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<!-- best practices for meeting notes template. 
==Meeting notes for February 8, 2011 general meeting==
#1 copy the template to the correct date for the upcoming meeting
#2 edit the meeting notes date to reflect the date of the meeting
#3 edit the meeting number to reflect the nth meeting of Noisebridge
#4 (wish all this was programmatic!)
#5 this page often 'dead-ends' and is consequently difficult to navigate usefully.  Add and update links in the meeting notes template as necessary to make the notes more dynamic and useful for all
-->


== HOWTO moderate a meeting ==
A Noisebridge meeting!  Started at 20:30.


Anyone can moderate the meeting, though it helps a great deal if you have been to meetings before.
What Noisebridge is!


0. '''Say "Five minutes to meeting!".''' This will give you time to read these instructions.
Moderator: Al
Notetaker: Seth


1. Get someone to '''grab the membership binder'''. It is kept near the shrine, which is currently on the south wall, between the electronics and sewing areas.
===Introductions===


2. '''Get someone to take notes.''' Point the shocked and bemused note-taker to the sub-instructions below these instructions.  
Hi everybody.


3. (Optional) '''Get someone to put this wiki page up on the projector'''.
===Consensus process===


4. Skim '''read through the Agenda''' below that to get a feel for what a meeting will looks like.
===Announcements===


5. People may have added '''Discussion Items''' to this page, or they may raise them during the meeting. If they emerge during the meeting, suggest that they be discussed _in_ the Discussion Item section, rather than derail other sections of the meeting. Discussion for these can be open-ended, but you should aim to wrap up the meeting within an hour. It can be handy to explicitly summarise what people intend to do as a result of the discussion. There is no requirement on you, Noisebridge the organization, or anyone else to do anything as a result of a discussion item.
On Friday 2011-02-11T18:00 there will be a meeting of people who are
interested in learning more about consensus or improving
their participation in the consensus process or the process
itself.


6. If there are '''Consensus Items''', ensure that they were raised in meeting last week (the membership needs a week's warning for consensus items). Your main job in consensus is to listen to what everyone is saying, make sure everyone gets a chance to say something, and then -- if the debate is beginning to go round in circles or settle -- propose a Position that everyone seems to agree on. If people disagree with the Position, they will wrangle some more, or someone else will propose a Position. If no-one disagrees with the Position, say "So do we consense on $POSITION?". If no one objects, ask the note-taker to record the Position. If things are getting nowhere and we're all getting bored and antsy, identify the people objecting, and ask them to discuss the problem with the proposers of Consensus Item outside the meeting, and return next week with a compromise solution.
===Recurring events===


7. '''Shout "Meeting starts now!" now''', and start reading (out loud) through the Agenda!
Apart from the ones listed on the web page,


8. '''When you are done, consult with the note-taker,''' and make sure they know what they have to do to finish their job -- especially updating the wiki, and mailing nb-discuss, and the treasurer with new membership details.
* Be the Hack is meeting on Tuesdays right before the general meeting.
* Note upcoming 5mof on 2010-02-17!


9. '''Put back the membership binder''' by the Shrine.
===Consensus items===


10. '''Bathe in the glow''' of the respect of your fellow Noisebridgers.
====Stickers====


Mitch making stickers -- Noisebridge to pay.


=== HOWTO note-take a meeting ===
Mitch describes the various sizes of vinyl stickers that he can have made with Jakprints $825 (the one we've been using before) or Sticker Giant $775 (one that Josh recommended).  This does not include shipping.


0. Your moderator should give you five minutes to '''read these instructions'''. If they don't, say "Woah there cowboy, I need to know what I'm doing. Five minutes, por favor!". Use exactly those words.
We will get them in two sizes and in both black and white and black and red. Black and white was originally a mistake, but people continue to like them.


