Difference between revisions of "Council 2008 10"

Latest revision as of 16:44, 6 July 2010

When: Oct 15, 7:15 pm
Place: FG meeting room
Facilitator: Ian
Scribe: Laurel
Minutes Checker:
Attendance: debi, alan (observing), cliff, will, rfs, eugene, jon, paul, laure1, ian, ann, matteo (late, left early)
Last meeting: http://lists.freegeek.org/pipermail/council/2008-October/002392.html

COMMITMENTS

Dave email council about value #s: see council list DONE
Seamus: BAN research ONGOING
Seamus: Chat with Jon DONE
Anne: Board page bio DONE

REPORTS

State of the Onion

Some changes in recycling. More school groups coming in. Some price drops due to economic stuff, see discussion later. Reconfigured the lobby. Hired Renee as front desk intern. In the process of hiring sales coordinator. Ali has gone back to school & is now part time. Have set up a rotating Ombudsman position among staff.

General Priorities

Still planning on the experiment of opening the store on Sundays from just before Thanksgiving to right around Christmas. Store and community marketing/outreach are expected to be important as the economy suffers. The prebuild intern we were looking for has been postponed as a priority since we've covered those hours in other ways. We could use a "paper pusher person" to manage our outside accounts. See group minutes.

Priorities group talked about the "Plan B" of what happens when things go south, economically. See below.

Council orientation materials

Laure1 is still looking for feedback on the Council Orientation document. Please look at it and get her feedback, or she shall never print it out.

BUSINESS

Economics 1"uh-0"1 (NEW)

OH MY GOD THE WHOLE ECONOMY IS FALLING APART WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!?! We are starting to see some effects of the economic upset. Steel prices are going down because banking system meltdown is preventing purchases. We don't know how that will develop in the future.

How will this effect our long-term plan of gaining control of a building? Will donor money be available? Will the building no longer be in danger of being sold? Will we be able to get financing in any way?

See priorities group minutes for their thinking on potential measures.

Q- Have the staff talked about what to do as our budget gets smaller?: A- Not specifically, yet. It will be a good thing to have a plan in case the budget gets too tight.

Q- Are there any experts we can consult with about our financial situation?: A- Sandy (who ran for the board) gave some advice on retirement plans.; Debi will ask around Quaker circles to see if there's anyone with wisdoms to offer us. She could use some general questions to share with the people she knows.

Q- What is likely to happen to the prices of materials that we sell? How do we find out? Would it be worth it to hold on to some of it?: A- Holding onto it is probably not a great idea, given our space restraints and the bulkiness of the material. We don't know what will happen with the materials in the future, though. Our recycling income is not a huge chunk of our income, so the small amount that this would potentially gain us wouldn't be significant.

Comment- If real estate is about to hit bottom, maybe this will be a good opportunity to pick up a building.
Comment- We should try to be hyper-sensitive to smallish changes that could help us understand potential trends.

Q- What happens when there are more volunteers? Does that lead to more expenses?: A- We'd probably have to open an extra day, and it could led to other greater demands on staff. Staff is our greatest expense.

We do have a good pad of about $100k in the bank, which could keep us for a few months in the case of income flatlining.

This conversation will be ongoing in a number of different groups. Keep thinking about what we can and should do to keep Free Geek healthy, and don't forget that today is Global Handwashing Day.

REMAINING COMMITMENTS

Seamus will do research on BAN (ONGOING)

Next Meeting

Facilitator: Laurel
Scribe: Anne
Consensus Training: Oso
Minutes Checker:
Reporters to other meetings?
Date and time: Weds 19th Nov

