WPLUGBoard/Meeting-20130219

Venue Info

Meeting to be held at 7:30pm (just prior to the February GUM) at the Panera Bread on McKnight Road.

Agenda

Here are some matters we can discuss:

• Selecting an online payment option
• Choosing a platform for the new WPLUG Web site
• Planning an event(s) for March
• Considering what qualities we might look for in a simpler, asynchronous alternative to Robert's Rules
• Picking a new meeting location
• How to improve outreach efforts
• All of the non-bylaws recommendations from CRW RP2

Minutes

MEETING START

The meeting was called to order at 7:45 p.m. All board members were present: Chair Pat Barron, Vice Chair/Secretary Justin Smith, Treasurer Terry Golightly, and Director-at-Large Joe Prostko.

The reading of the prior board meeting's minutes was dispensed.

REPORT OF OFFICERS

Chair Pat has nothing to report.

Vice Chair Justin has nothing to report.

Secretary Justin delivered an official response to an individual who lodged a complaint with the board. Since no response has been received, the matter is considered closed.

Treasurer Terry reports that $40 in checks and $20 cash were deposited in the WPLUG bank account, consisting in part of membership dues for Stanley Slomberg and Dave Sevick.

Director-at-Large Joe has nothing to report.

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

The board discussed possible ways to address an individual's disruptive behavior on a WPLUG communication channel. (redacted)

Three areas of improvement for WPLUG's technology resources were identified: improved junk mail filters for official WPLUG email accounts, automatic membership renewal notices, and revamping the Web site.

Pat, on behalf of the Internet Committee, will investigate improving the mailing filters.

The Internet Committee, at some point in the future, will attempt to devise an automated system for delivering membership renewal notices.

The board made a brief list of content they'd like to see in the new WPLUG Web site:

• Online payment system
• About page
• Schedule of events (possibly via Google Calendar)
• Official WPLUG documents and forms
• A "Meet the board members" page
• Integration with WPLUG social media resources, including Google+, Twitter, and YouTube

The board decided to use Dwolla as its online payment system. Its fees are extremely low; no need to pay for an SSH certificate; people can send/receive using Dwolla even if not a member by logging in with a social media account. Additional online payment methods such as Stripe may be added in the future.

Justin proposed establishing a membership referral program where members would receive $5 for each new member they refer. Money would be via over Dwolla to the member's social media account. Since money sent to a social media account generates a publicly-visible notification, it would be good PR for WPLUG. The board expressed support for Justin's idea, but no decision was reached.

The board resolved to make a mock-ups or test Web site using the content management systems under consideration: Joomla, Concrete5, WordPress.

Possible meeting sites were compared. The board has decided to pursue moving WPLUG's meetings to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, where meeting space would be free. The board could not agree on which branch, however, and referred the matter to the Program Committee.

Pat mentioned that there's no way to tell if Brian Seklecki wants to remain on the Program Committee since he hasn't been heard from for some time. He will be contacted.

Justin proposed making a donation to an Android community developer in exchange for a notice on that developer's communication resource (forum thread, GitHub account, etc) as well as having him/her give a presentation or interview over Google+ Hangouts. The board supports this idea, but the exact amount of the donation was not set. Justin will investigate this.

Pat proposed organizing a "bowling night" instead of a GUM during March. This will allow the board to plan a truly exciting GUM for April and give the base something different to do.

Justin proposed making this a competitive bowling night by inviting other technology groups to participate. Some of the proposed groups included: Hack Pittsburgh, PGHRuby, Perlmongers, and various others. The board approved this idea.

Terry proposed hosting a competitive Arduino event where teams from various technology groups would get together for a contest to see who could build a certain project first. The board expressed support for this idea, but no decision was reached.

• Justin made a motion to dissolve the Newsletter Committee and make the PR Committee responsible for producing a newsletter. The measure was passed, 4-0.
• Justin made a motion to dissolve the Wilkins School Network Committee and conclude the networking project as quickly as possible. The measure passed, 4-0.
• Justin made a motion to rename the PR Committee to the Marketing & Communications Committee. The measure passed, 4-0.

Terry was instructed to sign up for a Trello account. The board will be using Trello to organize and track its activities.

The board agreed to start providing WPLUG members with a free email alias. Pat will draft a measure explaining the rules and send it to the members.

MEETING END

The meeting was adjourned at 8:58 p.m.