May 2024 - Board Meeting
05/01/2024 - Area 515 Board Meeting
05/01/2024 - Area 515 Board Meeting
Attending:
President: Dave
Vice President: Jake
Treasurer: Meg (remotely)
Secretary: Brad
Director: John
Director: Carlin (remotely)
Director: Jason
Approval of Minutes from Previous Meeting
Vote to approve minutes from April Board meeting
Yes: 7
No: 0
Result: Passed
Financials
Meg got all caught up on all our financials, including the Tool Funds.
We got a $50 check for the volunteer hours one of our members put in. We also still have a $500 check from a month or two ago that was similarly contributed because of volunteer hours.
When we get our bank statements through snail mail, Dave and Brad were never quite sure what to do with them. For the record, Meg does keep them. So we will continue giving them to her.
Jake spent a couple hundred dollars on office supplies for the space.
Dave requested we add paper plates to the next purchase.
Member SHR Renewal
All agreed that this member takes care of the space more than he/she uses it.
Vote to renew member's SHR at current rate for another 6 months
Yes: 7
No: 0
Result: Passed
Membership Update: 97
The member who had surgery still isn't ready to return to the space, his membership is suspended so this will be the third month his auto-payment will be refunded.
It was remarked that several people are on the Current Members list who haven't gotten their key yet.
Jake mentioned that he found a scat blast cabinet for a good deal online. Carlin replied "Oh man, that's perfect!" Jake will forward him the link.
Purchases
Jake assembled a list of electrical items that need to be purchased for the rotary phase converter that will cost around $500
Vote to spend $500 of general funds on needed electrical items for the rotary phase converter
Yes: 7
No: 0
Result: Passed
Dave did an In for $10 for a finger press. It didn't get half the cost funded by members, but it was still brought to the Board for funding. (Note: As can any other "In for $10" that doesn't reach its funding target.)
Vote to spend up to $500 of general funds for a finger press
Yes: 7
No: 0
Result: Passed
Derek expressed interest in a metal table mill at the recent Stewards Meeting. The Board needs a proposal for a specific model before it can approve anything.
Wood Shop Stewards briefly discussed purchasing helical heads for the jointer and planer, but ultimately decided not to at this time.
Wood Shop Steward Assistance
Two members, Jeff H and Jeff S, have requested permission from the Wood Shop Stewards to make adjustments on machines in the Wood Shop.
The Stewards agreed that these 2 members are allowed to do so provided they contact the Stewards before hand about all the adjustments they wish to make.
These 2 members are not Stewards, so it was re-iterated that they are not approved to purchase anything with space funds.
Space Updates
Jake mentioned that he found a scat blast cabinet for a good deal online. Carlin replied "Oh man, that's perfect!" Jake will forward him the link.
Dave acquired 2 new-to-us computers that are Windows 11 capable. He also got some HP15 laptops with touchscreens that are also Windows 11 capable.
Brad requested one of the computers become the new laser computer.
John suggested keeping one of the laptops in the classroom.
Sitting in one of the drawers in the classroom are 3 extremely old Macbooks that some previous members donated to the space and were refurbishing for resale. They are now so old that they would need SSDs to make them even passably useful, so it was decided to put them on the hack rack.
Really old supercomputers were discussed because one was seen for sale on govdeals.
Shopify
Jake started looking into this as a new member management solution.
Their non-profit plan would cost $100 per month, about double our monthly Zapier fee
The nature of the software allows for monthly payments, but doesn't have an off-the-shelf way to pay yearly Tool Fees. Possible ways around this were discussed, including the possibility of making the Tool Fees monthly.
Some different ways that Shopify could keep track of training were discussed.
Among the benefits of Shopify...
docusign integration and document management
member log in system with controlled access to different things
can make discounts and custom discount codes
would replace a large portion of our website as it has custom domains, plus blog posts would appear in Google search
would give marketing information like eyeball views
can take donations
has point of sale ability
allows purchase of gift cards (many noted this has been a bit of a pain lately)
Vote to spend the money to sign up for 3 months in order to look into this further Yes: 6 (Carlin's remote connection had terminated by this point)
No: 0
Result: Passed
Member Orientation & Space Work Nights
Dave would like all new members to go through an orientation. Orientations would take place twice a month - during each of the space work nights. New members wouldn't get their key until completing the orientation and space work night.
Concern was expressed that this could be a barrier to new members signing up.
Dave said he would come up with a more formal outline of what he has in mind and then bring it back up.
It was noted that someone is needed to run the Sunday night clean ups. This someone need not be a Board member or Tool Steward.
ID Pictures
Photos of new members will start being stored in the Current Members sheet.
Dave demonstrated a way to do it. Photos will be taken and stored in Google Drive. Then in Google Drive, copy the link to the file, then in the Current Members sheet, paste the link into the appropriate column. Then when the mouse hovers over the link, the picture will come up in a small window.
Having the door keep a log of who enters and when was discussed too.
The idea of creating a wall with everybody's name and picture on it was floated. It would be an opportunity for community building, but some of our privacy-focused members would probably be against it.
Brad volunteered to send an email to all our current members asking them for a photo of themselves for the Google Drive.
Meeting Adjourned
"You don't get 2 votes if you're here and you log in online." - said after Jake accidentally dialed in to the meeting remotely while being there in person.
Did you know: if purchasing helical heads for jointers or planers, the Wood Stewards recommend getting Byrd or Shelix brands.
Last updated