2009-07-15 Meeting Notes

Agenda

• Extremely brief recap of recent activities
  • Workshop1, tweetable orbs (Hold discussion until later on the agenda)
    • We got written up on the Baltimore Sun Tech Blog. (thanks Gus!)
  • Meeting with Harford Hackerspace and Nick Farr of HacDC
  • Hackerspaces.org call
  • Visits to potential spaces: Futon Factory, JBL offerings, Hillen
  • Adam's interview with Digital Cafe
• Summary Workshop1 feedback forms. Reactions from the group.
• Resolve to have another workshop in July. Discuss further online and at future meetings.
• The plan for Incorporation
  • Establish date time for first meeting of the corporation after filing?
• Status update on some key documents: Mission Statement, Bylaws, Membership Agreement
• Updates from people present?
• Come to consensus on Load of Fun space
  • Layout the facts, costs, and lease terms
  • Discuss the Pros
  • Discuss the Cons
  • List alternatives
  • Count how many people are willing to pay monthly dues for a space located in the Load of Fun building
  • Given the number of willing people, determine the cost of dues
  • Given the cost of dues, vote on whether or not to sign a lease
• Wrap up

In Attendance

• Mark
• Matt
• Steve
• Adam
• Alan
• Patrick
• Aaron
• Kelly
• Sylvia
• Erich
• John
• Jon

Did not attend

These people all contacted Jon ahead of the meeting and communicated how much they are willing to contribute each month in dues.

• Avery
• Emmette
• Todd
• Sepideh

Minutes

• While we intended to hold the meeting inside 113 North Ave., we ended up at the outdoor tables of Joe^2 next door.
• Recapped recent happenings highlighted in the agenda.
• Mark shared feedback from the 13 feedback forms we received after the last workshop

Most comments were really positive and shared a ton of excitement. The main complaints were 
trouble setting up python in windows and not having something to follow a long to i.e. no powerpoint.
Responses to questions:
Interested in joining? Yes: 7, No: 0, Maybe Later: 2
How much are you willing to pay? $40: 3, $50: 1, $60: 2, $70: 1, Write in: $75

• We resolved to have another workshop in July. Sunday, the 26th was recommended because it is a weekend day. The content of the workshop has yet to be determined.
• Jon talked about the incorporation process and how it fits into the overall 501(c)(3) process
• Jon prodded everyone to review and edit these key documents: Mission Statement, Bylaws, Membership Agreement
• After a discussion of the merits of the Load of Fun space, it was decided that the space would be sufficient for our needs as a group.
• We discussed pros, cons, and the lease terms.
• We went around the group asked how much each person would be willing to pay in dues each month assuming we leased the Load of Fun space.
• Then we went around and asked if anyone was willing to donate money each month in excess of regular dues with the understanding that their additional donation would decrease with each new member who joins.
• We went around and asked for one time donations to cover startup costs and serve as a nest egg.
• All of the committed money is accounted for on this spreadsheet. In summary, we anticipate $800 in monthly income from members and $1700 in one-time startup donations. [NOTE: At the meeting, I mistakenly did not account for Kelly's monthly dues of $50. Adding this in, our anticipated income would have risen from $768/month to $818/month. Because our target is $800, I (Jon) decided to even out the monthly "above and beyond" donations such that each willing person contributes $35 each month instead of $32 for Steve, Matt, Kelly, and Mark and $50 for Jon and Adam.]
• We talked briefly about where to open a bank account. Jon is in favor of Suntrust after doing some research on business checking accounts.
• We concluded by affirming our intention to select the Load of Fun space as the inaugural home of the Baltimore Node. We took a picture to memorialize the event.
• John gave the first good luck dollar (SN: B78547146J), which we will tack to the wall of the new space.
• Steve gave Jon a check (#2052) for $36.

The plan moving forward

• Jon will file our articles of incorporation and open a bank account this week
• We will get a copy of the lease for review
• We will collect money into the Node bank account
  • partially complete
• We will sign the lease and move in August 1st!