OrganisersMeetingMinutes20150212

Thursday 12th February - 13:00 - 14:00pm

Venue: Dinky, DoES Liverpool

Steve Sparrow absent

• Review of/actions from last meeting

  • SteveSparrow to look at ways to communicate better to people about DoES. Ongoing.
  • SteveSparrow to create physical mailboxes. Current mailboxes are workable, but there is still a drive for wooden boxes. JohnMcKerrell to add to Github.
  • AdrianMcEwen to oversee move from Asana to Github. Done.
  • SeanGleeson to organise Pi Party. Done.
  • AdrianMcEwen to oversee CDEC event. Done.
  • PatrickFenner to suggest better signs, process, etc. to improve safety procedures in the workshop by end of August Signage has been started, but yet to be finished. Ongoing, will report on progress on both signage and safety aspects at the next meeting.
  • PatrickFenner to create induction calendar for laser Done.
  • SteveSparrow to discuss the Green Party taking space in DoES Seems to have dropped off, although if it were to re-emerge, we will be happy to reassess.

• Financials inc. Rates JohnMcKerrell reported on the financial spreadsheet. SeanGleeson to discuss with RossDalziel regarding the impending change in his payment circumstance - the period for the laser cutter repayment is almost up. Currently have 11+1 permanent desks (JohnMcKerrell paying £300pcm). The Rates are still an ongoing discussion with the council. Documents have been sent to support out claim for relief, but we are waiting for a response. We are also waiting to hear from Francis regarding the contract discrepancies with Gostins. In the meantime, rent will continue to be paid as normal. AdrianMcEwen pointed out that, depending on the outcome of these situations, it is a good idea to have a look at other spaces, and he is reaching out to people to set this in motion. JohnMcKerrell will write a blog about the Rates situation to make the wider community aware of what is going on.

• How do we scale/spread the workload of organisers more widely Most of the jobs that were very important before the last meeting have dropped off the radar, and been left behind. It was agreed that the organisers as a group need to be more communicative with the community in order to encourage more active participation. It was agreed that there is still a huge need for, in particular, marketing and advertising collateral, and we should try and get the community involved in the creation of that. HakimCassamally raised the idea of taking on an apprentice. PatrickFenner broached offering a desk in return for a certain amount of work, similar to his situation. This kind of internship was discussed, but it seemed that the more popular option would be to offer an apprenticeship, with funding used to top up pay to minimum wage. HakimCassamally will look into the different schemes, and make a suggestion at the next meeting of which is the best. SeanGleeson to chase people up for things they have promised to do, and to find people to do things we haven't yet been promised. Github triage sessions to be opened up beyond just AdrianMcEwen, potentially to the larger community. AdrianMcEwen to look into whether or not Github stats can be incorporated into the weeknotes, and also to organise an evening 'Get Involved with DoES' meeting. Give regular visitors access outside office hours. SeanGleeson to prepare potential list for next meeting, and contact the people that have been decided on.

• Upcoming Big Events

  • Maker Faire in Newcastle 25-26 April
  • International Women's Day organised by Liverpool Girl Geeks 8 March - potentially to be held at DoES.
  • Wearables Hackday 28 March
  • Halifax Mini Maker Faire in May

• AOB PatrickFenner raised the issue of laser cutter extraction. There is likely to be some cost involved in getting the extraction properly replaced and vented. This was agreed. He also raised the issue of the coolant system, and whether or not it is worthwhile to put in a cooler for one or both machines. It was decided that we would organise a 'Kickstarter' campaign to get the community involved in funding the project, but that DoES would make up any shortfall by the time that the drive ended. PatrickFenner will write up a blurb to push to the community and encourage them to donate. AdrianMcEwen raised an issue of marketing, that we're good at doing cool things, but not good enough at shouting about them. PatrickFenner suggested that we let the community know that they can write things for the DoES site and encourage them to do so. AdrianMcEwen said that we have potential to do some marketing with JasonAbbott around the 3D printed prosthetic hand, and will potentially ask LauraBrown if she could use her contacts at North West Tonight.

• Confirm time and date of next meeting SeanGleeson to organise within 6 weeks