20161016 BOD Notes

Attendees: Jay, Joshua, Luke, Tanju, Chris K- remote

Notes:

• Makerfaire recap & lessons learned:
  • Raffle: 3-mo membership winner, Shad came by for a tour. Will be starting membership in Nov. Luke will be writing up some lessons learned on his experience and setting up the raffle.
  • Tanju also has lessons learned notes for the PPPRS race
  • Again we talking about needing to start planning earlier. Need a way to incentivize volunteers
  • We need to promote the raffle better and earlier
  • We need better banner signage that is easier for people to know what and where we are, tag line: Marietta Makerspace
  • We shared space successfully with 3DOrchard.com, (they had better banner too)
  • We need to come up with a pocket elevator pitch/script that volunteers can use to engage people that stop by the booth. This can be reviewed during the planning calls.
  • We need to standardize a kit for the booth. Also need placards describing the stuff and equipment we are showing off

• Tellus Discovery Day coming up Nov 19
  • Jay is leading organizing this event, hold a similar booth to market the space
  • Will be soliciting help from members
  • Jay planning to make a foam cutter. Tanju has some nichrome for this.
  • Likely also take the R2CNC
  • Should also tale some flyers for EngineeringForKids

• 501c3 Non-Profit Status - Achieved!!!
  • We have received the acceptance from the IRS
  • We need to frame a copy of the letter and hang up in the space
  • We need to notify everyone and post the news. The effective date of non-profit status goes back to mid-2015. Also remind people of
  • We need to develop the donation system and receipt template. Jay will put take a lead on this. We need to get a receipt to J. Kelley for the laser cutter... among other things
  • We need to start focusing on soliciting donations from larger companies that only support 501c3 organizations
  • What about grants? More work, but the right organizer could be able to fund themselves/salary, etc. A good fit for the right person. Tanju has a lot of notes on this from the Whitehouse trip. Also Decatur Makers got a grant this year for a part-time employee.
  • Need to be on the lookout for discounts for non-profit orgs... like our Slack Account. Amazon Smile, etc.
  • Ikea also has a material donation service, working with EngineeringForKids to submit a request for this
  • Christine's CPA friend will be helping with filing the proper annual filings with the IRS

• Financial Report
  • Good news is that winter is coming, so lower electric bill. Last month was over $300
  • With the premium membership, we are solvent. But we still need to grow
  • Accounting data was lost due computer crash/upgrade without backup. Chris is working on rebuilding it.
  • Back up system in progress, all Board will be given access

• Membership Report
  • We have 31 members. We gained the premium membership with EngineeringForKids.
  • As usual, every month we lose one or two and gain one or two every month
  • We need more members, need a target. We will start with a goal of 35 members. Having a target will force us to develop a strategy.
  • Need to give Josh membership list for tracking of Access Cards
  • Both Dan and Luis have started recurring meetups for Arduino/Development Boards and Robotics respectively. Meetups are key to gaining new members.
  • Jay suggesting having the space participate in a space balloon project
  • Tanju wants to be sending out newsletter info to members, but hasn't taken the time to do it

• GA Center of Innovation for Manufacturing
  • Received into email from I a Project Manager for the GA Center of Innovation for Manufacturing. They are part of the Georgia Department of Economic Development and are located at Georgia Tech working with local manufacturers, from startup companies to major corporations, to help solve technical problems they may not be able to answer in-house.

Tanju planning to meet with them next week on Wednesday.

• Barnes & Noble Mini Makerfaire on Nov 5-6
  • The Maker Faire this year is Saturday and Sunday November 5th and 6th. We are requesting to have you again this year to represent The Maker Station. The time space we are looking for is a few hours any time between 12pm and 5pm on both days. We would really love to have you again!!!

• Laser Cutter commissioning hit milestone!
  • Members Elizabeth, Mike R, Bret, and Joshua have committed their own time and dollars to get it working. Mike succeed in test firing it yesterday.
  • We need to institute policy to limit access to only trained personnel. Operation of the cutter requires advanced knowledge.
  • Also using the cutter will incur additional cost since the CO2 tube has limited life/is consumable
  • We need to assign the point person for it. Access will be limited.