[FreeGeek] 2006-11-27 general meeting minutes

Tue Nov 28 14:26:54 PST 2006

thanks for sending out the minutes,
sounds like you guys covered a lot of ground!

k.

On 11/28/06, sean <freegeek at seanhill.ca> wrote:
>
>
> hey folks,
>
> here are the minutes i took at the meeting last night. my apologies if
> any names are misspelled. please review and email me with any
> corrections or things i missed.
>
> i've also attached a pdf for those that might prefer a formatted
> version. it obviously increases the size of the download so please feel
> free to comment on this.
>
> ***oops! looks like this put me over the size limit!***
> ***if anyone wants a pdf of other format, please email me***
>
>
> sean  :o)
>
>
> *****************************************************************************
> Free Geek Vancouver – General Meeting - Mon, November 27, 2006
>
> *****************************************************************************
>
> Facilitator: David Repa
> Regulator: Jennifer
> Scribe: Sean Hill
> Audio: Ifny
>
> ======================
> Glossary
> ======================
> FG – Free Geek
> mothership – Free Geek Portland
> PDX – Free Geek Portland
> FGV – Free Geek Vancouver
> distro – distribution – as in "what Linux distro are you using?"
> wiki – a user-editable website
>
> ======================
> Agenda
> ======================
> - agenda items
> - introductions
> - mothership – debriefing by Ifny & David, Q&A
> - incorporation
> - workgroups (webpage/listserve, publicity/fund raising/outreach,
> software/database, spaces)
> - website
> - outreach/donations
> - communications
> - action items/next meeting date
>
> ======================
> introductions
> ======================
> - present – (online monikers in parentheses)
> - Sim, Aaron, Steven, Terry, Sean Moffat, Matt, Sean Brookes, Ifny,
> Scott (agent humble), Jennifer (jen virtual), Joe, Sean Hill
> (evershade), David Repa (iamturnip), Rowan
>
> ======================
> mothership
> ======================
> ----------------------
> David
> ----------------------
> - David's second time to Free Geek Portland. Volunteered to get more
> info and experience of operations
> - "potent community building initiative"
> - PDX is very excited about FGV – believe we have the right spirit
> - Spent a lot of time with and talking to volunteers. Felt they were
> thankful FG exists. "sense of community, more than just recycling"
> - 2 phases to franchising:
>    1.questionnaire/application – lets PDX get a sense of who we are.
> (location, address, policy comprehension)
>    2.more involved and detailed form – goes through all aspects (who's
> signing for accounts, square footage, consensus model) – allows PDX to
> decide who they will give franchise status to
> - Volunteering down at PDX will give a good sense of how it works
>
> ----------------------
> Ifny
> ----------------------
> - Struck by how sustaining it is for people. There are people who go
> every day and volunteer
> - Food is constantly brought in by 'binning' and through donations
> - Spent a lot of time with hardware. Went through a small class to learn
> "pre-build"
> - Spent time in receiving for humans and for hardware
> - Attended HR meeting – how people get along (allegiances, etc)
> - email domain offered to FGV
> - A lot of anticipation over FGV. People at PDX say FGV may be able to
> avoid some of the pitfalls of other FGs
> - Gift of a signed drive with FG build of Ubuntu Linux
>
> ----------------------
> q&a
> ----------------------
> q. did you ask about business plan?
> a. on the wiki. David can find it and make it available
>
> q. why does PDX feel we may avoid pitfalls?
> a. we are very communicative with each other (listserve, irc). We seem
> to be more self-sufficient and logical
>    eg. Olympia got stuck on idealogical, not practical and ended up too
> divided
>    eg. Olympia started to rely on PDX for discipline.
>    eg Pennsylvania ended up more for-profit.
>
> q. how many PDX folks will come to opening?
> a. 2 at least... webcast?
>
> q. how many there as paid and inner sanctum?
> a. ~15 paid staff. ~30 volunteers at any given time. ~5 core volunteers
>
> q. what is PDX's competitive landscape? other organisations?
> a. no direct non-profit. Some for-profit has been aggressive over
> contracts. Contracts poached from public archives.
>    eg. a school that wants 100 computers. Since PDX keeps business
> openly available online, someone may undercut what PDX is offering
>
> q. service contracts?
> a. no, but tech support is offered as long as the original distro is
> left on hardware. If you receive a computer through volunteering, you
> will get pretty much unlimited tech support. Buying one from the store
> gets one free support visit, then ~$10
>
> q. annual budget?
> a. not sure. Probably on wiki
>
> q. how many machines? throughput?
> a. sales are down. No exact numbers. many boxes ready to go. Facility is
> 1500sq ft, moving to 3000. Donations generally come from residential,
> non-stop on a Saturday. More businesses seemed to show up in week
>
> q. $10 a monitor
> a. yes. A donation form shows mandatory and suggested donation fees for
> drop-offs
>
> q. are volunteers confident and able to explain policies?
> a. staff member is usually present in each area to make sure things run
