Talk:Bylaws
Restricting membership to northern Alabama is somewhat reasonable given the name of the group, but I can see people coming from tennessee especially if they commute anyway for work or uah. --Opticron 19:39, 27 March 2008 (CDT)
- I think changing to "Northern Alabama area" would be sufficient.--JimShoe 13:08, 7 April 2008 (CDT)
- 256 is all of North Alabama... --strages 03:08, 15 April 2008 (CDT)
- That is true but we are close to Tennessee which wouldn't be 256, thus the key word "area".
- Truth be told it doesn't really matter. They can either make their own in their area code and we'll collaborate with them or they can just go to their nearest, doesn't matter to me. --strages 18:12, 15 April 2008 (CDT)
5% seems like very few people to constitute a meeting since 5% right now is less than a person. maybe an additional limitation that it should be no less that 2 or 3 people --Opticron 19:42, 27 March 2008 (CDT)
$40 per month seems really steep for regular membership, especially if they aren't given a key immediately. I still think a "Junior Member" category would serve us here---designating those members not with us long enough to have unfettered access, possibly paying $20-$25/month.--Korc 19:27, 4 April 2008 (CDT)
- I'm thinking similarly. For instance, when i was a college student, I couldn't have afforded $20/mo, much more $40+. What that would have meant for me would be only participating on open house weekends). If my 4 visits during non-open houses were used up, I simply wouldn't be able to afford the organization. For me, if I was paying $40 a month, I would expect a key. For $20 a month I would expect to be able use the lab during the week when someone else was there for my own personal project. That being said, as a college student, I would have been ok only coming on the weekends (for free). --Omegix 1:26, 6 April 2008 (CDT)
- Lets run some numbers. If we have 5 new people paying $20/month = $100. Will is $100 cover the resources 5 people use in a month? I think it will, but Omegix might know better.--JimShoe 13:08, 7 April 2008 (CDT)
- I tend to agree with Korc. I don't think resources are going to be an issue. "Junoir Members" wouldn't have 24/7 access to the shop, so there is a limit to how many resources can be used up by them. $40/mo is still steep, but for 24/7 access to a shop, I'd have to say it's worth it. That being said, we need a mechanism to tell when we are actually in the shop, checkable from a standard phone, SMS, web, and more if possible. Opticron 15:53, 7 April 2008 (CDT)
- So far, it seems like members are paying for the privilege of working on our projects. What if we could give members discounts on magazines related to making- such as MAKE, CRAFT, other suggestions? I know Astronomy and Sky & Telescope have club memberships that allow club members a 20-25% discount on the magazine subscription. If the dues are 20-40 a mo, we could take one month's dues and put it towards that for a year. --Saratheneale 15:53, 7 April 2008 (CDT)
- Saratheneale mentioned to me that we might get more money if we charged people $50/year for un-keyed membership, allowing them to use the shops on weekends only. Then if they wanted more than weekend access, $20/mo. Keyed access $40/mo. Omegix 12:54, 8 April 2008 (CDT)
- Does the initial $100 also cover the first month's dues? Opticron 13:56, 14 April 2008 (CDT)
What happens if a paying member wants to use the shop during the week but can't because a keyed member is not available? Do we refund/not charge them for the month? How do we inform un-keyed members that there's someone in the shop until we get ibuttons/cameras/automata working? Maybe have members log time-in / time-out a shop computer table with an RSS feed that ACKIS can feed into #makerslocal ? or publish the time-in / time-out to a public webpage?--Omegix 1:26, 6 April 2008 (CDT)
- Paying member know they only have access when Keyed member are there. Last week being our first whole week with the shop, someone was there everyday. Un-keyed members will have webcams to look at as well as irc and probably, a phone, they can use to verify someone is or will be there for said amount of time. --JimShoe 13:08, 7 April 2008 (CDT)
How about some amount of time free for non-paying members, and any more than x amount of time, they must do some sort of volunteer work. This could be teaching a kid's class, vacuuming the place, soldering components, etc.
--Nykodemus 01:51, 6 April 2008 (CDT)
- Wouldn't this be something the Charter/Board could vote on. I like the idea.--JimShoe 13:08, 7 April 2008 (CDT)
There is a rule that states that non-ML256 members cannot use tools in the shop. However, would it be possible to add that a non-member can do so when accompanied by a member (e.g. member takes responsibility for anything that happens)? --Spacefelix 13:58, 6 August 2009 (CDT)
As the Facilities Director board officer position has been made official by the board as of Mar 16, 2010, it must be added to the bylaws. --Spacefelix 17:35, 17 February 2011 (CST)
modifications for additional board flexibility
Section 2.2 - Board Members
Board members inherit all rights and responsibilities of regular members. The Board of Directors may vote on matters concerning the acquisition or release of resources, maintenance of facilities or organization, changes to these bylaws, membership requests and any other matters not delegated to a board member. They shall also hold at least one meeting per quarter.
Section 2.3 - Board Officers
Officers of the Board of Directors shall be selected by the newly elected board and consist of willing board members. Board officers may appoint a willing board member to temporarily fulfill the duties of the office in the event of their absence. Board officers may also lead a committee which fulfills the duties of the office. Additional semi-permanent officer positions may be created via proposals which contain the name of the position and a description of duties to be fulfilled by the position.
