2014-2-20

==== Board Meeting Notes for February 20, 2014 ====

=== Notes ===

Meeting Time: 7pm\
Location: Lenox

5 minute time limit per highest-level bullet point.
All members are welcome to attend, and non-board members can join the conversation when invited.

Legal/Financial:
- 7:06 PM - Membership Management Software Discussion
  - Tom, Dan, and Joe have been working on the Quickbooks software
  - Joe indicated that we will be treating members as ‘customers’ per the software terminology
  - We have been able to export member bio data from the current software
  - DanJ and JasonG both have access to the AppEngine software
  - There is more research to do regarding how the access control system will tie into Quickbooks
  - We may want to keep the AppEngine for access/door keys only
- 7:11 PM - Taxes for 2013
  - Tom suggested that to keep things simple, we use a CPA this year
  - Tom proposed that a CPA would cost between $200-300/year (THE BOARD VOTED TO APPROVE THIS EXPENSE)
  - Brant and Joe would send spreadsheets and balances to Tom and DanJ for their use in the taxes
  - We do not believe Space Federation requires anything from us at this time
- 7:15 PM - Next Treasurer’s Report
  - January 2014 report requested for next week
- 7:17 PM - Lowering dues
  - The Board discussed reducing dues as soon as possible and weighed the pros and cons of doing so
    - Members will need to receive new invoices, this will require several hours in the member app
    - Member storage will need to be considered, new pallet/shelf racks should be built soon
    - It may be best to do this now before we enter it into Quickbooks, do everything at once
    - No one wants to make any hasty decisions or lower dues prematurely, especially if it would require us to raise dues in the future
  - Our finances (expenses vs. income) appear to support lowering dues
    - The new rate would be $40 per month for 24/7/365 access and a reasonable amount of storage space
    - Family can still join for $10 per month
    - All other membership levels would be defunct
    - Expenses average around $4,400 per month
    - Incomes average around $5-6,000
    - Projections, assuming…
      - Average 120 members at $40/ m o . =$ 4,800
      - 20 or so family members at $10/ m o . =$ 200
      - Rental spaces and vaults = Additional $1-2,000
    - The Board suggested we handle storage by providing each members with the equivalent of half a pallet (or one 3x3x3 shelf) from now on
  - Charles asked what the original intent was for giving veterans a discounted rate
    - The Board indicated it was mostly a gesture of appreciation
    - It was also based partly off movie theaters and theme parks that offer student, veteran, and senior discounts. MMS offered student and veteran discounts, but not seniors.
  - Charles expressed concern over veterans now having to pay more if they want a full pallet
    - Tom suggested we grandfather in full sized pallets for veterans
      - Current veterans can keep their pallet
      - New members will not be eligible as we will no longer have a veteran membership level
  - BOARD VOTED UNAMIMOUSLY TO LOWER DUES STARTING MARCH 1, 2014
- 7:30 PM - Classes/Seminars
  - David Bryan from TCMaker/HackFactory was invited by ChrisH and MattW to join us and talk about classes and non-profit status.
  - David said that TCMaker regularly offers welding classes.
    - (2) 4-hour sessions given
    - The first hour is devoted to safety
    - Events are posted to Eventbrite and StarTribute’s website, API
    - Students/attendees sign up on those websites
    - HackFactory collects the money from students/attendees
    - This accounts for roughly $5,000/year income
    - Instructors are paid by HackFactory, which is less than $800/year
    - Guests/instructors can become temporary members under TCMaker’s policies
      - This differs from our current policies
  - Tom, Dan, and others spoke about the concerns in Milwaukee and/or Wisconsin
    - Our liability insurance is limited and does not cover compensated instructors
    - Anyone teaching and receiving compensation needs professional liability insurance
  - MattW explained he’d like to teach classes so he can purchase a new welder
    - Cost of the new welder will be about $5,000
  - Possibilities discussed, ways to teach classes within our current policies and insurance limitations
    - Treating MMS as a fraternal organization rather than a club? Benefits?
    - Can guests use power tools in classes? Not under our current policies.
    - Classes taught by community colleges or other groups
    - Classes outside the premises, off-site
    - Consider adding a temporary membership level or class/instructor only level
      - Examples given included having a crew of people help on a 24-48 hour project
