2019-08-07 Transcript

DanS [8:00 PM]
Members Meeting 7th August
Chair Samathy
minutes: Dan

Gareth Howell [8:01 PM]
joined #meetingminutes.

DanS [8:03 PM]
Attending: Malcolm, Bob, Ali Maq, Paul. Hairy Paul, Andrew Armstrong, James, Gareth, Hazel, Mark, Lee, Ali, Graham, Daniel, Charlie, Rusell, Matt Lloyd, Eddie, Samathy, Dan S, William, Ajay, Emily, Dan Goldwater, Nick (Flabber)

Edward Chester [8:04 PM]
joined #meetingminutes.

DanS [8:04 PM]
*Announcements and Events*

dex [8:05 PM]
joined #meetingminutes.

DanS [8:06 PM]
Lockpicking workshop
- Saturday 31ST August 12:30 & 3:30
- Tickets: £15
- @Mr. Flibble & @tony_s are organising it
- Lockpicks might be available for sale on the day
- Event should go live tonight
Ali's Glass painting workshop
- 7th September AM & PM
- Should be fun
- Will be upstairs as near to the toilets and sinks

Stuart Common [8:09 PM]
joined #meetingminutes.

DanS [8:10 PM]
Ians Green festival plea for help
- Ian need help running the event as he can't get there before 2pm
- There are lots of details on the discussion tab
- 15th September
- Russel: We also need transport to get there
- Toby cant help as he has no engine in his transport
- Eddie, Ali & Bob can help, Anyone else who would like to volunteer please contact @iandickinson or @russellh
- Nick has a van that can potentially be used if free
Eventbrite tickets
- See #events
Crapathon
- 28th September
- @maq & @iandickinson are running it
- It will be fun or else
*TRUSTEE ELECTION*
- We need two people to nominate themselves for trustees position following James' departure
- If interested email a photo and short bio to Trustees@nottinghack.org.uk
- Any questions please use the same email address

DanS [8:18 PM]
*Actions and minutes of last meeting*
- We need a poster putting next to the label printer enforcing the 3 month @maq is going to have a stab
- Poster has been put up in laser area reminding users not to set power above 65%
- An email was also sent out about this
- Swap bin in metalworking with woodworking @DanS to do this tonight
- Samathy got us on the list about free furniture
- Newletter: Send in your articles/ content ideas to #comms channel or Trustees@nottinghack.org.uk

DanS [8:26 PM]
*Team Updates*
3D Printing
- SLA Printer has been ordered and its going to James Adams house.

Craft & Textiles
- Embroidery machine was broken
- Screen was broken, now isn't powering up
- We are still under warranty from the first service
- Nick is taking it back to the shop tonight for another attempt at fixing it
- @Cazz would like to potentially start a pledge drive to get a more industrial machine, That can be arranged by the Craft & Textiles team
- Eddie: Should we charge something to use it?
- Discussion:
We think we know the reason that it has broken
Foot was bent due to needle breakage
Dominic - Tools that get used get broken. That machine is a hobby level machine, is it suitable for a 760 strong hackspace? Generally in favour of tools being free at point of use
William - Do we have a maintenance pot of money? Answer: No
Ali - If we are supplying consumables a charge is probably fair. Answer: The only consumables hackspace supplies are for inductions
Electronics
- No update
Infrastucture
- 2.5 Work is currently mostly on hold due to money issues
- Volunteers are still cracking on with the work where they can with the resources we have where we can
- Bob: Currently we are sorting out rubbish with the intention of bringing bikes downstairs
Laser:
- No major updates
- Meeting about the second laser didn't go ahead
- Laser tube is operating well. 65% power limit seems to working
Membership:
- Need more people doing tours, Eugene & Ian are doing a fantastic job
- William & Stuart have volunteered to help out
Metalworking
- We have gas now!
Networking
- Internet is back up following a short outage today
- Virgin had a note on the account to cancel following a complaint we made a few months ago
- All sorted now
Safety
- No Update
Snackspace
- Drinkspace is now working thanks to @dpslwk & @daniel1111
- Snackspace is working but chocolate will be liquid as the compressor has been disabled
- Running cost: A bit less now the compressor isn't working :joy:
- Snackspace has had its fluorescent tube unplugged today as its flickering
- We have previously disabled the chiller and not seen a big impact on the bill
- @Mr. Flibble has LED lights to donate if they fit in the machine
- Snackspace is fairly empty at the moment
- The plan is that they will get filled up when we work out how the booker card works
- @mike-haber Can you help? :slightly_smiling_face:
- @Edward Podgorski has been talking to a member who works at Booker and can potentially get a 10% discount
- The trustees will not authorize a £600 - £700 one off payment to fill it so we will be filling it in smaller amounts
- Prices will be rising shortly as we are making very little to no profit on some items
- We need to buy less diet drinks as members with Aspartermine allergies can't drink them

