Member Meeting Minutes for September 27, 2009: Difference between revisions
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**** date for event April 2nd - Good Friday | **** date for event April 2nd - Good Friday | ||
* November 1st application deadline | * November 1st application deadline | ||
==== MAC/UPARC Classes ==== | |||
* they are waiting on details about desired classes | |||
* consensus was already reached on forum thread | |||
** 2 classes per month for 4 months (8 total) wanted | |||
* Nick will followup with email to get the ball rolling | |||
=== Action Items === | === Action Items === | ||
Line 216: | Line 223: | ||
* move forward with Sprout proposal by emailing details to council, and they will email the details to the group | * move forward with Sprout proposal by emailing details to council, and they will email the details to the group | ||
* schedule meeting to determine interest level among members and continue planning | * schedule meeting to determine interest level among members and continue planning | ||
Nick | |||
* Email MAC/UPARC to organize classes |
Latest revision as of 15:03, 27 September 2009
Meeting Agenda
- Recap of the last month
- New members added
- Events (DevHouse, Maker Faire, Pitch Night, etc.)
- Classes taught
- Power is on
- Lighting issues
- RFID project status
- Discuss Two Hands
- When/what/why/how
- Move to meet twice a month
- Or more
- Because of upcoming decisions
- Discuss volunteer hours
- Limited opportunities make it difficult for members to fulfill obligations
- Two-tiered membership proposal
- Alternatives
- Remove volunteer requirement altogether
- Move to a Resistor-type model
- Solicit feedback from membership
- Review the current financial status
- Discuss budget for 2010
- Back of the envelope "what it takes to stay alive"
- Discuss dues vs. class revenue vs. grants
- Discuss increased cost of 501(c)(3) (e.g. insurance) vs. benefit (potential grants)
- Solicit feedback from membership
Minutes by Agenda Topic
Attendees: Doug, Steve, Dave, Amy, Marty, Forest, Matt S., Lori, Nick, Andy, Dan, Pete, Jon, Liz, Matt M.
Recap of September
- New members
- Welcome Doug!
- Events
- DevHouse was here
- We need to charge them for beer :)
- Maker Faire RI
- Matt, Matt, Steve, Nick, Maria
- A group visited AS220
- Lots of hackerspaces were in attendance
- A lot of networking was done for HackPittsburgh
- Pitch Night
- Highest Friday night attendance yet
- Great project ideas
- Bristlebots
- CD shrink-wrap system
- Moxie Marlinspike and the Everyone Wins Lottery
- Weather balloons
- Laser cutter fundraising ideas
- DevHouse was here
- i3 Detroit has thrown down the gauntlet for a rideable Bristlebot challenge
- Date TBD
- Matt M. is leading the charge
- Be it resolved: this aggression shall not stand
- Classes taught
- Intro to Programming the Arduino
- Attendees from Detroit and Ohio
- Coverage in the PG Tech Man blog and the Make Blog
- Intro to Programming the Arduino
- Power is on!
- Now we have to pay for it :)
- We have a few broken ballasts that need to be fixed
- We need to run outlets
- Donations of extension cords and power strips are welcome
- Pete volunteers to help
- RFID
- Parts are in
- We need to get going on the build and installation
Two Hands Project
- Overview of the project
- We anticipate they'll be here
tomorrowSaturday, October 3 - Come down and hang out
tomorrow from 6-9Saturday, October 3! - Bring your projects!
Meetings
- Frequency of meetings was discussed
- Mitch Altman of Noisebridge provided guidance about meeting frequency
- They meet once a week
- They wonder how we get things done meeting once a month :)
- Could we meet twice a month?
- Could we meet on a weeknight?
- Could we commit to starting meetings on time?
