2009-07-02 Meeting Notes

In Attendance

• Kelly
• Patrick
• Matt
• Steve
• Adam
• Mark
• Sylvia
• Jon

Minutes

• We started with a tour of a space on the ground floor of the Load of Fun building which lasted nearly an hour, then we migrated across the street to Joe^2 for beer and a discussion. In phase three, we toured the Mica building next door and saw the space where the workshop will be held. The whole encounter lasted about 3 and a half hours.
• The tour of the Load of Fun space was all around positive. See Adam's notes and email thread for details.
• In the discussion that followed at Joe^2 we discussed:
  • The incorporation process
  • The merits and demerits of the Load of Fun space
  • The possibility of a short term lease (6 months) or other escape clause in whatever space we decide on
  • Discussed some deadlines for wrapping discussion on mission statement and space
• We examined the MICA space where the first workshop is to be held. We all agreed it was well suited. Guests need to enter through the gate, not more obvious front door, and show an photo ID to the security guard. On the day of the event, we'll need some signage and/or a person out front to direct people.

Decisions

• Kelly, Steve, Patrick, and Mark will be the initial incorporaters and serve as the interim Board of Directors. This is an entirely symbolic move. The membership will elect officers/board of directors from scratch at our official organizational meeting, which should happen no later than 4 weeks from today. If you would like to be added to the list of incorporated for some reason, email Jon Lesser with your full name and address.
• We will post the current missions statement to mailing list along with some context in order to solicit feedback. We will have the mission statement finalized for the purposes of our Articles of Incorporation by Tuesday, July 7th.
• We will develop on the Finding a space wiki page, a list of questions to ask at each property we see. The answers to those questions will be posted on back to the wiki.
• Between now and July 12th, we will make an all out effort to evaluate properties. Any location which can be seen and photographed by at least one of us will be considered.
• We will come to a final decision on the Load of Fun space by Monday, July 13th. If we are not taking this space, hopefully it will only be because we found an even better place and have firm plans to move on said place.

Action Items

• Kelly, Steve, Patrick, and Mark need to email Jon Lesser with their full names and current addresses. (Done)
• Jon to get articles of incorporation necessary for filing with the state of Maryland to Matt, who will file them in person on or around Wednesday, July 8.
• Send out mission statement for feedback (Done -JL)
• Develop standardized questions for evaluating properties (see Landlord questions)
• Fan out across the city to evaluate properties as intensely as we can between now and July 12. (Everyone)

Next Meeting

• No specific date was set. A meeting towards the end of next week is a reasonable assumption. Watch the mailing list for developments, or create some developments and propose a time.