2015-12-03 AGM Minutes
Minutes of the AGM, Thursday 3rd December 2015
rob [5:47 PM] joined #agmminutes rob [5:47 PM] set the channel purpose: Minutes for the Nottingham Hackspace AGM - Thursday 3rd December 2015 :+1:1 russellh [5:48 PM] joined #agmminutes. Also, @amy-screenqueen joined, @johnh joined, @biwhite joined, @jennifer joined, @leah joined, @daniel1111 joined, @geeksareforlife joined, @msemtd joined, @aithne joined, @moody joined, @tdc_hodgy joined, @iandickinson joined. rob [6:35 PM] Currently 38 members present (including proxies) which brings us to 48% quorate :+1:1 sophierach [6:39 PM] joined #agmminutes rob [6:52 PM] Ok as of 18:50 we're 78% quorate with 61 members in attendance (34 members present at Antenna, 27 proxies)(edited) alex.w [6:53 PM] joined #agmminutes alex.w [6:54 PM] I'm here remotely, but already proxied to @butts. Just gonna kick back and enjoy the show, as we finished _way_ earlier than expected amy-screenqueen [6:56 PM] I'm with @alex.w . On the remotely... Whilst rocking a screaming baby to sleep. OK good looking numbers and course some will be late(edited) alex.w [6:57 PM] I'd be surprised if you were here @amy-screenqueen :stuck_out_tongue: [7:00] How're we doing for numbers, @rob? rob [7:01 PM] As of 19:00 we're 101% quorate with 79 members in attendance (47 members present at Antenna, 32 proxies) :sweat_smile:1 :fireworks:1 amy-screenqueen [7:01 PM] Whoop! sid351 [7:02 PM] joined #agmminutes leah [7:02 PM] :+1: rob [7:17 PM] As of 19:13 we're at 119% quorate with 93 members in attendance (58 members present at Antenna, 36 proxies) [7:15] AGM started at 19:15 [7:15] Everyone in attendance should have picked up a raffle ticket on the way in for a chance to win a £50 Amazon voucher [7:16] We're 120% quorate now [7:16] First up State of the Union [7:17] Followed by the financial Report [7:17] Potential changes to the rules [7:17] Discussion on Hyson Green froggy [7:17 PM] joined #agmminutes rob [7:17 PM] Sorry, was posing to the wrong channel to start with [7:18] Finally a discussion on Hackspace 2.5 expansion [7:18] Member Growth, we're currently at 492 members [7:19] 4 new trustees, Daniel, Rob, Soph and Adam [7:19] New bank account, all members should now be paying into the TSB account [7:20] Any members who didn't switch will no longer be able to gain access to the hackspace [7:20] First annualised budget [7:21] We're now in a better position to plan our expenditure throughout the year [7:21] Teams [7:21] We've spent a lot of time focussing on teams recently [7:22] We're encouraging all members to get involved in teams they might be interested in [7:22] Teams urgently requiring members: [7:22] 3D Printing [7:22] Comms [7:22] Electronics [7:22] Woodworking [7:23] See, the teams slack or the wiki for a list of teams [7:23] Introduced a long term loan form for members who have loaned tools to the space [7:24] Complaints, we're sped up the process of dealing with complaints and aim for a much quicker turnaround now [7:24] 2014 - 2015 Financial Report [7:24] Income 40,888 [7:24] Value of fixed assets 4873 matingslinkys [7:25 PM] joined #agmminutes rob [7:25 PM] Income [7:26] Membership Payments, 32k up from 27k last year [7:26] events 523 [7:26] snackspace 3541 [7:26] tool usage 2683 (laser cutter) [7:26] Tool inductions 510 [7:26] donations 286 [7:27] members boxes and RFID cards 117 [7:27] Expenses [7:27] rent 13962 [7:27] insurance 1046 [7:27] electricity 6736 [7:27] utilities 628 [7:28] infrastructure 2804 [7:29] Teams, various expenses (will be available on the slides after the AGM)(edited) [7:30] Dominic: why is the events income less this year? [7:30] Soph: we've now got the events teams so we've planned a set income we want to bring in every month :+1:1 [7:30] James: we started offering free workshops with no income to the space [7:31] Next topic: Potential changes to the rules [7:31] (copy of the rules are being handed out) [7:32] You have until the 3rd of March (3 months) for the initial consultation period [7:32] from 3rd March, 1 month for the trustees to review any changes [7:33] (quick break for 10 minutes to review the