1. This page should have a URL like "https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Meeting_Notes_2010_12_28", with today's year, month and date in it. If doesn't, copy [Meeting Notes Template] to a wiki page with that kind of URL. If you don't know how to copy wiki pages, say, "Can someone help me with the Noisebridge Wiki?", and get them to create a page with that kind of URL, and then show you how to copy this page to it and edit it.
Q. What is the state of our treasury?  Can we afford it?


2. '''Edit this page.''' Add notes under each category -- you can delete any placeholder explanatory text as you go.
A. We will ask the treasurer.


3. '''Save the wiki page when you're done''' (no-one expects you to finish as the meeting is finished; it usually takes a half-hour or so after the meeting to get everything in order). Try to hyperlink stuff that should be linked. You can delete all this patronising instructional crap. Here's [Meeting_Notes_2010_12_28 an example] of a finally edited meeting.
Treasurer. Yes, we can.  We will still be above our three months'
expenses in the bank. Our finances are currently stable again.


4. '''Create a page for next week's meeting''', by copying over [[Meeting Notes Template]] to an URL with next week's date in it (see step 1). If anybody proposed Consensus Items for next week, write them in here, and add them to the [[Current Consensus Items]].
Mitch will purchase the stickers from Sticker Giant this time.


5. If there were any consensus items decided at your meeting, '''add them to [[Consensus Items History]], and take them out of the [[Current Consensus Items]]'''.
Consensus item is approved.


6. Go to [https://www.noisebridge.net/&action=edit&section=3 the front page meetings notice] and edit the page that ''so that the Prev and Next meetings now point to this meeting notes, and the new meeting notes you just created respectively'''. (If that link is broken, it's a section half-way down the [[https://www.noisebridge.net/ front page]]
===Treasurer's Report===


7. '''Important!''' Send a final copy of the notes to '''noisebridge-discuss''', and '''email treasurer@noisebridge.net the details of any new members''' (you can get all the details from the membership binder, which may now be hidden over by the shrine.)
Bank balance is $17,750.78. We have paid rent for February but not for March.


8. Chill out, have a cocktail with a friendly robot, continue to rock the world.
Donations are higher than they were in the fall, though not as high as right when Shannon first publicized that we were having financial trouble. However, income still remains higher than expenses.


== Agenda ==
===Discussion items===


[https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Category:Meeting_Notes The 146th Meeting of Noisebridge]
====Cleaning====


Note-taker: FIXME YOUR NAME HERE
Proposal: Noisebridge should buy a vacuum cleaner.  We have a shopvac but it's too loud.


Moderator: FIXME THEIR NAME HERE
Seth: Can I play [http://www.jonathancoulton.com/wiki/index.php/Shop_Vac the song]?


=== Introduction and Names ===
Other people: No.
* [[Noisebridge_Vision|What Noisebridge is about]]: "Noisebridge is a 501c3 nonprofit that provides a space for creation, collaboration, and learning about technology and creative projects. Noisebridge provides space, power tools, and infrastructure to help the public learn new skills and create cool things. Noisebridge continues to exist through and depends entirely on membership fees and donations. Our code of conduct is 'Be excellent to each other'."
* Round of introductions: What's your name, what do you do, and if you are new, how did you hear about Noisebridge? Start with the moderator and go left.
* [[Consensus Process|A brief primer on consensus process]]: We agree and so should you! Only paid-up members can block consensus.


=== Announcements ===
Proposal: We should get a professional-type backpack-style $300 HEPA vacuum.


=== Financial Report ===
- We should keep financial discipline by not spending our funds on everything.
Funds in bank:


=== Membership Binder ===
- Can't we buy a $30 vacuum on Craigslist?
* Read off any names from the binder for the past month.
* Anyone up for join this week should introduce themselves then leave the area in search of gifts (traditionally beer and a lime) for the rest of the group. The rest of the meeting should consense on whether they may join.