> smooth and follow policy
>
> q. how important is it for FGV to be non-profit?
> a. requirement for franchising, along with consensus-based governing
> (consensus to be defined)
>
> ----------------------
> follow-up
> ----------------------
> - PDX was recently robbed. Bad news, but good publicity
> - Getting local government on board can be good publicity and a source
> of hardware.
> - $20K monthly (gross?) through the thrift store
> - Volunteers are from all stripes (cons, mom's, interested, bored, poor,
> wealthy)
>
> ======================
> incorporation
> ======================
> - We have secured Free Geek name locally – Free Geek Community
> Technology Centre Society
> - Hoping to incorporate as non-profit this week – we have 5 incorporee
> names required. Straightforward application. David planning to fast
> track application to allow us to start moving
> - We should define a basic set of bylaws to operate with. Not official,
> able to be amended at first AGM
> - Vancouver-specific page has been opened on PDX wiki. Can be used to
> start brainstorming our bylaws. Linked to from our page
> freegeekvancouver.org. Will help to expedite the final bylaw process
> - Wiki has play area that does not update true wiki
>
> ======================
> workgroups
> ======================
> - tools:
>    - mailing lists
>    - meetings
>    - irc
> - Having to report to a larger forum gives incentive
> - Bylaws should be openly discussed to allow access to others outside
> the workgroup
> - PDX – brings overarching, controversial issues to council. Must come
> to 3 meetings total before you can block an action (expiration of
> privilege?)
> - Spartacus – uses loose consensus – whoever shows up
>
> ----------------------
> content (website/listserv)
> ----------------------
> - currently using Drupal(drupal.org).
> MediaWiki(www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki), used by Wikipedia
> - will maintain creative change over Drupal
> - writing
> - defining our web presence
> - members: Ifny, Sean Brookes, Scott, David
>
> ----------------------
> communication (publicity/fund raising/outreach/events)
> ----------------------
> - publicity – speaking with media, advertising for meetings
> - fund raising – event planning, movie night, budget considerations
> - outreach – regular Linux clinic (Linux Clinix)
> - getting the message right
> - government communication – grants, cost benefit to city due to our ops
> - members: Steve, Jennifer, Scott, Ifny, Rowan
>
> ----------------------
> locations
> ----------------------
> - real estate. scouting locations
> - false creek~~~north of Broadway~~~west of Main~~~east of Cambie
> - GVRD – zero waste challenge?
> - members: David
>
> ----------------------
> software
> ----------------------
> - good to use what PDX has and to "not reinvent the wheel"
> - also need to review what is available and make sure it works
> - deciding on distro
> - members: Terry, Matt, Scott, Sean Hill, Joe, David, Sean Brookes
>
> ----------------------
> recycling
> ----------------------
> - logistics – where are the computers gonna go?
> - how much can be processed locally?
> - waste/recycling education – why are we doing this?
> - members: David, Aaron, Sean Moffat, Joe
>
> ----------------------
> curriculum (education)
> ----------------------
> - teaching volunteers
> - understanding community needs
> - different classes
> - members: Sean Hill, David, Jennifer, Joe, Scott, Ifny
>
> ----------------------
> governance (consensus/AGM/bylaws)
> ----------------------
> - charitable status?
> - research on requirements/regulations regarding submissions to government
> - members: David, Scott, Joe, Ifny, Sean Hill
>
> ----------------------
> health/safety
> ----------------------
> - how to operate safely – toxins, mental health, first aid
> - members: David, Jennifer, Sim, Sean Moffat
>
> ----------------------
> futures...
> ----------------------
> - museum?
>
> ======================
> website
> ======================
> - pushed on to workgroup
>
> ======================
> outreach/donations
> ======================
> - hardware – we have space – contact David - "yes we take it. yes we
> take it."
> - Steve – knows people collecting old hardware
> - $10 fee for monitors
>
> ======================
> communications
> ======================
> - please make use of all of the communications we have
> - using the tools we have spreads our resources further allows us to
> save time
>    - irc - gateway through website
>    - listserve
>    - website – freegeekvancouver.org
>
> ======================
> action items
> ======================
> - post agenda in advance
> - AGM – 3rd week of January
> - opening – June 2007
> - general meeting – Saturday January 6th, 13:00 – location TBA
> - movie night – December 12th ~18:00 open, 19:00 start
> - Scott will have listserves up within a couple of days
> - workgroups will post their meetings shortly – minutes to listserve
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> http://freegeekvancouver.org
> 'Helping the needy get nerdy since the beginning of the 3rd millennium'
> https://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/freegeek-van
>
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