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{RightTOC}}
-When:
+When: Oct 15, 7:15 pm
-<br>Place:
+<br>Place: FG meeting room
-<br>Facilitator:
+<br>Facilitator: Ian
-<br>Scribe:
+<br>Scribe: Laurel
 <br>Minutes Checker:
-<br>Attendance:
+<br>Attendance: debi, alan (observing), cliff, will, rfs, eugene, jon, paul, laure1, ian, ann, matteo (late, left early)
-<br>Last meeting:
+<br>Last meeting: http://lists.freegeek.org/pipermail/council/2008-October/002392.html
 == COMMITMENTS ==
-:Copy these from the prior meeting's minutes. Owner of each commitment should report on status: Done, In Progress, Carryover, Hand Off, or Drop. For items not completed, see http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/Carryovers.
+* Dave email council about value #s: see [http://lists.freegeek.org/pipermail/council/2008-October/002394.html council list] DONE
-* Name - commitment - status (discussion points if necessary)
+* Seamus: BAN research ONGOING
-* Name - commitment - status (discussion points if necessary)
+* Seamus: Chat with Jon DONE
+* Anne: Board page bio DONE
 == REPORTS ==
-:Reports from other working groups.
+* [http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/State_of_the_Onion State of the Onion]
-* State of the Onion                                                                                                                http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/State_of_the_Onion
+Some changes in recycling. More school groups coming in. Some price drops due to economic stuff, see discussion later. Reconfigured the lobby. Hired Renee as front desk intern. In the process of hiring sales coordinator. Ali has gone back to school & is now part time. Have set up a rotating [[Ombudsman schedule | Ombudsman]] position among staff.
-* General Priorities                                                                                                                     http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/General_Priorities
+* [http://wiki.freegeek.org/index.php/General_Priorities General Priorities]
+Still planning on the experiment of opening the store on Sundays from just before Thanksgiving to right around Christmas. Store and community marketing/outreach are expected to be important as the economy suffers. The prebuild intern we were looking for has been postponed as a priority since we've covered those hours in other ways. We could use a "paper pusher person" to manage our outside accounts. See [http://lists.freegeek.org/private/priorities//2008-October/000138.html group minutes].
+Priorities group talked about the "Plan B" of what happens when things go south, economically. See below.
+* Council orientation materials
+Laure1 is still looking for feedback on the [[Council Orientation]] document. Please look at it and get her feedback, or she shall never print it out.
 == BUSINESS ==
-=== TITLE: PRESENTERS NAME (NEW/OLD)===
+=== Economics 1"uh-0"1 (NEW)===
-* Link to relevint conversation.
+''OH MY GOD THE WHOLE ECONOMY IS FALLING APART WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!?!''
-*:(Summarize Presentation)
+We are starting to see some effects of the economic upset. Steel prices are going down because banking system meltdown is preventing purchases. We don't know how that will develop in the future.
-* List Clarifing Questions
-** Question - Answer
+How will this effect our long-term plan of gaining control of a building? Will donor money be available? Will the building no longer be in danger of being sold? Will we be able to get financing in any way?
-* List Concerns
-** Concern - Questions Which Clarify the Concern
+See [http://lists.freegeek.org/private/priorities//2008-October/000138.html priorities group minutes] for their thinking on potential measures.
-* Proposal:
-*: (final proposal)
+;Q- Have the staff talked about what to do as our budget gets smaller?
-** Decision adopted (with Unresolved Concerns Listed - AKA Stand Asides) | Send to Committee (if creating a new committee list intrested people)
+:A- Not specifically, yet. It will be a good thing to have a plan in case the budget gets too tight.
+;Q- Are there any experts we can consult with about our financial situation?
+:A- Sandy (who ran for the board) gave some advice on retirement plans.
+:Debi will ask around Quaker circles to see if there's anyone with wisdoms to offer us. She could use some general questions to share with the people she knows.
+;Q- What is likely to happen to the prices of materials that we sell? How do we find out? Would it be worth it to hold on to some of it?
+:A- Holding onto it is probably not a great idea, given our space restraints and the bulkiness of the material. We don't know what will happen with the materials in the future, though. Our recycling income is not a huge chunk of our income, so the small amount that this would potentially gain us wouldn't be significant.
+;Comment- If real estate is about to hit bottom, maybe this will be a good opportunity to pick up a building.
+;Comment- We should try to be hyper-sensitive to smallish changes that could help us understand potential trends.
+;Q- What happens when there are more volunteers? Does that lead to more expenses?
+:A- We'd probably have to open an extra day, and it could led to other greater demands on staff. Staff is our greatest expense.
+We do have a good pad of about $100k in the bank, which could keep us for a few months in the case of income flatlining.
+This conversation will be ongoing in a number of different groups. Keep thinking about what we can and should do to keep Free Geek healthy, and don't forget that today is Global Handwashing Day.
 == REMAINING COMMITMENTS ==
-: New commitments, and Carry-Overs copied from above.
+* Seamus will do research on BAN (ONGOING)
-* Name - commitment - status (discussion points if necessary)
-* Name - commitment - status (discussion points if necessary)
 == Next Meeting ==
-* Facilitator:
+* Facilitator: Laurel
-* Scribe:
+* Scribe: Anne
+* Consensus Training: Oso
 * Minutes Checker:
 * Reporters to other meetings?
-* Date and time:
+* Date and time: Weds 19th Nov
-* Place:
+[[Category: Council]]
-* List of unfinished business for the next meeting:
+[[Category: Minutes]]