- We'll use a Doodle poll to determine the best weeknight to meet (M-Th)
- We'll target two meetings a month (vote passes)
- We'll choose one weeknight and one weekend day
501(c)(3)
- We've spent some time pursuing 501(c)(3) status
- This will enable donations
- There seems to be some interest in our organization if we do this
- There are legal costs involved
- There is paperwork and overhead involved
- Insurance is required to avoid liability and to protect council members
- Base insurance is approximately $6k/year
- No other spaces have this status
- Due to liability
- Due to hassle
- Due to trouble getting insured with the type of equipment these shops have
- The alternative is LLC or C-corp with nonprofit status
- The same protections are afforded
- Some taxes are required
- A discussion about liability, officership, and options ensued
- Could we do LLC now and pursue 501(c)(3) later?
- We can run this by the legal clinic
- A workshop is being held Wed 10/21 at 5:30
- Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council
- They provide guidance on such things
- We'll ask our lawyers what they think
- Marty and Lori will attend the workshop
- Our goal is to assess our options and come up with some real numbers, and as good a cost/benefit analysis as we can
- Progress on the 501(c)(3) will be halted for now
Volunteer Hours and Two-Tiered Membership
- Duquesne Law Clinic recommends that members have no voting rights
- Especially if we do 501(c)(3) or nonprofit
- Voting and representation was discussed
- We want participation and investment in the group from everyone
- This is fundamental to our culture
- How do we have this without winding up with everyone on the board?
- We've had trouble making volunteer opportunities for people
- We've had trouble collecting cash when volunteer opportunities are missed
- We don't need "office hours" anymore
- The shop is open self-sufficiently
- People are showing up to hack
- What we do need is people to sweep the floors, clean the bathrooms, run classes, hold Friday night events, etcetera
- The two-tiered membership was proposed to address this
- Keys and access were discussed
- Volunteer hours and opportunities were discussed
- NYCResistor's model was discussed
- Suggestion
- Doodle poll consists of dates
- When you do something, you stick your name and what you did in the poll
- Another suggestion
- Move away from hours
- Everyone gets billed the same amount up front
- If you do hours, you get a coupon or a tab or something
- Credit or voucher system
- Instead of expecting people to have their hours, you honor them if they do
- A lot of this stuff comes from lack of automation and management systems
- Management app
Financial Status Review
- Jon had been crunching the numbers to determine sustainability models
- may affect membership rates and fundraising requirements
- discussion tabled until next general meeting in 2 weeks
Potential of Raising Dues
- currently breaking even with rent only (utilities not included)
- suggestion of buying a cheap property rather than renting
- discussion tabled until next meeting
Sprout Fund
- we only need a compelling proposal
- how the project would benefit the 18-25 y.o. demographic
- how the project would benefit the region and young people living here
- suggested public event involving a laser cutter
- educational aspect
- spin-off idea of etched acrylic panel artwork based on live data
- crowd-sourced assembly
- Answers to the question, "What are you making?"
- Public demos of laser cutter in operation
- Possible venues
- GAGI Festival http://gagifestival.blogspot.com
- Penn Arts Unblurred
- possibility of theming an event with a display
- possible fundraising during venue event
- Art And Technology Initiative
- fashion show with recycled clothes
- date for event April 2nd - Good Friday
- November 1st application deadline
MAC/UPARC Classes
- they are waiting on details about desired classes
- consensus was already reached on forum thread
- 2 classes per month for 4 months (8 total) wanted
- Nick will followup with email to get the ball rolling
Action Items
Matt S.:
- Put up the Doodle poll for meeting nights
Matt M.:
- Organize the Bristlebot Response
Marty:
- Kick off RFID design and installation
- Attend Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council meeting
- Discuss management app with Steve
Lori:
- Attend Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council meeting
Jon:
- Email the Two Hands guys for update (Done)
- Discuss management app with Steve
Council/Pete:
- Organize electricity buildout planning
Steve K.
- create membership account/automation system
Liz
- move forward with Sprout proposal by emailing details to council, and they will email the details to the group
- schedule meeting to determine interest level among members and continue planning
Nick
- Email MAC/UPARC to organize classes