Meeting minutes: August 9, 2016
Attendance: 10 full members, 1 associate member
Reading of the minutes from July 12, 2016. Accepted unanimously. The minutes from June 14, 2016, were also accepted unanimously.
Finances:
Members:
Laser cutter donation/agreement: James discussing with Rob Phillips. He is still interested in donating to us to buy the laser cutter. James sent him a first draft of the agreement and is waiting to hear back.
Bylaws: No progress due to our focus on new space search. Board has set a deadline of having a first draft of new bylaws in November.
Website: No progress due to our focus on new space search. Scott plans to change the theme to make it feasible to use WooCommerce for the store.
Advertising: Kijiji ad is up. John plans to update it once we move to use the new address.
Fundraising:
We have the store on the website. We plan to sell things on consignment. If a member would like to sell them, they may propose it to the board and negotiate for the terms of sale.
Corporate sponsorships will go through a single point of contact, which we've chosen to be Albert. If members find a business who is interested in becoming a sponsor, they can refer them to Albert, who will negotiate the terms.
Social events:
We would like to have a scheduled day for social events so that people can plan in advance.
Retro video game day went well. About 8 people attended. We had lots of fun and went quite late. The only unfortunate thing is that it was mostly the regulars; it didn't really draw those who don't attend other functions often.
Suggestions for how to get more engagement? Could advertise in Bridges, Planet S, Saskatoon Express. Need to give them at least two weeks notice. Post to meet-up groups.
Social committee: Albert is willing to be part of it. Rylan is interested, but not available at the moment.
Workshops all postponed during our move.
Collaboration with outside groups:
The board has established a student rate package where a full-time student could get a full membership for $240 for 8 months. This will be offered in the fall as students are coming back to school. This is similar to what ENTS and Victoria Makerspace do. Eylon offered to design a poster to put up. John is willing to call up some places to get our posters up. Scott will also talk to Tim Schneider at Sask Polytechnic.
Albert would like us to put together a maintenance schedule for equipment.
We do not have any garbage facilities until we move. Please take all of your garbage home. Do not leave it here.
James would like to remind everybody to clean up after yourself, and to clean any mess that you find.
New space:
The space:
We signed a 3 year lease for 412 44th St E., just North of Circle Dr. and East of Faithful Ave.
We will have front and rear door access using our existing door strikes and key cards.
Front access will be through the front tenants section, until such time that they build a hallway.
We will get the second floor (offices) free for the first year. After that it will be $500/mo.
Rent, common costs, and utilities are $1785/mo (including taxes) for the main floor.
We have 3 dedicated spots in the back. Parking in the front is available to the public.
We plan to rent out the upstairs offices for $100/mo. Available to members only. There will be four offices available.
Move in/out:
Move in date is Saturday, August 27. We need as much help as we can get. We will pack up at 509A Gray Ave on Friday, August 26.
Before the move-out date, remove any spare materials that you wish to keep. We will be purging any junk.
Rylan will take home his ABS sheets, but will make some available for sale once we move in.
Arden will arrange a truck with lift gate.
Renovations:
We have capital costs and monthly costs that we need to cover as part of this move. We need to raise an extra $1200 by the end of this month and $200 month every month until we gain a few more members and/or rent out the offices. We are looking to the membership, friends, family, or others interested in our community.
Mini makerfaire is in Calgary next week (August 20-21). John and Albert are going. Call for projects! Albert is bringing four robots. James will lend a robot workshop kit.
Eylon recommends we put together a short introduction of what our members are and what they do. Similarly, we have asked to get pictures of people and their projects with a bit of a write-up. We would like to use them on the website, on the wall, and other promotional materials.
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