[Noisebridge-discuss] Noisebridge: Death and Taxes

[Patrick Keys]

If I sound demanding, I apologize.  Kelly has only been at two of the 
last 5 meetings.  I think the larger concern is that, as a non-profit, 
there's no need for a cloak of secrecy of our financial status. 
Although its well-known that we are low on cash, I think that having 
reasonably accurate information available to everybody in real-time 
should be a priority.  Even if we had a dedicated wiki page with a table 
with our bank balance, updated at least once a week, that seems like it 
would be better than we have now.

The most recent information about finances seems to be here:
https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Meeting_Notes_2010_11_30#Financial_Report

Apparently, after paying December rent, we had $9700 in the bank.  That 
means we should be good until March, not February.


Patrick


On 12/20/2010 7:16 PM, Albert Sweigart wrote:
> Patrick, Noisebridge's precarious financial situation has been well
> known for at least six months. The mailing list isn't the best way to
> get the answers for the questions you are asking. You can email Kelly
> at treasurer at noisebridge.net for specifics, but the best way would be
> to talk to her directly at the weekly meetings.
>
> I can assure you the basics of the situation have already been
> well-covered over and over again. What we need are people who can
> volunteer several dedicated hours a week on a consistent basis to do a
> lot of grunt work. Demanding answers on the mailing list is only
> adding to the workload at this point.
>
> -Al
>
> On Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 4:55 PM, Ryan Rawson<ryanobjc at gmail.com>  wrote:
>> Patrick, I think you need to go out for drinks or something.  The fact
>> is the treasurer is the one who knows, and for obvious reasons not
>> everyone has access to the bank account (!).  It's also been an hour
>> or two since you started agitating for answers, but that is a pretty
>> short time span at holiday time to demand people reply.
>>
>> Check back in a week or two possibly.
>>
>> Here are some facts I know from reading the list:
>> - there are about 60 members, some paying $80, $40 and $160.
>> - The accounting system has been getting improved over the last 2
>> months. Tracking it all down is NOT a technology problem, its old
>> fashioned 'sit down with excel and spend a few hundred hours on it'.
>> THEN technology solutions can come to play.
>> - The bank account balance has been in multiple meeting reports. Read
>> the archives.
>>
>> -ryan
>>
>> On Mon, Dec 20, 2010 at 4:48 PM, Patrick Keys<citizenkeys at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>>   >  It is premature and I think a little insulting, to suggest that since
>>>   >  the process is not somehow transparent to you (and specifically during
>>>   >  the holidays where she and others are traveling) that it is somehow
>>>   >  not up to snuff or that we're in immediate danger of collapse.
>>>
>>> It's not premature when this thread is titled "death and taxes" and the
>>> original message directly stated that noisebridge could be closing in
>>> February.
>>>
>>> What's insulting is for people to keep asking for money and yet not
>>> giving any direct answer when people ask how much money we already have.
>>>
>>> If somebody would say "we're $1000 short on funds for february", then
>>> it's easy to say "5 people each need to donate $200, or 10 people need
>>> to donate $100, etc."
>>>
>>> Whether Kelly is the treasurer or not, how difficult can it be to login
>>> to our Wells Fargo account and get an exact amount of how much funds we
>>> have available?
>>>
>>> Why is there this big secrecy over how much money we have in the bank?
>>>
>>>
>>> Patrick
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 12/20/2010 3:55 PM, Lamont Lucas wrote:
>>>> On 12/20/10 3:33 PM, Patrick Keys wrote:
>>>>> My conversation with Kelly was ultimately that she lives in Berkeley,
>>>>> rarely visits Noisebridge, and that she has little motivation to do much
>>>>> with Noisebridge because of her busy graduate-school plans and living in
>>>>> Berkeley.
>>>>
>>>> I really appreciate your enthusiasm, but I think you lack a little
>>>> history and perspective on the matter.
>>>>
>>>> Kelly has made fantastic improvements in the books in the few months
>>>> since she took over, and I'm hoping she'll continue to make progress in
>>>> the new year.  The main issue seems to be getting people who were going
>>>> to pay to actually pay, and that's a slow process.
>>>>
>>>> It is premature and I think a little insulting, to suggest that since
>>>> the process is not somehow transparent to you (and specifically during
>>>> the holidays where she and others are traveling) that it is somehow not
>>>> up to snuff or that we're in immediate danger of collapse.
>>>>
>>>> I suggest reading the -discuss archives on or about 9/14 of this year to
>>>> see where we've been and what the past was.  There was a great deal of
>>>> discussion on software, as well as a wishlist for features that you
>>>> could quite helpfully contribute to, I'm sure.
>>>>
>>>>
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