Item 129. Board Minutes: Thursday September 3, 2002 Meeting Anne Perry (mooncat) Fri, Sep 6, 2002 (12:04). 74 lines, 39 responses. Appearing: Mooncat*, Bhelliom, Aruba*, Other*, Mary* and STeve* (* indicates Board Member) 1. Called to Order at 7:34 pm 2. Chair report- "I'm feeling much better" 3. Treasurer's Report: We're down again for the fifth month in a row. We took in $536, but paid out $913 (in part due to insurance fiasco) Good news! We received our first CafePress Commission of $20. We have three new members, 83 members total, 80 paid up. Aruba (and the rest of us) wishes to thank Jan Wolters for filling in as treasurer while Aruba was out of town. Discussion re: Remainder of Grex Store- just what do we want to do with it? Include in Auction (starting soonish!), buy a new one get an old one free, perhaps include one wiht every new membership? No decision made at this time. 4. Publicity Committee: "We're working on it" Have icons that people can place on their personal websites to advertise Grex. 5. Staff finally had a meeting! Remmers is installing OpenBSD on the computer he is donating to Grex for this developmental purpose, STeve is trying to get a Sparc from MDW to load OpenBSD onto it. Staff apparently had a long discussion on the technical means/issues surrounding porting Grex to OpenBSD- still in the works. Expect another staff update soonish. There is also work being done to get the PortMaster up and running. Documentation (lack thereof) has been a major stumbling block, but we may be able to get the information we need to get it running. Per STeve the current Grex hardware has been 'boringly reliable.' He did not that at some point we will need to pick up some disks (not in the near future). Scott (Scott Helmke) reported a few errors listed at the end of his last data dump. Also, Scott donated an ethernet hub to Grex as the one we had died. A developmental machine, Grease (name?) has been having it's own booting issues since the last power outage (dead battery) and work to repair it is ongoing. 6. Next meeting: October 3rd, Thursday 7:00 pm, Zingerman's Next Door in the Kids Room 7. New Business- 2 Items Under Discussion: ID and Remote Board Members. a. ID Collection / Information Preservation: Very, very long discussion on this one relating to items posted here in coop. The board's unofficial opinion was that we should simply continue as we have been- with some changes. Two options were mentioned to improve the integrity of the current security for the data- 1- get a laptop for the treasurer specifically for that purpose- a lap top that would never attach to the internet. 2- Get some sort of encryption tool to protect the information on a machine that does access the internet. b. Remote Board Members- after much (much... much) discussion on the feasibility of an online board meeting (in party) the general consensus was that trying it could be a very good idea. Time- not determined, methodology- not determined. Feasibility of teleconferencing- some objections, but overall it seems like something that could work. Discussion on ways to work with remote board members (via phone, party, etc.) are still ongoing, and in the end no real concensus was reached. More discussion is needed, primarily in conferences (agora and coop), on the concept and the means by which to get it accomplished. 8- Meeting adjourned at 9:46 pm 39 responses total. ---------- (129) #1 Mark A. Conger (aruba) Fri, Sep 6, 2002 (14:47). 13 lines. Thanks for posting the minutes so quickly, Anne. A couple of things: 1) STeve didn't suggest buying new disks, only that we might want to consider changing over to some of the ones we already have but aren't using. 2) We discussed the possibility of staff entering an item in coop (possibly linked to garage and agora) to keep everyone updated on what progress has been made in getting the new system up and running. 3) I don't think it's fair to say the consensus was that an online board meeting could be a good idea; but I think we agreed to try an (unofficial) meeting and see how it works. I think the board was sharply divided on whether we thought it *would* work, but we were all willing to try. ---------- (129) #2 Mary Remmers (mary) Fri, Sep 6, 2002 (15:52). 3 lines. I'm not sure any of us thought it would work, actually. Some simply thought it would be an interesting experiment and we may learn something from the experience. ---------- (129) #3 Carson Rizor (carson) Fri, Sep 6, 2002 (21:20). 3 lines. (the chair report sounded like something from the previous chair.) (no, really, continuity IS good.) ---------- (129) #4 Phil Green (polytarp) Sat, Sep 7, 2002 (14:20). 2 lines. If STeve gets his name capitalized as such, I demand that my name always be P01yT/. Any diviation from this will be taken as a personal offense. ---------- (129) #5 JP2 * GREX * AND YOU! (jp2) Sat, Sep 7, 2002 (15:48). 