2023-03-01 Transcript

Douglas Creek
  20:09
Meeting 01/03/2023
:eyes:
1






20:12
Roll call:
Douglas
Sam
Emily
Mike
Sacha
Becky
Adam
Andrew A
Aly
Theo
Chris
Aaron
Gareth
Bob
Andrew W
Steve
Rafe
Charlie (edited) 
20:12
Annoucements and Events
20:14
Went down to Bristol for combat robots, successfully caught fire, publically on video. Only a small fire, though. Sunday 12th Mar, Event in Sheffield, Ant-Weight. Links will be on Slack. Building workshop in the space possibly on 6th May, and then a public completion in June.
20:16
Hack the space day. will be Sat 1st April. (as it was Sunday 5th Feb last time). Please come along, and suggest stuff to do. There is a slack channel.
20:16
Space will be closed 10-4 during hack the space for normal use.
20:17
Thurs 16th March for the next one-shot D&D. Check out the wiki page. Should be one every month.
20:18
Metalworking downstairs is still waiting work on the floor.
20:19
Next laser surgery 25th March, 10-4.
20:19
There will be a swap shop at the same time. (edited) 
20:19
Bring some stuff in, and you might find your next project!
20:20
Will either be free or a donation.


Aaron Jackson
  20:21
https://wiki.nottinghack.org.uk/wiki/2023_Swap_Shop Wikipage for "booking" a table
:+1:
1



Douglas Creek
  20:21
Questions about swap shop: Can you turn up to sell things? Mike says it will be members only. There is a wiki page where you will be able to request a table.
20:22
Actions and minutes from last meeting
20:23
Mike has got the stuff to work on for the hack the space day. There will not be another member's meeting before the next hack the space. Tell us if you need anything buying.
20:24
Team Updates
20:24
3D Printing - We discussed last month some rules over the 3d printing area. We are now looking for new members of the 3d printing team. Dave does not want to be team lead.
20:25
Please contact the trustees if you are interested in joining.
20:26
Could possibly run a poll to understand what people want to get out of the 3d printing area.
20:28
Chris says that he will contact the trustees.
20:28
Note that there is some confusion about the roles at the moment.
20:29
Contact trustees re. communications.
20:29
Douglas is happy to show people the CNC.
20:29
Currently no price changes implemented re. the embroidery machine
20:30
Electronics is getting new members helping out. Post on Slack if you are interested in helping out.
20:30
The laser team is expanding. We put out a request for interest, and we have recruited new members.
20:31
Have been fewer laser inductions recently, though.
20:34
Laser has been serviced, is now cutting better at speed. Spends are being discussed to improve the optics of the machine. The first laser surgery. There were more people than expected, but still hoping for expansion for the next one. As mentioned, next one is on the 25th. An there will be some workshops in the future. We have a written handout for a laser cutter induction in an A5 booklet. This will be handed out for people that have done the induction. This will likely be made available on the wiki at some point, probably as a pdf. If anyone else wants to join the laser team, contact Emily or the trustees.
20:35
Membership
The University of Nottingham Hacksoc didn't bring as many people as we'd hoped, not as many members joining as hoped.
20:35
If you want to join the membership team and do tours, it would be great help.
20:36
Tours take place on a Wednesday evening.
20:36
Metalworking
Myford lathe power switch is still broken.
20:36
Network
Recently upgraded
20:37
Safety
Tell us if you think PPE is missing. PPE stores are not meant to be empty.
20:38
Snackspace
Snackspace is quite dry right now, and Betty is not currently around. We would appreciate any help. Responsibilities involve buying snacks and filling the machine. You will be compensated.
20:38
Andrew W notes that we recurrently running a bit low on consumables. We will check tonight and make sure that we are covered in the short-term.
20:39
Please tell us if we are running short.
20:39
Software
Nothing to report - Matt is still working on his to support minimum membership fees
20:40
Woodworking
Blade has been changed on table saw, some cleaning has been done. The filter bag on the dust collector needs to be improved/changed.
