Minutes 3-29-08

Minutes from our first meeting in the Make Shop. I think the White Board sums it up best, but I took notes from the discussions as well.

The Discussion Items we listed in the wiki before hand can be found at the end.

Whiteboard

The following were proposed, generally agreed upon ideas regarding the different types of members of Makers Local 256. Charter

• bylaw signers
• unattended access 24/7
• keep organization afloat
• charter member determines $ paid by charter members
• 2/3 vote to override Board.

Board

• determines who besides charter have unattended access
• determines what reg members pay.
• determins who joins Regular members
• board size = 10 (in order that it = charter members size right now)
• quorum = 50% to call for a vote (doesn't mean vote happens that meeting)
• majority to vote in Regular members
• time to vote set at proposal
• 2/3 vote to pass
• 72 hours minimum, 30 days max
• president doesn't vote and decides ties.
• max board members = 4 + [(T)(.1) - 1] where T is club size.

Regular

• can vote for Board members.
• can sign into shop while vested members present
• can request to be vested after 25 hours of shop attendence
• pays dues

Vested

• can serve on Board
• gets unattended access

Guests

• No sponsor necessary during Open House
• 4 visits

Discussion beforehand

Our cash outflow indicates what the membership goal should be. Outflow = ~$843. So, $20/mo $30/$40/mo?

korc: Should we have some sort of maker currency that incorporates time spent on group projects, money on supplies, maintenance, etc?

Charter members: what are they? Council that makes decisions/ those that founded the organization.

There will be a Board at some point.

April 12- Application Deadline for the Recycled Art Contest at the Flying Monkey.

korc: can bring 16 used rubber tiles like the two omegix brought. Can bring an 8-pack of markers for dry-erase board.

Make measurements outside with 20ft cable for the shed: FAIL!

Gregabyte suggests putting our logo on a flag, ourselves or via Brian?

Finance

The updated figures are on the google doc.

Omegix gives finance report. Still needs $ from brimstone and strages.

Total Inflow: $2250

April spending: $1358.33= $300 (utilities deposit) + $650 (rent deposit) + $650 (APril rent) + $58.33 (for "self loan" payback)

More about "self loan" payback. Omegix fronted $1300. The organization is basically using this money to cover bills. Fronting the money allows us to get the starting expenses (utilities deposit, rent deposit) out of the way. But it decreases our monthly inflow. We have to account for this in our cash outflow.

i.e. Think of $1300 as a 0% interest loan against ourselves (or omegix loans us if its easier to think that way)

Monthly Outflow: $843.33= Rent + Deposits/self loan + ~$60 utilities + $75 Internet

Monthly Inflow: $800/mo (was 850, but omegix fronted his contribution for the year)

Deposit Owners: I-MOD, omegix, brimstone, Gregabyte

Internet

Knology vs. Comcast

Knology is cheaper, but a little slower. Discussion about Comcast blocking torrentz and if they're evil. (maybe maybe not, but they're also reliable).

Who are we going to go with for Internet? Decision pending information from brimstone

Access

I-MOD needs to send a link to us?

Basically, everyone present should have access.

Discussion on What is a core member?

Ideas:

• 50/mo or 1 year spent with us?
• Needs to have been associated with the group for 6 mo. at least
• can bring someone a few times and then pay if you want to come back. Example: Nathan's parents private bar club.
  • would that conflict with being open to the public? (that's what Open Houses are for)
• Jr. members escort policy thing.
• basically we can feel this out and make appropriate changes.

Non-Profit Status

Corydon-76 will be at the shop Monday to help us with the paperwork of getting this status. It's a 28 page document.

• must be open to the public with no purchase necessary
• Good thing about this is that as long as we do everything right, we'll get it. There's no interview process or verification stuff. Thank you, beaurocracy.
• $100 application fee.

Membership Discussion and ByLaws

Sections 1: Eligibility for membership

-granted on majority vote of Board or should it be 2/3 full year w/o sponsors or come in a couple times with someone.

How many levels of membership?

Basically if you pay for something, you're gonna respect it.

• 3 levels: alpha, beta, gamma.

• • gamma- require certain amount of group project time?
  • alpha- charter members independent of moneyz
  • beta- "regular member"

What if paying members leave?

• Further discussion implies 2 levels work better:
  • charter members: bylaw signers unattended Make Shop Access
  • regular members- need a flat price to pay. vs. the charter members who "have the responsibility of keeping the organization afloat. " (korc)

board should determine said fee for regular members. charter members are a subset of regular members.

Charter needs to set regular hours for public.

Board- determined by charter, then board self manages.

JimShoe mom will plant stuff if we want.

omegix wants a Finance Committee of 2-3 ppl to check his math

Board- pres, vp, treasure, secretary... maybe add director of membership, facilities, and more as we need them.

In the future, the organization will be signing the lease, not people.

Regular- "proving self" through time and work.

Board can be size of charter members.

What is quarum? 1/2? ...voting by proxy.

DINNER!

Regular members- will charge. what do they get? comes down to trust.

Don't want anyone to say "I've met all requirements, now gimme access"

Trust: win over 2/3 board. -3 months regular attendance?

David: San Fransisco has badge system like Boy Scouts

point: omegix and saratheneale have only known you guys about 1.5 months. instead of meetings only, maybe a sign in sheet system?

David: was at Hacker Halfway meeting. They said the #1 cause of failure with these things is bad people.

We will need a reasonable case for kicking people out, but if it needs to get done we need to do it.

30 hours spent at shop? People should have to argue for membership?

Do unvested members get a vote? think so...

Dues- all members must pay, including unvested. vested has key.

Open house is when ppl we've never met can come and hang out.

Board votes who to give key access. If you have a key, you can be on the Board.

Can bring a friend 4 times before they must pay.

"4 times to steal his info or he pays!" for regular and vested members.

Matt + Cat. Cat is only allowed 4 visits? Don't ask don't tell, its a flexible policy and a good way to kick people out if needed.

Other Stuff

$25 digital floor safe at harbor freight

Physical Access is tabled for another day

Should we have a 2+ person to come so no one is alone at shop? resounding hell no.

Should we start a wiki page on general items needed at spot- cup, cleaning supplies, etc.

Discussion Items

These items were prepared on the wiki before the meeting. Moved from Make_Shop#History

Discussion Items for Meeting 3-29-08

Minutes 3-29-08 can be found here.

To insure nothing gets left out at this meeting, this list will help us get every question resolved.

• Security
  • Keys, buttons?
  • For a short term solution, Realtor Key Box ? IEEE Key Box
• Access
  • Who has access?
    • Possibly allow paying members at $20 a mo. What does this get them: storage, access, space to work?
• Decisions and Voting
  • $50/mo gets you 1 vote?
• Bills per person
  • Rent + Utilities + Internet
    • What if expenses are too much? Split evenly among investors?
    • What if we have more income than needed? Where do we store it? Or do we just not charge as much?
  • What about maintenance expenses, such as mowing, lightbulbs, and other unexpected things?