DanS [8:43 PM]
Software Team
- Matt - How is HMS2? Answer: Generally well liked
- Some members have struggled with booking laser time on mobile devices
- Its possible with a press & hold but not that intuitive
- Electricity graphs have been added
- Matt is working on Strype payment features, ETA 3-4 weeks

DanS [8:51 PM]
Tools
- Should we disband the Tools team?
- Woodworking look after woodworking, Metalworking look after metalworking tools etc
- But who looks after things like tape measures?...
- Dominic want to keep Tools as a team.
- Bob is worried about the tools team buying tools for areas where they aren't needed.
- There is no communication, there is only a vague pull for teams
- There is a scope for wasting money and time.
- Nick (Flabber) volunteers for the tools team
- If we want to disband the tools team there needs to be communication between metalworking, woodworking & craft teams to decide who is buying what

DanS [8:52 PM]
-Metalworking, Craft, Electronics & Craft need to organise this communication

DanS [9:01 PM]
Woodworking
- We have a thicknesser now
- The intention is that it will be used for lower quality woods such as pallet woods
- Bob has discussed with @MalcolmC & @Andrew Walters about induction requirements
- Bob & Malcolm think the Thicknesser shouldn't be induction as it is relatively speaking quite safe compared to other tools. It has an anti-kickback mechanism
- This is just for the Thicknesser, not the Planer thicknesser
- Dominic: Inductions are for when there is a risk of breaking the tool, not necessarily because there is danger
- Planer table may need an induction for safety reasons. This could transfer across from the planer thicknesser.
- @MalcolmC says that kickback is often minor when he has abused the current machine
- Woodworking team have the most knowledge on this issue and have general agreement around the room that whatever they decide will get agreement from Trustees
*Hackspace 2.5 Update*
- Covered in infrastructure update
*Finance Team Update*

dpslwk [9:02 PM]
https://wiki.nottinghack.org.uk/wiki/Financials_July_2019

DanS [9:03 PM]
Current assets: £11700
In the bank: £9300
£1700 profit this month
We didnt spend a lot at all last month
Only £20 on Hackspace 2.5
£70 on resources
We had a big ticket item which was the Trustees Slack payment
The membership payments this month may seem deceivingly large as when payments are scheduled to come through on a weekend they can sometimes appear in our account on the preceding Friday.
Matt is going through the wiki income breakdown
Snackspace overdraft:
Snackspace debt as of Tue Aug 06 2019 05:03:26 GMT+0000 (UTC)

Total Debt: -£1,940.65
Current Members: -£1,481.59
Ex Members: -£446.46

Total Credit: £1,753.56
Current Members: £1,417.47
Ex Members: £328.77

Debt reduction since announcement (23rd June): £621.20
Debt reduction since switch on (7th July): £380.99
Member payment change:
Since the email was sent out on the 18th, 54 members have changed their standing order amount
47 have increased their amount
7 have decreased their amount
This means that we are looking at ~£300 extra a month which is good
This is only 2.5 weeks since the email was sent!
average increase was around £5
The maximum increase was about £30! Thanks! :tada:
Currently we have 692 members
Member churn in July:
30 New members
20 Ex-members
Matt wants to bring 'fixed outgoings' information to HMS

dpslwk [9:16 PM]
After LEASE
Fixed out goings    5036.84
F6    3350
G4,5,6    
Electric    754
Insurance    110.68
Cleaning     120
Internet    58
Network    50
Water    8.44
Business Rates    117
Bank Charge    5
Loan repayments    435
BOC Gas    28.72

DanS [9:18 PM]
Variable outgoings are not included in this number
Stuff like:
Tool purchasing
Snackspace
Resources
Workshop expenses
Our fixed outgoings *MUST* be covered by membership payment incomes
Laser billed £485 this month
William: Do we get grants from council
Answer: No, In the life of the hackspace we have applied for 2 grants. Awards for all and the COOP grant.

