EMSBoDMeetingMinutes040623
Eugene Maker Space Board of Directors meeting April 6th, 2023
Call to order
7:24PM
Attending: Karen, Ben, Beata, Piotr Also present:
Approve this agenda
Motion: Ben moved that the Eugene Makerspace Board of Directors approve the agenda as amended.
The motion was seconded by Karen.
Motion passes, the vote was Unanimous.
Approve previous minutes
Motion: Karen moved that the Eugene Makerspace Board of Directors approve the minutes from the February BoD meeting as submitted.
The motion was seconded by Piotr.
Motion passes, the vote was Unanimous.
Reports
President's report
Nothing to report.
Secretary's report
Nothing to report.
Treasurer's report
Money accounts as of 04/06/2023
Bank $4374.09 PayPal $0.00 Patreon $0.00
--------
Sum $4374.09 (diff from last accounting $109.13)
Piotr will renew our business license and take care of our taxes this week. We also have a scheduled insurance renewal in the calendar.
Karen approved another $200 of donations from Broadcom. There may be physical deposits pending.
Shop status
Piotr dropped off two reels of thick (3mm) filament that may be useful to someone with the equipment to use it. He hasn't marked it as such, but it is free for the taking.
Old Business/Action Item Review
COVID-19 status review - Open Hack closure status
CDC has issued a notice for Lane County recommending masks indoors. It is not a mandate, but a science-based recommendation. There have been no confrontations reported at the shop under our current policy requesting people wear masks when possible and respect the right of others to wear masks without criticism. We will continue to recommend mask usage.
The federal government plans to retire emergency declarations related to the pandemic in May if the current trends continue.
Piotr noted that Control-H has posted a good document capturing reasonable ways of implementing a safe and non-restrictive COVID-19 environment and he will share it.
Karen shared that the official requirement for masks is in the process of being decommissioned and suggested that we update the note on our website to remove explicit mask mentions and simply refer folks to our central information for COVID handling notes. We will plan to share it to the greater membership.
Ben to follow up post seeking laser work volunteers
There is cautious interest from a member, Ben will follow up with them to offer any assistance and resources.
New Business
Discounted membership in exchange for hosting open hacks
Ben suggested we consider whether we want to offer discounts on memberships in exchange for people hosting open hacks. As described, we would figure out a set amount that a single open hack could represent and then perhaps discount that much to them via Patreon.
Piotr finds some value to the idea and also counsels caution in overspending.
Karen feels there's a sweet spot that incentivizes it without being too low.
Piotr agreed that if we were to do this, it should be following a set schedule that matches the original Open Hack schedule (8 per month) with an expectation that the host cannot get more back than their membership.
There was a discussion about whether or not a member should be allowed to compensate their entire membership. We came to a consensus that this could be done and then changed as required in the future if it was a problem.
Piotr asked that we figure out a way to reduce the risk of people committing and being compensated for missed hosting. Ben suggested that we have folks self-report with a brief summary of how the open hack went.
Suggested structure:
- First 2 to volunteer get it, depends on Discord timestamps
- Designated days only
- Patreon members only
- Up to $5 per hosting with a maximum of $35 (7 hostings) of credit
We will write up the plan and ask if there are any members interested in doing this. We will also request comments but initiate the program as is to start.
ACTION: Karen will will write up the new opportunity to \#meeting-plans and pin the post..
ACTION: Piotr will will rebroadcast this as necessary through our other channels.
Annual membership option
Piotr let us know about a new feature that's now available on Patreon that allows members to purchase an annual membership. It comes with a modest discount which is an incentive to exercise and could also reduce some turnover. We discussed the size of the discount and trended towards 10% and describe that as roughly equivalent to a month's membership.
Motion: Proposed that we implement Patreon's annual membership option with a 10% discount as the incentive moved that the Eugene Makerspace Board of Directors Karen.
The motion was seconded by Ben.
Motion passes, the vote was Unanimous.
ACTION: Piotr will will enable the change.
Returning voice mail
Karen doesn't have working access to the Maker Space's google voice account. It's not working for her at the moment. Karen described the current message which includes a request to use other means, but people continue to love to leave messages.
Piotr suggested that we update the message to more crisply reflect that the voicemail is not monitored and that folks should be clearly directed to electronic means.
ACTION: Karen will will review the voicemail message and update it as required.
Review upcoming events
Adjournment
Motion: Ben moved that the Eugene Makerspace Board of Directors adjourn.
The motion was seconded by Karen.
Motion passes, the vote was unanimous.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:38 PM.