20:41
Financial Update
This is for the last two months.
December's finances. See wiki. (edited) 
20:42
We received a business rate refund.
20:43
https://wiki.nottinghack.org.uk/wiki/Financials_2022_December
20:43
https://wiki.nottinghack.org.uk/wiki/Financials_2023_January
20:43
Please try and be prudent with your heater use, and pay for the heat that you use. (edited) 
20:43
There were not any major outgoings in January.
20:45
Expenditure tends to outstrip income. Generally we have a stable fixed outgoings.
20:46
The membership income varies depending on the number of days in the month.
20:46
We do still not feel that we are in a stable financial position. However we still have a large amount in the bank account as a buffer. We are trying to minimise any large spends at present to preserve this.
20:47
We would like to be in a position where membership payments at least cover all of our fixed expenditures at the space.
20:47
However, there are VAT reasons why we are not currently pushing for this at the moment.
20:48
Any other Business
20:48
Teams Discussion
https://wiki.nottinghack.org.uk/wiki/Teams_Discussion_Post_Covid (edited) 
20:49
We want the space to work as well as possible. The space has had teams for a very long time. Teams are mentioned in a number of places, so the info is in a lot of places. Following Covid, some teams have become very small. We really appreciate anyone who is on a team.
20:51
We want to discuss how teams are documented and how they worked.
There are members, members who are on team, members who are trustees, and overlap between trustees and team members.
Teams manage the day-to-day running of the space. As a member, we hope that you will somewhat contribute to the day-to-day running of the space. If you want some information on this, it can be found in the guide.
20:52
If you want to be in a team, please drop the trustees an email. If you join a team, you will be added to the list of team members in HMS.
The wiki says membership of a team is a responsibility delegated from the trustees.
20:52
Teams have Team leaders, Inductors and maintainers. This definition might not be appropriate for all teams, however.
20:54
The governance of teams mentioned on the wiki and the guide does not cover payment cards at present. We would like to cover this, as most teams have payment cards. A trustee will give a card containing to a team member. If the team needs money on the card, they will request that the trustees add money. The policy also states that to join a team you should ask the trustees.
We want this documentation to be better.
In general, everything works well.
We have definitions for team members. These requirements are a bit vague at present.
20:57
It is possible to be on a team without having a specific role on that team. This might include various work relating to that team.
20:58
We don't currently have a mention of finances and management of inductions. Creating and presenting reports at meeting, and answering questions at meetings is also not currently covered.
20:59
A lot of teams do a lot of self-management really well, but there are some teams that are ore of a job than a team.
21:00
There is an open question on when teams should be created and dissolved.
21:00
We also do not have a procedure for when people are removed from Teams at present.
21:01
Mike is hoping to tighten up information on all of the above.
21:02
Suggestion of a rota. Mike says this works well for the membership team.
21:03
Could there be a rota for maintenance?
21:04
What do we think are reasonable for the finances?
Andrew says that teams used to have a budget. But this was not really required for most teams.
21:06
Steve says since FairFX has changed with 2FA, it means that cards cannot be easily shared. We still won't have people load the card. Steve therefore thinks that card should not be shared, and attached to a team.
21:06
This won't really impact day to day use of cards.
21:07
We generally do want all team spends to be cards.
21:07
We do not have much petty cash, and it makes accounting simpler.
21:07
Teams still take cash during inductions. This will be discussed at a later date.
21:08
Should there be an expectation that teams provide financial reports? We feel that this should become policy. This is quite simple with cards, but it a bit harder with cash.
21:09
Team leader was proposed a long time ago, but this has always been informal. There also used to be somewhat of a policy that teams had a trustee on them.
21:09
Not every team really needs a team lead, however. Someone who can primarily be a point of contact an a guidance point for people.
21:11
Lists of people on teams on HMS are not currently publicly accessible. Teams have team emails sent to inboxes. The most important of these is the Membership Team. Who responds to emails is dependent on the nature of the email.
21:11
Sam says that teams are very 'bottom-up', instead of teams and their roles being dictated from the top.
