Community council meeting agenda 01/08/2012

Here are some of the items we'll talk about at the next meeting.

Please read recent discussions at  http://groups.google.com/group/freegeekchicago-talk. Once you're there, join the group. And once you've joined the group, join the conversation! Please feel free to add to any of the discussions, or start a new one.

The agenda for the previous meeting is at http://codex.freegeekchicago.org/wiki/MeetingAgenda/2011-12-18. The minutes for the previous meeting are at  https://groups.google.com/group/freegeekchicago-talk/browse_thread/thread/9545d23d9b90858b.

Introduce yourself (standing item)

(Everybody, say your name)

Announcements (standing item)

(Any announcements that don't require action or discussion can go here.)

• Standing reminder: there will be a 10-minute time limit to all topic discussions. If by then no solution is found, the topic will be tabled until the next meeting.

• Reminder: FreeGeek Chicago will have a table at the Logan Square Market on the second Sunday of each month for the next few months. The next one is Jan. 8th (and will be over by the time the meeting starts), and then Feb. 12th.

Reports (standing items)

staff meeting recap

Dave or Aaron.

money report

$10,050 after rent, phone, internet, and wages except for James.

laptop report

• Aaron started cleaning the outer laptop room. Sunday folks need to avoid making a mess.
• Anything that is not laptop related in the outer laptop room will be taken out!
• No laptops for sale – many are staged to be refurbished.
• Nothing more until next week.

space report

• Lights are still bad in laptop room.
• Ricardo came to look at the door to check out breaker bar and give us external access to gray door.
• There's a possibility of a breaker bar on the dungeon door.
• The classroom will have monitors soon, two to a desk.
• The classroom's capacity is about 15, so its issue is really class size (see ed report).

education team report

• Susan asks, "Can you teach?" Freeform classes are being held on Sundays from 3-4:30 PM during Open Build days (Friday and Sunday). Submit your outline to Susan via email.
• Orientation class size is becoming an issue for us. Class sizes around or less than 10 are ideal. Some possible solutions:
  • Hard cap on orientation
  • Look at appointment system
  • More instructors / more sessions

web report

Alex and DavE plan on regular reporting.

video report

Is anyone interested in leading the video team?

Social media help (continuing item)

FreeGeek Chicago is looking for help with marketing and social media. Alex has done a better job than he's willing to admit. But he needs help.

At the broadest level, we need a marketing plan.

More specifically, we need to make better use of social media (Facebook, Twitter, and others) so that we can engage people for our community.

Most specifically, we need content — messages and ideas for messages. If you have some ideas — good. If you have ideas and writing skills — great. If you have ideas and skills, plus interest in marketing (and some spare time) — fantastic! Seriously, if you have skills, interest, and time, then you are better-qualified than any of us.

This is what we need to do:

1. Make people aware of our mission: environmental preservation; computers for those who really need them; a fun, interesting, diverse community!

2. Get people to participate in our community: join the Build-A-Box program; take a class with us; teach a class with us; help with recycling runs; come to community council meetings; become supervolunteers; join our staff.

3. Get people to buy things from us: laptops; desktops; parts.

4. Get people to donate things to us: computers; parts; money; food (to eat during build); office supplies and furniture.

5. Get technically advanced and professional people to come in and help us with special projects: server/corporate IT hardware; marketing/sales; web development; hardware hacking; scripting; carpentry.

If you have marketing experience (or interest), if you have writing skills (or ideas) — please contact Alex Hanson. If you know someone who can do it — please have them contact Alex.

(There's a discussion here:  https://groups.google.com/group/freegeekchicago-talk/browse_thread/thread/42cb3e3f66df182e. Find more details and Alex's contact info here:  http://notes.pinboard.in/u:j_narwhal/fb9696edceed971c65ce)

E-waste (old item, tabled 12/18)

Justin was looking into registering with the state for recycling program. James and Justin will follow up.

Discount policy (old item, tabled 12/18)

Everyone seems pretty happy with $75 / $1 an hour. Eads will finalize the proposal and we can vote on the 22nd.

Mobile Citizen / CLEAR Internet (old item, tabled 12/18)

Aaron says phones are a dead issue. Phones were only available through CLEAR's regular commercial service.

Data transfer (old item, tabled 12/18)

James is working on proposal for data transfer including price and waiver form.

Repair Policy (old item, tabled 12/18)

Last meeting's notes weren't clear who will do this. From the previous agenda:

We will rewrite our repair policy to cover items under 1-year warranty (only), and add it to all sales sheets. New changes will include:

• Repairs will not be completed during Build.
• We don't repair devices that were not purchased at Freegeek.
• Repairs, unless very minor, will not be done immediately. We will hold devices for inspection, give owners a repair receipt, and contact the owners within 48 hours.
• If your device has been left at FreeGeek for longer than 45 days, it becomes the property of FreeGeek.
• Devices that have been damaged in an extraordinary way (such as dropped or immersed in liquid) cannot be repaired.

LPI Study Group (old item)

Ky, Bob L. and others have been working on this ...

ComEd (old item)

We're hooked up, and the meter is running ...

The van (decaying item)

Our sad old van might make it to end of insurance period, and might not. We'll limp along for now and look into getting van off our hands – trade in, scrap, etc.

Orientation (new item)

The problem of class size is mentioned in the education report, above. Is this an action item for this CC meeting?

Date of next meeting (standing item)

(usually in 2 weeks)

Shout-outs (standing item)

("What's Good" and "Damn the Man")

HOWTO write agendas

http://codex.freegeekchicago.org/wiki/MeetingAgenda/HowTo

---

Comments

Comment by Scott Lewis on Fri Jan 20 00:21:12 2012

Meeting notes are at  https://groups.google.com/group/freegeekchicago-talk/browse_thread/thread/4c3e24566c809436#

Next agenda is at http://codex.freegeekchicago.org/wiki/MeetingAgenda/2012-01-22

Error: Macro AddComment(None) failed

Error: Insufficient privileges to AddComment