1 line. I spell your name "U. R. Gay." Is this acceptable? ---------- (129) #6 Phil Green (polytarp) Sat, Sep 7, 2002 (17:53). 1 line. No. ---------- (129) #7 Greg Fleming (flem) Sat, Sep 7, 2002 (21:39). 3 lines. Sorry I missed the meeting. My internal calendar has been thoroughly confused about what day it is for all of September. 'swhat I get for leaving my pda lying on the kitchen table. ---------- (129) #8 Mark A. Conger (aruba) Sat, Sep 7, 2002 (23:45). 1 line. Oh, BTW: 4 board members were present at 7:00, and STeve showed up at 7:30. ---------- (129) #9 The Accidental Purist (other) Sun, Sep 8, 2002 (01:05). 6 lines. re #7: This attitude issue will be reflected in your performance review. ;) ---------- (129) #10 Marcus Watts (mdw) Sun, Sep 8, 2002 (03:51). 3 lines. I wasn't there because between my work schedule and the staff meeting the previous night, I got hopelessly confused about why Sept 5 was special. ---------- (129) #11 Glenda F. Andre' (glenda) Sun, Sep 8, 2002 (10:06). 2 lines. STeve will almost always be late, is his nature and the fact that he works in Lansing. the I96/I23 route is terrible. ---------- (129) #12 Jan Wolter (janc) Sun, Sep 8, 2002 (10:55). 2 lines. I think that for an online meeting to work, some different software will be needed. party will not cut it. ---------- (129) #13 Mary Remmers (mary) Sun, Sep 8, 2002 (11:04). 2 lines. If we changed the scheduled start time do you think he could be there on time? ---------- (129) #14 Glenda F. Andre' (glenda) Sun, Sep 8, 2002 (13:00). 4 lines. Higher chance of it, but I wouldn't hold my breath. :-) He's the type that will be late for his own funeral. The only way he made it to our wedding on time was that Josh picked him up and forced him to drop what he was doing and get in the car. ---------- (129) #15 Glenda F. Andre' (glenda) Sun, Sep 8, 2002 (13:01). 2 lines. My family tells us (him) that dinner will be at least 1/2 hour before it is actually planned, and even then we are often a few minutes late. ---------- (129) #16 Mary Remmers (mary) Sun, Sep 8, 2002 (13:10). 12 lines. My understanding is the Board will wait for 1/2 hour after the agreed upon start time, for late-comers to arrive. If after 30 minute we don't have a quorum then those board members who don't want to wait any longer are free to go. At that point any official meeting can't be held as the meeting was essentially declared "no quorum". Of course those who want to wait an hour or more to see who comes are welcome to do so, and they can have informal conversation, but the board meeting was a no-go. No hard feelings but there has to be a limit on what's a fair time to wait for a meeting to begin. ---------- (129) #17 Mary Remmers (mary) Sun, Sep 8, 2002 (13:12). 1 line. s/latecomers/late-comers ---------- (129) #18 Mark A. Conger (aruba) Sun, Sep 8, 2002 (13:44). 1 line. As I've said before, I'm with Mary on this one. ---------- (129) #19 Marcus Watts (mdw) Sun, Sep 8, 2002 (19:42). 9 lines. Actually what would have helped in my case would have been email a day or so before. I probably would have found that when I was looking through my email for "meeting" to try to figure out what I was supposed to be doing sept 5th. Various grex presidents seem to have interpreted "arranging a meeting" differently; we've had some that sent out e-mail reminders, and some that did not. I'm not sure that I like the idea of yet more low-content email, and I really should have figured out to get to the meeting anyways; but a reminder probably would have improved my chances of making it there despite myself. ---------- (129) #20 John Ellis Perry Jr. (jep) Sun, Sep 8, 2002 (22:30). 2 lines. Marcus, why don't you use a scheduler, such as calendar, to remind you of meetings? ---------- (129) #21 malymi (malymi) Mon, Sep 9, 2002 (03:57). 2 lines. re #12: a private irc daemon should be trivial to operate for the purpose, perhaps only until the meeting is adjourned. ---------- (129) #22 malymi (malymi) Mon, Sep 9, 2002 (03:59). 1 line. heh. yahoo's is even free, so to speak. ---------- (129) #23 Anne Perry (mooncat) Mon, Sep 9, 2002 (17:48). 