Big Meeting

Big Meeting on August 22 at Free Geek

What will Free Geek look like in 2010 and beyond? This question has come up a lot lately. We are currently in the middle of a Long Term Strategy Process that will culminate in a general plan for Free Geek's future. Of course, any plan for a place as chaotic as Free Geek will be a more of a starting point and it will subject to change as we wind our way through the fun and confusion over the next few years. But as a starting point, a plan gives us a framework to help us tackle the big decisions.

Things like:

• Do we want to stay here, or move to a different building?
• Do we want to expand the amount of space we rent?
• How will we deal with increasingly integrated systems like laptops? What happens when they overtake desktop computers at Free Geek?
• How does Free Geek, the mothership, relate to the many other Free Geek startups that are sprouting up all over the place?
• How will the new eWaste legislation affect us? How can we make sure it encourages the best reusue and recycling practices possbible?
• ...and many many more questions.

We had a few meetings like this in the early days of Free Geek, and it's time for another:

Wednesday, August 22 at 7:15 at Free Geek All volunteers invited to participate This is your community technology center Give us your ideas and comments

(This is an essential component in the development of a longer term Vision Statement and 3 - 5 year plan. We decided to have this meeting at the June 20, 2007 Council meeting.)

NOTE: There are about a dozen plans in development, each centered around a specific area or aspect of Free Geek. To learn more, browse the documents in the "Long Term Planning" category.

Meeting Agenda

Facilitator will be Richard

Introduction

• Describe general purpose for the meeting.
• Lay out the Agenda.
• Introduce ourselves.

What do we want to do?

Consider these continua and dichotomies:

• Reuse vs. Recycling
• Production vs. Education
• Sales vs. Adoption / Grants / Discounts
• Serving Free Geek Community (Insiders) vs. Outsiders

What are we like?

• Review internal attributes brainstorm list
  • Add to it with a little more brainstorming. Don't be too detailed.

What do we have to deal with?

• Review external trends brainstorm list
  • Add to it with a little more brainstorming. Don't be too detailed.
• Department Reports (where we are, transitioning to looking forward, followed by Q&A):
  • Build, Production, Space Usage (Matteo)
  • Retail Sales, Online Sales, Bulk Sales (Luiz and Matteo)
  • Outreach (Ali and eBeth or Shawn)
  • Education and Tech Support (Michael)
  • Receiving and Recycling (Ali and Liane)
  • Structural Evolution (Richard)
  • Other items? General observations?

Short Break

Maybe ten minutes.

If there are enough people the next section could divide into smaller groups based on topic of interest.)

Where do we go from here?

• Take a look at our Vision Statement and 3 - 5 year plan
  • Questions, answers, concerns, and suggestions.
  • Write down points of consensus and longer term discussion items we need to have
• Closing
  • Go out for beer and snacks. Make conversation about the ideas presented.

Minutes

See Big Meeting Minutes for what went down.