Member Meeting Minutes for November 4, 2009
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Agenda
- Recap of classes, Hacky Halloween, etc.
- Door update
- Results of the Arts Council business class
- Broadley Donations
- Making decisions about incorporation status, financials, rent, etc.
- Nominations for vacant council position
- Planning for Mobile Art && Code
- Marek - SCARA Robot Arms
- Marek - Rossums (rossums.org) and HackPGH classes
Minutes by Agenda Topic
Attendees: Derrick, Gwen, Forest, Doug, Matt S., Amy, Carpenter Josh, Jon, Matt M., Bonnie, Jim, Marek, Lori, Marty
Recap of classes, Hacky Halloween, etc.
- Class recap
- Lori's iMovie class was awesome!
- Hacky Halloween
- We made money!
- We'll have to do it again
- One new member as a result
- Ham radio study sessions
- Four new licenses earned
- Several license upgrades earned
- Matt M. served as emissary to i3detroit
- Their space is awesome
- They're open and peopled every day of the week
- They have about 15 members
- Their membership dues are expensive (~$100)
- Most of their equipment is member-donated
- They have a working member-contributed door system
Door update
- Marty has the door system almost ready to go
- It's his top priority
- The enclosure is outstanding
- Art & Code may delay this somewhat
- Matt will create and distribute RFID tags as necessary
Results of the Arts Council business class
- Lori, Marty, and Matt attended the event
- "How to start an arts business"
- Didn't have much to do with arts: more how to start a business in Pennsylvania
- Class was recapped
- Summary: "there's no good way to start a business for what we do"
- There isn't a lot of precedent
- It's hard to cover the things we want to do
- We're balancing several things:
- Liability (specifically the council in the event of injury)
- Expenses (we want to keep the place running)
- Paperwork (we want to minimize bureaucracy and make awesome things instead)
- Income (there are a lot of opportunities depending on the decisions we make)
- Recommendation:
- Focus on simple entity
- Balance cost and liability
- In the future, pursue nonprofit or slice the organization in two
- LLC gives us:
- Liability coverage we need
- Minimal expenditures
- Easy insurability
- Minimal recurring cost
- Minimal paperwork
- This'll be put to a big vote before pulling the trigger
- Council may start on the paperwork now
Making decisions about incorporation status, financials, rent, etc.
- Rent is paid
- Lease is signed
- Transition talk with landlord occurred last night (Nick -> Marty, etc)
- Landlord is looking to turn the building into a business incubator
- This may take the form of a 501(c)(3)
- There may be backing
- Don't know what this means for HackPittsburgh
- Landlord may be willing to help with electricity
- More talks are forthcoming
- Options were discussed
- We need to get our own insurance
- We're covered in part on the landlord's business policy
- We need to start getting some of this stuff in writing
- VOTE: The membership is requested to authorize the council to pursue LLC incorporation status in the short term, with the understanding that a final vote with 30 days prior notice will be required before entering the organization into any binding incorporation status.
- Motion passes unanimously, with no abstentions
Broadley Donations
- Origin of the donations was discussed
- We're in a cataloging and testing phase
- Volunteer hour opportunities to catalog equipment will be available
- Some of this stuff is dangerous; if you don't know what it is, don't mess with it
- It will straight-up keeeeeel you
- Thank-you notes, photos, stories are appreciated
Nominations for vacant council position
- Nick has stepped down
- Nominations were opened for filling the position
- Matt nominates Andy
- Josh nominates Matt M.
- Marty nominates Josh, Josh respectfully declines
- If you are a nominee, please send a bio to info@ describing yourself and why you're interested in a council position
- Voting will occur on November 15th
- Additional nominees will be accepted
- Email voting will be accepted
Planning for Mobile Art && Code
- Volunteer drivers are filled
- Opportunities are available for "champions" during the event
- We're listed in the flyer
- Friday night at the shop will be a big night, please get down here and show the colors!!!
- We've been contacted by some hackerspaces that will be in town and want to see the space
- Flyers and t-shirts are available for distribution and wearing if you'd like to help out
Marek - Rossums (rossums.org) and HackPGH classes
- Marek belongs to a robotics/art group
- Some opportunities for overlap exist
- Marek will cross-pollinate classes and workshops
- Robotic and kinetic art is of special interest
- Arduino classes are of special interest
- Some opportunities to show pieces in a gallery setting may exist
Marek - SCARA Robot Arms
- Marek has become custodian of two robots from CMU's Manipulation Lab
- One works, one can be gutted for parts
- The ADEPT is a pick and place robot, 4 DOF
- Manuals, controllers, etcetera are available
- It is available to come to the shop
- Three phase power is required
- It may take up some space
- It would be available for hacking and projects
Open Discussions
- Jon proposed a Python study group
Action Items
- Nothing specific