[dms-discuss] 2015-11-02 DMS General Meeting Minutes

[Braden Pellett]

Hi all,

Late as always, attached here are the minutes for the previous November 2nd
meeting, and they are posted to the website here:

    http://www.davismakerspace.org/section/2015-11-02-dms-general-meeting

I'm afraid I missed at least a couple things:
  - What James said in his Treasurer report (sorry!)
  - Time of adjournment.

If anyone would like to fill those in for me, feel free, and I'll update.

Thanks,
  Braden
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- Call to Order
  - At 18:15
- Minutes approval.
  - James says they look good.
- Officers reports
  - President
    - We looked at a interesting space this past week; we'll talk about that.
  - Treasurer
    - ...missed it...
  - Secretary
    - Nothing
- Committee
  - Events committee
    - Brunch next Saturday, here.
    - Bring what you can or want; pretty informal.
  - Materials Committee
    - Only Bill remains; nothing to report.
- Additions to Agenda?
  - Steve Inness' memorial will be at 3rd Space on November 11.
- New Business
  - Officers and Board Elections
    - Secretary, Treasurer, President.
    - When do we need nominations by?
      - By next meeting would be fine; and elections would be done then as well.
    - The positions are as set up in the Bylaws.
    - Open to anyone; in fact, it is nice to have more people involved.
    - How many on the board now?
      - 5. Used to be 7 in the past year, but 2 left for another state...
    - Alan would like to join the board.
      - No problem; in fact, encouraged.
    - Let us know if anyone else would like to be on the board or would like to go for an officer
      position.
  - Area52
    - Tim Keller of Area52 has offered us a subsection of the Area52 space as a rent-free addition
      or replacement to our existing space.
    - Move or expansion?
      - Could be either, but would it be hard to manage both?
      - Having the downtown visibility is nice.
      - Alan is upstairs during the day; perhaps he would have use for and could help manage the
        space.
      - Would we move most of the equipment over there, but downtown outreach (e.g. ArtAbout), 
    - What did we think of the Area 52 space?
      - It is a nice space, though we perhaps don't have as much control of the space.
      - Temperature control, parking, water, bathroom... the basic stuff.
    - Alan offers to do 2 hours each weekday at the current space.
    - Alan runs a co-learning space who want to come together to learn.
      - Would like to have the students who come there to also utilize this space.
      - Also could expand the sorts of things available to the students to use, beyond the internet
        and books available at the co-learning space.
    - Does this become the "Maker's Lounge"?
    - We could start turning into a larger group of people, thus making it easier to maintain both
      spaces in the long run.
    - Current space could be a good backup plan in case it turns out our and Area52's plans don't
      end up merging so well.
    - Remind us what is the Area 52 space is again?
      - Moller, the guy who was developing flying cars there, sold that building, and bought by the
        people doing the Area 52 project, and subleasing it out to Sierra Energy and startups.
    - Would it be worth making a written agreement so that we have some rights and responsibilities
      with respect to the Area 52 space?
    - Could ease into it, by starting to man hours and doing things over at the Area 52 space,
      seeing how it goes, without giving up the downtown space.
    - How would donations work?
      - e.g. Can we still accept donations while being in the Area 52 space?
      - What sort of non-profit is Area 52?
        - We are not certain.
    - Comparing motivations: producing a product, versus providing a learning resource.  Area 52's
      stated goals seem very different than ours.
      - Yes, though, Tim does seem have interest in the community-facing side of things, though
        definitely not his main focus,, that will be there regardless of our presence.
      - Comparing to Sacramento HackerLab, which has various aspects in the same area, for
        networking and building and offices, etc.
    - There was a goal for a Black Friday opening of sorts, where people could come in to do a
      workshop building a little electronics project.
    - Is there tension between doing our own thing versus becoming Area 52 staff?
    - Cons? Losing control over the space or our direction, is a worry.
    - In having both spaces, could work both ways in terms of encouraging people to get paid
      memberships at Area 52, but also encourage people to come over to the downtown space and get
      involved with Davis Makerspace
    - What is the value we bring to Tim and Area 52?
      - Brings more people in to Area 52 who might be 
    - If we said yes, how would the open hours work?
      - We need to figure that out; perhaps it is simply up to the individual volunteer.
    - Do we need a clear purpose for each space? It could end up dividing people...
    - In order to show some commitment, need to have some definitely scheduled time over at the
      Area 52 space.
    - Did we get any particular sense from Tim about his expectations for what we would do at the
      Area 52 space?
    - Perhaps have a work party where we go over and make our mark.
      - We could then touch base with Tim every so often (e.g. monthly) to see if our interests are
        still aligned.
    - Example of alternative model: Third Space model allows for not always having people there,
      but people's work is still on display.
    - Get an agreement between our two non-profits so that we know the expectations.
    - Perhaps there could be a shared membership model between the various collaborative spaces in
      town.
    - Would it be interesting to have all the collaborative space people to meet in one room (e.g.
      here)?
    - Attendee is interested in making a website that describes all the various collaborative
      spaces and communities in a wiki-like format.
    - Alan once again mentions his 
    - James and Jeff will work on starting on a document to describe more formally the arrangement
      between us and Area 52.
    - There is a lot of money going into that building, so one wonders how long we can last...
    - Shall we volunteer for a black Friday event?
    - Definitely want to follow up soon, let him know our plan, put something together, and go from
      there.
- Adjournment.