[Noisebridge-discuss] Meeting notes for 2011-01-25

[Seth David Schoen]

2011-01-25

Meeting started at 20:35

Danny is moderating and Seth is taking notes.

What Noisebridge is!

Miloh's secret name is Froggytoad!  Don't tell anyone.

People are here, some for the first time!  Noisebridge is a doocracy.
We also have a consensus process and a membership process.

Announcements:

Pete from Wikimedia says that a barcamp recap is happening here at
6:00p next Tuesday.

The vending machine now accepts dollar bills again.

The vending machine door needs to be closed quite tightly in order to
avoid leaking all over the floor.

The vending machine should be twinned with the EFF vending machine
so that purchasing soda at EFF causes it to appear at Noisebridge
and vice versa.

Treasurer's report:

We have $19,943.17 in the bank.

Please donate $56.83 to Noisebridge so that we will have $20,000.  You --
yes, you -- can put us over $20,000 right now!

We collected $3400+$860 in membership dues for January.  However, $700
of that is one person's back dues and several others are people paying
back dues, so we can't expect to receive this much in monthly membership
dues.

Donations were at $1250.  This is better than some points but worse than
other points.

Another concern is that we don't seem to make money on t-shirts.

Q. But I bought one!
A. Yes, but we may be spending as much money on making the shirts as
we actually receive for people's purchases.  So they may not actually
be a source of net revenue.

We seem to be approximately breaking even on shirts so it might be OK
that we do the shirts even if they aren't a net positive.  Beverage
income is also still unclear, so please give Kelly more information
about beverage income.

Also, donation bins now have locks.

Q. Where is the donation bin referred to on the fridge?
A. Actually, it's inside the fridge.  We put it there so it would be
clear where it was.

Q. Don't the banks dislike receiving bills that have been refrigerated
because they are damp with condensation?
A. Apparently the ATMs are currently accepting such bills without errors.

Kelly would like clearer sources of data about tracking beverage
income in order to be able to respond to people who are enthusiastic
about this as a fundraising source.  Danny would also like to be able
to track income from 5MoF and the like.

Q. What is the average dues payment?
A. Currently data is being crunched.  Noted that we have 12 affiliate
members and there are multiple $40 affiliates and one $80 affiliate.
You can also use this mechanism for some anonymity concerns.

Q. We should redesign the donation box in the refrigerator to make it
more visible and apparent.
A. You are the third person to say that it's unclear where it is.
A. Also, you can revise the signs yourself to make it clearer.

We are going to skip the "what's going on at Noisebridge" section.
There's some stuff coming up: the wiki meeting, as well as the one-a-day
art exhibit in February.

Q. What is Tastebridge brewing?
A. Largely kombucha.  There is also a vegan food thing.

Q. ?
A. !

No consensus items today.

Discussion items:

There is now a Wikileaks mirror under the Noisebridge domain.  Is this
a bad idea for Noisebridge as an organization?

Comment. Someone felt that they couldn't give us money because they felt
they had a conflict with the Wikileaks mirror.

Danny feels that people would probably not pursue Noisebridge legally
for this.

Q. Does it threaten our nonprofit status?  Does it create unnecessary
risk?

Danny: In my opinion, no.

Meeting ended at 21:19

-- 
Seth David Schoen <schoen at loyalty.org> | Qué empresa fácil no pensar en
     http://www.loyalty.org/~schoen/   | un tigre, reflexioné.
     http://vitanuova.loyalty.org/     |            -- Borges, El Zahir