31 lines. re #1- Mark, thanks for the corrections, I must have misinterpreted what I head STeve say. As for point #3- I guess I wasn't clear in that I thought we came to the conclusion that *trying* an online meeting would be a good idea- not that it would be a good thing to do, or a successful thing. Does that make sense? re #11- Not to be rude, but I really don't think the excuse that someone is just late by nature is reasonable- not for an adult. I know that some people are just more prone to constinetly being late, what I can't accept is that it is somehow an unfixable condition. When I was in college my friends always joked about AST (Anne Standard Time) because I was consistently late. What it really boiled down to was making a concerted effort to pay more attention and to realize that the world does not revolve around my time. It's all well and good to be late if you're not putting other people out, but there's this thing called respect too. So the late by nature thing isn't going to work for me. Now the bit about Lansing I can understand and have no problem with that making him late. However, we all know ahead of time when the meeting is- if someone can't get out of work with enough time to get to the meeting at 7 we should change it. No one person's time is more important than mine, or the three other board members (and one non-board member) who were sitting around for 1/2 an hour waiting to see if we could actually have a meeting that night. Starting later in the evening (say 7:30) would be fine with me- if that makes it easier for everyone to get there on time- or at least try to. ---------- (129) #24 The Accidental Purist (other) Mon, Sep 9, 2002 (18:30). 3 lines. Sounds harsh but it is a legitimate point. If the time is too early, we'll adjust it. If it will always be too early, then we're not responsible for the adjustment. ---------- (129) #25 Carson Rizor (carson) Mon, Sep 9, 2002 (19:19). 2 lines. (regular party users still joke about Anne being late, although many have forgotten the origin of the phrase.) ---------- (129) #26 S M (mynxcat) Mon, Sep 9, 2002 (19:34). 1 line. Pulls an anne ---------- (129) #27 David Brodbeck (gull) Mon, Sep 9, 2002 (22:21). 4 lines. Re #23: I've tried darn near everything to correct my habit of being consistantly late for everything, and never had any luck. It's not arrogance -- I'm actually embarassed about it. But I don't seem to be capable of getting anywhere on time. ---------- (129) #28 Mark A. Conger (aruba) Mon, Sep 9, 2002 (23:43). 1 line. I agree with everything Anne said. Nicely put. ---------- (129) #29 Marcus Watts (mdw) Tue, Sep 10, 2002 (04:23). 7 lines. I've watched people schedule their lives through little black books, or that newer addition to the scene, the palmtop. Ok, it looks like there are a few cute games for the palmtop, but other than that, the scheduling part looks like a nightmare. Personally, I think 7:30p is a more civilized time, and for what it's worth, more sanctified by tradition such as it is. ---------- (129) #30 The Accidental Purist (other) Tue, Sep 10, 2002 (13:44). 1 line. 7:30 it is. Board members, please note. ---------- (129) #31 Mark A. Conger (aruba) Tue, Sep 10, 2002 (16:29). 3 lines. The reason we switched to 7 was that Zingermann's seemed to want to kick us out by 9 at one point. Now they seem to be open till 10, so 7:30 is reasonable. ---------- (129) #32 Joe (gelinas) Sat, Sep 14, 2002 (03:44). 1 line. (MeetingMaker runs on Solaris. Sometimes.) ---------- (129) #33 Stray User (hash) Fri, Sep 20, 2002 (13:56). 2 lines. grex's finances require an ultra secure laptop with no internet connection ever? wow. ---------- (129) #34 John H. Remmers (remmers) Fri, Sep 20, 2002 (15:17). 1 line. Yep. Anything short of that is evil. :) ---------- (129) #35 Sindi Keesan (keesan) Thu, Sep 26, 2002 (20:15). 2 lines. I write my schedule on my paper calendar. Low-tech, usually works. I need to find a better place to hang the calendar than behind me. ---------- (129) #36 S. Lynne Fremont (slynne) Mon, Sep 30, 2002 (17:43). 2 lines. haha. we have something in common. I use the old low tech paper calendar too. It works great! ---------- (129) #37 Joe (gelinas) Mon, Sep 30, 2002 (19:05). 3 lines. I did that until none of the local office-supply stores carried the calendar I wanted. Still haven't figured out why they were out of stock from January through March. ---------- (129) #38 John H. Remmers (remmers) Tue, Oct 1, 2002 (05:15). 2 lines. Interesting. That's exactly the same thing that moved me to switch to a PDA. ---------- (129) #39 Sindi Keesan (keesan) Sun, Oct 6, 2002 (08:38). 11 lines. There are lots of programs that let you print your own calendar, if you can't be bothered to write your own. I got my calendar from State Farm Insurance. And people keep giving me little pocket sized books that you are supposed to write your scheduled events into. I never have enough scheduled to bother - it all fits fine in 1"x1" on the calendar. I also have two little DOS reminder programs, one of which will print calendars. When you boot the computer, it reminds you of any events for that day. You can fill in things that occur every Tuesday at 7, or on the 21st of every month, etc. The silly program plays Happy Birthday; for birthday reminders. And music for a few official holidays.