      - It was noted a full-time member should likely supervise or act as the responsible party for any person or group of temporary members
    - Board to consider getting a quote on adding an insurance rider for teachers
      - Could the revenue of classes help offset the cost of extra insurance?
- No action was taken on these topics at this meeting, only discussion
- 7:51 PM - Other insurance topics
  - Insurance for the Board of Directors (Brant still hasn’t sent in the quote)
- 7:53 PM - Partial payments/outstanding invoices - write off?
  - Joe indicated that he has closed these invoices
  - No one objected
- 7:54 PM - Donation boxes and Area Champions
  - Topics discussed included
    - Asking Area Champions for budgets
    - Is it OK to stump/ask members for donations?
      - No one objected, do at your own discretion
    - Possible approaches:
      - Submit budgets for Board approval
      - Spend money and get reimbursed on a case-by-case basis
    - How do people feel about collecting surplus/unused funds from donation boxes and allocating them to a general fund?
      - Area Champions and others in attendance mostly OK with this, no objections noted at this time
      - Most prefer soliciting donations from members for specific projects/repairs as needed
  - The Board asked Area Champions in attendance for budgets/ideas
    - Lexie/Colleen said a Craft Lab budget was coming soon
    - (Lance submitted a budget for the Laser Cutter Room soon after the meeting)
8:20 PM - Policies and Procedures:
- New Member Orientation Classes
  - Nothing happened in February, no one championed it, those interested were busy/forgot
  - Brant indicated he would pick a date and post it to the mailing list to motivate us to start having them
  - These will now occur the first Saturday of each month at 10:00 AM
  - (First one occurred on Saturday, March 1st)
- 8:25 PM - Status of a task list for Safety Coordinator
  - No news, nothing discussed
- 8:26 PM - Goals for 2014 (added by Pete)
  - No news, nothing discussed
- 8:27 PM - Status of proposal for a new DVR/camera system (ChrisH,Brant)
  - BOARD VOTED TO ALLOW FOR A MAXIMUM BUDGET OF $450
  - Brant said he’d look up the model previously discussed on Amazon and buy it
- 8:29 PM - Status of wiki/website backups (Dan, Chris)
  - Working like a charm according to ChrisH
- 8:30 PM - Parking flyer to neighbors
  - Body of letter/flyer has been prepared by Brant
  - Need to print several copies and get help distributing
  - Tom suggested a neighborhood block party/spring cookout to help spread goodwill/educate community about us
Check on progress of Building Topics/Projects:
- 8:35 PM - Air compressor
  - Work in progress, some downtime planned but exact date/duration TBD, will post to mailing list
- 8:40 PM - Gas lines for forge/foundry/glass blowing
  - BOARD VOTED TO PROCEED WITH PRICING/PLANNING
  - Black steel piping being considered
  - Tom and Dan to do most of the work, final connection by a plumber likely
Check on progress of Member Projects:
- Nothing new discussed
New equipment/donations:
- TomG brought in a new plasma cutter
- DanJ said we have some new forging tools
- Someone asked about helping to update the equipment photos online
Events:
- None
Any topics from members who are present
- Looking up Milwaukee Makerspace location on Google Maps takes you to the Whitewater Makerspace address
  - Pete, Dan to review
- Someone mentioned we should review how they do training/classes at Phoenix Makerspace
  === Agenda ===

Meeting Time: 7pm\
Location: Lenox

5 minute time limit per highest-level bullet point.
All members are welcome to attend, and non-board members can join the conversation when invited.

Legal/Financial:
- Membership Management Software Discussion
- Taxes for 2013
- Next Treasurer’s Report
- Lowering dues
- Any insurance topics to discuss?
  - Insurance for the Board of Directors (Brant still hasn’t sent in the quote)
- Partial payments/outstanding invoices - write off?
- Donation boxes and Area Champions
Policies and Procedures:
- New Member Orientation Classes (our first class will have happened by now)
- Status of a task list for Safety Coordinator (added by Brant)
- Goals for 2014 (added by Pete)
  - For the Group
  - For the Board
  - For the Building
- Status of proposal for a new DVR/camera system (ChrisH,Brant)
- Status of wiki/website backups (Dan, Chris)
- Parking flyer to neighbors
Check on progress of Building Topics/Projects:
- Air compressor
- Gas lines for forge/foundry/glass blowing
Check on progress of Member Projects:
- MattN’s email about connector for the Kuka
- CNC Router
- CNC Plasma
New equipment/donations:
- …
Events:
- …
Any topics from members who are present

Quartz 5

Explorer

2014-2-20

Graph View

Backlinks