Council 2005 03
March 16, 2005
- Matteo: facilitator.
- Pete: scribe.
- Minutes form Feb 16, 2005
Roll Call
Dave H (staff), Richard S (staff), Nathan (staff), Missy, Shawn (staff), Mark, Clint, Wren, Wes, Martin (staff), Matteo, Michael, Rev Phil, Pete Forsyth
Committments from Previous Meeting
- Board of Directors
- Oso to invite MNR and Dennis (the remaining active Free Geek board members) to this meeting, to discuss the future of the Board of Directors - CARRY OVER.
- COMMITMENT: Martin will discuss with Oso whether this will happen at next meeting, and report back to the list.
Martin: Oso did meet with Mark Nieman-Ross. Neither Oso nor Mark is here this month. Mark started a wiki page about the future of the Board at Board_of_Directors and people should continue discussion there so we're better prepared when Board people do show up at Council meeting (hopefully next month.) CARRYOVER
- Tantalum research
- Martin will make a Wiki page so that other people can help out - CARRY OVER
- COMMITMENTS: Michael will assist with research. Martin will post to council list.
Martin: Michael did an excellent job. (Gives out handout with results of research.) Recycling process is 35% efficient. But it is a valuable metal. We might get $63-74 perpound for capacitors that contain tantalum.
At this point, not feasible as a main part of what we do. Also have not found a local buyer. (How important is this? Are shipping costs the main concern? -Pete) Where to go: take black hole ppl and have them look at recycle-bound laptops, and see how feasible it would be to remove tantalum capacitors. Try to find local recyclers. Nathan's idea - heat-based removal (soldering) could explore this. Clint: is it worthwhile to hot-plate an entire motherboard at once, and pick off various components? Nathan: think about side effects such as fumes. Michael: danger of lead poisoning. Richard: let's stop talking details, and approve the proposal to have black hole folks do more research.
PROPOSAL APPROVED: Get black hole folks on it. Report back next month.
- Pickups
- Can we get Flexcar to donate use of a vehicle for occasional pickup of large hardware donations? - CARRY OVER
- COMMITMENTS: Pete will post draft to list for any feedback, and allow 1-2 business days before it's sent out. Phil will send the letter
Pete- I sent out the letter, incorporating suggestions from Wes and Martin. Clint has relevant ideas, and will check the email archive. Expect a proposal once there's been more discussion with Flexcar. (Update since meeting...I received an enthusiastic response from Steve Gutmann at Flexcar; he is supportive of an agreement in general, but had different ideas about the specifics. See FlexCar_Deal -Pete)
- Program for Blind/Visually Impaired Adopters
- Wesley (Tallwes) was the one developing this proposal - Updats Progress is made
Wes: (CORRECTION: Has found two programs that work already. Couldn't make one of the programs work. TW) Now he needs help from somebody who can compile from source to play with other software. CARRYOVER
- Envata (spelling?)
- This ISP is interested in getting referrals from FreeGeek - CARRY OVER
- COMMITMENT:Phil will report on $$ deal (also Michael, Pete, Shawn)
- Consensus: tech support will make us recommend them; $$ won't
Phil: naked bicyclists calendar. Everybody: ???????? DOJ said we did not have official agreement so we didn't get credit for the one person that signed up. (Even though Phil had signed an agreement.)
Shawn: two questions, 1 can we get $ from them, and 2 can we recommend them. Richard: We have established a firm contingency that IF they can provide good tech support, THEN we can recommend them. Thus, we are at a standstill/carryover on Question 2 until we hear back from Michael W. about tech support. Pete: do we really need to recommend one over the other, or can we just give info out on both? Richard: Wiz To Coho is really good, many ISP's have expressed interest in this sort of thing and not been that good. So we really need to wait for Michael's assessment, more discussion before that is likely just wasted breath. CARRY OVER awaiting Michael Westwind's input
- Monitors: Decision to brainstorm.
Monitors: Carry Over. No, die! die! unless anybody wants to make a proposal. Ok, we're letting this issue die.
Reports from Other Meeting
- Staff Reports
Also: Build: Richard: pre-build is jammed up, people have to wait too long to schedule shifts, it's so far out people are forgetting their shifts. Phil- can we move build ppl in Build into Adoption to keep them busy until shifts are available. Consensus: that's a good idea worthy of fleshing out. Richard: Also, we're starting to make reminder calls, which should help that part of the issue.
- HOMESTREET (the current Collab project)
Nathan: By Friday, 99% complete. Couple little hanger-on issues. Nathan status- he's busy, needs a week off! He has agreed to take on ebay stuff and black hole stuff. Shawn: we will soon have a list of short- and long-term goals for Nathan. Matteo: let's consider this item done, and just people can ask about what a staff member is up to.
- Other reports
- Update on Nathan's status
Staff- Marlin has resigned...more on staff issues below Nathan- still working on Homestreet, but rollout is almost done.
- PAWC report
Shawn: Portland Alliance of Worker Collectives. FG is a member. There is a monthly meeting. Shawn went and is reporting. April 17 will be a PAWC social. We're all invited! Free drinks and stuff, yum! We gotta donate $20 (total.) Shawn will send details to Council list. Also forming a media committee. There was an Oregonian something something. End of April: Cascadia conference. How to do stuff as a collective. 4/28-5/1. $30-50 sliding scale for whole conference, or $5 per event. Scholarships available. Selling raffle tickets in store to fund scholarships! (Shawn will check on status of grand prize superfreek box.)
- Shawn: are we doing monthly reports to council list? Should we?
Richard- it becomes low priority, also WHO should do it? Staff really should be doing this, even if it's a short boring report it is informative. if facilitator wants to, then send a message to staff@freegeek.org with reminders.
Old Business
(from previous meeting's minutes)
- FUTURE OF COLLAB:
- NAP to GAP: see talk Revphil
- Board of Directors
- Meta-Question
- VBC: (If there is a proposal)
New Business
(from answers to call for agenda items)
- Staffing Cuts:
- Thoughts on Increasing Sales Income
Future Committments
(This is not a part of the meeting, but a section in the notes that the scribe write down.)
- Carryovers from above
- Committments made during this meeting
Next Meeting
- Facilitator
Dave
- Scribe
Martin
- Reporters to other meetings?
- Date and time
April 20 (I THINK -pete) at 7pm
- Place
Free Geek meeting room
- Unfinished business for the next meeting?
hey council,
FreeGeek_Space_Usage jeff's proposal to make space allocation the provision of the council was not put onto the agenda for last night's meeting, so we didn't discuss it. we should try to remember it for next time.
meow, - martin