Minutes:10 APR 2024 Members Meeting Agenda

Meeting begins:

Meeting ends:

Participants:

Agenda

• Announcements/new business - 10m
• Operations
• Financial
• Membership
• Outreach
• Education

Minutes

• Announcements/new business:
  • Discuss who is in board chat / planning room

• Operations:
  • PC upgrades:
    • Nate found a mini-PC in the box by the network rack -- machine posts, appears to be decent Ryzen 5 machine, 8GB, only lacking m.2 SDD drive. Could be a good replacement for the laser or public PC.
      • If we get this one running, then we should only need one more "modern" machine to be in a relatively good spot.
      • Robyn might have an m.2 drive?
  • Access control (interior and exterior): - Nate Y.
    • Interior door is good to go -- could use some wiring cleanups (will be easy once we remove the legacy system)
      • Timeline to sunset the legacy entrance system? How do we make this clean so members who haven't been around in a while don't get locked out? Member news blast, reminders to meet Nate/others who have been trained on how to add users at Repairsdays/Open Hours, any other things?
    • Remaining needs for exterior door:
      • Coordination with Oxford for card reader installation (Oxford should do this)/camera installation (we should be able to do the camera install ourselves)
      • Select a suitable (i.e. PoE, tamper-resistant) camera to monitor the external door
      • Reroute existing ethernet run(s) from the far bathroom back over to the external door reader. Nate believes there are two old ethernet lines we can reroute.
      • Need to ensure port capacity on the switch for two more PoE devices (access controller and camera)
  • Elections - James K.
    • To meet an end-of-April timeline (approx. 4/25) for the end of the election, we will need to get out the call for nominations by 3/21, launch the actual election period by 4/18. - Sarah B. will incorporate into Mailchimp etc.
  • LaunchX planning - July 1st-26th - Joe D.
    • safety briefing/tour?
    • Have we finalized any arrangement with them?
  • Plea for help: small tasks and other low-hanging fruit - Nate Y.
    • Reaching out to new members in a timely fashion
    • Responding to emails in a timely fashion
    • How do we get simple tasks done more quickly when folks are feeling overloaded?
• Financial:
  • Financial Position: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U_IURRK7QLhnVKWiRDk4u64dw7JJ2WuK/view?usp=sharing
  • Financial Activity: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M8axPee9qlmCH8ajU5dZQKTJLn3bK7ZE/view?usp=sharing
  • Monthly financial report https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fCZ2j8G5ZXTxQlR_fnR_BoUldrVSsgBDnbztHpAYgGw/edit?usp=sharing
  • Accountant/tax advice/Payroll solutions - Joe D.
    • Joe's solution: try doing paperwork ourself with payroll service. Switch to CPA if its overwhelming; needs review (fwded to board)
      • Artisan market starts 4/7
    • Setup will be a big job either way. Management may not be that much work.
    • This needs at least two people.
    • https://docs.google.com/document/d/15guo7zZOTvUhtWUuEZ3JxxUewXUzQSMBxMrQysdqxFo/edit?usp=sharing
  • Taxes all done for 2023, how-to process updated on the wiki here: Finances#Taxes
    • James K. to add further info from screen-share on how to do Sales Tax?
  • What to do about 2025 rent negotiations with Oxford? - Nate Y.
    • Latest proposal: five-year lease, one month rent abatement, $12.68/sqft/yr. with $0.50/sqft/yr. increase each year after the first. Last chance for discussion/input!
  • SBA disaster loan repayments starting in April, need to make sure more than just Nate is aware of how to do this - Nate Y.
  • Other action items:
    • Send thank you for $500 donation
• Membership:
  • Membership tracking
    • Nate set up Appsmith -- next steps? - James K.
• Outreach:
  • Future grants?
    • Free-form MEDC grant - James K./Ben N.
    • SA²T (Sustaining Ann Arbor Together) - Sarah B./Nate Y.
      • Will start January 1st
    • SPARK cooperation, can we give them more bang for their buck? - David G.
  • Upcoming events:
    • Penguicon/Hackerspace Party -- Evening/early morning of 4/25 - 4/27 (setup afternoon of 4/24; teardown late morning 4/27)
    • AACME (May 5th 11am-3pm @ AADL Downtown) -- submitted application; will do CNC portraits, LED art, button maker (possibly?)
      • Need to figure out staffing still... Nate Y. is open to any help!
    • A2Zero week - June 9th-14th https://www.a2gov.org/departments/sustainability/Newsletter-Events/a2zero-week/Pages/default.aspx-- various circular economy-themed events around Ann Arbor
      • Will be hosting extended Repairsday hours on 6/13 (5pm-9pm), and stamping visitors' A2zero passports
      • A2 Summer Fest Annex tent on the evening of 6/15 -- tentatively doing solar-powered CNC portraits, although lighting under the tent was an issue last time. If we want to do something else, need to decide before 5/1!
        • Need to finalize staffing for both events.
    • Art Fair (July 18th-20th @ E. Liberty St. close to AHA) - missed initial application period so no double booths left, can still potentially get two singles.
      • Fees paid for single 6'x6' booth. We are on a waiting list in case a 10'x10' booth opens up, or a second 6'x6' booth remains vacant. Will know more by Jun. 1st.
      • Create staffing schedule
      • Let's come up with some activity ideas (CNC portraits on a postcard? others?).
        • donations?
    • Crowd Supply Teardown (June 21-23, Portland OR) -- can get free tickets from Helen
  • Future goals & pitch deck - Sarah B.
    • Come up with 3-5 year goals for the pitch deck
    • use long term planning channel for brainstorming -- Sarah B. will seed with gathered ideas
  • schmooze cruise - everyone reach out to 3 people and ask for donations, and/or attend events to promote AHA! and our fundraiser
  • Cahoots - James K.
    • very 2-3 happy hours
    • Bob Ross-style soldering workshop (leverage PCBway sponsorship)
    • other workshops where knowledge workers can use hands instead
    • discounted memberships/annual donation
    • 2-3 access cards for staff after orientation in exchange for use of their event space(s)
  • Workantile - James K.
  • Bamboo - James K.
  • Newsletter owners needed
    • Tango tutorials - Sarah B.
    • Zoom during next one? - Sarah B.

• Education:
  • 2024 education goals/classes
    • How to transfer some responsibilities for classes to more people?
    • form own sub-committee?
  • Bonus: DIY fob/badge idea
  • Miniatures class - should be ready by April - Victoria W.
  • Artisan Market events - Starting April 28th with cardboard Swords and Wands. Joe D. is running this activity.
    • Need to hire help for later events
  • Repairsday Road Show/Community Outreach/A2Zero ambassadors
• Communications improvements
  • always-on #general on TV/RPi
  • Matrix vs. Discord?
    • bridging as stopgap?
    • Is this working out for everyone? If so, let's publish links to the other apps on our webpage/new member materials/flyers? Currently there is no easy way to direct users to join via Discord or Slack - Nate Y.
      • General feeling is there's no need to push the other options, but to keep them as alternatives when someone is not happy with Element.