rules document) alex.w [7:33 PM] link for those of us not there? tdc_hodgy [7:33 PM] Is there an online version we can see? rob [7:34 PM] We'll provide a PDF shortly :simple_smile:1 alex.w [7:34 PM] :+1: tdc_hodgy [7:34 PM] Ta amy-screenqueen [7:34 PM] Ta and great job here @rob david_clarke [7:38 PM] joined #agmminutes rob [7:39 PM] Toby is about to draw a raffle ticket [7:39] Number 6 [7:39] Congratulations Kirsty :simple_smile:1 alex.w [7:39 PM] ha rob [7:39 PM] uploaded a file nottinghack-draft-rules.pdf 81KB PDF Click to open original Add Comment rob [7:40 PM] The rules are a complete replacement of the existing rules [7:42] The old rule 3 has disappeared (talk is cheap / get things done) [7:43] The culture of the rule still exists but now we're no longer 20 people it doesn't make as much sense [7:43] We're not expecting you to write notes on these rules and hand them back, in an online world we will do it in an online way [7:44] Our rules are on Github [7:44] Don't worry if you're unfamiliar with Github, we'll be running some free workshops in the space [7:44] We'll be using the "issue" and "pull request" features to facilitate this [7:45] Changes can be integrated on Github and the rules document will be re-generated live into a updated document [7:45] We'll share the details for this at the end of the AGM [7:46] (side note, next years elections will take place from 16th May 2016) [7:46] David Hayward: is there is a reason we got rid of specific list of items in the donations rule? [7:47] As we started going though the list we found exceptions didn't fit well as there always exceptions that people will get around [7:47] We tried to keep it more general [7:47] Chris Cain: what if you're not 18, 19 20 etc? [7:47] Adam F: we're spotted and corrected this already [7:48] Dominic: we used to have a rule about no sleeping the space, is this still in there? [7:48] James H; it's still in there [7:48] Michael E: how will be inform members who don't visit the space often? [7:49] James H: we'll be making use of a personal mail account to ensure our emails don't get stuck in spam filters or filtered out into promotions [7:49] James H: We'll also put up some new signage around the space with the rules [7:50] Michelle S: We're saying that inductions "certify" members, are we liable for certifying them? [7:50] James H: no, it's just a wording issue, you're just marking them as inducted on the tool(edited) [7:51] Reminder: consultation opens tonight, we'll send out links tonight or tomorrow morning [7:52] James H: we'll be running workshops to get you up to speed on the various tools [7:52] Next: Hyson Green [7:52] Hyson Green is an area of Nottingham [7:52] The "New Art Exchange" is in Hyson in Greeen and have been offered the old Library for use [7:53] We we're approached by a consultant from the art exchange and to corden off 2-3000 ft of space for a hackspace [7:53] We would be given around50k for tooling [7:53] we would have to pay around 25k yr for rent [7:54] there is no real budget yet [7:54] the numbers are preliminary at the moment [7:54] James H: I don't think anything is going to happen for the next 1-2 years as things are moving slowly(edited) [7:55] James H: this is important because the Trustees don't think we can do both Hyson Green and the potential Hackspace 2.5 expansion [7:56] James H: They are looking for a kind of "Satellite Hackspace" to Nottinghack [7:56] Mouse: Will it cost us anything to do this? [7:56] James H: yes, 25k in rent [7:56] David Hayward: When we setup hackspace I imagined that we should have a hackspace in every area [7:57] David Hardward: it sounds like they want us to do all the work and pay the rent amy-screenqueen [7:57 PM] What is the overall rent of Hackspace 2.5 in comparison? sophierach [7:57 PM] it'll come [7:57] check yoru briefing pack [7:57] for rent etc amy-screenqueen [7:57 PM] Can't open from phone. :( rob [7:58 PM] Dominic: maybe we should be listed as a partner during the consulatation period [7:58] Toby: do we have any idea what sort of independence we would have? [7:59] James H: we'd be effectively renting the space, they