=== What's Going On at Noisebridge ===
- Wouldn't it be easier to ask for a donated vacuum cleaner?
''One '''short''' sentence about each of the following:''


===== Weekly =====
- We can hack the vacuum cleaner into a backpack.
<!----
The following events are listed with day of week, time the session starts, and location.
For locations at Noisebridge, see a map of the [[2169_map|2169]] location of Noisebridge.
--->
For locations at Noisebridge, see a map of the [[2169_map|2169]] location of Noisebridge.


* [[Circuit_Hacking_Mondays|Circuit Hacking Mondays]] (Monday, 7PM,  E Lab)
- But it wouldn't have a HEPA filter.
* [[iPhone OS developer weekly meetup]]  -- (Monday, 6PM, A. Church) Meetups are becoming increasingly well attended, interested Noisebridge folks are encouraged to sign up at http://meetup.com/iphonedevsf , as that is where any important announcements and discussions take place. Contact [[User:Nickthedude | Nickthedude]] with any questions.
* [[Pyclass]] - Mondays (Monday, 6:30PM, A. Turing) Working On Django now.
* [[Cooking_Classes |Tastebridge cooking class]] - (Tuesday, ~5PM, NoiseKitchen)
* [[Ruby_class]] (Tuesdays, 7.00pm, A. Church) - Covering databases for the next few weeks.
* [[Probability]] (Tuesdays, 7.30pm, A. Turing)
* [[Cultured_Drinks_Brewing_Program |Tastebridge culturing]] - (Wednesday, ~6PM, NoiseKitchen)
* [[Linux_System_Administration_Study_Group]] - (Wednesday, 6PM, A. Turing)
* [[Unityversity |GameDevelopment]] - (Wednesday, 7PM, E Lab/Main Hall]]
* [[SCoW]] craft group - (Wednesday, 7PM, SCoW area)
* [[Machine_Learning]] - (Wednesday, 7:30PM, A. Church)
* [[Spacebridge]] - (Sundays, Main Hall)
* Knots, [[Go]], and [[Locks!]] - (Sunday afternoon, Main Hall)


===== Non-weekly =====
- We can find working vacuum cleaners on the street.
* [[Second Saturdays]] are Noisebridge buildout days.
* [[Five Minutes of Fame]]
* Bay Area Hackers Association - (Second Sunday, 2PM)


=== Project Updates ===
Suggestion: Mitch will try to find one on the street and Rachel will hack it.


(Anyone doing interesting projects is welcome to chip in here.)
- According to Danny's survey, people complain about the space being dirty much more than they complain about mailing list drama or anything else.


=== Consensus items ===
- But we have brooms already!


''(Add any new items for consensus to the [[Current_Consensus_Items|Current Consensus Items]] page.)''
- A vacuum cleaner might lower the barrier to cleaning compared to a broom, because it's more fun.


=== Discussion Items ===
Q. What about putting a broom in a backpack?


* Buying a backpack canister vacuum with HEPA filter. (Al's bringing this up.)
- Buying the vacuum cleaner would cost money but it would make cleaning more appealing.


=== End of Meeting ===
Q. Let's ask the treasurer whether we can afford this expense!
* [[PGP|PGP Key Signing]] could happen now, check the [[PGP|list]] to see who wants in on the action.
* Put back the membership binder by the Shrine.
* Save the meeting notes to the wiki.
* Send a copy of the meeting notes to the discussion list.
* Copy the [[Meeting Notes Template]] for next week's agenda and update the main wiki page's link to it.
* Enjoy a cocktail with your fellow hacker or robot.


[[Category:Meeting Notes]]
Treasurer: Yes, we could afford this now.  But given that expense, why don't we hire instead hire a cleaning service that already has one of these?
 
Discussion about the idea of hiring a cleaning service. This might be expensive because of the size of the space.
 
- Buying a vacuum is a one-time expense, unlike hiring a cleaning service which is a recurring expense.
 
Treasurer: Buying a vacuum is obviously cheaper than hiring someone but maybe we shouldn't buy a vacuum if we hire someone.
 