21:12
Is there a lot of overhead because we say 'we need a team?', when we don't actually need one?
21:12
Note that anyone can tidy up an area without being in a team.
21:13
But being in a team gives you a level of responsibility to actually do these things, or to reorganise an area.
21:14
We did not need teams when the space was very small. Teams happened due to the space enlarging, and everyone not being able to talk to each other, and an acknowledgement that they are responsible for the area.
21:15
Sam says that the issue is that being on a team doesn't necessarily imply what you actually do.
21:15
Andrew says that teams have always been 'Pick and Choose'
21:16
Aka you don't have to do everything.
21:17
We hope that team members will be aware of the scope of the team, and can organise the team. We want team leaders to be able to lead, and suggest activities for team members to do. (edited) 
21:17
Team members are responsible for the area. They are not responsible for expansion of the area.
21:18
Could possibly have 'Multidimensional' teams, such as a team of all inductors or all maintainers. This could maybe even be a Channel on slack. (edited) 
21:19
We want all induction items to be on the wiki.
21:20
Formal meetings between trustees and team members are not that common.
21:20
Bob says that the woodworking card has expires.
21:21
We picked 'Prof' as a title for a card as it is gender-neutral.
21:21
Bob wants there to be a named trustee for a particular card.
21:22
Bob emails the invoice to accounts@nottinghack.org.uk as the paper trail.
21:23
As far as teams in general, Bob thinks that all areas with machinery should have teams and team leaders. The reason for this is because once this stops happening it is very quick for tools to become unsafe. Bob mentions metalworking, and instances where maintenance has not been done. Bob wants the trustees to monitor teams monthly, so stuff can be caught quickly.
21:24
f the place is tidy, it stays tidy. If the place is messy, it stays messy. Bob thinks that someone should visit once a month or once a fortnight to check the area.
21:25
Some tools are always left out. Some people don't have the knowledge to put stuff back where it was taken from. Members who know where everything goes back is less common, and 'just ask someone where something came. from' won't work. Therefore keeping areas clean is more of a priority now to maintain safety. (edited) 
21:26
Emptying bins is also important. Nobody wants to empty bins if they are too full.
21:27
Note that we aren't currently sure who the team lead for metalworking is, and this is a problem.
21:27
The trustees will step in if they think action is required. Tools are marked a 'Out of Order' if required, even without input from that team.
21:29
Andrew agrees that safety is definitely the primary concern. We have had a fire in space. The trustees will step in or take over a team if they feel that this is not happening. Especially with regard to teams with dangerous machinery. Rule: Do not be on fire.
21:31
Trustee hierarchy for approving payments. Andrew does not like single points of failure, however.
21:32
Can have a primary single point of contact, and then this can be delegated.
21:32
Realistically, the trustees should have a lot on every item added to cards. This could be amended with a set budget, but this has never been done well in the past.
21:33
Andrew W echoes that if an area is a mess, it is unsafe. He mentions that an area could be closed if it wasn't safe. This could be a response to a request to the team not being answered.
21:34
Andrew W states that we should accept there there will be limitations on how long it will take to add money to cards, considering the trustees are volunteers.
21:35
Steve says we need to careful that we are not putting people off from joining teams. Andrew says it depends on how much the trustees are willing to put the hands of safety into teams.
21:35
Mike says that he will make Wiki templates for each team.
21:36
Bins Team? But isn't every member on team bins? :smile:
21:36
Might or might not encourage people to empty the bins.
21:37
If you are rewarding people for doing stuff that they should do anything, it might put people off or absolve other people from responsibility.
21:38
We do hire a cleaning company to clean the toilets. This used to be the worst job.
21:38
There was no way that we could have created a team around such a thankless job.
21:39
We pay about 50 pounds a week for the toilet cleaner.
21:40
This applies to any popular jobs which people don't really want to do, such as cleaning.
21:40
This also applies for trying to restart the comms team.
21:40
Mike says that he will type this up, and will be up for discussion at the next meeting.
21:41
We are happy to take more suggestions on Slack.
21:42
Elections in May.
21:42
Meeting closed.