are putting "community workshop / hackspace" on their promotion [7:59] James H: we'd need a second set of Trustees to manage the space and report to Nottinghack [8:00] Michael E: in the absence of our involvement in this venture are we aware of any other groups willing to perform this function? [8:00] James H: Not aware of other doing a Hackspace sort of thing? [8:00] Kate: has a hackspace done this before? [8:00] James H: Not that we're aware of [8:01] Mouse: Sounds like there willing to put in some money for equipment [8:01] James H: They would be willing to put in 50k investement [8:01] James H: there would be some outdoor space [8:02] Russel H: 25k rent also has a ramping up period for the rent over 2-3 years [8:02] Q: What would parking be like? [8:02] Dominic: parking available [8:03] Jennifer (non member): I live near Hyson Green, I met David Hill, he mentioned hackspace in Hyson Green old library building [8:03] Jennifer: I would like to be kept in the loop about what's hapenning [8:04] Jennifer: Sounds like a lot of wiggle room yet to sort things out, room for more than 1 hackspace in Nottingham [8:04] Jennifer: Lot of people in Hyson geeen to potentially do a lot of the running but would benefit from Hackspace experence of Nottinghack [8:05] Joe :anguished: 50k investment, would we be expect to match funding? [8:05] James H: No, equipment would belong to hackspace [8:05] James H: Think we should stay involved in the project but not commit at this point [8:05] Joe :anguished: do you know where the funding is coming from? [8:06] James H: lots of places Arts council etc. [8:06] Dominic: Library in Hyson Green moving, for the funding bid they wanted a project available to the larger community rather than individuals(edited) [8:07] Dominic: My suggestion would be to encourage a team of people to manage this project and support it with our name [8:08] Michelle S: Having flashback to hackspace 1, do we have a fixed amount of time to do this? [8:08] Michael E: how recently have we been in contact with them? [8:09] James H: 4 weeks ago via art exchange johnbell [8:09 PM] joined #agmminutes rob [8:09 PM] Russel H: Think there getting 70-80 year lease on the place [8:09] Russel: see no reason not to get involved if it's not costing us money(edited) butts [8:09 PM] joined #agmminutes rob [8:09 PM] Q: would it be possible to work in cars or have a garage? [8:09] James H: no [8:10] Denny: assuming the new art exchange has a membership body already, how much would be pooled into the hackspace? [8:10] James H: none amy-screenqueen [8:10 PM] Do we know If it's ERDF (European Regional Development Funding) ? Like most of the rest of New Art Exchange? rob [8:10 PM] Paul M: I;ve come from Derby, having one at Hyson Green would steal some of our members [8:11] James H: it would be a satellite hackspace, members would be a member of both spaces [8:11] Q: would they provide services? [8:12] James H: not had those sort of discussions yet [8:12] Next: Hackspace 2.5 :simple_smile:4 [8:12] Soph: We have had to hold the last few AGM at Antenna as we've run out of space [8:13] The church below us have moved out so space below us has become avilable [8:13] You should have received a briefing pack with details rob [8:13 PM] uploaded a file AGM Briefing Pack.pdf 2MB PDF Click to open original Add Comment rob [8:14 PM] Slides are bing show on project or the floorplans [8:14] Current Space [8:14] 4400 sq ft of space [8:14] 2000 deposit [8:14] exempt from council rates(edited) [8:15] We're not suggesting taking on the whole space as it's not feasible [8:15] We've tried various financial scenarios but it's just not feasible [8:15] We've got a proposed layout [8:15] it's just an idea we came up when brainstorming [8:16] We're all involved so you can bikeshed any idea if you want [8:16] Good Points: [8:16] Street Level Access [8:16] Potential for a staircase, disabled lift [8:16] partial concerte floor in downstairs [8:17] things such as a kiln would be possible [8:17] larger blue room / classroom [8:17] potential space for more laser/CNC kit [8:17] Proposed changes for upstairs [8:18] Blue Room -> Craft Room :simple_smile:1 [8:18] Workshop to expand to provide more benches [8:18] More project storage, [8:18] Dusty area made bigger [8:18] Downstairs Zone: [8:18] Big blue room [8:19] Member storage [8:19] CNC kit , 3D printing [8:19] infrastructure / teams store [8:20] roughly 3500 sq ft [8:20] 4850 deposit for new space [8:20] cost per month for new space 1578 [8:20] (floor space would be larger than London Hackspace) :smile:2 :+1:3 [8:21] Possibly have to pay council rates with the new space [8:21] Council currently offer 50% discount for the current year (this could change) [8:22] it's on a year by year basis [8:22] Lot of work to do to make it usable [8:22] Lighting, Toilets, Electrics, furniture [8:22] decorating [8:22] cost to all these things [8:22] What would make this viable? [8:23] we need 13k to consider this expansion [8:23] Increase the monthly membership payment, currently £8 month [8:24] it costs us around £10 hour to run the space [8:24] We would like to be bringing in £150-200 a month from running events at the space :relaxed:1 [8:25] Adam F: if you any skill that people might be interested in please get in touch with the #events team :+1:1 [8:25] We've hit this the past 2 months :+1:1 [8:25] Thanks to @iandickinson @jamesfowkes for the Arduino workshop :kissing_heart:1 [8:26] Matt Little: question about the rent, how may years is that for? [8:26] Matt Lloyd: 5 year licence [8:26] Mattl Little: think we can get more from events [8:26] Toby: Do we have a fallback, is this make or break? [8:27] James: we would have signed a 5 year leas so no [8:27] Dominic: there would likely be a penalty [8:27] James H: we don't know yet [8:27] Chris Cain: would we go over the £18k VAT limit? [8:28] James H: not yet, we have an accountant and they advise us on this [8:28] Q: do we have a time scale on this? [8:28] James H: we need to decide on this tonight! :+1:2 [8:29] David H: why is the deposit so high? [8:30] James H: we negotiated the deposit up to avoid having a guarantor [8:30] Michael E: it was a substantial financial risk [8:31] Michael E: does the personal guarantor get removed from the current lease? [8:31] James H: we'll negotiate the changes when the lease is up [8:32] Mouse: We've only had 20 new members is that related to the bank changes? [8:32] Adam F: that the growth [8:33] we've lost a lot and gained a lot [8:33] Still members who haven't changed bank accounts who will become ex-members shortly [8:33] James H: we've had 5 new members in the last 3 days :+1:1 [8:34] Mouse: do we have a strategy for recruiting new memberS? [8:34] James H: I don't think we'll be aggressively pursuing members but we're coming up with a strategy [8:35] Soph: One of the things we've committed to doing if this goes ahead [8:35] Soph: 5-8 members a month [8:35] Soph: Trustees an active effort to be more accountable [8:36] Our actual grown is nearer 70 members [8:36] We lost around 50 member in Jan 2015 due to an overdue audit [8:36] Q: considered a pay per visit membership? [8:37] James H: no, we've always had a pay what you want policy, we've had a few people pay 1p a month but we've dealt with them [8:37] James H: putting more focus on existing members to pay for what they use [8:37] Toby: suggestion by a member for a hackspace shop [8:38] Toby: hackspace could take X percent from sales of items [8:38] Toby: could potentially help the space [8:38] James H: open to anything [8:38] James H: What we need is people to go ahead with these sort of things, there are on 7 of us trustees [8:39] James H: lots of members getting involved in teams [8:39] Michelle S: why are we proposing to take all of the space rather than half?(edited) chunkyhampton [8:39 PM] joined #agmminutes rob [8:40 PM] James H: if we look at the downstair space, the most sensible part is the round part at the front [8:40] James H: the additional spaces are only a small amount more per month [8:40] James H: we get the most discount by taking the extra spaces [8:40] Michelle S: is it still worth taking the extra space for the extra risk?