Member Meeting Minutes for July 26, 2009

Minutes by Agenda Topic

T-Shirts

• The license plate design is approved
• Pre-orders will be taken
• A link for pre-orders will be posted to the blog
• Revenue generated will be used to buy a few additional t-shirts for ad-hoc sale

Flickr

• The group would like a Flickr account
• It would be nice to have a pool so other group members photos can be included

Mailing List

• A mailing list would help keep updates flowing to the group
• It would also protect user's private email addresses

Consistently using BCC would be sufficient for me, but a mailing list is also fine. --Finsprings 16:38, 26 July 2009 (EDT)

Events and Calendar

• We're having trouble communicating events to the group
• We haven't made the calendar as widely known as we could have
  • Can we get it on the front page of the .org?
  • Yes, Forest already knocked it out
• We don't want to overwhelm things with Twitter, Facebook, Google Groups, the forum, the wiki, etcetera
• Is there a way to automate replication of event announcements, blog posts, calendar items, etcetera through all the social media channels?
• It seems like the best approach is to use the blog to originate announcements
  • Push to other social media e.g. Facebook, Twitter
  • Can we connect the Calendar and the Forum with the blog
  • Where does RSS fit?
• Could we document a process for posting events and then monitoring comments on the various outlets?
• No real conclusions were reached, may take it to the forums

Urban Treehouse

• An organizational meeting is being held Thursday
  • The meeting is not HackPittsburgh specific
• Nick provided an overview of the group
  • They provide wood to artists from fallen trees, etcetera
  • Artists make projects with the wood
• Nick discussed collaboration with them
  • Does anyone with an engineering background want to apply to the program?
  • Would anyone with an electronics background want to help artists with their projects?
• Would we consider an intro class teaching lighting, LEDs, etcetera?

Classes

• Yesterday's class was recapped
• What is the policy for having shop members around during classes?
  • Courtesy should be observed, keep it quiet, no bandsaws, etcetera
• Marty is working on guidelines for hosting classes
• Marty also has waivers
• We'll set up for Arduino 2 (Physical Pixel) on August 29

Shop

• Inspection by the city occurs next week-ish
• Acoustics were discussed
  • Fireproofing was discussed in relation to acoustic treatments

Intern

• We are technically eligible for an intern
• We have things for an intern to do
  • Write grant applications
  • Solicit donations
• We don't have someone to manage an intern yet

Redd Up

• We'll have shop cleanup on Tuesday
• Nick will post it to the calendar

Financials

• Nick recapped account balance
• Rent can be indexed based on membership
  • This has been confirmed with the landlord
  • This pretty much ensures sustainability of the space (!)

Miscellaneous

• Manufacturing Assistance Center
  • Nick will follow up with blog and forum post
• Google AdWords
  • They'll be removed
  • They're not making us any money
• Amazon affiliate program
  • Benefits re-enumerated

Action Items

Jon:

• Get Arduino 2 scheduled for 8/29
  • Get EventBrite set up (done)
  • Add event to the Google Calendar (done)
  • Get forum post in place (done)
  • Get blog post in place (done)
  • Get Twitter announcement out (done)
• Get meeting minutes posted to the forum (done)

Matt:

• Set up t-shirt blog entry and order form (done)

Marty:

• Set up Flickr account and pool, communicate to group (done)
• Post class hosting guidelines and waivers

Steve:

• Set up the mailing list, communicate to group
• Follow up on Ruby class

Nick:

• Post a description of the tree project to the forum
• Solicit group members for involvement for the treehouse project
• Post Redd Up to calendar and blog (done)
• Post blog entry and forum post about MAC

Forest:

• Enable RSS for the forums
• Investigate getting the Google calendar on the front page of the .org (done)