- We were discussing hiring someone to clean the bathroom only, but we haven't agreed on this yet.
 
- Perhaps we should buy a cheap vacuum and see whether people use it.
 
- We should get quotes about what cleaning services would charge.
 
Q. How much would people be comfortable spending on a cleaning service?
 
- We could get a machine that wet-cleans the floor rather than just a vacuum.
 
- If it were clean, maybe more people would join and more people would use the space.  This might actually make up for the extra expense.
 
- Danny's poll didn't actually ask whether people would use the space more or differently based on cleanliness.  We just know that it's the most common complaint.
 
- There may be a baseline amount of effort going into cleaning the space which could go into other kinds of improvements to the space, like organization.  This would be great.
 
Q. Roomba?
 
- People would turn them into killer robots. (NB: the [https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/IRobot#Military_and_policing_robots company that makes Roombas actually makes military robots too]!)
 
- Also, we probably have too much stuff for a Roomba.
 
- We just discovered that we actually DO have a vacuum already!
 
- The problem may be the clutter, not the cleanliness.  If only we had a larger space, it would be less cluttered because we would have more places for things.
 
- It's not clear how the cleaning would affect the organization.  There are rival theories.
 
Q. Does anyone want to get quotes?
 
- Andy did already or said he would be willing to.  Claudia has a contact with a housekeeper and Andy has a contact with a commercial office cleaning service.
 
- We should label more things in terms of their purpose and destiny.
 
- We could get a truck and take some stuff away.
 
Q. What about the nerf guns?  How can we decide on whether to get rid of things?
 
- The consensus process may not be the right way to decide on individual items.
 
- Shannon is forming a "hitting crap with a hammer" committee (consisting only of himself).  If your stuff looks like junk, you should make it look less like junk so he won't hit it with a hammer.
 
- Excellence vs. do-ocracy.  It would be better to photograph things and write to the list about them before throwing them away.
 
- Throwing away the stuff in the trash room!
 
- Webcam in the trash room!?
 
- The trash room could be a staging area for things that will (actually) be thrown away!
 
Treasurer: Taking things to the dump incurs monetary expenses, as doing renting trucks.  Hopefully people will donate those expenses when they rent them.  However, if things get carted to the dump Noisebridge will reimburse them for the dump fee.
 
Shannon will reimburse them for the truck rental fee for this purpose.
 
====Turing====
 
Shannon wants to talk about Turing (the room) after the meeting.
 
===Membership binder===
 
Names were read.
 
Meeting ended at 21:30.

Revision as of 01:11, 14 February 2011

Meeting notes for February 8, 2011 general meeting

A Noisebridge meeting! Started at 20:30.

What Noisebridge is!

Moderator: Al Notetaker: Seth

Introductions

Hi everybody.

Consensus process

Announcements

On Friday 2011-02-11T18:00 there will be a meeting of people who are interested in learning more about consensus or improving their participation in the consensus process or the process itself.

Recurring events

Apart from the ones listed on the web page,

  • Be the Hack is meeting on Tuesdays right before the general meeting.
  • Note upcoming 5mof on 2010-02-17!

Consensus items

Stickers

Mitch making stickers -- Noisebridge to pay.

Mitch describes the various sizes of vinyl stickers that he can have made with Jakprints $825 (the one we've been using before) or Sticker Giant $775 (one that Josh recommended). This does not include shipping.

We will get them in two sizes and in both black and white and black and red. Black and white was originally a mistake, but people continue to like them.

Q. What is the state of our treasury? Can we afford it?

A. We will ask the treasurer.

Treasurer. Yes, we can. We will still be above our three months' expenses in the bank. Our finances are currently stable again.

Mitch will purchase the stickers from Sticker Giant this time.

Consensus item is approved.

Treasurer's Report

Bank balance is $17,750.78. We have paid rent for February but not for March.