(edited) [8:41] James H: it's going to be up to you to decide when you vote if you consider it worth the risk [8:41] Q: how does this consider with renting elsewhere? [8:41] James H: it's much much cheaper(edited) [8:42] James H: in the briefing pack we suggested taking a 15k loan [8:42] James H: unfortunately we weren't accepted for it [8:42] James H: we've consider some options [8:42] James H: we;ve had several offers of loans from members gmjhowe [8:43 PM] joined #agmminutes rob [8:43 PM] James H: we could accept loans from members with a 4 years term and 4% interest rate [8:44] James H: also various grant options for disabled access [8:44] James H: crowd funding an option, indiegogo [8:44] James H: fund raising party, at a venue such as Antenna to raise money, BarBot etc.(edited) [8:45] Opening it up for questions [8:45] Michael E: offered to put forward a loan of 2k [8:46] David H: Joe pointed out cost for the staircase is quite optimistic [8:46] Matt Lloyd: figure was very rough, good chance the figures could be a lot higher [8:46] David H: disabled access should be obtainable for a lottery grant or funding grant [8:47] David H: Expanding downstairs seems like something we need to do, Hyson Green seem like a longer term project :white_check_mark:2 [8:47] Q: Tried any other loan sources? [8:48] James H: no, just our bank (TSB) to get an idea if it would even be possible [8:48] James H: We invested a lot which didn't help our afforability [8:48] Paul M: I could offer a 5k loan at 4% [8:49] Michael E: notice a leaflet from the Creative Quarter [8:49] James H: we could improve our relationship with the creative quarter :simple_smile:1 [8:50] Q: possibility for a shorter term loan? [8:50] James H: yeas, we've only just come up with this [8:50] Soph: we have a pledge drive in progress if you want to donate anything towards it :+1:1 [8:51] Mouse E: lots of stuff contingent on raising funds, do we have a fund raising team? [8:51] Kirsty: I guess that could come under events if you want to join :sweat:1 [8:52] James H: Happy for events and Mouse to work together to form a team [8:52] Q: increasing membership, you said something about £10 a month [8:53] James H: no minimum but we want to get from £8 to £10 average [8:53] Kate: we want to encourage everyone to come to the space :simple_smile:1 [8:54] Q: you said average is £10, would you want that before expanding? [8:55] James H: yes, pay what you get out of the space, if you use the space every day and paying a small amount you might want to increase you payment :+1:1 [8:55] Mouse: is it worth hiring fundraisers? [8:55] James H you want us to spend money to make money? [8:56] Mouse: have no experience of raising funds [8:56] Dominic: we have lots of contacts who can help us :simple_smile:1 [8:56] James H: we currently have around 17k on offer from members, this doesn't make it risk free [8:57] James H: we tried to cover a range of scenarios in the briefing pack :simple_smile:1 [8:57] James H: we need to take a vote of if we should sign a 5 year lease to take on downstairs :wink:1 [8:58] Dominic: there is also risk in not doing [8:58] (Voting for members present at Antenna will be counted first) [9:02] (10 minute break) amy-screenqueen [9:08 PM] This is like a film awards ceremony! #suspense(edited) tdc_hodgy [9:09 PM] The suspense! :+1:3 rob [9:17 PM] James H: Just to make it clear what we're voting on [9:18] James H: The proposal is that we take on the downstairs space and the financial risk [9:18] James H: You as members are getting involved in raising money helping with the new space [9:18] James H: This is not something to take lightly, you as members are representing the space [9:19] (we will takes votes from members in attendance now) [9:20] All members vote yes, 2 abstain [9:21] All proxy votes are yes amy-screenqueen [9:21 PM] Wow!!!! rob [9:22 PM] If you want to offer a loan to the space, please contact trustees@nottinghack.org.uk [9:22] We'll be formalising the details more over the next few days [9:23] Mouse: An increase in your regular contribution will be valuable overall to the space :+1:2 [9:23] Close of AGM [9:23] Thanks you everyone [9:23] Dominic: Thanks to the directors :+1:1