Community Meeting 20190620

Attendees: JT, CT, ZZ, JP, MG, SG, SJ

Review of/actions from last meeting

JP to speak to Caroline regarding sharing the Makefest after party - Conversation was had, but whether it made a difference, we don't know.

SG to communicate new policy on getting rid of unused/broken equipment - 3 month grace period has been discussed, and will be implemented going forward. There has been a github issue raised, and it's been discussed individually. CT asked about our status for getting rid of things, and we decided we were more commercial and couldn't just go to the tip. MG suggested sending books, etc, to a charity shop. CT agreed that he would check, for example, books online first to see if there was a market for them.

SG to create stories for media outlets to try and gain some publicity - print, tv and radio were contacted, but there has been little comeback so far. ACTION - SG to make these mailouts a quarterly thing. JP suggested Hackspace magazine and other more specific media. ACTION - SG to create a list of publications we could send things to.

SG to email Maeve to find out how her research is going - Done. The finished report was received today, coincidentally, and has been circulated to talk@ ACTION - SG to upload that somewhere so that it's more available.

SG to speak to regular laser users about whether they would be interested in helping us design things - SG spoke to various regular users who said they would be happy to help, but nothing further has come of it as we haven't pursued anything further.

Recent Events

Arts Festival - ZZ spoke about the festival. We were initially by being in the bar as it wasn't an ideal spot, but the organisers seemed desperate to help make up for that, and once everything was set up, it looked impressive. Traffic was good, particularly Saturday evening, and people who were waiting for other things took the opportunity to come and look around the space. The film screenings and events upstairs also increased footfall in the space. The film screenings worked very well, and was surprisingly insulated from sound coming through.

The Fabulous Fascinators event was sold out, and went really well. There were some fantastic pieces created, and people even left the building wearing them. ACTION - ZZ to sort out receipts for Rich Jennions to reimburse.

Synth Meet Up - MG told us that these are getting a lot more popular, and people are discussing bringing in more kit next time, so they're getting more interesting. Someone has even said that they are looking at coming in to hotdesk as they like the space.

Upcoming Events

Makefest (inc. After Party and Maker Brunch) - SG has put out a call to regular Makers for exhibits. Amy Slater has said that she can bring things in, and Deian Shaw has also asked about it. JP is looking to try and get lists together of who is bringing what, and is hoping to be able to store items in the corner of Room 29. We can get into the library at 7 on Friday, and have to be out by 9. We're looking for volunteers to help man the stand on Saturday. The After Party is hosted in our Event Space, and snacks and drinks will apparently be provided, although we don't know who by. ACTION - JP to check in with Caroline as to what the plan is. MG says that the Maker Brunch has been closed on Eventbrite. ACTION - JP to send out details of timings, etc, for the day of Makefest. Perspex stands need to be made for item descriptions - ACTION - SJ to cut those so long as the design is still on Sophia's PC. Maker Brunch is 10:30-3:30 on Sunday. Matt Croughan has said that he will do the cooking for that, MG to check if he needs another stove bringing in.

Birthday Party July 13th - no prep done yet. ACTION - SG to send out a Mailchimp next week.

Repair Day - Deian, George from Transition Towns and MG are discussing hosting a Repair Day in advance of the scheduled one the day after the Festival of Maintenance (which is on the 28th of September).

Finances

Financials

Although we seem to have made a reasonable profit, £500 was towards the laser pledge. However, we are still at least breaking even.

Promotion

MG suggested that we have a little prize for the person who can guess how long the knitic will knit for (in length) at Makefest.

Expansion

Alex Lennon asked the following:

'There has been talk of the potential for DoES to expand into the ground floor space that was occupied by MD Productions.

Is this still an option, is there still interest? If so what financial commitment would be needed for it to be viable and de-risked for DoES?

i.e. I heard figured of 2K-3K / month for the space? How much of this would need to be covered? What time-commitment would DoES seek? e.g. 6 months / 12 months?'

JP confirmed that DoES is still looking at the space downstairs as an expansion option, and the costs do seem accurate. However, we need to understand what usage we would be expecting and how we feel we would be able to afford to do so. John McKerrell has said that there is the possibility of a rent free and ramping up period so it wouldn't be an immediate hit.

It is definitely still in the air, with no final decisions made. SG made it clear that the idea of doing so without having a very clear financial path terrifies him.

AOB

ZZ raised the potential of a role within DoES which would be able to organise and plan events in return for some kind of discount or similar, along the lines of the TiR role.

ZZ has asked to find out how payments can be taken. There is documentation on the Organisers' wiki for how to take payments via various different methods.

JP raised an issue from the directors' meeting about tidiness and keeping the workshop benches clear. ACTION - CT to create signage about clear tables. ACTION - MG and SG to go through boxes on the storage shelves to get rid of any old ones and make sure everyone who has a membership has a box.

MG pointed out that the lasers are not being kept clean, with people leaving wood and acrylic in the bottom of the bed. SJ suggested that it should be a weekly routine to remove the bed and clean it out, although JP said that it would need to be far more regular. SG asked if it might be worth creating a 'laser rules' poster to display in the laser room, and it was agreed that it would be. ACTION - SG to work with laser team to create these rules.

MG has spoken about creating new signage for rooms, but we will need to finalise names for each of the rooms before this can be done.

Confirm time & date of next meeting

1:00pm Thursday 18th July