Donations are higher than they were in the fall, though not as high as right when Shannon first publicized that we were having financial trouble. However, income still remains higher than expenses.

Discussion items

Cleaning

Proposal: Noisebridge should buy a vacuum cleaner. We have a shopvac but it's too loud.

Seth: Can I play the song?

Other people: No.

Proposal: We should get a professional-type backpack-style $300 HEPA vacuum.

- We should keep financial discipline by not spending our funds on everything.

- Can't we buy a $30 vacuum on Craigslist?

- Wouldn't it be easier to ask for a donated vacuum cleaner?

- We can hack the vacuum cleaner into a backpack.

- But it wouldn't have a HEPA filter.

- We can find working vacuum cleaners on the street.

Suggestion: Mitch will try to find one on the street and Rachel will hack it.

- According to Danny's survey, people complain about the space being dirty much more than they complain about mailing list drama or anything else.

- But we have brooms already!

- A vacuum cleaner might lower the barrier to cleaning compared to a broom, because it's more fun.

Q. What about putting a broom in a backpack?

- Buying the vacuum cleaner would cost money but it would make cleaning more appealing.

Q. Let's ask the treasurer whether we can afford this expense!

Treasurer: Yes, we could afford this now. But given that expense, why don't we hire instead hire a cleaning service that already has one of these?

Discussion about the idea of hiring a cleaning service. This might be expensive because of the size of the space.

- Buying a vacuum is a one-time expense, unlike hiring a cleaning service which is a recurring expense.

Treasurer: Buying a vacuum is obviously cheaper than hiring someone but maybe we shouldn't buy a vacuum if we hire someone.

- We were discussing hiring someone to clean the bathroom only, but we haven't agreed on this yet.

- Perhaps we should buy a cheap vacuum and see whether people use it.

- We should get quotes about what cleaning services would charge.

Q. How much would people be comfortable spending on a cleaning service?

- We could get a machine that wet-cleans the floor rather than just a vacuum.

- If it were clean, maybe more people would join and more people would use the space. This might actually make up for the extra expense.

- Danny's poll didn't actually ask whether people would use the space more or differently based on cleanliness. We just know that it's the most common complaint.

- There may be a baseline amount of effort going into cleaning the space which could go into other kinds of improvements to the space, like organization. This would be great.

Q. Roomba?

- People would turn them into killer robots. (NB: the company that makes Roombas actually makes military robots too!)

- Also, we probably have too much stuff for a Roomba.

- We just discovered that we actually DO have a vacuum already!

- The problem may be the clutter, not the cleanliness. If only we had a larger space, it would be less cluttered because we would have more places for things.

- It's not clear how the cleaning would affect the organization. There are rival theories.

Q. Does anyone want to get quotes?

- Andy did already or said he would be willing to. Claudia has a contact with a housekeeper and Andy has a contact with a commercial office cleaning service.

- We should label more things in terms of their purpose and destiny.

- We could get a truck and take some stuff away.

Q. What about the nerf guns? How can we decide on whether to get rid of things?

- The consensus process may not be the right way to decide on individual items.

- Shannon is forming a "hitting crap with a hammer" committee (consisting only of himself). If your stuff looks like junk, you should make it look less like junk so he won't hit it with a hammer.

- Excellence vs. do-ocracy. It would be better to photograph things and write to the list about them before throwing them away.

- Throwing away the stuff in the trash room!

- Webcam in the trash room!?

- The trash room could be a staging area for things that will (actually) be thrown away!

Treasurer: Taking things to the dump incurs monetary expenses, as doing renting trucks. Hopefully people will donate those expenses when they rent them. However, if things get carted to the dump Noisebridge will reimburse them for the dump fee.

Shannon will reimburse them for the truck rental fee for this purpose.

Turing

Shannon wants to talk about Turing (the room) after the meeting.

Membership binder

Names were read.

Meeting ended at 21:30.