Minutes:08 DEC 2021 Members Meeting Agenda

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Meeting begins: 1920

Meeting ends: 2037

Participants: Nate Y., David G., Joe D., Andrew C., James K., demure

Agenda

  • Announcements/new business - 10m
  • Operations - 10m
  • Membership - 5m - Joe
  • Financial - 5m - Joe
  • Education
  • Old business - 30m

Notes

Short meeting due to needing to work on the fundraiser.

  • Financial:
    • Financial health outlook: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MTjgdvGJI9-FI7OFxkDdw-hJbirdUaxwBpERWVGVSQs/edit#gid=0
    • SBA Loan
      • Nate will email SBA about the interest to make sure that we aren't on the hook for the total 30 years, just what's been accrued
      • Vote: All in favor of taking a loan for $25k if the terms are what we expect/discussed. The use of the loan will be discussed in January.
    • Fundraiser
      • Nate is working on a soldering event.
      • Membership increase
        • James will get the final number figured out
        • James will email the members so they are aware of what's going on
      • Corporate Sponsors - Joe will edit the packet.
        • Nostrum - Frank L. (James)
        • Barracuda - (Joe) - email sent
        • Menlo - (David)
        • Duo - (James)
        • BYB - Greg (James)
        • Netscout - Beth (Andrew)
        • Nutshell - (Joe) - email sent
        • Atomic Object - (David)
        • Skyspecs - (Nate & David)
        • SPARK - (David)
      • Social Media/Email
        • Twitter - David
        • Facebook - Joe
        • IG - Joe
        • Email - James

Old business updates

  • Operations:
    • Sink is ready, in the classroom. Needs a nice fixture, ideally with spray handle -- possibly usable for eye-wash.
    • Have a separate list from the wish-list for bigger-ticket items?
    • Add Patreon to the website - James
    • Rack server setup; space BBS! - James
    • Website updated to reflect on-demand training classes, and what sorts of training we offer. - James
  • Membership:
    • We lost one standard member, gained one volunteer member
  • Financial:
    • Financial health outlook: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MTjgdvGJI9-FI7OFxkDdw-hJbirdUaxwBpERWVGVSQs/edit#gid=0
    • Joe is tracking funds raised for space improvement (i.e. a utility sink) separately from the general funds.
    • Some back-pay received that buoyed our finances a bit this month.
    • SBA grant money, loan money?:
      • Grant of around $15k
      • Loan is low-interest (<3%), more like a mortgage -- 30 year payback
      • The money from the loan by itself would sustain us over 30 months, given current financial trends.
      • Is it worth it to take the loan unless we have a long-term plan on how to use it?
      • Could it be used as a reserve to dig into, i.e. invest it (assuming that's possible), then use it as-needed? If it turns out we don't need the money, then we can return it.
      • Would it make sense to take the loan money in any case, since the deadline is approaching (12/31/2021) to secure the money beforehand, then decide on a deadline to figure out some plan to use it.
      • Not clear yet on whether the requested amount on the application will guarantee us getting that amount, or if it's merely an approval to later receive that amount.
      • Board votes 5 to 0 in favor of adopting the form "ODA Form P-022 (08-2021)" with James Kruth and Nathan Yost as executives of the SBA loan.
    • Set up end-of-year fundraising meeting for next week, Tuesday? This will be figured out on Matrix in #Outreach & Fundraising.
  • Education
    • Regular (quarterly?) check-ins on how the education mission is going
      • Set up an initial meeting after Jan. 1.

Even Older Updates

  • Membership:
    • Meet to discuss membership retention: some progress, but still more to do - Joe and James
  • Financial:
    • Consider adjustments to membership rates -- we have How do we do this? Grandfathered rates? - proposed $60 standard, $30 reduced. Should work on the math here to make sure this makes sense. Ideally we should not change these rates very often -- review this rate every 2/3/4/5 years?
      • Nate: does this still make sense in the context of receiving grant/loan money?
      • Can we use the rate increases as a drive for members prior to the increase -- i.e. lock in the old rate.
      • Look at the scheduled lease increases, inflation, potential increases in operational costs between now and the next potential rate increase, in order to come up with a reasonable amount to raise rates at this time. - James
    • Set up Stripe for alternate payment methods - hold off until after Jan 1st. - James and Joe
    • Reimbursement Google form for purchases (DONE) - Nate
  • Fundraising/outreach:
    • James suggests creating a "go-kit" for events -- flyers, donation jar, other merch? - Schedule some kind of planning before the next event
    • Go Fund Me update - Joe
      • Send out thank-yous to everyone. - Joe
    • Casual recurring payment platforms? Patreon (DONE)
  • Operations:
    • Google poll of members to see when they might be able to hold open hours? - Nate
    • Membermatters successfully installed on our server, but has a decent amount of setup still required - Andrew
      • Nate will give access to Andrew (DONE)
    • Plotter: ink-jet plotter, *almost* ready to use. What should we do with this? Craigslist it! - Nobody on point for this, but we need to do it
    • Pick and place: take the gantry off, keep the controller board, and then break down the cabinet. (DONE) - Nate
    • Organizing parts and things from donated equipment, sorting items, for November - James
    • Emergency Exit signs on the alternate door -- vinyl cutouts? Arrow pointing at the deadbolt knob? - James and Joe
    • Networking equipment:
      • Security gateway still needs to be hooked in -- waiting on the server rack stuff now - James
    • Organize sink installation - Joe
  • Outreach/fundraising
    • Go around to local techie businesses and see if any of them would be willing to kick in some sponsorship money? - James
  • Finances
    • Add James and Joe to bank account - Joe and James will send Nate some dates/times to do this
  • Operations
    • Tool library - Joe (DONE, but available tools must be added to Lend Engine. Joe/Andrew will add info on the Wiki)