of the space and the membership
    • There are people who are already doing this
• Alisa points out there are people who will come less if masking stops
• One possibility: Vaccine mandate
  • Have to show your vaccine card every six months
• Alisa will do poll that will end in one week
  • Three options: Always mask, never mask, or masks optional for vaccinated people and required for others
  • Additional questions
    • Will requiring masks keep you away from the space?
    • Will not requiring masks keep you away from the space?

Motion to Adjourn

• Meeting was adjourned at 20:41

Minutes by A.Grishman (talk) 19:10, 22 August 2022 (PDT)