November 2018 - Board Meeting
11/7/2018 - Area 515 Board Meeting
Attending:
President: Dave
Vice President: Ray
Treasurer: Meg
Secretary: Brad
Director of Education: Bailey
Director: Jason
Director: Tom
Also present:
Chris J
State of the Space
Solid, liquid, gas, some plasma (No! This joke will not get old!!!)
Have added several members in recent month, including one during the board meeting itself.
Total member number in high-50s, now that Artist in Residence program has ended
Financials
Area 515 Statement of Activity, Sept 30, 2017 to Sept 30, 2018
Benevity
We have received $930 from the John Deere foundation. They donate money for John Deere employee's volunteer time. (Benevity is the organization that channels these funds.)
Exactly which volunteers generated this money was unclear. Matt G's volunteer time was approved for $500. Ray's volunteer time has not been approved yet.
Stratysis Parts Sales
Tim and Bailey disassembled the Stratysis 3D printer and have been selling parts on eBay. So far we have received $990.
There will be at least another $195 coming
There is 1 part still to be sold.
All of this money will go to the 3D printing tool area. It will be used to purchase a new 3D printer (which costs approximately $1100), and maybe slicing software.
Financial Access Changes
The Treasurer, Secretary, and Director Ray now have the keys to the lock box at the space.
Director Ray and the Secretary will be authorized to sign checks. Chris and Don relinquish this responsibility as they are no longer on the board.
Hardware Store Shopping Trip
The Education Director will soon make a shopping trip to hardware stores to purchase some of the items from the Prairie Meadows grant, plus some other odds and ends.
Other items on the shopping list - which will NOT be purchased with Prairie Meadows funds - include:
Solar Panel light for outside our front door
Remote door bell with at least 2 chimes. Chimes will be placed in separate locations in space so that the doorbell can be heard from anywhere.
Chimes that provide a visual cue in addition to audio was discussed. It was decided that it would probably be cheaper to hack together a visual cue ourselves rather than purchase one.
White boards (aka shower board) for each tool area.
Wood Shop Budget
Chris J estimated the new dust collection system would cost about $570.
Approximately $517 for tubing, plus another $50 for grounding.
The money will come from what remains of the space moving budget, and the rest from general funds.
Per the August 2018 meeting, $1000 was budgeted for our move, $387.56 of which was not spent as of that meeting.
There was a discussion about how exactly Chris can go spend the allocated funds. The options were:
Take the Treasurer with you when you buy stuff
Take the Secretary or Director Ray with you along with a check from the Treasurer
Purchase items yourself and get reimbursed.
Textile Flooring
Bailey will contact the person who previously said they would volunteer to install flooring without charging for labor.
Ray mentioned he has some extra flooring material that he would be willing to donate.
Class Sets of Tools
The Education Director expressed interest in compiling sets of tools for classes that we could rent out to other non-profits.
For example, if we aquired a collection of 15 soldering irons set aside specifically for class use, we could rent that set of irons out to other organizations who want to give a soldering class (like Boy Scout Troops, for example). Training for the renting organizations could be part of the rental charge.
This would be a great way that the space could support other organizations in the community!
Shared To Do List
Many things that need to be done have a tendency to get forgotten. To combat this, the Education Director will start a list of "To Do" items in a Google Doc and share editing capabilities with the board.
Next to each item on this list should be a person who is responsible for getting it done.
Gear Creation Software "In for $10"
Ryan, the Metal Shop Steward, started an "In for $10" to purchase Gearify. A program for creating gears of different shapes.
He raised $40
Brad suggested purchasing Gearotic instead, a program for more advanced gears and is also pricier.
In comparing the 2 programs, Gearify is $39 and seems more appropriate for people wanting to make "artsy" gears, while Gearotic is $120 and seems more appropriate for engineers. There is also a third option: a website called Wood Gears [1] where people can design gears for free.
It was decided that we would use the funds to purchase Gearify as the "In for $10" originally intended. Members focused on practicality would be steered towards the Wood Gears website.
Design Computer
The tan colored computer in the classroom has been unofficially designated as the "design" computer.
Gearify is purchased and available to use on it.
Other design software that will be on this computer:
Fusion 360 - Each user will have to log in to the program with their own Autodesk account. Director Ray agreed to take the lead on installing this.
Solidworks educational version - Can be used only for non-commerical work and all files will have a watermark on them.
The space has an account with Tech Soup, an organization that provides electronics and software to nonprofits at reduced prices.
Corel Draw is available for $15 a year. One member has repeatedly requested it. It was eventually agreed that the space will purchase Corel Draw if that member agrees to teach a class on it.
Adobe CC is available for $15 a month. Though we do not see demand for it at this time.
Misc.
Tim will be allowed access to continue working on automating member payments.
Dave will contact the Greater Des Moines Partnership since Tim is no longer in charge.
We need more Game Nights!
Jason agreed to organize a Valentine's Day Game Night
Dave will organize an Artemis Game Night
"The Farming Game" is an awesome board game.
We scheduled the next board meeting, at which we'll need to schedule the Member Meeting for January, 2019.
Upcoming Events
Snow Day 2018
Stuff to be done in preparation:
Bailey needs help promoting it
Fix up 3D printers
Preprint examples of 3d printed snowflakes
The possibility of adding glass etching to the list of activities was suggested, although we would not want to do this if a utility sink hasn't been installed by the event.
Space Clean Up day was moved to Friday, Dec. 13 in preparation for the event. Paper will be put on the tables to protect them.
Making Things Fly Camp 2018
December 27 & 28, 9am - 4pm, for students in grades 6 - 8. Brad and Bailey will be teaching it, Lisa may volunteer to help over lunch.
We mainly need help marketing this!
Jason said he would tell people at his work about it.
Brad should get an official Area 515 email address for communicating the people about this.
2019 Class Offerings
Our goal is to offer at least 1 class to the public every month.
Many people have said that they would love to take classes at the space even though they don't want to become members.
Lots of class topics have been suggested, few people have volunteered to teach them.
We should also make an effort to take more photos and video of these classes to use as promotional materials.
More volunteers would be appreciated, not just for teaching, but also for background support.
For January a soldering class has been scheduled
Dave agreed to help teach this.
Date is set for Saturday, Jan 26 in the late afternoon.
No class is scheduled for February yet.
The following classes have been offered but not scheduled:
Brad offered to teach a Mechanical Clock Assembly Class.
Jason offered to teach a class on leather working.
Dave offered to teach an automotive class like how to change your brake pads.
End of Meeting
Paraphrased Quotes of the Meeting:
"Back when Tim became President he cleared out a lot of cruft that had accumulated." - Bailey
"Awww. I liked that cruft. I was accumulating it for years!" - Ray
Last updated