William: Can we become affiliated to the universities?
Answer: No but we can encourage them to join as members
The language we use when signing members up is important it should:
Pay what you can afford
Pay what you think the space is worth

*Not* Pay what you want
Snackspace
- What items are we losing money on?
Unknown but due to various things like sugar tax we are now operating at cost or at a loss on many things
Questions on finances: What is the current loan payoff date?
Answer: Final payment will be in April in theory for all but one of the loans

A bit about the loans
8 Members graciously loaned the space money to get the 2.5 project underway

One member has agreed to end his loan payments early as he felt now he has been repayed his inital amount he couldn't continue in good faith to make a "profit" from the space in the current financial condition. Thanks in the room go out to that member
Should we name a wing after him? :slightly_smiling_face:
£728ish a month average shortfall a month currently
The big push this month has pushed doom day back to January. We are still not out the woods.
Events cant be relied upon to save our bacon. We need to focus on raising income from member payments.

DanS [9:46 PM]
Room hire - Paul asks why aren't we offering the rooms out to rent?
Answer -
- We are. Notts Trent rented the room out
- We have never actually done any costings for what the room should cost
- The classroom is usable by any members but hasn't got any policies that govern its use
- Members may be more comfortable using it for workshops if there was a clear process for booking it and using it
- Toilets are a significant barrier to getting this room available for outside customers

Lou [9:47 PM]
joined #meetingminutes.

DanS [9:48 PM]
- Dominic: This is a resource primarily for the members and we need to remember this
- Emily: Possibly a partnership with a support group for substance abusers. They could advertise us on their website.
- The trustees are talking about safeguarding policies in detail currently and will advise Emily how to proceed
This needs much further discussion

froggy [9:53 PM]
Point regarding outside use like that: we have a page on care workers and social services for a reason, and it's not a great one

DanS [9:53 PM]
Yep its been mentioned, thanks froggy
Toby: We are all advocates for the space but we live in a bubble of nerds and makers. Can we advertise more widely. I.e. Newspapers?
Samathy has been talking to her local residents association
Leftlion
They approached us recently to ask if we wanted to be in the freshers booklet. Trustees agreed it was too expensive and didn't take it any further. Can we send them a story/ editorial and ask them to publish to free?
We need to spin it positively. We are nearly 10! Lets make sure we get there.
@LeeHutchison is going to look at putting together a press release to send to leftlion
Action: All attendees - Take leaflets and place them everywhere!
@Dan Goldwater - How much in crisis actually are we?
Answer: In 2.5 weeks we have increased payments by ~£300. We need to wait and see if this is sustained and if this improves.
@russellh - What would the people in this room like to see in a second email about the crisis?
Answer:
Positivity, Guidance, Short and snappy.
A number, we need to recommend a minimum £5 increase
@chickengrylls is going to get in touch with a journalist to see if we can get a story out there
@andrewarmstrong - Posters in the space suggesting guidance about payment increases
Answer: Everyone in the room, yes!!!
*distant wailing is heard in the hackspace*
@andrewarmstrong How else can we get engagement from members other than through email?
Donation Drive?
Dominic: As we grow, engagement reduces and it is difficult to engage all these new people.
Many people don't come to meetings or votes simply because for them it is low down on their priorities
What does it mean to be a member?
We need to be aware of what people need from the hackspace. Good tools, good structures

jymbob [10:15 PM]
Top of my head for engagement: Take over the scrolling displays, change Gatekeeper welcome message, website posts (nothing on the website front page about asking members to increase fees)

DanS [10:15 PM]
Dominic: Lets investigate what the community is before we just do pledge after pledge
Hazel: The space has changed since she joined up
Dominic: We need to define what success is for the space
Dominic building the community is the key through face to face conversations
*Meeting Closed*
22:20