Regular Member Meeting 2008 12 02

Time & Location

December 2, 2008
Members Present: Nick, Ash, Tim B, Derek, Martin, Aaron, Katie, Ben, Elliott, Tim C., Rodney, Anonymous Member, Bryce, Hasufin, Jason
Others Present: 3 Guests
Quorum: Yes
19:35ish to 20:29
HacDC, 1525 Newton St NW, Washington, DC. (Space)
Presiding: Nick Farr

The Consent Agenda

(No items submitted in time to meet Consent Agenda Rules)

Minister Reports

Coordinator in Chief: Resigned and not present

Minister of Finance: Rent is being raised $85/month, but we get new space in the basement for free to use for storage and metalworking.

Minister of Information: Resigned and not present

Keeper of the MIBS: Not Present.

Member Reports

One member mentioned he was looking for a job and a discussion emerged about a Resume pool. Nick suggested using the wiki to post links to resumes on our use pages. Ben mentioned he's sent several job openings to the list and hoped others would as well.

Elections

There are two open positions to fill, Coordinator in Chief and Minister of Information.

Nick Farr nominated Elliot Williams for Coordinator in Chief. Elliot accepted the nomination. There were no additional members nominated, so Elliot is now HacDC Coordinator in Chief.

Nick Farr nominated Katie for Minister of Information. Katie accepted the nomination. There were no additional members nominated, so Katie is now HacDC Minister of Information.

Derek moved that Katie receive MIBS points for her work on the wiki. The Shadow Keeper of the MIBS awarded Katie 1 billion MIBS points.

New Business

Mailing List Policy Discussion

The purpose of the blabber list was discussed. Nick Farr suggested that the member list be reserved for member to member communication and details about things going on in the space, while Blabber be used for most traffic, since members of the public may participate on Blabber.

A discussion ensued, and it was decided to not enforce hard and fast rules between members and blabber, but allow it to naturally develop.

Dorkbot Founders

Tim C. moved to grant Alberto and Gareth from Dorkbot DC dues waivers and make them full members of HacDC through January 31, 2009 for their help in establishing HacDC. Tim B. seconded the motion.

A discussion about what status or special titles took place. Anonymous Member suggested giving them an honorific title for what they've done for the space. An amendment was offered to grant them a special title, but after discussion the amendment was tabled.

An additional amendment was offered by Rodney to review the membership offer after 6 months. There was no second and the amendment died.

The original motion passed without objection.

Workshop Configuration

Nick presented a plan for our new space in a workshop configuration, suggesting we use half for metalworking space and half for a space to store new acquisitions and take stuff apart.

Discussion ensued, and it was decided that any plans should go up on the wiki.

Main Space Reconfiguration

Nick suggested removing the loft are, putting in two Ikea workbenches there with storage space above. A member asked about the couch and comfortable seating, and was told there would be space at the back of the room with the new configuration.

Elliot expressed a concern that we'll end up filling up the extra space with more junk without using the space well. There was ensuing discussion, and again plans will be put on the wiki.

Nick Farr also mentioned that he will be using Wednesdays to take stuff apart and list it on eBay.

A HacDC Christmas

General consensus seems to be that it seems like there's not much time between now and then to actually pull this off.

Several members mentioned they're in favor of the idea in general, but are very worried about the time frame. The issue was tabled for this meeting.

Tuesday Seminar Series

We have the auditorium reserved through March on Tuesday nights. We need to identify speakers for weekly meetings in 2009. We have speakers lined up for the rest of December.

Members are encouraged to come to Tuesday meetings and publicize the seminars wide and far.

Data Destruction and Donation Day

Tentative plans for data destruction day are on the wiki. Tim C. has offered his company's services to help erase drives.

Derek offered to take the lead on this and plan an event.

Door Entry Project

Elliot met with the church last weekend to propose the front door project. He's waiting to hear back from them about approval for the project. The time frame for project completion is mid-January.

New Members

Nick Farr sponsored new member Jason. Elliot sponsored Mark as a new member. There were no objections.