December 2021 - Board Meeting

12/1/2021 Area 515 Board Meeting

12/1/2021 - Area 515 Board Meeting

Attending:

  • President: Dave

  • Vice President: Jake

  • Secretary: Brad

  • Director: Tom

  • Director: Ryan

  • Director: Carlin

Absent:

  • Treasurer: Meg

Approval of Minutes from Previous Meeting

Vote to approve minutes from November board meeting

Yes: 6

No: 0

Result: Passed

Old Business

  • The face shield appreciation party has been scrapped. It was suggested we do some kind of chilli cook off event instead.

Financials

  • Since the treasurer was absent, no new financial information was reported. The board decided that this was okay provided the treasurer isn't currently in the Bahamas somewhere spending all our money.

Current Members: 77

  • Congratulations to Carlin on the birth of his new child!

Payment Automation Discussion

  • At present, members' expiration dates are updated manually. Note that the word manually comes from the latin word manuall, which means: "all the work is done by one guy."

  • All agree that the system needs to be more automated. Extensive discussion took place about ways this could be done. Some of the results included:

    • Brad said he would set up a free account using Wild Apricot to explore its possibilities.

    • Jake said he would experiment with using Zapier to have PayPal payments directly update our member database

    • Carlin offered to talk with other small business owners to ask what software they use to keep track of membership

    • Dave knows a person who is very interested in door security and can ask him for help upgrading our front door RFID system if we decide to use a new system

    • Brad offered to contact his old makerspace in Tucson to ask what system they use.

Space Updates

  • Jake brought some lights intended to go over the new metal lathe, but they can be used wherever.

  • Tom showed us the progress on the front sign. The metal has been cut, the next step is to CNC the clear plastic sheet that's positioned in front of the metal.

  • Request was made for another security camera pointed out into the courtyard. Carlin would like to store some items in the courtyard but wants some security first. We will talk with the landlord about replacing a courtyard window with a metal sheet that the camera could mount to.

  • New ways to utilize the courtyard area were also discussed. Specifically getting a regular, metal shipping container and storing it beside the building. Carlin knows someone who paid $350 for the container, and only $500 for delivery.

  • We now have a nice metal rack in the courtyard for metal storage.

  • The merit of using SMART goals for future space projects was discussed. This would provide more focus and accountability. SMART being an acronym for:

    • Specific

    • Measureable

    • Achieveable

    • Relevant

    • Time bound

  • A member did epoxy in the laser room. This left a horrible (and toxic) smell, and the importance of keeping projects like that outside was discussed.

End of Meeting

  • Just before voting to approve the November meeting minutes: "I'm sure they look good, I'm just pulling them up now."

  • paraphrased: "I'm pretty sure the name Rage Against the Machine was inspired by a printer."

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