October 2022 - Member Meeting
October 2, 2022 - Member Meeting
10/2/2022 - Area 515 Member Meeting
Total Number of Full Members Attending: 10 present + 6 proxies
Quorum was reached (12 Full Members were required)
Board of Directors Attending:
President: Dave
Vice President: Jake
Secretary: Brad
Director: Ryan R
Director: Tom P
State of the Space
Currently at 80 members
We're operating in the black every month. The break even point is estimated to be about 55 members and we're well above that.
We've maintained member numbers despite the lack of any real active recruiting.
Autoshop
Some new tools have been added, like a right angle die grinder and discs.
Metal Shop
The metal lathe is now working and ready for members to be trained on it
We have a new belt grinder to replace the one Carlin will be taking home.
The entire area needs to be rearranged. Once that's done, the surface grinder can get up and running as well. Ryan R found a good phase converter for it for around $85.
Part of the TIG welder arrived today!
Tom P got new blades for the drop saw.
The Metal Shop Exhaust Fan needs a new motor. No one is sure when anybody will have the time to deal with that.
The blasting cabinet needs a few more things in order to become operational.
A decision should be made for what to do with the Spectralite mill.
Wood Shop
The Stewards have been super busy lately.
Mainly the area needs cleaning and reorganizing.
One of the Stewards mentioned how nice it would be if users didn't break the tools so often.
Laser Area
Left hand laser stopped working a few days ago. Stewards are looking into it.
There seems to have been lots of high volume laser use lately. The Stewards are concerned about wear on the lasers.
The Laser room may need to be rearranged. There's no insulation between the north wall and the exterior garage door. Consequently, water often collects on the ground and soaks into the carpet next to the north wall, making anything put there develop mold. The table that now sits there should either be moved, or put on something that won't matter if it gets wet.
Textiles / Leather Area
The Stewards would like to politely request that people stop putting crap in that room that doesn't belong there.
Both Jason and Carlin are able to train on the heavy duty leather sewing machine.
Jason is planning to build an additional table for the room.
Electronics Area
It's been getting a lot of use lately.
Classes
The Board of Directors and the CEC plan to hold a soldering class in the near future. First, a class-set of soldering irons needs to be (re)assembled.
3D Printing Area
Caroline had finished fabricating metal parts for the Delta printer upgrade.
Jake brought his Voran to the space. It needs some repairs but when functional, will provide a larger build volume compared to the Prusas.
Both Prusas continue to function well.
CNC
The travel distance on the Lead CNC was corrected recently. Prior to that when the computer moved the spindle in the X or Y axis, the distance it traveled in reality was slightly less than the distance the computer thought it traveled.
The Piranha needs new end stops but then will be available for members to train on it.
Miscellaneous
The Board of Directors (with the CEC) plan to hold a soldering class in the near future. First, a class-set of soldering irons needs to be (re)assembled.
We have new carpet in the classroom and laser room!
A big "thank you!" was given to all the Tool Stewards for all their dedication and hard work.
Work Nights continue to be held monthly. All members are encouraged to come and help clean so Tool Stewards can focus on more productive items.
The bathrooms before the meeting looked great! Kudos to whoever cleaned them! (It was probably Kevin W - thank you, Kevin!)
Community Engagement Committee (CEC)
On August 3, 2022 the Board of Directors voted to formally create the Community Engagement Committee (which is a lot to type so the Secretary intends to abbreviate it as much as possible).
The CEC was formed with initial members: Carlin (their liason with the Board of Directors), John W, Cody H, Kevin F, and Frank W.
They'll be working on quarterly events. Some of which will be focused on members, and others will be focused on non-members and potential future members. Events may be held at the space, or elsewhere.
Part of their focus is on expanding the collegiality, or social aspect, of the makerspace. Hopefully they'll get more people to become engaged in the day to day activities of the space as well.
The CEC will also start running our social media platforms.
Slack
One of the CEC's first creations was setting up Slack for use by the makerspace.
Thanks go to Cody H for setting it up on our server!
Slack is a messaging app that organizes communications into dedicated spaces it calls "channels." Right now our setup has very few channels, but more can be made as the need arises. Slack is intended for more real-time communication than often occurs in our google group.
Important note: The google group will continue to be the area where official communications are posted. Slack is not replacing the google group.
Jake will work on automation allowing google group posts to appear on Slack as well.
Slack communications only last for 90 days and is not searchable by google. The benefit of keeping our communications searchable was discussed (as happens with the google group) was discussed, as were possible ways to archive our Slack chats, but nothing was decided on.
Financials
The Board approved an Investment Policy, and an Investment Committee was created and staffed by Ryan Renze, Jake Leister, and Meg Krajicek.
The Investment Committee decided to invest $10k in government i bonds which have 9.62% interest for the first 6 months, and our Treasurer (Meg) executed the decision. We will need to keep that money in there for at least a year to avoid penalty but that shouldn't be a difficulty.
As was previously stated, the space is operating in the black every month.
Vote to Promote Supporting Members to Full
Tom Rendon was nominated to become a Full member and met all the qualifications.
Vote to promote Tom Rendon to Full member
Yes: 10 + 2 proxy
No: 0
Result: Passed
Alex Patch requested to become a Full member. He had not been a member for 6 months, but was nominated by 3 members (thus fulfilling the Bylaw requirements)
Vote to promote Alex Patch to Full member
Yes: 10 + 2 proxy
No: 0
Result: Passed
Election for Board of Directors
Nominations:
President - Dave Champion
Vice President - Jake Leister
Treasurer - Meg Krajicek
Secretary - Brad Freese
Director - Ryan Renze
Director - John Whiteman
Director - Carlin Al-Andas
Director - Tom Pesek
Results:
Ballots were cast on sheets of paper, in 2 parts.
Part 1: Since the President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary positions were all running unopposed, Full members voted 'yes' or 'no' to the whole group.
Part 2: Since 4 people were running for 3 general director slots, Full members wrote the names of their top 3 choices for the positions.
The 2023 Board of Directors will consist of
President - Dave Champion
Vice President - Jake Leister
Treasurer - Meg Bannister
Secretary - Brad Freese
Director - Ryan Renze
Director - Carlin Al-Andas
Director - Tom Pesek
Meeting Adjourned
When the Secretary started discussing financial information before it was scheduled, the President helpfully reminded him, "It's your agenda. You can't go yet."
After more fully appreciating the kind of people that he had thrown his lot in with by becoming a Full member, Alex P remarked to himself, "What a great decision!" This statement may or may not have broken the Secretary's sarcasm-meter.
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